Chichester sits well to the south-west of Heathrow. On paper the journey is roughly 63 miles by road, and in practice it takes 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours once the A27 and the M25 are behaving. Our fixed-fare saloon runs at £112, both directions, locked at booking rather than moved afterwards.
Before any of that, one honest sentence: there are two genuinely different roads out of Chichester towards the M25, published mileages disagree because they are describing different roads, and a driver leaving for an early flight takes the longer one every time. Below: the two roads, the eight fares, the honest rail comparison, the coach that does not exist, the terminal the airport coach misses, and the seven Goodwood dates that change the pickup time. Last reviewed: 3 August 2026.
There are two genuinely different roads out of Chichester towards the M25. One is shorter. The other is the one we drive.
The road over the Downs
North on the A286 over the South Downs through Midhurst, joining the A3 near Hindhead. On a summer afternoon it is a beautiful drive.
But it is single carriageway over the Downs through a market town, and it punishes you the moment anything goes wrong — a horsebox at Cocking, a queue through Midhurst, a tractor at Fernhurst.
Nobody with a check-in time takes this road at four in the morning in November.
The A27 and the A3(M)
West on the A27 to the A3(M) at Havant, then north on dual carriageway the whole way — up the A3 through Hindhead, onto the M25 at Wisley, and off at Junction 14 for Terminal 5 or Junction 15 and the M4 at 4B for the central terminals.
Longer on paper. In practice it saves you the time you would otherwise spend behind an agricultural vehicle.
The A259 sometimes appears in journey planners as an option. It is a coast road, not an airport road, and it goes the wrong way — so we do not take it either.
Why this matters more than the mileage
The two roads are not variations on one route — they are different journeys with different failure modes. The fare is the same whichever we drive, because it is fixed at booking, so the choice costs you nothing and buys you reliability on the morning it matters.
Five published sources measure this journey differently — not because any of them is careless, but because they are describing two different roads. Publishing one unqualified number for a journey where five sources disagree by 15 miles would be guessing and hiding it.
The spread, and the figure our fares are built on
One local detail worth spelling out
The Hindhead Tunnel opened on 29 July 2011 at a cost of £371 million and runs for 1.14 miles under the Devil's Punch Bowl. It is the longest non-estuarial road tunnel in the United Kingdom.
What it removed
The single worst bottleneck on the whole route — the traffic lights at Hindhead crossroads, which used to add half an hour to a Chichester-to-London journey on any warm weekend. Since it opened, the A3 has run reliably at motorway pace from Havant to the M25.
Why we still quote 1 h 40 m to 2 h
The tunnel is why we price on the A27 route. It is also why we quote 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours rather than the tighter times quoted elsewhere — the road is reliable, but the M25 at the far end still is not.
Saloon starts at £112 and scales to £171 in a Mercedes V-Class Executive MPV. Every fare includes the £7 Heathrow drop-off charge, all tolls, and reaches any terminal directly.
| Vehicle | Capacity | Fixed fare | Per head at full capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saloon Toyota Prius, VW Passat | 4 passengers · 3 cases | £112 | £28.00 |
| Estate VW Passat Estate | 5 passengers · 4 cases | £117 | £23.40 |
| MPV5 | 5 passengers | £123 | £24.60 |
| MPV6 | 6 passengers · 5 bags | £128 | £21.33 |
| MPV7 | 7 passengers | £139 | £19.86 |
| MPV8 Mercedes Vito | 8 passengers | £144 | £18.00 · lowest per head on this route |
| Executive Mercedes E-Class | 3–4 passengers | £147 | £36.75 |
| Executive MPV Mercedes V-Class | 6 passengers | £171 | £28.50 |
Fares shown are indicative, calculated on distance by vehicle class, and confirmed at booking via our fare calculator. Your final fixed price is locked in your booking confirmation — no surge, no airport surcharge, no late-night premium, no card fees. Get your exact fixed fare online.
What is included in every fare
The TfL-licensed driver, the vehicle, all tolls, the £7 Heathrow drop-off charge, help with luggage at both ends, meet-and-greet inside Arrivals with a name-board on returns, 60 minutes' complimentary waiting after landing, free child seats on request, flight monitoring for arrivals — British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, Emirates, Air France, KLM and Star Alliance carriers via IATA feeds — and payment by Visa, Mastercard, Amex, PayPal, cash or corporate account.
