London Stansted Airport to Colchester
Colchester is about 56 km east of Stansted. The First Essex X20 bus costs a flat £3 and runs day and night, in about 1 h 50 by day. National Express 250 coaches take about 45 minutes from £11.40.
There is no sensible train from Stansted to Colchester. The rail route goes into London and back out again. Instead, a £3 bus crosses north Essex through Great Dunmow, Braintree and Coggeshall and runs through the night, while a faster coach does the trip in under an hour. Here is how the two compare, with the times from the current timetable.
How far is Colchester from London Stansted Airport?
Colchester is 56 km (35 miles) from London Stansted Airport by road, about 45 min by car outside rush hour. In a straight line it is 46 km. By public transport, First Essex Airlink X20 takes about 1h 50m and costs £3.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: First Essex Airlink X20 is the cheapest way at £3 (1h 50m, with no change). A private transfer from £93 saves roughly 25 min and takes you to the door. Timetable: Mon–Fri from Stansted 04:55, 06:20 … 22:00, then 23:15, 00:45, 02:45.
What it costs for your group
The bus / shuttle is charged per person, while a private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus / shuttle (per person) | Private transfer (per car) | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | £3 | £93 | Bus / shuttle |
| Couple · 2 travellers | £6 | £93 | Bus / shuttle |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | £12 | £93 | Bus / shuttle |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | First Essex Airlink X20 | From £3, about 1h 50m, no change needed. |
| Speed | National Express 250 | 45 min, from £11.4. |
| A group of 4 | First Essex Airlink X20 | Four tickets still come to about £12 — less than a car. |
| A late-night arrival | Pre-booked transfer | First Essex Airlink X20 stops overnight — timetable: Mon–Fri from Stansted 04:55, 06:20 … 22:00, then 23:15, 00:45, 02:45. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
Flat £3 single, paid by cash, contactless or the First Bus app. Daytime trips about 1 h 50 to Head Street and North Station; night trips about 74 min to Osborne Street.
Where to catch it: Stansted coach station, stop 14
Times: Mon–Fri from Stansted 04:55, 06:20 … 22:00, then 23:15, 00:45, 02:45
Best for solo & budget travellersBus / shuttle
From £11.40. Fastest journey 45 minutes, with a reserved seat and a hold-luggage allowance.
Where to catch it: Stansted coach station, opposite the terminal
Times: From the airport 01:00 to 22:00
Best for solo & budget travellersTrain
No direct train. Change at Liverpool Street; about 1 h 47 at best, advance fares from £29 (Trainline). Rarely the sensible choice.
Where to catch it: Stansted Airport station, below the terminal
Best for budget travellers near a stationPrivate transfer
From about £93 for a saloon, about £25–30 each split four ways. You can collect the car at 02:00 with a fare that was fixed at booking.
Where to catch it: Your driver waits in Stansted arrivals; the voucher gives the exact spot
Times: 24 hours
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsColchester & London in photos
Buying tickets in London
Trains. The Stansted Express and Greater Anglia accept contactless bank cards and phone wallets at the station gates. Since 8 March 2026 the fare is worked out by Transport for London's system. Tap in at the airport and out at your London station. To Liverpool Street it costs £21.00 off-peak, or £23.00 Monday to Friday between 06:30 and 09:30. Oyster cards are not valid to or from Stansted. You can use them on the Tube once you reach Tottenham Hale or Liverpool Street.
Advance Stansted Express singles start at £9.90 online, but they are tied to one train. Railcard discounts do not apply to contactless, so railcard holders should buy a ticket. CrossCountry trains (towards Cambridge and Birmingham) do not take contactless, so buy a ticket online, from the machines, or at the ticket office. The office is open 06:30–00:00 every day.
Coaches. National Express has desks and touch-screen machines in baggage reclaim and the arrivals hall. Booking online is cheaper, and the £1.50 booking fee is dropped when you are logged into My Account. A standard ticket is valid on a similar departure up to three hours either side of the booked one. For £5 more, Change & Go lets you board any coach within 12 hours either side. Flibco tickets are cheapest online and valid on any departure that day until 04:00 the next morning. First Essex X20 tickets cost £3 and you can pay the driver in cash or by contactless, or use the First Bus app.
Taxi scams & safety in London
Stansted has no rank of metered London black cabs. The airport's on-site car operator is Street Cars. Its desk is in the international arrivals concourse, and there is a courtesy phone in the domestic baggage reclaim area that rings the desk. Street Cars quotes a price for your exact address before you travel, takes cash or card, and its cars collect from right outside the terminal. Agree the fare at the desk before you go to the car.
In England a private-hire car must be booked through a licensed operator. Turn down anyone who approaches you in arrivals offering a ride. Pre-booked transfers and app cars use the collection points given in the booking, not the kerb. The most common expensive mistake here is not a scam at all: tapping an Oyster card at the station gate. Oyster is not valid at Stansted, so use a contactless bank card, a phone wallet or a paper ticket.
Step-free access in London
The rail station is directly under the terminal. The airport says the walk takes about two minutes and is step-free by lifts, escalators and ramps. The coach station is opposite the main terminal entrance and is also reached step-free.
