The Airport Search crew is in London this week on a trip prepared by using our friends at Gatwick Airport (LGW).
The undertaking?
Find out if it’s easy to land at Gatwick Airport on a flight from the U.S. See if it’s easy to take public transit to and from the airport to London, Brighton, and other close by destinations. And find amusing activities.
As they are saying: tough process, but someone has to do it. And Airport Search is up for the challenge.
Here’s how our adventure is going to this point.
Seattle to New York
Our experience from our domestic base airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) was on JetBlue, to connect with one among JetBlue’s flights to Gatwick.
The airline starts carrier between Boston and Gatwick on August four, and we’ll be on the inaugural flight out of Gatwick. So live tuned for details from that adventure.
But first: the TWA Hotel
We selected an overnight layover at JKF so that we ought to live at the TWA Hotel, that is oh-so-effectively linked to JetBlue’s T5 terminal thru elevator and a red-carpeted flight tube this is an appropriate passageway to the 1960s.
The lodge is constructed within the restored and reimagined Eero Saarinen’s landmark 1962 TWA Flight Center at JFK and has eating places, bars, shops, and a few a laugh 60s throwback activities inside the foyer.
There’s an infinity pool on the roof (prices practice) and, out within the again on the ‘tarmac, there’s a Lockheed Constellation “Connie” L-1649A that has been transformed right into a cocktail living room. This summer season, guests and traffic can pass curler skating rink or experience bumper cars on the motel’s tarmac as well. (Fees observe).
You don’t want to be staying at the hotel to revel in the foyer and tarmac sports. And many activities, consisting of photo ops in cool spaces, Twister, and lengthy-distance telephone calls on retro pay telephones, are free.
Arriving at Gatwick Airport
The JetBlue flights to Gatwick Airport go away JFK at around 7:30 pm and land at Gatwick the following morning at around 7:30 am. That means you could plan a complete day in the metropolis.
Our flight landed early, so I become glad Gatwick Airport had arranged for me to relaxation and refresh at the onsite YOTELAIR London Gatwick Airport.
This become the primary YOTEL to open in the United Kingdom – manner lower back in 2007 – and offers short-stays (from four to 8 hours) in very compact ‘cabins’ that are perfect for naps, a refresh after a protracted flight, or an overnight when you have a very early flight or late arrival.
Each cabin is extraordinary compact, with a mattress, lavatory, small table, WiFi, USB ports, mood lighting fixtures, clever TV, and a touch bit of garage area. (You can also leave baggage at the the front table, or ‘Mission Control.’)
I had everything I wished for a refresh and even determined a small fold-out stool putting at the back of my cabin door just as I was leaving. Coffee, tea, and bottled water are complimentary on the the front table and visitors can borrow alarm clocks for wake-up calls. Meals can be ordered and delivered as properly.
Here’s a snap of Gatwick Airport’s mascot, Gary Gatwick, finding out the Yotel cabin. You’ll see more (lot’s more) of him in the course of our London go to as he’s my tour accomplice for the week.
Gatwick to London in much less than 30 minutes
It’s constantly a delight to have an ‘aha’ second while journeying and learn about a device or provider that you recognise will trade your travel behavior.
In the beyond, I’ve constantly arrived in London at Heathrow Airport and headed to metropolis thru the London Underground, referred to as the Tube. The new Elizabeth Line seems like its hurries up the travel time, but within the past, the ride from Heathrow to valuable London should take up to forty five minutes and end up very crowded because it got in the direction of the metropolis, specially at some stage in rush hour instances.
But visiting from Gatwick Airport to London on the Gatwick Express become some distance less complicated and manner greater exceptional.
The ride from the Gatwick Airport teach station to Central London’s Victoria Station at the direct Gatwick Express became a 30-minute breeze.
I liked that that is a teach (not a subway) and that the educate station is simple to get admission to, with a major upgrade at the manner. Trains run every 15 mins and travelers can use an Oyster smartcard to pay for rides. Prices range by means of time and sort but are discounted 10% whilst purchased on line or through the app.
Trains from Gatwick additionally go to the Sussex coasts, for instance, Brighton and Eastbourne.
It might were easy to switch to underground Tube strains once I arrived at Victoria Station, but my inn changed into an smooth 10-minute walk and alongside the way, I handed the Victoria Palace Theatre, where Hamilton is playing.
As I stated, Gatwick Airport mascot Gary Gatwick is my excursion manual this week, and he received a completely enthusiastic welcome at the take a look at-in table at the St. James’ Court.
Our time table this week will encompass numerous travelling in London, Brighton, and West Sussex – all locations without difficulty handy from Gatwick Airport.
So please stay tuned as we catch up on our adventures every day. Have a few recommendations on locations we ought to pass? Please add them to the remarks.
