Car rental at Gatwick Airport

From £22 per day, Rent-Trip offers car rental at Gatwick Airport with 147 cars available for self-drive hire. We deliver the car to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and to any address in London, with the delivery address, date and time agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

How car rental at Gatwick Airport works with delivery

Car rental at Gatwick Airport in London works without a desk in the terminal — the car is brought to the address you give, and that address is agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.

Where the car is handed over for car rental at Gatwick Airport

Rent-Trip delivers to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and to any address in the city; the exact address is agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed. What you give Rent-Trip is a place, not a postcode puzzle: a terminal, a hotel entrance or a residential street all work the same way — the meeting point is confirmed in the conversation that fixes the booking, and the hand-over time is built around your arrival rather than around a counter's opening hours.

Gatwick sits 48.6 km from central London by road, roughly 70 minutes without traffic, so a delivery slot that ignores the M25 rush is the single most common reason a hand-over slips. Name the address before you choose the class — the address decides the delivery time, not the other way round.

What is agreed before your car rental at Gatwick Airport is confirmed

• Delivery address, date and time: agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed, so the car arrives where you actually are.
• Rental agreement: the deposit, the insurance excess and any fees are set out in it — we do not quote them separately.
• Fuel policy: full-to-full is the only option on this site, so the terms of the tank are fixed before you drive off.
• Driver and payment details: the minimum rental age, the young-driver surcharge and the cards accepted are agreed when booking.
• Delivery outside our listed places: arranged case by case and never promised on the site.

Anything discussed but left out of the rental agreement is not fixed — check that every point you settled with the manager appears in the document you receive.

Fuel and condition at hand-over for car rental at Gatwick Airport

The car comes clean with a full tank and must be returned with a full tank — full-to-full is the only fuel option we offer. No pre-paid tank and no full-to-empty: the rule is the same whether you keep the keys for two days or three weeks. If the tank comes back short, the missing fuel and a refuelling service fee are charged as set out in the rental agreement. In our experience the tank question is where most disputes start, and it is also the easiest to avoid, because the arithmetic is visible at both ends of the booking.

Fuel prices change week to week, so a last fill-up before return is a small, predictable cost. Fill up at the last station before the airport rather than at the terminal forecourt — the difference in price per litre is worth the five minutes.

Choosing a car for car rental at Gatwick Airport

With 147 cars across 14 classes, car rental at Gatwick Airport in London comes down to three things: how many seats you need, what fuel you want and whether you drive an automatic or a manual.

Classes and daily rates for car rental at Gatwick Airport

The «from» figure is the bottom of a class, not the typical car in it: the spread inside one class is often wider than the gap between neighbouring classes.

Seats, fuel and gearbox across the fleet

• Seats: the fleet runs from 2 to 17, with 98 five-seat cars, 18 four-seat, 15 two-seat, 9 seven-seat and single figures above that.
• Gearbox: 101 cars are automatic and 46 are manual, so an automatic is the easier default for a first drive on the left.
• Fuel: 100 cars run on petrol, 24 on diesel, 13 are hybrids and 10 are electric, the last group starting at £71 a day.
• Body style: 37 SUVs, 28 hatchbacks, 19 sedans, 17 crossovers, 15 convertibles and 12 coupes cover most of the fleet.
• Brands: 32 manufacturers are represented, from Hyundai and Kia to Volkswagen, Toyota, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Five-seat cars make up 98 of the 147, so if you are travelling as a group or with bulky luggage, search for a seven-seater deliberately rather than taking what is left.

Named models in the fleet

The Hyundai Kona and the Kia Rio cost £36 and £31 a day on this page, while the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ sits at the top at £3,300. Between the two ends sit the cars most people actually book: the Volkswagen Polo at £23, the Ford Focus at £24, the Toyota Corolla hybrid at £31 and the Vauxhall Astra at £27. The Kona is a Crossover with five seats, petrol and a manual gearbox — a bigger body at Economy money, which in our experience is the most practical pick for a family of four landing at Gatwick. The Volkswagen Golf Estate follows at £31 with 130 hp and a 1.5 L engine, and the Toyota Yaris at £25 brings a hybrid automatic. Above that, the Volkswagen ID.4 is electric at £171, the Volkswagen Sharan carries seven on diesel at £44, and the Ford Transit 17 Seater at £138 covers a full group.

For a longer stay or a bigger boot, the Kia Ceed Sportswagon at £31 and the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports at £36 are estates rather than hatchbacks.

Rent-Trip keeps the model list on the page rather than promising a specific registration — the exact car is confirmed with the manager. If the model matters to you more than the class, say so before the booking is agreed: swapping within a class after the fact is not something the page guarantees, and it is easier to arrange up front than on the day. Check the exact model with the manager before you settle on a class.

