Gatwick Airport parking - shop around in one search, compare the latest prices from 8 leading sites and find the cheapest deal.

Gatwick Airport Parking Guide

Gatwick has two terminals, North and South, so always check which terminal your flight uses before booking. Some car parks serve both terminals, while others are terminal-specific. If you are flying from Gatwick North Terminal or Gatwick South Terminal, our terminal pages can help narrow the choices.

Gatwick's own parking range includes Short Stay, Mid Stay, Long Stay, Valet and Robotic Parking. Airport Parking Shop mainly compares third-party products and booking companies at Gatwick, so if an official Gatwick product interests you, it is worth checking Gatwick's own website alongside an Airport Parking Shop search.

The rest of this guide takes you through the five things that matter most: parking type, how far ahead to book, official versus third-party parking, the features that affect convenience, and why comparing more than one booking site can save money.

How to choose the cheapest Gatwick Airport Parking?

Used to just rocking up to the official Gatwick Airport parking on the day and paying as you enter? Perfectly understandable as you just want to relax and enjoy your holiday; however, by using Airport Parking Shop and a tiny bit of planning, you can save money and perhaps find an option better suited to you.

A comparison: Just rolling up to Short Stay at either terminal costs £70 for the first day and then another £70 per additional day — that’s £490 for a week. Long Stay roll-up is £38 for the first 24 hours and £32 for each additional day — £230 for a week. Our lowest price last week was £21.00 for a 7-day stay.

Tempted? Then, whether it is the nearest car park or the cheapest, we give you the answers below in just five bite-sized chunks.

1 – Understand Your Parking Type Options (and what’s usually cheapest)

Quick Insights

Park & Ride is usually one of the cheapest choices because the car is stored further from the terminal, while walkable Short Stay and premium Valet products usually cost more for the extra convenience.

A Deeper Dive

(but don’t worry you will be back to the surface in no time)

The main parking types you will see at Gatwick are:

• Short Stay / Multi-Storey — park close to the terminal and walk to departures. Gatwick quotes around a 4-minute walk for its official Short Stay car parks.
• Mid Stay — a walkable official option between Short Stay and Long Stay. Gatwick now has Mid Stay parking for both North and South terminals, each around a 6-minute walk.
• Long Stay / Park & Ride — park further away and take a shuttle bus. Long Stay is the name normally used for Gatwick's official airport car parks; Park & Ride is more common among third-party operators.
• Meet & Greet — drive to a meeting point near the terminal, hand over your keys and let the operator take your car to its storage site.
• Valet Parking — Gatwick's premium official version of Meet & Greet, with a designated handover area and around a 2-minute walk to the terminal.
• Robotic Parking — Gatwick's newer South Terminal-side option. You drive into a parking cabin, keep your keys, and a robot moves the vehicle into storage for you.

If you are travelling with the family or lots of luggage, Meet & Greet or Valet can make life easier. If price matters more than shaving a few minutes off the journey, Park & Ride is often the better-value choice.

Gatwick Airport Car Park Specifics

First things first: London Gatwick has a North and South Terminal. Some products are terminal-specific, while many third-party Park & Ride and Meet & Greet services cover both.

Walkable Official Parking
• Short Stay North / Short Stay South — around a 4-minute walk.
• Mid Stay North / Mid Stay South — around a 6-minute walk.
• Robotic Parking — around a 6-minute walk to the South Terminal, with a free shuttle option also available.

Park & Ride (Official)
• Long Stay North — around 10–12 minutes by shuttle, with buses typically every 10–12 minutes.
• Long Stay South — around 5–10 minutes by shuttle, with buses typically every 10–12 minutes.

Park & Ride (Third Party)
• APH Gatwick — around 10–12 minutes by shuttle, usually every 10–15 minutes.
• Cophall Parking Gatwick — around 10 minutes by shuttle, with an on-demand 24-hour transfer service.
• Gatwick Purple Parking — around 10 minutes by shuttle, with roughly three buses an hour.
• Gatwick Holiday Parking — around 7 minutes to North Terminal and 15 minutes to South Terminal, with shuttles around every 15 minutes.
• AVPS Park and Ride — around 10–15 minutes by shuttle; check your booking for current transfer details and any passenger or larger-vehicle supplements.

