The London Traveler

The black cab is one of London’s icons. And if you’re hailing a taxi on the street, it will be one of these – though it may not be black these days, since they’re allowed to carry advertising on the outside as well as the inside.

But black cabs are not cheap. Heathrow to Central London will cost you about £70. You can expect even a ten minute journey of about a mile or so to cost between a fiver and £8.

So it’s worth having the number of a minicab firm. You can’t hire a minicab off the street, as you can hail a taxi – you’ll have to call them up, and you’ll want a firm that’s local to where you are.

Cabwise lets you find a taxi firm and two minicab firms that are in the area you’re texting from, if you text HOME to 60835. Or you can use the Findaride service on the TfL website to find the number of a minicab firm.

You may find minicab drivers aren’t completely wised up on where you’re going. They don’t have to do the Knowledge, like cab drivers, so they don’t have to know all the streets and likely destinations that a black cab driver does.  If it’s your first time in London, you’re probably best sticking to black cabs.

Although minicabs aren’t subject to the same regulations as taxis, they are licensed. At least, all the firms on the TfL website are licensed; firms you find elsewhere might not be, which means they might also not be properly insured. Not a risk worth taking.

There also a number of limo firms that will take you to Heathrow (or indeed Gatwick or Stansted). Some cost about the same as taxis, others are closer to the £40 end of the range.  I’ve used several, and found them very useful, particularly for flights leaving early in the morning, when the Tube may not get you there in time.

On the way back, I found one of the side benefits is that many of these firms are connected to information on flights arriving – so if your flight is delayed, they don’t send the car till you’re actually landing, and you don’t get charged for extra waiting time. But that’s something you need to ask about – not all of them work this way.

Photo credit: Pedro Figuereido on flickr

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