Longer bookings of car rental at Gatwick Airport

A week or a month of car rental at Gatwick Airport is priced from the daily rate by a fixed multiplier, not left open to negotiation. Weekly bookings start from £132 and monthly bookings from £462, and both are worked out from the same daily figure you see on the car.

Weekly and monthly car rental at Gatwick Airport

Weekly car rental at Gatwick Airport is charged at the daily rate × 6, and monthly car rental at Gatwick Airport at the daily rate × 21. Take the Citroen C3 Aircross or Fiat 500 at £22 a day: a week comes to £132 and a month to £462, which is the lowest long-stay figure on this page. The multiplier is the same across all fourteen classes, so a Comfort car at £23 a day runs to £138 for the week and £483 for the month, while a Premium model from £55 a day reaches £330 weekly and £1,155 monthly. The arithmetic holds for the top of the range too — the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ at £3,300 a day is £19,800 for a week and £69,300 for a month. Because the multiplier never changes, the cheapest way to hold a car for a fortnight is to compare classes rather than to hunt for a separate long-stay tariff. In our practice, travellers who fix the class first and the dates second spend less time on the phone with the manager.

Why we count a month as 21 days

The 21-day month is not a discount we invented for this page — it is how the rate card is built, and it means a month of car rental at Gatwick Airport costs the same as 21 separate days rather than 30. A daily rate of £22 therefore gives £462 for the month, and £171 daily for a Volkswagen ID.4 gives £3,591. Anyone staying in the city longer than three weeks should compare the monthly figure against the weekly one stacked up: four weeks at × 6 comes to 24 daily rates, while the monthly rate is 21, so the monthly booking is the better structure once the stay passes roughly three and a half weeks. We quote both on request so the difference is visible before you commit.

What to settle before a long booking

• Delivery address: the same address rules apply to a month as to a weekend; the place, date and time are agreed with a manager before the booking is fixed.
• Return date and time: the multiplier applies to the booked period, so shifting the return by a day changes the total — agree the exact date and time with a manager when booking.
• Fuel: full-to-full applies however long you keep the car — it comes clean with a full tank and goes back full.
• Deposit, excess and fees: these are set out in the rental agreement, not quoted as a figure here.
• Class availability: 147 cars are listed on this page across 14 classes, so a long booking on a rare class is worth raising early.

Long stays and the London charges

A month behind the wheel in London means the Congestion Charge and ULEZ are part of the planning, not an afterthought. The Congestion Charge runs £18 daily, or £21 if paid by midnight on the third day after the trip, between 07:00 and 18:00 Monday to Friday and 12:00 to 18:00 at weekends and on bank holidays, and it is not charged from 25 December to the New Year bank holiday inclusive. ULEZ is £12.50 daily for non-compliant vehicles, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, apart from 25 December. Over 21 days those daily charges add up quickly for a car that enters the zones, so map the route before you choose the class. Who pays road charges, tolls and penalty notices on a rental car is agreed when booking — it is not something this page decides for you.

Driving a car rental at Gatwick Airport into central London

Gatwick sits 48.6 km by road from the centre, and the drive takes about 70 minutes without traffic — so the first thing to settle is not the route but when you land. Traffic drives on the left in the United Kingdom, every car we supply is right-hand drive, and the Highway Code (rule 160) puts you on the left of the road unless signs and markings say otherwise.

Leaving London Gatwick Airport (LGW)

London Gatwick Airport (LGW) handled 42,775,241 passengers in the last full year of records, and the M25 ring is where most of them end up pointing. Two charges apply inside that ring, not on the M25 itself, and who pays them is agreed when booking: the Congestion Charge at £18 daily when paid on the day of travel or in advance, £21 if paid by midnight on the third day after, running 07:00–18:00 Monday to Friday and 12:00–18:00 on Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays, and not charged from 25 December to the New Year bank holiday inclusive. ULEZ is £12.50 daily for non-compliant vehicles, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except 25 December, across all 32 boroughs. Who pays road charges, tolls and penalty notices on a hired car is agreed when booking — it is not something this page decides for you.

• Congestion Charge zone: inside the Inner Ring Road — Pentonville Rd, City Rd, Old St, Commercial St, Mansell St, Tower Bridge Rd, New Kent Rd, Elephant & Castle, Kennington Ln, Vauxhall Bridge Rd, Park Ln, Edgware Rd, Marylebone Rd, Euston Rd run outside it or along its boundary.
• ULEZ compliance: petrol cars and vans from Euro 4 (roughly 2006 onwards), diesels from Euro 6 (September 2016), motorcycles Euro 3 — check the plate on the TfL vehicle checker before you drive in.
• Dartford Crossing (Dart Charge): £3.50 per crossing for class B cars, £2.80 if you pre-pay, usually 06:00–22:00 every day; pay by midnight the following day.
• Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels: £4.20 at peak — northbound 06:00–10:00 and southbound 16:00–19:00 on weekdays — £1.55 off-peak with Auto Pay, from 21 September 2026.

