Getting from London City Airport to London
London City Airport is the closest airport to central London, at just 6 miles east of the City of London, you can arrive in England’s busy capital in no time at all. There are many ways to get into and around London. Choose your method of transport from our helpful information below:
Buses Around London
For more info regarding using busses in London, make sure to check out our transport page.
Trains
DLR
Tube
Taxi
The journey time to central London is approximately 30 minutes from London City Airport. It will cost you approximately £20 and £40 to get into London, depending on where you go.
Getting a taxi can take the hassle out of your journey. Choose a taxi to suit you and your passengers. From executive travel to minibus, and coach taxis. You can just sit back and relax, knowing you will be at the airport soon.
However, you could get a better price by booking your transfer in advance. Find a taxi company on our London City Airport Taxis and Transfers page. Alternatively, follow the signs from each terminal for taxi ranks.
Oyster Cards
You can use an Oyster card on tubes, buses, DLR, trams, London Overground and some National Rail Trains. For more information on where you can use your Oyster card, visit TFL. Just make sure you touch in with your card before boarding tubes and buses and Oyster will work out the cost of your journey at the end of the day. By doing this it means they can charge you less than the price of a day travelcard.
Car
Airport Parking
Car Hire
Maps and Directions
When travelling into central London don’t forget that you may enter the congestion zone, this would mean that you have to pay £15 if you are travelling between the hours of 7am and 6pm from Monday – Friday and on Saturday to Sunday, it’s 12pm to 6pm.
Congestion Charge
Driving in and around Central London means that you have to pay the Congestion Charge. You may need to pay the charge if you are travelling in central London between the hours of 7am and 6pm from Monday – Friday and on Saturday to Sunday, it’s 12pm to 6pm. The charge is £15 daily, and you will be notified by signs when you are approaching CC zones, are within them and exiting them.
You can pay the congestion charge in a number of ways – by SMS, phone, online, at a shop and by post. For more information on how to pay the charge and where it applies visit the Transport for London.
“So, how does the congestion charge work?” You’ll notice that there are no toll booths or barriers, instead, you and your vehicle are monitored by a network of cameras covering the entrances and exits of the Congestion Charge zones. Images of vehicles are monitored daily and any vehicles recognised as paid are deleted from the system. However. if it gets to midnight and an image of the car is still there, an automatic fine is issued.
Go green with Lift Sharing
A fantastic way to reduce costs, pollution, congestion and parking is to lift share with someone who is making the same or a similar journey as you. You can then share a car with them, which is a great way to get to and from the airport. If you are interested in lift sharing with others who are making similar journeys, take a look at LondonLiftShare.
It’s free to register and you enter your journey details and it will automatically display others who are making similar journeys on that day.
Once you have signed up, the system will send out an automatic email and get in contact with those you may wish to share the journey with. It will also calculate the CO2 and financial savings if you are to share a car, rather than driving alone.
Cycling in London
Bicycles are permitted on the London Underground, however, some lines only allow non-folding bikes outside of peak times. Folding bicycles are permitted on the underground at all times, free of charge. You are not allowed to take non-folding bikes on moving escalators, at any time.
Overground trains will take folding bicycles, free of charge at all times, on all sections of the network. Non-folding bicycles may be allowed on some sections of the networks, outside of peak times.
London buses may allow folding bicycles, however, it is up to the driver. The same applies to pushchairs and large shopping luggage.
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) accepts folded bicycles if they are in a container.
Tramlink will only accept folded bicycles, however, they do not have to be in a container.
There is bike parking available at most stations around London. To find out if a particular station has bike parking and for more information on cycling around London take a look at the Transport for London website.
