How much is a taxi in Kensington?
From £30.00, the five-mile minimum, which covers most trips within Kensington or across to Chelsea, Knightsbridge or the West End. Heathrow is from £51.30 including the £7 drop-off charge.
Kensington Taxi: Fixed Fares for Local, Airport and Olympia Journeys
A pre-booked private hire car from any Kensington address, with the fare fixed before you travel. Local journeys from £30.00. Heathrow from £51.30, including the airport's £7 drop-off charge.
We cover W8 and SW7, SW5 at Earl's Court, and W14 for West Kensington and Olympia. Worth knowing that W14 sits just over the western boundary in Hammersmith and Fulham rather than the Royal Borough — the postcode decides the fare, not the borough.
Quick answers
- Local fare from
- £30.00 — the five-mile minimum covers most journeys inside Kensington
- Heathrow from
- £51.30, drop-off charge included
- Congestion Charge
- Not payable on a Kensington pickup — the zone starts at Park Lane
- Closest airport by road
- London City, marginally. Heathrow is the fastest
- Olympia car access
- Blythe Road or Sinclair Road. Olympia Way is closed to visitor vehicles
- Taxi ranks
- Yes, several — but a private hire car cannot use them
- Booking
- Online, phone or WhatsApp on +44 20 3617 7825
What a Kensington taxi costs
We quote from your postcode and vehicle class, then fix the figure. The minimum fare covers the first five miles, so most journeys within Kensington come in at the minimum.
| Journey | Saloon |
|---|---|
| Within Kensington, or to Chelsea, Knightsbridge or the West End | £30.00 |
| To the City | £32.60 |
| To Canary Wharf | £37.80 |
Airport fares, each including that airport's own drop-off charge:
| Airport | Distance | Saloon |
|---|---|---|
| London City | 14 mi | £49.70 |
| Heathrow T2 / T3 | 16 mi | £51.30 |
| Heathrow T4 / T5 | 18 mi | £53.90 |
| Gatwick | 30 mi | £72.50 |
| Luton | 34 mi | £76.70 |
| Southend | 43 mi | £87.40 |
All eight classes, at the Heathrow T2/T3 distance:
| Vehicle | Passengers | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Saloon | Up to 4 | £51.30 |
| Estate | Up to 5 | £53.05 |
| MPV5 | Up to 5 | £55.73 |
| MPV6 | Up to 6 | £58.00 |
| MPV7 | Up to 7 | £62.43 |
| MPV8 | Up to 8 | £64.59 |
| Executive | Up to 4 | £62.80 |
| Executive MPV | Up to 6 | £72.10 |
Luggage decides the class more often than headcount. We price W8, SW7 and W14 the same, because the difference between them is under a mile.
No surcharge for night, weekend or bank holiday travel, and no card fee.
Airport drop-off charges, and the Congestion Charge you do not pay
Five of the six London airports now charge vehicles to use the terminal forecourt. Each fare above has the right charge built in.
| Airport | Charge | Maximum stay | Free alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | £7 per entry | 10 min | Park & Ride, free drop-off |
| Gatwick | £10 for 10 min, then £1/min, £30 cap | 30 min | Long Stay, free up to 2 hours |
| Stansted | £10 to 15 min, £28 beyond | 30 min | Mid Stay, free up to 60 min |
| Luton | £9 for 12 min, then £1/min | 30 min | Long Stay, free up to 2 hours |
| Southend | £8 for 10 min | 10 min | None free |
| London City | £8 for 5 min, then £1/min | 10 min | None free |
None of these airports takes payment on site. They are camera-enforced and paid online afterwards, with penalties from £80 at Heathrow to £100 at Gatwick and Stansted.
Kensington sits outside the Congestion Charge zone
The charging zone covers the area inside the Inner Ring Road, and on this side of London it stops at Park Lane, Grosvenor Place and Vauxhall Bridge Road. W8, SW7, W14, SW5, Olympia and Knightsbridge all sit west of that line — the western extension that once covered the Royal Borough was removed in 2011.
So a pickup anywhere in Kensington carries no Congestion Charge. It only matters if your journey crosses Park Lane into Mayfair, Belgravia or the West End in charging hours: £18 a day, Monday to Friday 07:00 to 18:00 and 12:00 to 18:00 at weekends, with no exemption for private hire though licensed taxis keep one.
ULEZ covers every London borough, Kensington included. Our vehicles meet the standard, so the £12.50 charge never reaches your fare.