Meet & Greet / Valet
• Gatwick Valet — official Gatwick parking with a designated handover area and around a 2-minute walk.
• Current third-party options include Maple Parking Meet & Greet, I Love Meet & Greet and Sure Parking Meet & Greet, alongside products from APH, Easy Parking, FHR, LG Parking, ACE, Bubble, Meteor and others. Maple, I Love and Sure are also on Gatwick's current Approved Operator Scheme. Availability varies by date, terminal and booking company, so use the live search rather than relying on an old static list.

Approved Operator note: Gatwick's current Approved Operator Scheme lists Maple Parking, Sure Parking, Tudor Rose, APH and I Love Meet & Greet. That status is separate from Park Mark or membership of other parking trade bodies, and it can change, so do not assume an operator is Gatwick Approved simply because it appears on a comparison site.

Which parking type is cheapest?

Expect to pay more for convenience. Walkable Short Stay and Valet products are usually among the most expensive because they minimise the distance between your car and the terminal. Park & Ride is usually cheaper because the storage site is further away. Meet & Greet can sometimes be surprisingly competitive because your car may be stored off-airport even though you hand it over near the terminal.

There is no single cheapest product all year round. Prices change with dates, demand and availability, so the most useful comparison is the live price for your exact trip.

Using Airport Parking Shop

Tip: By default, Airport Parking Shop lists prices from low to high irrespective of parking type. If you already know what type you want, use Filter Results and select the relevant option under Parking Options.

2 – Plan to Book in Advance

Quick Insight

Start looking at least two weeks in advance, and earlier for school holidays or other busy travel periods.

(The Quick Dive-Down Part)

The most expensive way to park is usually to turn up on the day and pay as you enter. Just rolling up to Short Stay at either terminal costs £70 for the first day and then another £70 per additional day — £490 for a week. Long Stay roll-up is £38 for the first 24 hours and £32 for each extra day — £230 for a week. Our lowest price last week was £21.00 for a 7-day stay.

Pre-booking also gives you more choice. The cheapest products can sell out first, especially around school holidays, bank holidays and summer weekends. Two weeks ahead is a sensible starting point, but there is no magic day that is always cheapest, so search earlier if your dates are fixed.

Tip: If your travel plans may change, compare flexible and non-refundable rates rather than choosing purely on headline price. Paying a few pounds more for flexibility can be worthwhile.

3 – Compare Gatwick Official and Third-Party Parking

Quick Insight

Gatwick has a strong official parking range, but third-party Park & Ride and Meet & Greet can often be cheaper. Search Airport Parking Shop for third-party options, and if one of Gatwick's own products appeals to you, check Gatwick's direct price as well.

A Deeper Dive

(It is only snorkelling)

Gatwick's official range includes Short Stay, Mid Stay, Long Stay, Valet and Robotic Parking. Around the airport there is also a large network of independent Park & Ride and Meet & Greet operators.

Unlike some airports, Gatwick's own direct parking products are not consistently available through all of the booking companies Airport Parking Shop compares. That means the fairest way to shop is to run an Airport Parking Shop search for the third-party market and, if you are considering an official Gatwick product, check Gatwick's own website alongside it.

Why no third-party Short Stay? Short Stay depends on being physically close enough to walk to the terminal, so it is normally an airport-operated product. Independent operators tend to compete through Park & Ride, Meet & Greet and occasionally private walkable parking such as hotel or multi-storey car parks near the terminal.

Is official or third-party the cheapest?

There is no rule that official parking is always more expensive, but like-for-like third-party products are often cheaper because their storage land is further from the terminal. The trade-off is usually a shuttle journey or handing over your keys.

Compare the total cost and the actual process. A £5 saving is not much of a bargain if it adds an inconvenient transfer you would rather avoid; equally, paying significantly more just to save a few minutes may not make sense if you are travelling light.

Using Airport Parking Shop

Airport Parking Shop groups products by what they actually do. Bus-served products sit under Park & Ride, terminal handover products under Meet & Greet, and walkable self-parking under on-airport or equivalent walkable categories. That makes it easier to compare like-for-like rather than getting distracted by branding.