Into the centre with car rental at Gatwick Airport

Motorway speed limits are the ones to watch on the approach: 70 mph on a motorway and on a dual carriageway, 60 mph on a single carriageway, and 30 mph (48 km/h) in built-up areas across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. On lit roads 30 mph applies by default unless signs say otherwise, and many zones in the capital sign 20 mph — the signs beat the default. Holding a phone, satnav or tablet while driving is banned even at a red light: £200 and 6 penalty points, and a driver who passed the test less than 2 years ago loses the licence. Seat belts are compulsory where fitted; children need a child seat until they reach 135 cm or turn 12, whichever comes first, with a fine of up to £500.

Roundabouts are the other adjustment: give way to traffic approaching from the right (Highway Code, rule 185) and travel clockwise around the island.

What to check before you set off

• Foreign licence: a full valid foreign licence can be used for 12 months from your last entry into Great Britain.
• Alcohol: England, Wales and Northern Ireland allow 80 mg per 100 ml of blood, 35 µg per 100 ml of breath, 107 mg per 100 ml of urine; Scotland's limit is lower at 50 / 22 / 67.
• Fuel: fuel prices change week to week — fill up outside the centre, where forecourts are easier to reach.
• Return address: the drop-off point is agreed with a manager when booking, not chosen on the day.

Rules for car rental at Gatwick Airport

Car rental at Gatwick Airport in London comes down to three sets of rules: what you may drive on, how you must drive, and what the rental agreement covers. The first two are set by law; the third is agreed when booking.

Driving on a foreign licence

A full, valid foreign licence is enough to drive in England, Wales and Scotland for 12 months from the date you last entered Great Britain. This page does not mention an international driving permit, and no minimum or maximum age is stated here — those details are agreed with a manager when booking. What the licence must be is full and current: a provisional or expired document is not a licence to drive on. Keep the plastic card with you in the car, because it is the document a police check asks for first.

The rules of the road that catch visitors out

• Keep left: drive on the left unless signs or markings say otherwise (Highway Code, rule 160), and turn closer to the left kerb (rule 183) — the single habit that decides your first mile from Gatwick.
• Roundabouts: traffic already circulating approaches from your right and has priority (rule 185), so you give way to it and keep the island on your right as you go.
• Speed limits: 30 mph in built-up areas, 60 mph on a single carriageway, 70 mph on a dual carriageway and 70 mph on a motorway; on lit roads the limit is 30 mph unless signs say otherwise.
• Phones: holding and using a phone, satnav or tablet is banned even while stopped at lights — £200 and 6 penalty points, and a driver within 2 years of passing their test loses the licence; hands-free is allowed if the device does not block your view.
• Drink-driving: the limit is 80 mg per 100 ml of blood, 35 µg per 100 ml of breath and 107 mg per 100 ml of urine; Scotland is stricter at 50 / 22 / 67.
• Seat belts and child seats: a belt is compulsory where fitted, and a child needs a car seat until reaching 135 cm or turning 12, whichever comes first — up to £500.

Many streets in the capital are signed at 20 mph, so read the signs rather than assume the national figure — the sign always wins over the default.

Charges that come with the road

The Congestion Charge is £18 a day if you pay on the day of travel or in advance, and £21 if you pay by midnight on the third day after the trip. ULEZ is £12.50 a day for vehicles that do not meet the standards, round the clock except 25 December, across all 32 boroughs. The Dartford Crossing (Dart Charge) is £3.50 per crossing for cars, or £2.80 with a pre-pay account.

Who pays road charges, tolls and penalty notices on a hired car is not fixed by the page — it is agreed when booking, and the same goes for the deposit, the excess and any delivery fee, which are set out in the rental agreement. If you plan to drive into the centre, check the vehicle against the TfL vehicle checker before you set off: a car that fails the ULEZ standard turns a short trip into a daily charge.

Comparing classes for car rental at Gatwick Airport

The 14 classes on this page start anywhere from £22 to £954 a day, and the cheapest of them sit close together, so the honest way to pick one is to start from the trip rather than the badge. A Crossover from £22 and an Economy from £22 open the range, Comfort from £23 follows, and the next step up is SUV at £34 — the gap between Comfort and SUV is wider than the gap between Crossover and Comfort.