What does not change the fare
The direction of travel, the terminal you are flying from, or the road we take on the day. Coming back from Heathrow to Chichester costs exactly the same as going out — class for class, no surcharge for direction, no return premium.
Choosing the right vehicle honestly
Four passengers with four large cases is an Estate booking, not a Saloon. A family of five with children and buggies is usually an MPV6 rather than an MPV5. Telling us the passenger and case count at booking saves an argument at the kerb. Our MPV8 carries eight with luggage at £144 — £18 a head, the lowest per-head figure on this route.
This section is here to answer the rail question properly, not to steer you away from it. Chichester has no direct train to any London airport, and every airport journey from the station involves at least one change — westward at Havant, not northward towards London.
Why there is no direct train
Chichester railway station opened in 1846 on the West Coastway line — the old LBSCR Brighton to Portsmouth route, now operated by Southern. The line runs east and west along the coast. It does not run north to Heathrow, and it never has. That is simply the geography.
The route through Havant
Chichester to Havant on the West Coastway, around 15 minutes, included in the through fare. Change at Havant and go north on the Portsmouth Direct line to Woking or Guildford. Then the RailAir RA2 coach. End to end the fastest published journey is 77 minutes with one change; the average is 90 minutes. That is the rail leg — the RailAir leg is separate.
The RailAir RA2, and what it costs
Woking to Heathrow in 50 minutes; Guildford in 69. First coach 02:30, last coach 23:50 (railair.com, checked August 2026). From Woking, £11.00 online or £13.00 on board, returns £16.50 and £19.50. From Guildford, £14.00 online or £16.00 on board. A ten-trip book is £74.25 (fares set 13 October 2024).
An honesty note about the rail fare
The same booking site advertises this train from £7.00 on its listing page, then returns £35.00 on its route page for the same journey. Both figures are real, and they answer different questions. Quoting the £7.00 on its own would be misleading — someone who turned up expecting £7.00 and paid £35.00 would be right to feel cheated. So we publish both, labelled as what they are: an advertised floor and a quoted through fare.
When the train is the better choice
For one or two people travelling light, usually. The full arithmetic is in the comparison below. In practice the trip works out at around 133 minutes end to end from Chichester to a Heathrow terminal kerb — longer than our 1 h 40 m to 2 h drive, but cheaper. For a solo traveller with a cabin bag that is a real trade.
National Express runs a direct Heathrow service from 14 places. Chichester is not one of them — and neither is Bognor Regis, Havant or Littlehampton.
The 14 towns with a direct Heathrow coach
Bath · Birmingham · Bournemouth · Brighton · Bristol · Cambridge · Cardiff · Cheltenham · Leicester · London · Nottingham · Oxford · Southampton · Swindon (nationalexpress.com, checked August 2026). There is no through coach from Chichester, and there has not been one for years.
The Portsmouth route
There is still a way to reach Heathrow by coach — it involves getting to Portsmouth first. The nearest boarding point is Portsmouth The Hard Interchange, on route 030, which runs up to seven times a day, takes about 90 minutes, and starts from £16.00 one way plus a £1.50 booking fee.
Getting to the interchange
The Coastliner 700 — Stagecoach South's Brighton to Portsmouth service — runs every 12 minutes Monday to Saturday and every 15 minutes on Sunday, capped at £3.00 under the national bus fare cap. It is an excellent coast service, genuinely useful and good value, but it is not an airport service, and we would rather say so than let you find that out at the interchange.
What it costs, and how long it takes
Add the two figures and the honest total is about £19.00 a head and roughly 217 minutes door to door — about 3 hours 37 minutes. This is the cheapest way to reach Heathrow from Chichester. It is also the slowest. We say both.
The national bus fare cap moves from £3.00 to £2.00 on 1 January 2027. When it does, the coach total falls to about £18.00 a head.
On this route, for most party sizes on the advertised fare, the train does win. We concede every one of those rows rather than pick the comparison that flatters us.
That is the £7.00 rail listing plus the £11.00 online RA2 single from Woking.
| Passengers | Cheapest fitting vehicle | Rail total | Our fixed fare | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saloon | £18 | £112 | Rail by £94 |
| 2 | Saloon | £36 | £112 | Rail by £76 |
| 3 | Saloon | £54 | £112 | Rail by £58 |
| 4 | Saloon | £72 | £112 | Rail by £40 |
| 5 | Estate | £90 | £117 | Rail by £27 |
| 6 | MPV6 | £108 | £128 | Rail by £20 |
| 7 | MPV7 | £126 | £139 | Rail by £13 |
| 8 | MPV8 | £144 | £144 | Exactly level |
£144
Eight rail fares at the advertised floor
£144
Our MPV8, eight seats with luggage
Not a coincidence to celebrate, and not a claim about ourselves — it is what the arithmetic produces at 63 miles on our rate card against the published rail fare. The two options cost the same. The car takes the luggage; the train takes the time.