4 – Compare Parking Features to Find the Best Value

Once you have chosen the parking type, compare the details that affect the journey:

• Transfer time and frequency: walk minutes or shuttle interval
• Terminal coverage: North, South or both
• Keys: keep them or leave them
• Booking flexibility: flexible versus pay-now/non-refundable
• Opening hours: particularly important for very early or late flights
• Accessibility: Blue Badge bays, step-free routes and suitable transfer vehicles
• Vehicle restrictions: height, width, length, vans and trailers
• Total price: check whether airport access, Short Stay or forecourt fees are included

Different product, same parking site or service

Airport parking can be confusing because a booking company may sell the same underlying parking operation under a different product name. That does not necessarily mean you are getting a different car park.

Using Airport Parking Shop

Tip: After searching, the important features are shown in the result cards and tabs, or under More Info. Check the exact product rather than relying on the operator name alone.

5 – Compare Sites to Find the Cheapest and Save More

Quick insight

Not every site sells every Gatwick car park, and the same underlying parking can be a different price depending on where you book it. Check more than one site — or save time by using Airport Parking Shop.

The Detail

(I ran out of deep dive riffs)

So, you are ready to save money — you have even planned out how many more drinks you can get at the pool bar. But then you Google Gatwick Airport parking, see a wall of booking sites, brands and product names, and your head starts to hurt. Which one is actually cheapest?

The airport parking market contains airport-owned car parks, national parking brands, local operators, Meet & Greet companies and booking sites that may sell the same underlying product under different rate names.

Not every site sells the same Gatwick car parks

The table below shows how widely a selection of current Gatwick products appears across the eight booking companies we compare. Availability for your exact travel dates can still vary.

Use a comparison site to cut through the noise

This helps, but it still does not guarantee that every car park or every rate is included. The same parking operation can also be sold by several booking companies at different prices or with different cancellation conditions.

How Airport Parking Shop Can Help

That is why Airport Parking Shop compares the comparison sites as well as the car parks. We do not own any car parks ourselves, so our job is to put the available options and prices next to each other and help you find the best fit.

• See more options from different parking operators and booking companies.
• Compare prices for the same or closely related parking product side-by-side.
• Compare like-for-like: Park & Ride with Park & Ride, Meet & Greet with Meet & Greet.
• Filter by parking type, customer reviews, provider and distance.
• Check product features before deciding whether the cheapest result is actually the best value for you.

What terminology is helpful to understand pricing?

One reason airport parking can look more complicated than it really is is that several different businesses and product names can sit between you and the physical parking space.

Which Gatwick parking needs to be pre-booked?

Gatwick Mid Stay, Valet and Robotic Parking are pre-booked products. Short Stay and Long Stay can accept drive-up parking, but pre-booking is normally cheaper and protects you against limited availability. Independent products have their own booking and cancellation rules, so check the exact rate before paying.

Accessible parking at Gatwick

Gatwick's official car parks provide Blue Badge spaces and accessible routes, and Long Stay buses are designed for passengers with reduced mobility. Third-party facilities vary more: APH offers wheelchair-accessible shuttles, while Cophall has a ground-level reception and accessible toilet but its minibus requires passengers to step up. If you need a specific type of assistance, check the exact product rather than assuming all Park & Ride buses are the same.

Electric vehicles and vehicle restrictions

Gatwick has EV charging in its Short Stay car parks, offers an EV charging add-on with Valet, and has a large GRIDSERVE charging forecourt near the South Terminal. Some independent products also offer EV charging: Arora has chargers in its multi-storey, while APH and AVPS sell EV-specific parking options. Height, length and vehicle-type restrictions vary considerably, so check before booking if you have a van, trailer, roof box or unusually tall vehicle.

More Information

Motorbike Parking at Gatwick

Head over to our Guide to motorbike parking at Gatwick Airport for details.

Hotels With Parking

Gatwick has a wide range of airport hotels, and some hotel packages include parking for the duration of your trip. If you are considering an overnight stay as well as parking, compare the total package cost rather than looking at the hotel and car park separately. You can also view the official Gatwick Hotels page.

Getting to or from Gatwick Airport

Gatwick's free inter-terminal transit shuttle operates 24 hours a day, runs every few minutes and takes around 2 minutes between North and South terminals. Gatwick railway station is at the South Terminal; if you need the North Terminal, follow the signs from the station and take the free inter-terminal shuttle. The Gatwick Airport Guide also contains useful information about travelling through the airport.