London to / from Dover By Train
Fastest Transport Between Dover And London With A Choice Of 3 Routes
 |
Key Points Of Traveling By Train
The fastest way to travel between Dover and London is by train. Rail is often faster than hiring a private car into or out of Central London. Train services are faster and more frequent than the alternative bus public transport between Central London and Dover, but normally much more expensive.
There are no direct trains between Dover and London's airports, (nor are there any buses). You will have to travel into Central London then out to your required airport as a separate journey. It is possible to travel between Dover and Gatwick Airport without going into London, but this requires at least two changes of train.
Key points about using trains between London and Dover are:
-
Although there is a choice of three different routes ticketing is totally integrated, even if you have to use different companies to complete your journey they will be combined on a single ticket. There are no special ticket kiosks for each train company.
-
Your ticket just gives you the right to travel between the two points on your ticket. There are no reserved seats and unless there are specific restrictions on your ticket you can ride any train on the route stated on your ticket.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Advance Purchase Ticket Collection Machines |
-
Luggage is only limited by the amount that you can personally carry onto the train. Assume you will not get any assistance at all with your luggage.
-
There are no true etickets at the moment where the ticket is emailed to you on purchasing. However, you can order tickets on-line and collect your tickets in London or Dover from machines at the railway stations. There are such machines at Dover, London St Pancras, London Victoria, London Charing Cross and Gatwick airport, but not Heathrow airport.
-
Unlike the alternative National Express buses there are no specific senior's fares.
-
At Dover the train station is not next to any cruise terminal. There is no shuttle bus or public transport either to the cruise terminals, a 5 minute taxi ride is your only option. A shuttle bus runs between the station and the ferry terminal at Dover.
Train Fares
Train fares on UK railways are notoriously complicated.
Below are the standard ticket prices bought from the train station ticket office.
| Dover - Central London Public Transport (Indicative Adult price per person) | ||||
| Transport | Journey Time | One Way | Return |  |
| National Express Bus - Victoria | 165 mins | £6.50/£14.50* | £13.00/£24.40~ | |
| Dover - St Pancras Train | 70 mins | £36.20/£38.10* | £37.10/£75.40* | |
| Dover - Victoria Train | 120 mins | £31.20/£38.10* | £37.10/£65.60* | |
| Dover - Charing Cross Train | 110 mins | £31.20/£38.10* | £37.10/£65.60* | |
| * Train fares - cheapest price is off peak, second price is anytime fare ~ Bus fares - cheapest price is advance purchase 'funtime' fare, second is normal non-flexible fare Charing Cross - Dover trains operates via London Bridge Taxi required between Dover bus/rail station and cruise port - approx £7 per taxi |
||||
Off Peak & Anytime Train Tickets
| Off Peak | Buy any time, travel off-peak. these tickets may require you to travel at specific times of day, days of the week or on a specific route. Where there is more than one Off-Peak fare for a journey, the cheaper fare with more restrictions will be called Super Off-Peak. |
| Anytime | Buy any time, travel any time. Anytime fares are fully flexible tickets, with no time restrictions on when you can travel. With an Anytimeticket you can also break your journey at stations along the route of travel. |
 |
| Transfer options |
| Central London |
| Heathrow Airport |
| Gatwick Airport |
| Paris |
| Private Cars And Group Transfers |
Dover To/From Central London - Three Rail Routes to Choose From
There are three main trains between London and Dover.
The two services to Charing Cross and Victoria follow the same track for most of the way to London and are similarly priced and take similar lengths of time to complete the railway journey.
The London St Pancras to Dover service is much faster as the trains utilise the high speed tracks built for the Eurostar express trains between England and France.
You pay a small premium for this relative speed on the ticket. However, if you just miss one of these fast trains from Dover, you lose all that time advantage waiting for the next one.
For most people traveling to or from their accommodation in London the pragmatic choice is to identify which of Victoria, St Pancras, London Bridge or Charing Cross stations are closest to your hotel and select the train on this basis.