Trip scenarios and the class that fits them

• Two adults, city break, 3-4 days: Economy or Crossover, from £22 a day — the Kia Rio and Hyundai Kona both carry five, and a small body is easier in London traffic.
• Family of four with luggage: Comfort, from £23 — the Volkswagen Golf Estate is an estate, not a hatchback, and the boot matters more than the badge.
• Seven travelling together: Minivans, from £44 — the Volkswagen Sharan and Peugeot 5008 both seat seven, and the Ford Galaxy at £79 is another diesel option.
• Group of nine or more: Passenger vans, from £90 — the Ford Tourneo seats 9 and the Ford Transit 17 Seater covers 17.
• Airport run with a client: Premium or Sedan, from £55 and £36 — the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series are sedans, the BMW X1 and Audi Q3 premium crossovers.
• A drive you will remember: Sports from £404 or Exotic from £954 — the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Ferrari Portofino sit in different classes for a reason.

Where the money actually goes

The spread inside a single class is the thing to watch. Electric runs from £71 for a Nissan Leaf to £500 for a Porsche Taycan Turbo S; Convertibles from £80 for an Audi A3 Cabriolet to £987 for an Aston Martin DB11 Volante. Premium is the largest class on the page — 16 cars from £55 to £299 — and it holds both the BMW X1 and the Mercedes-Benz GLC. So a class name tells you the segment, not the car.

If a specific model is the point of the booking, say so before the booking is fixed: the exact model is confirmed with the manager, and moving between models inside a class afterwards is not something the page promises.

Automatic or manual for a first drive on the left

101 of the 147 cars are automatic and 46 are manual, so the default is on your side. The Rent-Trip view is simple: if you have never driven on the left, take the automatic and spend your attention on the road, not on the gear lever.

The manual cars cluster in Economy and Crossover — the Kia Rio, Hyundai Kona, Volkswagen Polo and Peugeot 208 are all manual — while the hybrid Toyotas (Yaris, Corolla) and the electric cars are automatic. A manual is cheaper to book in some classes, but the first hour out of Gatwick is the wrong place to learn a new clutch.

Car rental at Gatwick Airport in London

The rental agreement is the only document that fixes anything, and it is the one to read before the keys change hands. The dates and times you booked are what the rate is calculated on, so a return moved by a day changes the total. The deposit, the insurance excess and any fees sit in the agreement itself and are not quoted as a figure on this page.

Points worth reading twice

• The period: the booked dates and times are what the rate is calculated on, so a return moved by a day changes the total.
• The fuel line: full-to-full is the only option on this site — the car comes clean with a full tank and goes back full, otherwise the missing fuel and a refuelling service fee are charged as set out in the rental agreement.
• What is not in it: anything you discussed with the manager but which does not appear in the document is not fixed — ask for it to be added before you sign.
• Charges on the road: who pays the Congestion Charge, ULEZ, tolls and penalty notices is agreed when booking, not decided by this page.
• Delivery outside the listed places: arranged case by case and never promised on the site.

The documents you drive on

A full, valid foreign licence covers you for 12 months from the day of your last entry into Britain, across England, Wales and Scotland. Nothing here requires an international driving permit, and no age band is printed on this page — the minimum age and the young-driver surcharge are agreed when booking. The card must be full and unexpired: a provisional or out-of-date one does not count. Keep it in the car, since a police check asks for it first.

Rules of the road the agreement does not spell out

The Highway Code covers the points the paperwork leaves out. Keep left unless signs and markings say otherwise (rule 160), and turn closer to the left edge (rule 183). On a roundabout, give way to traffic approaching from the right (rule 185) and travel clockwise. Speed limits are 30 mph in built-up areas in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, 60 mph on a single carriageway and 70 mph on a dual carriageway or motorway; on lit roads 30 mph applies by default unless signs say otherwise, and many zones in the capital post 20 mph — the signs decide. Seat belts are compulsory where fitted, and children stay in a child seat until they reach 135 cm or turn 12, whichever comes first — up to £500. The alcohol limit is 80 mg per 100 ml of blood, 35 µg per 100 ml of breath and 107 mg per 100 ml of urine in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; in Scotland it is 50 / 22 / 67.

Conditions to check for car rental at Gatwick Airport

Most of the friction we see comes from four habits, and all four are avoidable before the plane lands. None of them is about the car — they are about the order in which things get settled.

Four habits that cost time

• Booking the class before the address: the delivery address decides the delivery slot, so name the place first and pick the car second.
• Leaving the model to chance: the page does not fix the exact model, so a specific model has to be raised with the manager before the booking is fixed.
• Driving into the centre without checking the plate: ULEZ is £12.50 a day for vehicles that do not meet the standard, and the TfL vehicle checker answers the question in a minute.
• Assuming the tank is included: full-to-full is the rule at both ends, and a short tank on return is charged as set out in the rental agreement.

Fill up at the last station before the airport rather than the terminal forecourt — fuel prices change week to week, and the difference at a motorway forecourt is worth the five minutes. Then check the return address with the manager: the drop-off point is agreed when booking, not chosen on the way back.