Where we collect across Kensington
Give the full address and postcode and we quote from that point.
- W8Kensington, W8 — Kensington High Street, Kensington Church Street, Holland Park, Kensington Palace and the streets around the Town Hall.
- SW7South Kensington, SW7 — the museum quarter, Exhibition Road, Queen's Gate, Imperial College and the Royal College of Music, and the hotel corridor along Cromwell Road, Gloucester Road and Courtfield Road.
- SW5Earl's Court, SW5 — including the redevelopment site, where construction began in 2026.
- W14West Kensington and Olympia, W14 — residential streets, Hammersmith Road and the Olympia estate.
- SW10 / SW5West Brompton, SW10 and SW5 — on the southern edge.
The museum quarter, the Royal Albert Hall and the hotels
South Kensington carries an unusual concentration of demand. The Natural History Museum on Cromwell Road is now the most-visited attraction in the UK, with 7.1 million visits in 2025. V&A South Kensington took 3.3 million, the Science Museum 2.6 million and the Royal Albert Hall 1.7 million — close to 15 million visits inside roughly a square mile. The district is now branded the South Ken Culture Quarter, and on Kensington High Street the Design Museum has occupied the former Commonwealth Institute building since 2016.
Two things worth planning around. The Royal Albert Hall runs over 390 events a year in its main auditorium, with the Proms from mid-July to mid-September and more than thirty events in December alone — an evening pattern that empties the Kensington Gore ranks quickly. And South Kensington Underground station is entering a major upgrade, with works starting before the end of 2026 and completion planned for 2031. Until then the pavements around Thurloe Street and Exhibition Road are busier than usual.
For hotel pickups, give the hotel name and the entrance. Several along Cromwell Road and Harrington Gardens have more than one.
Kensington Olympia: what changed, and where a car can actually go
Olympia has been through a £1.3 billion redevelopment and the practical details have all moved. Anything written before mid-2026 is out of date.
What is open now. The British Airways ARC, a 3,800-capacity live music venue, opened in June 2026, along with the restored Pillar Hall and the Canopy rooftop. A 204-room hotel followed in July. The British Airways Theatre, with 1,575 seats, opens in 2027.
That matters for transport because the venue is no longer only an exhibition hall. It now generates late-evening gig traffic several nights a week, which did not exist before June 2026.
Where vehicles go. This is the part that catches drivers out:
- Olympia Way is closed to visitor vehicles while it becomes a pedestrianised street.
- Car park access is from Blythe Road or Sinclair Road.
- On-site parking is Blue Badge holders only, pre-booked, for events in the main halls.
- The venue describes local street parking restrictions as extremely stringent.
- Pre-booked private hire drops at the Hammersmith Road entrance.
The station is not step-free. Kensington (Olympia) sits on the Mildmay line, which gained sixteen extra weekday peak services in May 2026. Mainline services also call, some running through to Gatwick. But the Underground serves Olympia only at weekends and on public holidays — the weekday service ended in 2011 — and the station has no step-free access at all. With luggage, a pushchair or a mobility need, that single fact is usually the reason to book a car.
Booking ahead matters most in early November, when the Spirit of Christmas Fair and the Luxury Travel Fair overlap, and in late November for the Ideal Christmas Show and the Cake & Bake Show.
Streets where access is controlled
Three places need a meeting point agreed in advance rather than an address alone.
Kensington Palace Gardens, W8 4QP — the embassy street. Both ends have armed police checkpoints and crash barriers, and vehicle access is controlled, so a car cannot simply drive on. Tell us at booking and we agree where to meet.
Kensington High Street — busy pavements, limited stopping. Give us a building number or a side street and the driver confirms the spot before arriving.
Olympia on an event day — agree the point when you book, not on the day. Hammersmith Road is the practical side.
Taxi ranks in Kensington, and why we cannot use them
Transport for London licenses every taxi, private hire driver, vehicle and operator in London. The Royal Borough does not license taxis or private hire — so there is no local authority to check with, and TfL publishes the rank list itself.
There are plenty of ranks nearby. On TfL's published list, Thurloe Place has thirteen spaces and Harrington Road at South Kensington station eleven, both around the clock. Kensington Road at the Broad Walk has twelve, Cromwell Gardens outside the V&A five, and Hammersmith Road at Olympia five.
