Heathrow in about 75–90 minutes without touching central London
National Express runs direct coaches from London Gatwick’s North and South Terminals to Heathrow, Southampton, Bristol, the Midlands and more. Typical Gatwick–Heathrow run is around 75–90 minutes via the M25, while Gatwick–Southampton usually lands in the 2.5–3 hour range if traffic behaves. Coaches are the main long-distance option if you want through services with luggage in the hold instead of juggling trains and the Tube.
At Gatwick, all services leave from the main coach station by the South Terminal, near Arrivals and the railway station concourse; North Terminal passengers take the free shuttle train (about 2 minutes) down to South first. Different routes use different numbered bays and the screens can be small, so check your bay on the departure board and on your ticket before you queue. Miss the right bay and you can literally watch your coach pull out without you.
One-way fares often sit in the £10–30 range if you book in advance, with Heathrow–Gatwick commonly under £30 outside extreme peaks. Prices jump closer to departure and on Friday/Sunday evenings or bank holidays. Regulars book directly with National Express so they can move to a later departure if a flight is delayed, instead of arguing with a third‑party agent for a refund.
Frequency is very route-dependent: Heathrow transfers usually run every 60–90 minutes during the day, but places like Southampton or Bristol might only have a few departures per day from Gatwick. Some long-distance runs add one or two service-station stops where you get 10–20 minutes to grab food; if you miss the driver’s departure time at a stop like Fleet or Reading, you risk being stranded until the next coach.
On board, expect air‑conditioning, luggage in the underfloor hold, and usually Wi‑Fi and a few power sockets, though reviews complain that older coaches have flaky internet and limited charging. Seats fill fast on peak days and there are reports of people being denied boarding on fully booked runs, so treat seat reservation as mandatory, not optional. For a smoother ride and faster exit at busy terminals like Heathrow Central Bus Station or London Victoria, regulars aim for the front few rows.
Watch out for M25 traffic: the same stretch that makes Gatwick–Heathrow possible can also turn a 75‑minute plan into a 2‑hour crawl. Coaches that hit multiple airports before Gatwick can also run late before they even reach you. If you’re connecting to another coach or a long‑distance train at Heathrow or Victoria, build at least a 60–90 minute buffer into your ticketed plans.
Practical move: after landing, buy or confirm your National Express ticket in the arrivals hall at South Terminal or on the app, then head straight to the coach station and re-check the bay number on the overhead screens before you join any queue.