Epsom to Gatwick is about 16 to 19 miles and takes 26 to 35 minutes by road. By train it is an hour to an hour and a quarter with a change — there are no direct services — from around £11.97 one way, per person.
What a taxi costs depends on the vehicle you need, the time of day, the terminal and whether you are booking a return. This page sets out exactly what moves the number, the airport’s own charges, and how the three ways of getting there actually compare from Epsom.
Why the sums are tighter on a Gatwick run
Gatwick is the closer of the two big airports from Epsom — comfortably closer than Heathrow, which is 45 to 50 minutes away. That makes it the cheaper transfer, but it also makes the decision a finer one, for two reasons people rarely think about.
First, the fixed extras weigh more. On a shorter, cheaper journey, a flat charge is a bigger slice of the total. And here is the counterintuitive part: Gatwick’s drop-off charge is higher than Heathrow’s. Gatwick starts at £10; Heathrow is a flat £7. The smaller airport, on the shorter run, costs more to pull up outside.
Second, the train is genuinely cheap. From about £11.97 one way, Epsom to Gatwick is far less painful on the wallet than the £17.90-plus Heathrow equivalent. It is still an hour-plus with a change, but the cost gap is narrower than most people assume.
So the Gatwick decision deserves more thought than the Heathrow one, not less. The rest of this page is the detail you need to make it.
What sets your price
The vehicle — which is really about luggage
The biggest single factor, and the one most often got wrong, because people count heads rather than cases.
Gatwick from Epsom is largely leisure traffic — a week somewhere warm, a long weekend, a family half-term. That means hold luggage, often a case each, sometimes a pushchair. A saloon carries four people and two large cases, which is the mismatch that turns up on the doorstep at 4am.
| Vehicle | Passengers | Large luggage | Small luggage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saloon | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Estate | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| MPV | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| MPV+ | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| Executive | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Luxury MPV | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| Wheelchair accessible | 3 plus 1 wheelchair | 1 | 0 |
The time of day
Gatwick’s first departures of the day are the busiest bank on the whole route, and they need you leaving Epsom in the small hours — before the trains are running and well before the buses. That is the single most common Gatwick booking we take, and it is a different job from a two o’clock pickup on a Wednesday.
North Terminal or South Terminal
Gatwick has two terminals and they are not walkable from one another. Your airline decides which; easyJet uses North and Ryanair uses South, while TUI uses both, split by flight number. Give us the flight number when you book and we will work it out. Our guide to Gatwick terminal pickups covers where drivers wait at each.
One way or return
Book both legs together. The return is the one people leave to chance and then arrange from the baggage hall, which is reliably the most expensive way to do it — and on a late Gatwick landing, the rail alternative home to Epsom involves a change you will not enjoy.
And the extras worth flagging when you book
- Child seats or boosters — common on this route, given the leisure traffic
- A wheelchair-accessible vehicle
- An extra stop to collect someone on the way
- Meet & Greet inside arrivals with a name board rather than a kerbside pickup
The Gatwick drop-off charge
This is the airport’s charge, not a taxi firm’s, and it is worth knowing before you compare quotes.
Gatwick charges a minimum of £10 to use the designated drop-off zones at either terminal: £10 for the first 10 minutes, then £1 per additional minute up to 20 minutes, with a 30-minute maximum stay and a £30 daily cap. Payment is due by midnight the day after. Blue Badge holders are exempt.
There is a free alternative: the Long Stay car parks are free for two hours, with a free shuttle bus to the terminals. Worth knowing if family are seeing you off rather than a taxi dropping you.
Figures are set by the airport and change from time to time — check the official Gatwick drop-off page before you travel, and ask us how it applies to your booking.
Taxi, train or driving yourself?
You can do most of this maths without our prices. Three honest comparisons:
The train
From about £11.97 one way, roughly an hour to an hour and a quarter, with one change — there is no direct service from Epsom. Cheap, and perfectly sensible for one person travelling light at a reasonable hour.
Two things change it. That fare is per person, so it doubles with a partner and quadruples with a family of four. And an hour-plus with a change and two hold cases is a different experience from an hour on a train with a rucksack. Our fuller comparison is in airport transfer or train: which works best.