Those are for licensed taxis only. A private hire vehicle cannot use a rank or be hailed — every journey has to be booked in advance through a licensed operator. That is a legal distinction, not a service limit. A rank gives you immediacy; pre-booking gives you a confirmed driver, a fixed price and a car sized for your luggage. For a flight, the second matters more.
Booking, vehicles and what is included
Saloon for up to four with normal bags. Estate for five, or four with more cases. MPV5 to MPV8 as the group grows. Executive and Executive MPV for premium travel.
In the fare: the door-to-door journey, the driver and car, and the airport drop-off charge where one applies. Airport arrivals add a name-board meeting, flight tracking and luggage help, with child seats free on request.
Not in the fare: stops added after booking, waiting beyond the included time, and the Congestion Charge if your route crosses the zone in charging hours.
To book, go online, or call or WhatsApp +44 20 3617 7825. Have your full address with postcode, the destination, date and time, passenger and luggage counts, and your flight number for an airport return.
Questions people ask
Do I pay the Congestion Charge on a Kensington pickup?
No. The zone stops at Park Lane and Grosvenor Place, and all of Kensington sits west of it. It applies only if your journey crosses into the zone in charging hours — £18 a day, and private hire is not exempt.
Which airport is closest to Kensington?
London City is marginally closer by road, but Heathrow is the faster journey — a single westbound run on the A4 and M4, with no central London crossing, no river crossing and no tunnel. Reaching London City means crossing London eastwards through the Limehouse Link and the A13, which takes longer and varies far more by time of day.
Is there a taxi rank in Kensington?
Several, and Transport for London publishes the list — Thurloe Place has thirteen spaces and Harrington Road at South Kensington station eleven, both 24 hours. They are for licensed taxis only. A private hire vehicle cannot use a rank or be hailed, so our journeys are pre-booked.
Can you collect from Kensington Olympia on an event day?
Yes, with the meeting point agreed at booking. Olympia Way is closed to visitor vehicles, car park entry is from Blythe Road or Sinclair Road, and pre-booked private hire drops at the Hammersmith Road entrance.
Does the station at Olympia have step-free access?
No. Kensington (Olympia) has no step-free access, and the Underground serves it only at weekends and on public holidays. With luggage, a pushchair or a mobility need, a car is usually simpler.
Can you pick up from Kensington Palace Gardens?
Yes, by arrangement. Both ends of the street have armed police checkpoints and controlled vehicle access, so a car cannot simply drive on. Tell us at booking and we agree a meeting point.
Do you cover West Kensington and Earl's Court?
Yes — W14 for West Kensington and Olympia, and SW5 for Earl's Court, along with parts of SW10 at West Brompton. W14 is in Hammersmith and Fulham rather than the Royal Borough, which makes no difference to the fare.
Sources
Checked 30 October 2026.
- Airport drop-off charges — each airport's own pages: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City and Southend. London City's own pages conflict on whether a charge applies.
- Congestion Charge zone boundary, the £18 rate from 2 January 2026, hours of operation, and the absence of a private hire exemption — TfL Congestion Charge. The western extension covering the Royal Borough was removed in 2011.
- ULEZ coverage of all London boroughs, the £12.50 charge and the emissions standards — TfL ULEZ.
- Taxi ranks, locations and space counts — TfL London taxi ranks booklet, version 15, correct as at 12 March 2025. That TfL licenses all taxi and private hire drivers, vehicles and operators in London — TfL taxi and private hire.
- Olympia's redevelopment, the opening of the British Airways ARC in June 2026 and the theatre in 2027, vehicle access from Blythe Road and Sinclair Road, the closure of Olympia Way, and Blue Badge-only parking — Olympia, getting here and Olympia's June 2026 openings.
- Mildmay line services at Olympia and the May 2026 peak increase — Rail Business Daily. No step-free access at Kensington (Olympia) — National Rail station information.
- 2025 visitor figures for the Natural History Museum, V&A South Kensington, the Science Museum and the Royal Albert Hall — ALVA annual figures, published March 2026, and the Natural History Museum's own release.
- South Kensington station upgrade, works from late 2026 and completion planned for 2031 — reported from TfL's contract award.
- Earl's Court planning permission, resolved by both boroughs in November and December 2025, with construction from 2026 — Earls Court Development Company.
- Kensington Palace Gardens' controlled access and embassy occupancy, and the borough boundary placing West Kensington in Hammersmith and Fulham — reference sources on the street and the district.
- Distances — best-supported third-party estimates. Not yet verified to publication standard; see the build note.
Last reviewed: October 2026
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