Cardiff to London runs about 6 times a day, with the first departure around 06:23 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays between €12.83 and €30.04, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 2h 19m over 222 km, on services run by 4 operators across 3 modes.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 4 operators and 3 ways of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares
€12.83 to €30.04
- 150%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Cardiff
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:23First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 6Services per day
- 33%Run direct
South Western Railway runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this journey
Bookaway lists departures for Cardiff to London on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Cardiff to London on Bookaway
Or compare on TrainlineOr compare on Trip.com
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
FlixBus runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this journey
Bookaway lists departures for Cardiff to London on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Cardiff to London on Bookaway
Or compare on TrainlineOr compare on 12Go
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Brittany Ferries runs this service and does not sell it here. AFerry takes the payment.
Buying this journey
AFerry holds the sailings between these two ports, with the crossing times and the fares.
See Cardiff to London on AFerry
Or compare on BookawayOr compare on Direct Ferries
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Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €23.83Tue15
- about €28.23Wed16
- about €29.33Thu17
- about €27.29Fri18
- about €23.83Sat19
- about €26.58Sun20
- about €17.23Mon21
- about €16.68Tue22
- about €18.33Wed23
- about €18.33Thu24
- about €20.53Fri25
- about €23.28Sat26
- about €19.98Sun27
- about €14.48Mon28
- about €12.83Tue29
- about €13.38Wed30
- about €14.48Thu1
- about €13.93Fri2
- about €15.03Sat3
- about €14.48Sun4
- about €13.93Mon5
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The ferry gets you into London. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in London for the night the ferry gets in
Sort by distance from London St Pancras International and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
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Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Cardiff to London
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €17.2390 days
- €12.8360 days
- €15.0345 days
- €11.7330 days
- €13.9321 days
- €14.4814 days
- €17.237 days
- €29.333 days
- €23.831 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 30 days ahead, at €11.73.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 150 percent. The dearest point is €29.33, 3 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 30 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 30 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Cardiff to London and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
222 km
211 km as the crow flies, 5% further by the route services actually take. The bearing runs east.
Who lives at each end
372,089 → 8,961,989
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/6
6 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 50% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 50% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 222 km against 211 km in a straight line, a detour of 5 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Bristol, Slough, Swindon, Reading. The gap between arriving and leaving is 62 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 15 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
London is large, and the road in from LGW can take longer than the last hour of the flight. Cars are not our business.
A car waiting when you land in London
Settled in advance, so the ride into London costs what it said it would rather than what the rank says.
Book a transfer from LGW with Welcome PickupsOr check Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
The ferry gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Left luggage near London St Pancras International
Most of the points near London St Pancras International open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check London on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Cardiff to London
The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Cardiff to London?
The fastest journey from Cardiff to London takes 2h 19m door to door, of which 1h 35m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 4h 21m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Cardiff to London?
The cheapest fare from Cardiff to London is €12.83, as of 14 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €29.41. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Cardiff to London?
The cheapest way from Cardiff to London is by coach, at €14.48 for one passenger on 29 September 2026. That journey takes 3h 48m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
What is the fastest way to get from Cardiff to London?
The fastest way from Cardiff to London is by train, at 2h 19m door to door. Only 1h 35m of that is spent moving; the remaining 44m is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end. The cheapest fare on that mode is €30.04.
When should I book Cardiff to London?
Fares from Cardiff to London bottom out around 30 days before departure, at €11.73. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 150 percent, measured on 14 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Cardiff to London?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Cardiff to London, at €14.48. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 14 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Cardiff to London?
December is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Cardiff to London, at €11.73 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs services from Cardiff to London?
4 operators sell services from Cardiff to London across 3 modes: Brittany Ferries, FlixBus, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Cardiff to London?
50 percent of the services we sell from Cardiff to London are direct. The rest connect at Bristol, Slough, Swindon, Reading, with about 62 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
How much CO2 does the journey from Cardiff to London produce?
Travelling from Cardiff to London by coach produces about 6.0 kg of CO2 per passenger, the lowest of any mode on this corridor. The same journey by Ferry produces about 25.5 kg, roughly 4 times as much for one passenger.
Which station or terminal do services from Cardiff to London use?
Services from Cardiff to London by train leave from Cardiff Central and arrive at London St Pancras International. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Cardiff to London?
4 of the 4 operators we sell from Cardiff to London allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Cardiff to London on 14 September 2026: 222 km of route against 211 km in a straight line, 8 services a day, 4 operators a cheapest fare of €12.83, and 2h 19m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Being on the water gives London a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of London and across United Kingdom
Day trips that leave London in the morning and cover a good part of United Kingdom by evening.
See London on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Cardiff reaches 118 places in 15 countries on services we hold, over distances from 21 to 5,419 km. London reaches 520 places in 109 countries, from 17 to 11,718 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Cardiff
- 118Places you can leave for
- 15Countries
- 22Operators
Arriving in London
Leaving London
- 520Places you can leave for
- 109Countries
- 196Operators