London Stansted Airport to London Victoria
Victoria is about 68 km from Stansted. The National Express A6 and A8 coaches go direct from £7. The fastest route is the Stansted Express to Tottenham Hale, then the Victoria line: about an hour for £22.10 off-peak on contactless.
Two National Express routes from Stansted end at Victoria, and both take the long way round. One goes through north-west London, the other through the East End and across the river. Each costs from £7. If you would rather pay about three times as much and arrive in about an hour, there is a train-and-Tube route charged as one contactless fare.
How far is London Victoria from London Stansted Airport?
London Victoria is 68 km (42 miles) from London Stansted Airport by road, about 1h 1m by car outside rush hour. In a straight line it is 51 km. By public transport, National Express A6 / A8 takes about 1h 35m and costs £7.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: National Express A6 / A8 is the one to take: £7 with no change, and only about 15 minutes slower than going by car. Timetable: 24 hours.
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 | £7 | £99 | Bus / shuttle |
| Couple · 2 travellers | £14 | £99 | Bus / shuttle |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | £28 | £99 | Bus / shuttle |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | National Express A6 / A8 | From £7, about 1h 35m, no change needed. |
| Speed | Train | 1h 1m, from £22.1. |
| A group of 4 | National Express A6 / A8 | Four tickets still come to about £28 — less than a car. |
| A late-night arrival | National Express A6 / A8 | It runs through the night (Frequent, 24 hours). |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
Advance fares from £7. A6 via Baker Street and Paddington; A8 via Shoreditch, Liverpool Street and Waterloo. Timings depend heavily on traffic.
Where to catch it: Stansted coach station, opposite the terminal
Times: 24 hours
Best for solo & budget travellersTrain
One contactless fare: £22.10 off-peak, £25.80 Mon–Fri 06:30–09:30. Tap in at the airport and out at Victoria. Oyster not valid at Stansted.
Where to catch it: Stansted Airport station, below the terminal
Times: From Stansted about 05:30 (05:55 Tue–Thu) until the last train at 00:30
Best for budget travellers near a stationTaxi
Quoted per address; about £105 to central London on independent estimates. Agree the price before you leave the desk.
Where to catch it: Street Cars desk, international arrivals concourse
Times: 24 hours
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Central London saloons from about £99. Suits families: car seats on request and luggage goes in the boot, not up Tube stairs.
Where to catch it: Arrivals meeting point named in your confirmation
Times: 24 hours
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsLondon Victoria & 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 London Victoria
Two coaches, two different Londons
If the budget is tight, the coach is the obvious way to Victoria. The question is which one. National Express runs two Stansted routes that finish there, and they hardly overlap.
- A6: Golders Green, Finchley Road, St John's Wood, Baker Street, Paddington, Victoria. Choose it for anywhere in north-west London or for a Paddington train.
- A8: Tottenham Hale, Stamford Hill, Dalston, Shoreditch, Liverpool Street, Southwark, Waterloo, Victoria. Choose it for Shoreditch or the South Bank.
Advance fares on both start at £7. National Express publishes no single timing to Victoria. Its fastest timed run from Waterloo, the stop before Victoria on the A8, to the airport is 1 hour 22 minutes. Reckon on an hour and a half or more to Victoria, and more in weekday evening traffic. Check if your booking shows Victoria Coach Station or another Victoria stop.
Booking like a regular
The £1.50 booking fee disappears if you are logged into a National Express My Account when you buy. The ticket includes one large suitcase up to 20 kg in the hold and one soft bag on board. Extra bags cost less if you add them online than if you pay on the day. Groups of four or more booking together get 33% off one-way tickets. Standard tickets allow travel on a comparable coach within a three-hour window around your booked time. If your flight is often late, the £5 Change & Go add-on stretches that to 12 hours either side.
At the airport, the coach station is opposite the terminal entrance, about two minutes' walk. National Express has desks and touch-screen ticket machines in both baggage reclaim and the arrivals hall if you have not booked. Advance fares are usually the cheapest.
The quicker route by rail
The fastest way to Victoria is not a through train. Take the Stansted Express to Tottenham Hale (32–34 minutes) and change to the Victoria line, which reaches Victoria in about 19 minutes. TfL's journey planner gives 61 to 64 minutes for the whole trip on a weekday afternoon. You tap a contactless card or phone once at the airport and once at Victoria. The single fare is £22.10 off-peak, or £25.80 Monday to Friday between 06:30 and 09:30. Oyster is not valid at Stansted, even though it works on the Tube.
For one person with a backpack, that is the trade-off: about £15 more than an advance coach seat, in exchange for half an hour or more and no traffic risk. For two people the difference roughly doubles, and the coach starts to look better.
Running the numbers for a group
For two people, two advance coach seats cost about £14, against £44.20 for two off-peak contactless fares to Victoria. For four, the National Express group discount takes 33% off one-way tickets, while four rail fares come to £88.40 off-peak or £103.20 in the morning peak. At that point a pre-booked car from about £99 is close to the rail total and takes everyone to the door. Every contactless fare is charged to its own card, so each traveller needs a card or phone of their own.
Landing late
The last Stansted Express towards London leaves at 00:30. National Express runs its London routes 24 hours a day, so a coach is still the answer after that. Overnight frequencies are lower than in the daytime, so check the journey planner before you settle in for a coffee.
Victoria by car
Victoria is on the far side of central London from Stansted. By road that means the M11 and then the whole width of the city. Comparison sites quote pre-booked saloons to central London from about £99. Street Cars, the airport's own operator, quotes per address from its arrivals desk. One independent estimate puts a taxi into central London at about £105. A car is the fixed-price option for a family with a lot of bags. It will rarely be the quickest.
Onward from Victoria
Victoria has mainline trains to Brighton and Gatwick, the Victoria, District and Circle lines, and the coach station for onward National Express services. If Victoria is only a connection, allow plenty of slack whichever way you arrive. A coach that is an hour late is not unusual on a Friday afternoon.
STN to London Victoria — FAQ
How far is Victoria from Stansted Airport?
What is the cheapest way from Stansted to Victoria?
What is the fastest way to Victoria?
How much does the train and Tube cost to Victoria?
How much is a taxi from Stansted to Victoria?
Which coach should I take, A6 or A8?
Can I get to Victoria after the last train?
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.
- National Express — Stansted Airport transfers (routes A6, A8, A9 and stops) · checked 2026-10-21
- National Express — Stansted Airport to London · checked 2026-10-21
- National Express — London Waterloo to Stansted · checked 2026-10-21
- National Express — London to Stansted · checked 2026-10-21
- London Stansted Airport — travel by bus or coach (National Express, Flibco, First Essex) · checked 2026-10-21
- TfL Unified API — single fare finder (pay as you go fares from Stansted Airport) · checked 2026-10-21
- TfL Journey Planner — sample journeys from Stansted Airport, 27 Oct 2026 · checked 2026-10-21
- London Stansted Airport — travel by train (Stansted Express, contactless, first/last trains) · checked 2026-10-21
- Kiwitaxi — Central London to Stansted private transfer prices · checked 2026-10-21
- Airmundo — London Stansted taxi price estimates · checked 2026-10-21
- London Stansted Airport — taxi services (Street Cars desk, courtesy phone) · checked 2026-10-21
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