- National Rail lists Stansted Airport station as step-free category A, with step-free access to every platform, lifts, accessible toilets, a Changing Places toilet and baby changing.
- Station staff are available around the clock, and the ticket office opens 06:30–00:00 daily. Induction loops are fitted.
- To book help with a train journey, email Greater Anglia's passenger assistance team ([email protected]) at least 24 hours before you travel.
- The airport says the coach station has a full range of accessibility services. For help inside the terminal, use the airport's Assisted Travel service.
Getting from STN to Colchester
East along the A120
Colchester is about 56 km east of the airport, reached by the A120 rather than anything in London. Public transport follows the same road. The railway does not. Trainline's planner sends rail passengers into London Liverpool Street and back out again, about 1 h 47 at best, with advance fares from £29. For most people that is not worth considering.
The X20: £3 across Essex
First Essex's Airlink X20 leaves from stop 14 at the Stansted coach station. It goes via Takeley, Great Dunmow, Braintree's bus interchange, Bradwell, Coggeshall, Marks Tey, Stanway and Lexden into Colchester. The fare is £3 single for any distance on the route, paid in cash or by contactless to the driver, or on the First Bus app. It is the cheapest ground transport from Stansted to almost anywhere.
The timetable valid from 31 August 2026 shows a daytime trip taking about 1 h 50 from the airport to Head Street in the town centre, finishing at North Station. Monday to Friday departures run at 06:20, 07:20, 08:45, 09:55, then roughly hourly through the afternoon (15:20, 16:20, 17:45, 18:50) and the evening (20:00, 21:00, 22:00). Some early departures run on school days only or in school holidays only, so check the timetable for your date.
Sundays and finding stop 14
On Sundays, X20 departures from the airport start at 06:37 and then run hourly, usually at 42 minutes past, through the afternoon and evening. There are later buses at 21:45 and 23:15, and night journeys at 00:45, 02:45 and 04:55. Stop 14 is in the Stansted bus and coach station, about two minutes' walk from the terminal. The station has a waiting area, a coffee shop, a newsagent and toilets, which helps when the next bus is 40 minutes away.
The night bus
The X20 runs through the night. Weekday departures from Stansted at 23:15, 00:45 and 02:45 go to Osborne Street in Colchester. With empty roads they take about 74 minutes. The first morning bus leaves at 04:55. Sunday has a similar overnight pattern. For anyone landing on a late flight and heading east, this matters: no other public transport covers this route at 02:45.
It is a bus, not a coach. There is luggage space, but no reserved seat. Settle in for the villages.
The faster option: National Express 250
If the clock matters more than the fare, National Express service 250 runs up to seven times a day from the airport to Colchester. Its fastest journey is 45 minutes and fares start at £11.40. The first departure is at 01:00 and the last at 22:00. Like other National Express services, it includes a reserved seat and a hold-luggage allowance, and you can buy tickets online or at the desks in arrivals.
Choosing between them
- Alone with a backpack and not in a hurry: the X20, for £3.
- Short of time, with a large case: the 250.
- Landing after 22:00: the X20 night buses, unless a car is booked.
Car and taxi
Comparison sites list private transfers to Colchester from about £93, with a journey time estimated at about 1 h 25. Street Cars, the airport's own operator, covers Essex destinations and quotes per journey from its desk in the arrivals concourse. For three or four people sharing, a car works out at about £25 to £30 each. That is less than the advance train fare and quicker than the X20.
Arriving in Colchester
Daytime X20s stop on Head Street, close to the high street and the castle, before finishing at North Station for trains to Ipswich, Norwich and London. Night journeys end at Osborne Street, near the town centre. If you are staying elsewhere on the route, the same £3 fare applies: Great Dunmow, Braintree and Coggeshall all have stops on the main roads through town, so the X20 also works as a cheap airport link for those towns as well as for Colchester itself.
STN to Colchester — FAQ
How far is Colchester from Stansted Airport?
What is the cheapest way from Stansted to Colchester?
What is the fastest way?
Is there a direct train from Stansted to Colchester?
How much is a taxi from Stansted to Colchester?
When is the last bus from Stansted to Colchester?
I land at 1am. Can I still get to Colchester?
Sources
Fares and times on this page were last held against their official sources on 21 October 2026. Operators change prices without notice — if you spot a difference, the operator’s own page is the authority. How we check fares.
- First Essex — Airlink X20 Colchester to London Stansted Airport · checked 2026-10-21
- First Essex — X20 timetable (Mon–Fri, valid from 31 Aug 2026) · checked 2026-10-21
- London Stansted Airport — travel by bus or coach (National Express, Flibco, First Essex) · checked 2026-10-21
- National Express — Stansted to Colchester (service 250) · checked 2026-10-21
- Trainline — Stansted Airport to Colchester train times and fares · checked 2026-10-21
- Kiwitaxi — Stansted to Colchester private transfer prices · checked 2026-10-21
- London Stansted Airport — taxi services (Street Cars desk, courtesy phone) · checked 2026-10-21
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