Getting to the airport is the part of any trip nobody budgets for. Yet the choice between driving and parking the car, catching the train, or booking a taxi can swing the cost by more than £100 before your holiday has even begun — and the cheapest option isn’t the one most people assume.
So we ran the numbers. For a family of four travelling to and from the ten busiest airports in the UK, we compared all three options on a strict like-for-like basis. The headline finding surprised even us:
Here’s the full picture, how we worked it out, and where each option genuinely makes sense.
What we compared
To keep things fair, every airport was measured against the same scenario:
- The travellers: a family of four — two adults and two teenagers — each paying the standard adult fare on public transport (a teenager needs a full ticket, but the taxi carries the whole family for one price).
- The journey: a return trip between the airport and its nearest major city centre.
- The three options: a pre-booked fixed-price taxi (a standard saloon, up to four passengers); the main public-transport link (train, tram or coach); and one week in the airport’s own official long-stay car park, booked a few days ahead.
- The prices: a June 2026 snapshot.
The single most important thing to understand is this: a train is priced per person, a taxi is priced per car. That one difference decides almost every result below.
Taxi vs train vs parking: the full table
| Airport | Return taxi (up to 4) | Public transport (4 people, return) | 1 week’s parking | Cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | £120 | £200 — Heathrow Express | £170 | Taxi |
| Gatwick | £130 | £193 — Gatwick Express | £140 | Taxi |
| Stansted | £130 | £172 — Stansted Express | £90 | Parking |
| Luton | £130 | £159 — Thameslink + DART | £85 | Parking |
| Manchester | £48 | £44 — train to Piccadilly | £110 | Train |
| Birmingham | £44 | £36 — train to New Street | £115 | Train |
| Edinburgh | £44 | £28 — Airlink 100 bus | £100 | Bus |
| Glasgow | £44 | £76 — Airport Express 500 | £95 | Taxi |
| Bristol | £44 | £56 — A1 Flyer bus | £115 | Taxi |
| Liverpool | £44 | £28 — airport bus | £80 | Bus |
The big one: a taxi usually beats a week’s parking
This is where the per-car advantage shows most clearly. Leaving your car at the airport for a week is one of the most expensive ways to travel — and at eight of the ten airports we looked at, a return taxi for the whole family came in cheaper than parking.
The gap is widest at the regional airports, where the taxi into town is short and cheap but parking still runs to three figures. At Birmingham, a week’s official parking is around £115, while a return family taxi to the city centre is just £44 — a £71 difference, and you skip the drive entirely. Only Stansted and Luton, with relatively cheap long-stay car parks, came out ahead of the taxi.
And that’s before the newest sting: drop-off charges. Even if a friend gives you a lift, most UK airports now charge just to pull up outside — Gatwick asks £10 for ten minutes, while Heathrow and Luton charge £7. So “getting a lift” isn’t free either.
Where the taxi beats the train
For a family of four, a taxi beat the train or coach at six of the ten airports — and the gap can be dramatic. The standout is Heathrow: four near-adult Heathrow Express fares add up to about £200 return, against £120 for a taxi that takes all four of you door to door. That’s an £80 saving, no luggage-wrangling on a platform, and no per-person maths.
The pattern repeats at every London airport and at the two regional airports with pricier coach links — Glasgow, where the Airport Express 500 adds up across four tickets, and Bristol, served by the A1 Flyer bus rather than a train. The more people in your group, the wider the gap, because the train bill multiplies and the taxi fare doesn’t.
Where public transport still wins
It’s only fair to say where the train comes out on top — because at some airports it genuinely does. Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Liverpool all have cheap, short links into the city — a few pounds per ticket — so even four fares can undercut a taxi on pure cost.
The honest takeaway: if you’re a solo traveller heading to a city-centre station near a cheap airport rail link, the train is hard to beat. But the moment you’re carrying luggage, travelling as a family, heading somewhere that isn’t the main station, or flying at an awkward hour, the taxi’s flat per-car price and door-to-door convenience usually win — and against parking, it wins almost everywhere.
So what should you actually book?
Travelling as a family or group? A fixed-price taxi is almost always the cheapest and the easiest — one price for the car, no per-person tickets.
Thinking of driving and parking? Check a taxi first. At most airports a week’s parking costs more than a return transfer — and you avoid the drive, the fuel and the drop-off charge.
Travelling solo to a cheap rail link? The train may well be your best bet, especially at Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh or Liverpool.
Whatever you choose, the figures move constantly, so it pays to check live prices before you travel.
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Prices are illustrative and for comparison only. Taxi fares shown are Direct Airport Taxi guide prices for a standard saloon (up to 4 passengers), taken as a return; public-transport fares and airport parking costs are indicative figures correct as of June 2026 and change frequently with date, demand and how far ahead you book. Always check live prices before travelling.