This uses the £35.00 rail figure the same site actually quotes, plus the RA2.
| Passengers | Cheapest fitting vehicle | Rail total | Our fixed fare | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saloon | £48 | £112 | Rail by £64 |
| 2 | Saloon | £96 | £112 | Rail by £16 |
| 3 | Saloon | £144 | £112 | Car by £32 |
| 4 | Saloon | £192 | £112 | Car by £80 |
| 5 | Estate | £240 | £117 | Car by £123 |
| 6 | MPV6 | £288 | £128 | Car by £160 |
| 7 | MPV7 | £336 | £139 | Car by £197 |
| 8 | MPV8 | £384 | £144 | Car by £240 |
Where it tips
At the realistic quoted fare the balance tips at three passengers, and from then on the gap widens rapidly — £32 at three, £240 at eight.
What the tables do not measure
The car takes bags. It takes sleeping children, awkward departure times, and the fifteen minutes of walking between Woking's platforms with luggage on a wet November morning. None of that appears in either arithmetic. It is the reason people choose a car for a family flight even when a train costs less on the numbers — and it is not something we would try to price into the comparison, because it is not ours to price.
Coming from the south-west, Terminal 5 is the first terminal the road reaches, straight off M25 Junction 14. The central terminals — T2 and T3 — come a little further round by way of Junction 15 and the M4 at 4B. Terminal 4 sits south of the central complex.
The RailAir RA2 does not serve Terminal 4
The RA2 serves Terminal 2, Terminal 3 and Terminal 5. It does not serve Terminal 4.
Route 030 misses it too
The Portsmouth route 030 coach misses Terminal 4 as well. So if you are flying from T4 and taking either coach, you finish the journey with an inter-terminal transfer at the end.
Why that matters before you buy the ticket
The transfer is free, but it takes time — and more of it with luggage. Anyone booking a train for a Terminal 4 flight needs that fact before they buy the ticket, not after.
Our answer, in one sentence
We set down at whichever terminal the booking names, and the Chichester to Heathrow fare is the same for all of them. A small advantage, stated once.
Few travel guides mention Goodwood, but every local knows it changes the road. Goodwood sits in PO18, four miles north of the city, and its calendar reshapes traffic on seven sets of dates a year.
83rd Members' Meeting
Moderate · check on the dayGoodwoof
Moderate · check on the dayFestival of Speed
Major · add an hourQatar Goodwood Festival
Major · add an hourAugust Bank Holiday Racing
ModerateGoodwood Revival
Major · add an hourSeason Finale
ModerateSource: media.goodwood.com, 2026 season announcement, checked August 2026.
The three that matter most
Festival of Speed, the Qatar Goodwood Festival and the Revival are the three where a transfer booked for the usual time can miss a flight. On those weekends the A27 around Chichester and the A286 north both back up heavily.
What we do about it
We build an extra hour into every pickup on those days automatically, and we say so when the booking is made. The fare does not change because of it.
And a postcode note
Goodwood itself sits in PO18, not the city postcode PO19 — one of the practical reasons the booking form asks for a postcode rather than a town name.
A great many people plan this journey airport-first, so the return leg earns its own section rather than a footnote.
We track the flight
British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, Emirates, Air France, KLM and Star Alliance long-haul carriers. A delay moves the pickup to the actual landing time. Our driver meets you inside Arrivals with a name-board, past baggage reclaim at your terminal, with 60 minutes' complimentary waiting — enough to clear immigration and collect luggage.
The return fare is the outbound fare
Exactly the same, class for class. No surcharge for direction, no return premium, no late-night uplift. The road is the same road and the vehicle is the same vehicle. That ought to be obvious — but one operator on this route prices the return leg higher than the outbound on the same class of car. We do not.
Late arrivals
The last useful train connection towards Chichester leaves earlier than most people expect, and the RailAir coach from Woking stops at 23:50. An evening long-haul landing after that hour leaves you without a train — which is the single most common reason someone books a car for the return leg here. Our 24-hour dispatch means it does not matter what time you land.
