Little Chalfont to Luton Taxi

Turning clockwise: the Little Chalfont approach to Luton

Luton is the airport where the village's position genuinely helps. M25 junction 18 is a short run east on the A404 through Chorleywood, and Luton is reached by turning clockwise rather than anticlockwise, so the Heathrow and M4 sections never come into it. The sequence is brief: junction 19 at Watford, junction 20 for the A41, then junction 21 onto the M1 north, off at junction 10, along the M1 spur to junction 10a and onto the A1081 New Airport Way, which is dual carriageway all the way in. On the final approach there is a roundabout before a tunnel where the sat-nav and the signage disagree with each other. The airport's own advice is to ignore the sat-nav and follow the signs for the drop-off and pick-up zone, and that is what our drivers do. Should the M1 be shut above junction 8, the workable alternative is to come off early and take the A414 across to St Albans, then the A1081 north through Harpenden, which arrives at New Airport Way from the far end. There is one passenger terminal at Luton, so unlike Heathrow there is no wrong door to pull up at, and the forecourt is camera-enforced with a short maximum stay, which makes it a set-down rather than a long goodbye.

The 55–70 minute run carries a noticeably different passenger from the Gatwick one. Luton's timetable leans towards very early departures and late returns, so bookings from the village cluster at both ends of the clock: a four in the morning pickup from Chalfont Station Road, or a car standing by when a delayed flight finally lands. We carry business travellers from the Amersham Place offices out to European bases, and a steady flow of families using Luton for half term. Anyone doing the trip monthly is usually better served by business account billing than by paying trip by trip, and where the journey carries on past the airport, our longer runs beyond the airports pick up from the same doorstep.

Is there a direct train from Little Chalfont towards Luton?

Not to Luton, but the first part of the journey is direct. The Metropolitan line from Chalfont & Latimer runs through Baker Street to King's Cross St Pancras without a change. From St Pancras, the Luton Airport Express and Thameslink both call at Luton Airport Parkway, where the Luton DART takes you to the terminal. It still takes much longer than the drive and involves three separate trains.

If a friend is driving you instead, note that the terminal Drop Off and Pick Up Zone is paid by the minute after the first 12, and the free option is the Long Stay Car Park at LU2 9NW. Stopping there is free for up to two hours, and the airport's shuttle bus runs to the terminal every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day.

A driver who drops you at the terminal and meets you inside on the way back avoids both. People comparing costs may find our parking versus taxi breakdown useful, and all the other airports are on the Little Chalfont airport transfers page.