Driving and parking
Rarely the bargain it feels like. It is the parking bill for the length of your trip, plus fuel both ways, plus your car sitting at Gatwick rather than on your drive. On a fortnight away, parking alone usually exceeds two transfers.
The taxi
Priced per journey rather than per head, door to door, in roughly a third of the rail time. The more of you there are and the more you are carrying, the further ahead it gets. For a solo midday traveller with hand luggage, the train is the better answer and we will say so.
Groups: where the difference is biggest
Gatwick brings more group travel than Heathrow does from Epsom — stag and hen trips, extended families, golf parties, two households going away together.
This is where per-head rail pricing falls apart fastest. Six people at roughly £12 each is £72 one way before anyone has lifted a case onto a train, against a single MPV+ carrying all eight of you with five large cases and three small.
It is also where two cars stop being the obvious answer. Two vehicles means two drivers, two arrival times and half your party standing outside the terminal wondering where the others are. One larger vehicle keeps the group together from the door in Epsom to the door at the terminal.
If you are booking for a group, give us the total number of cases and we will tell you honestly whether one vehicle does it or you genuinely need two.
Getting your exact price
Have these ready and we can quote properly first time:
- Your full Epsom pickup address and postcode
- Date and the time you need to leave
- Your flight number — it gives us the terminal and the timing together
- Number of passengers and, more importantly, number of cases
- Anything extra: child seat, wheelchair-accessible vehicle, additional stop, Meet & Greet
That gives you a fixed price, agreed before you book, that does not move if the traffic does. A meter would hand you the traffic risk on a route with an M25 junction in the middle of it; a fixed price keeps that risk with us. Pay by card, cash or on a company account.
Get your price: book online or call 01372 747 747. We run 24 hours a day, which is why the 4am bookings come to us.
Coming home
Book the return with the outbound and give us your flight number. We use live flight monitoring, so the pickup adjusts if you land late or early — and on the last wave of evening arrivals into Gatwick, that is the difference between a car waiting and a scramble for a train with a change in it.
For everything else from Epsom, see our Epsom taxi service, our Gatwick airport transfers, the full range of airport transfers, or — if you are flying the other way — how much a taxi from Epsom to Heathrow costs.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a taxi from Epsom to Gatwick?
It depends on the vehicle you need, the time of day, the terminal and whether you book a return. Rather than publish a figure that may not apply to your journey, we quote a fixed price before you book — call 01372 747 747 or book online with your postcode, flight number and case count.
How long does a taxi take from Epsom to Gatwick?
Around 26 to 35 minutes, covering 16 to 19 miles. Allow longer on a weekday morning — the slow section is getting clear of Epsom and Banstead rather than the motorway.
Is the train cheaper from Epsom to Gatwick?
For one person, usually — from about £11.97 one way. But there is no direct train, so it takes an hour to an hour and a quarter with a change, and the fare is per person. With two or more passengers, hold luggage or an early departure, a car is generally better on both time and cost.
Is there a charge to be dropped off at Gatwick?
Yes. Gatwick charges a minimum of £10 for its terminal drop-off zones, rising with time to a £30 daily cap, with a 30-minute maximum stay. Blue Badge holders are exempt, and the Long Stay car parks are free for two hours with a shuttle bus. It is the airport’s charge, not ours — and it is higher than Heathrow’s flat £7.
Can you take a group of six or more to Gatwick?
Yes. The MPV+ carries up to 8 passengers with 5 large and 3 small cases, and the Luxury MPV carries 7 with 3 large and 3 small. Tell us the total number of cases and we will say honestly whether one vehicle covers it.
Can you collect at 4am for an early flight?
Yes — we run 24 hours a day. Gatwick’s first departures are the busiest bank on this route and they need you leaving Epsom before the trains run. Book the night before rather than on the morning.
Which Gatwick terminal do I need?
Your airline decides. easyJet uses North Terminal and Ryanair uses South; TUI uses both, split by flight number. Give us the flight number when you book and we will work it out.