We cover the city, the villages inside those postcode districts, and the coastal parishes. The district reaches from Selsey to Goodwood, so the mileage is not the same across it.
PO19The city
The walled centre, the station, the seafront approach, and the Festival Theatre. Pickups here are usually straightforward — though on Festival Theatre nights the streets around the venue back up, so it is worth telling us if that is the address.
PO18The villages north and east
Bosham, Funtington, Boxgrove, Tangmere and Singleton — and Goodwood, which affects seven weekends a year. That is precisely why we ask for a postcode at booking.
PO20The coast
Selsey, the Witterings, Sidlesham, Birdham. These pickups take longer than a map suggests — Chichester Harbour National Landscape has narrow lanes and few direct routes. That is built into the pickup time, not the fare.
What we do not cover on this page
Bognor Regis (PO21, PO22) is a separate town with its own seafront and its own distance to the airport. Havant and Emsworth (PO9, PO10) are Hampshire, not West Sussex. Each has its own mileage and its own honest fare — folding them into a Chichester page would give you a number that was not yours. Ask us for a Bognor Regis or Havant quote and we will price it properly.
Why the postcode matters this much
Chichester district grew by 9.1% between 2011 and 2021, from 113,800 to 124,100 people — faster than the South East average of 7.5% and faster than England's 6.6% (ons.gov.uk, Census 2021). Yet the city parish itself is only 29,407 people. That gap is why the district reaches so far past the walls, and why the booking form asks for a postcode.
Two landmarks worth knowing
Chichester Cathedral was founded in the 11th century and is the only medieval English cathedral with a free-standing bell tower rather than one built into the building. The Chichester Cross, where North, South, East and West Street meet, was built in 1501 and remains a useful pickup landmark.
Saloon carries 3 cases; Estate 4; MPV6 5 large bags; MPV8 seven large bags plus hand luggage.
Luggage
If a party of four has four large cases, an Estate at £117 fits comfortably where a Saloon at £112 would not. Four adults with cabin bags and one large case still fits the Saloon comfortably. Telling us at booking removes the question entirely.
Child and booster seats
Infant, toddler and booster seats are free of charge on request. Please tell us at booking, and at least 24 hours ahead where possible.
Waiting rules
On arrivals, 60 minutes' complimentary waiting after landing is included. On outbound journeys we allow 10 minutes at the pickup point at no charge. Additional waiting is charged transparently by the quarter-hour rather than absorbed into a rebooked fare.
Payment and access
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, cash, or corporate account — no card surcharge on any method. Wheelchair-accessible vehicles are available on request; please tell us in advance so we can confirm the vehicle before pickup.
Give us as much notice as you can. On any Goodwood race weekend, book earlier and mention the date so we can plan the route around the traffic.
1 · Your pickup postcode
Not the town name — the district reaches from Selsey to Goodwood, so the mileage is not the same. PO19 is the city, PO18 the villages north, PO20 the coast.
2 · Date, time or flight number
For an arrival we need the flight number and terminal so we can track it. For an outbound flight the flight number lets us work the pickup back from a real check-in window.
3 · Passenger and case count
This matches you to the right vehicle class from the fare table above — seats and cases both.
4 · Anything else that matters
Child seats, wheelchair access, extra stops, a specific pickup point. The earlier we know, the smoother the pickup.
Amendments and confirmation
Amendments and cancellations are handled from the same rate card, without surcharge for a genuine change of plan. Bookings are confirmed within 30 minutes during office hours. Every fare is confirmed in writing before you travel.
Eight classes · Saloon £112 → Executive MPV £171 · MPV8 at £18 a head
Four passengers with four large cases is an Estate at £117, not a Saloon. A family of five with children and buggies is usually an MPV6 at £128. Eight travel with luggage in the Mercedes Vito at £144 — £18 a head, the lowest per-head figure on this route. Child and booster seats are free on request, both directions.
View Full Fleet
Third-party figures are sourced and dated. If you spot one that has moved since we last checked, tell us — we would rather correct it than leave it.
How much is a taxi from Chichester to Heathrow?
Our fixed fare starts at £112 in a saloon carrying up to four passengers, and rises to £171 in a Mercedes V-Class Executive MPV. The fare is fixed at booking and does not change with traffic, waiting time, or the road we take on the day. Every fare includes the £7 Heathrow drop-off charge.
