From Gatwick Airport, take Thameslink to London St Pancras, about 44 minutes with six stops, and change there for Southeastern’s direct train to Canterbury West, a further 54 minutes. On the weekday timetable the full journey came to about 1h 49m, with roughly ten minutes allowed for the change.
Departures from Gatwick Airport on this route were about hourly from 05:19 to 21:46. Most left at 46 minutes past, but some went earlier, at 08:36, 10:36, 14:36 and 15:36, and two left in the four o’clock hour, at 16:16 and 16:53. Because of that uneven spacing, look up the exact minute of the Gatwick departure you want rather than assuming it leaves at 46 minutes past.
The change happens inside one station: Thameslink brings you into London St Pancras and the Canterbury train leaves from there, with no transfer to another London terminus. The onward train is the same direct Southeastern service that runs from St Pancras to Canterbury West all day. Ten minutes is a slim margin, though, and if the Thameslink run up from Gatwick is delayed, the following Southeastern departure for Canterbury West tends to be about an hour later.
Journeys from the airport via London Victoria or London Bridge take a little over two hours or more, and four departures, the first at 08:22, went via Redhill and Tonbridge in around 2h 15m. None of them is quicker than changing at St Pancras.
By road the 69 miles via the M2 take about an hour and a quarter, so if you have a car at Gatwick it will beat the train by roughly half an hour.
Your journey from Gatwick ends at Canterbury West, which is about 14 minutes on foot from the Buttermarket, a walk of just over a kilometre. Counting that walk, allow a little over two hours from the airport station to the Buttermarket.
Journey times and changes below come from the rail and bus timetables for Tuesday 1 December 2026. Weekend and holiday timetables differ, so check the day you travel.
From Gatwick Airport on the weekday we checked: about hourly between 05:19 and 21:46.
By road it is about 69 miles from Gatwick Airport to Canterbury, mostly via the M2 — roughly 1h 15m with clear roads. Car parks in Canterbury are listed on the Getting Here page.