Both St Pancras and Victoria are major hotel districts in London. Kings Cross/St Pancras is particularly strong on budget accommodation options. Both are also excellent public transport hubs. Vixtoria has airport buses direct to all of London's four major airports. St Pancras has direct train connections to Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports.
Dover - London Timetables & Ticketing
Dover To/From Heathrow Airport
Heathrow is to the west of London, whilst Dover is the other side of London to the east. As a result all public transport options require journeys into London, connecting with other transport options to your eventual destination, there are no direct links.
Train is by far the fastest and most comfortable public transport option between Heathrow and Dover, but the big irritant with the journey is that the train stations that serve Dover in London are not the stations that serve Heathrow.
The fastest option is to use the Dover - St Pancras train service.
At St Pancras you have a choice of traveling to Heathrow. The London Underground runs direct between St Pancras and Heathrow stopping at countless stations taking a similar time to complete the journey as the much longer trip to Dover from St Pancras. Train carriages are invariably crowded on the London Underground, you may not get a seat for some of the journey and if you have more than one case its not a good experience dragging your luggage through ticket barriers and negotiating escalators and corridors within the Underground system. It is comparatively very cheap though.
The quicker, much more comfortable but more expensive option is to get the Underground or a black cab from the station rank between St Pancras and Paddington about 2 miles apart. The Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect are dedicated airport trains that shuttle between Paddington and Heathrow.
It should be pointed out that the alternative National Express bus option although much slower than train offers a seamless connection between Heathrow and Dover buses at Victoria Station under one roof.
Dover - Heathrow Train Timetables & Ticketing
Dover To/From Gatwick Airport
There are trains direct to Gatwick from Victoria, London Bridge and St Pancras each of which have connecting trains to Dover.
The cheapest tickets between Gatwick and Dover is for a route that avoids London altogether. You will need at least two changes of train at Redhill and Tonbridge and sometimes a third change of train at Ashford.
Dover - Gatwick Train Timetables & Ticketing
Taxi Cabs at Dover Between Rail / Bus Stations & Cruise Terminals
 |
| Typical Dover Taxi Cab |
Taxi cabs at Dover come in a wide range of sizes and shapes, the image left is fairly typical. If you have two cases per person and more than 2 people you may end up with multiple taxi cabs.
Its just a 5 minute drive between the cruise terminals at Dover to/from the railway and bus stations and ferry terminal. Dover Castle is up a steep hill out of town, a matter of taxi there, walk back perhaps.
For private transfers to London and its airports we have detailed pages discussing your choice of transfers between:
 |
Taxi Fares From Dover Cruise Terminal 2012 |
Taxi Cab Fares at Dover
All fares within Dover should be on a meter. Indicative fares to and from the cruise terminal are shown right.
For longer journeys outside Dover never leap into a taxi without agreeing the price before hand. Better still arrange your private car in advance, (see links above).
Although drivers may offer to accept your Euro or Dollar currency it will almost certainly be at a very, very poor exchange rate. Only do so as a last resort.
The Eastern Docks is where the ferry terminal is. The Ferry Terminal is a much busier place than the cruise terminal. If you are taking the National Express Bus to London its much nicer to get the bus from the ferry terminal than from the town centre.
The ferry terminal has toilets, coffee shops etc and is a relatively comfortable place to wait for the bus. The town centre bus stop is in a run-down area at the back of the shopping area.
The taxi rank at the cruise terminal is well marshaled. Porters from the ship will normally take your luggage as far as the taxi rank immediately outside the front doors of the cruise terminal.
It is customary to leave a small tip with cab drivers, (assuming they provide a good service).
Walking From/To Cruise Terminals
It is a couple of kilometres or well over a mile between the rail and bus stations and the cruise terminals. With luggage we would advise against walking. The taxi cabs really are not expensive and walking through the port is not the greatest way to end a cruise.
Dover Rail, Bus Station, Hotel & Cruise Terminal Map
 |
 |