How long does the drive from Chichester to Heathrow take?
Typically 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours for about 63 miles. A clear run late at night can be done in around 1 hour 15 minutes, but that is not a time to plan a flight around — race weeks at Goodwood in particular can add an hour or more.
Which road do you take from Chichester to Heathrow?
The A27 west to Havant, then the A3(M) and A3 north through the Hindhead Tunnel, onto the M25 at Wisley, and off at Junction 14 or 15 for the terminals. The alternative — the A286 over the South Downs through Midhurst — is shorter on paper but slower in practice, so we do not take it for a flight.
Is the train cheaper than a taxi from Chichester to Heathrow?
For one or two people travelling light, yes, by a wide margin. On the advertised rail fare it stays cheaper for larger parties too, right up to eight people — where the two options cost exactly the same, £144 either way. On the realistic quoted rail fare, the balance tips in the car's favour at three passengers. Both comparisons are set out in full above.
Is there a direct coach from Chichester to Heathrow?
No. National Express runs a direct Heathrow service from 14 places and Chichester is not among them. The nearest boarding point is Portsmouth The Hard Interchange, reached by the Coastliner 700 bus. Combined, the trip works out at roughly £19 a head and about 3 hours 37 minutes door to door — the cheapest option, and the slowest.
Which Heathrow terminal will I reach first by road?
Terminal 5, straight off M25 Junction 14. The central terminals — T2 and T3 — come a little later by way of Junction 15 and the M4. It makes no difference to the fare, which is the same whichever terminal you name at booking.
Do you charge more for the return journey from Heathrow?
No. The fare home is exactly the same as the fare out, class for class — same road, same car, same price. Give us the flight number and we will watch the arrival time.
What happens if my flight is delayed?
Nothing you need to do. We watch the flight in real time and move the pickup to the actual landing time. 60 minutes of complimentary waiting after you land is included, which is enough for immigration and luggage. The fare stays exactly as booked.
Do you cover Selsey, the Witterings and Bosham?
Yes, along with Boxgrove, Tangmere, Funtington, Singleton, Sidlesham and Birdham — PO19, PO18 and PO20 in postcode terms. Tell us the exact postcode at booking so the fare reflects the actual mileage.
Do you cover Bognor Regis or Havant?
Not on this page. Bognor Regis and Havant are separate towns with their own distances to the airport, so we quote those journeys separately rather than folding them into a Chichester fare. Contact us for a Bognor Regis or Havant quote directly.
What about Goodwood race weekends?
We build an extra hour into every pickup on the seven sets of 2026 Goodwood dates, and we tell you so when the booking is made. The three that matter most — Festival of Speed (9–12 July), Qatar Goodwood Festival (28 July–1 August) and the Revival (18–20 September) — genuinely reshape the A27 and A286 traffic. The fare does not change because of it.
Are child seats included in the fare?
Yes. Infant, toddler and booster seats are provided free of charge on request. Please tell us at booking, and where possible at least 24 hours ahead, so we can confirm the correct seat is fitted before pickup.
Chichester → Heathrow · 63 miles · reviewed 3 August 2026
Fixed fare from £112 saloon to £171 Executive MPV. All four Heathrow terminals — direct, no change. Door pickup across PO19, PO18 and PO20. Flight-tracked meet-and-greet on returns with 60 minutes' complimentary waiting. 24-hour dispatch, no late-night surcharge, and an extra hour built in automatically on every Goodwood race date.
Stansted Airport Taxi (QMH Technologies Ltd, Company No. 13506378) · TfL-licensed private hire operator · DBS-checked drivers · ULEZ-compliant fleet · corporate accounts available · 24-hour dispatch · Prices last updated: August 2026 · Last reviewed: 3 August 2026 · Author: Stansted Airport Taxi Route Team.
More from us: Gatwick Airport taxi · Stansted · Luton · Southend · Seaport transfers · Long-distance taxi
Sources cited on this page (all checked August 2026): rome2rio.com — road distances for the Downs route. railair.com — RA2 journey times, first and last coach, and fares set 13 October 2024. nationalexpress.com — the 14 towns with a direct Heathrow coach, and route 030 from Portsmouth The Hard. media.goodwood.com — the 2026 season dates. ons.gov.uk — Census 2021 population change for Chichester district and city parish. All fares of our own are computed from our published rate card at 63.0 miles and confirmed at booking against your postcode.
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