Gatwick Parking for bikes

[phatmanace]

Going to the Emerald Isle for a night in a couple of weeks. would rather not take the car to the airport as it leaves Mrs P without one.

Whats the consensus on bike parking at Gatwick? Website says you can park in the main sheltered carpark (right next to the terminal I guess) - but there are no anchor points for locks.

Cheers, Ace

[DanGPR]

I have seen several bikes parked there whenever I have used the on-site car park.

There is a lot of CCTV and entry and exit is ANPR monitored, I would feel pretty confident leaving my bike there, much safer than most other public car parks I would say.

[pozi]

Assuming you are talking about the South Terminal, as mentioned it is quite well served for bikes.

Another benefit is the bike parking level is right next to the main pedestrian short cut used by staff from car park H so there is always a steady steam of people walking passed which helps to deter anyone up to no good.

[off_again]

Used it a few times. Would never say its totally safe, but with the police, increased security, almost 24 hour operation and cameras / ANPR, I think its pretty safe there!

Make sure you use the correct place though - I remember it wasnt that obvious, but it was covered, had bars to chain up to and was away from the main traffic etc. Check out the Gatwick website to find the exact location.

[supercommuter]

Parked there a few times in the short stay car park on the 3rd floor bunged behind a sign. Never had any problems.

[Mags]

I park there most days, south terminal, go around the barrier on the far left of the entrance, down to the 3rd car park, the 2nd level is the entrance to the terminal but I park on the first level and walk up 1 flight of stairs. I leave mine in the corner but there are a few places you can leave a bike. No anchors but its a safe car park. My bike is a snotter but I've left it there for a couple of weeks before when I broke down.
When you leave you just ride around the outside of the barrier on the far right, or about 3 in from the right I think.

[phatmanace]

Thought I'd post with what I found when I got there.

- You can park for free in the short stay
- There are dedicated bike bays on the ground floor - when I went, they were under some kind of renovation and were closed.
- Fortunately, you can park in the corners on any other floor.
- There are no ground anchors anywhere (although you could probably be creative with an armco)

one inaccuracy I did find was that you can't use the left luggage lockers any more. Although it still says you can on the website, I called and checked and the lady acknowledged that they'd recently stopped the left luggage facility (security reasons I guess) , but hadn't updated the biking section of the website.

It wasn't a problem for me as I had panniers - but if you turned up expecting to store your kit in the lockers, you'd have a problem.

Hope the above is useful.

[DanSI]

What will you do with your helmet/biking clothing? Take them to the vacation with you?

Under those circumstances, I'd leave the bike safely at home (along with the family car for the other half), then take the train to the airport - or perhaps she could even drop you off.

[phatmanace]

DanSI said:

What will you do with your helmet/biking clothing? Take them to the vacation with you?

Under those circumstances, I'd leave the bike safely at home (along with the family car for the other half), then take the train to the airport - or perhaps she could even drop you off.

As I mentioned in the post above - I had panniers, which I put my gear in. At the time I called them, I hadn't test fitted anything (new bike, no idea if boots + helmet + jacket + trousers would fit)

As your point is fair, and not everyone does, I thought I'd mention the fact there are no LL options.

[supercommuter]

DanSI said:

What will you do with your helmet/biking clothing? Take them to the vacation with you?

Under those circumstances, I'd leave the bike safely at home (along with the family car for the other half), then take the train to the airport - or perhaps she could even drop you off.

For me the benefits are endless. On the commuter hack -

1. I can quarter the time it takes me to get to the airport
2. I don't have to sit in traffic
3. I can fit all of my gear in the panniers and top box and still take my carry on luggage
4. I don't have to pay for parking
5. I can park a stones throw from the terminal

All of this without having to compromise on anything

[DanSI]

supercommuter said:

For me the benefits are endless. On the commuter hack -

....

Cant argue with any of those points. Plus lovely setup (the photo).

Perhaps I'm just a paranoid type, thinking of a motorcycle left at such a public car park, panniers intact, full of my stuff etc.
But as others have said, its likely to be more secure than a lot of places, airports full of security and CCTV etc.

For me, my bike is more for leisure (although I am now using it to commute to work), so I've never encountered a situation where I leave it unattended for an extended duration. It's usually only several feet from me, while sat at a café enjoying refreshments, or its locked away at home!

[supercommuter]

DanSI said:

supercommuter said:

For me the benefits are endless. On the commuter hack -

....

Cant argue with any of those points. Plus lovely setup (the photo).

Perhaps I'm just a paranoid type, thinking of a motorcycle left at such a public car park, panniers intact, full of my stuff etc.
But as others have said, its likely to be more secure than a lot of places, airports full of security and CCTV etc.

For me, my bike is more for leisure (although I am now using it to commute to work), so I've never encountered a situation where I leave it unattended for an extended duration. It's usually only several feet from me, while sat at a café enjoying refreshments, or its locked away at home!

I take a chain in the empty pannier and bolt it to the railing on the 1st/2nd floor hidden behind a sign. It won't go anywhere. It is just not worth the hassle going through an ANPR number plate machine to steal a bike worth sub £5k. I would not worry about leaving a bike there at all. Hopefully be moving abroad soon, whilst still working a couple of days a week in London and plan to leave it there full time and use it to head into the city when i fly here for work.

[jaja4421]

I just looked at this for Manchester airport - seems they charge half the car charge to leave a bike there! Well done Gatwick for making it free.

[alfaracer85]

Holy thread resurrection!

Thought it better to add to this than start a new one- Does anyone have any recent experience of bike parking at Gatwick? I'm thinking of leaving my bike there (if it's safe) for 4 weeks while I'm away, struggling to find other transport that fits with my schedule unfortunately so the bike seems easiest. I did consider storage but as I'm leaving/returning on a Sunday that becomes awkward too. Any other ideas?

[Biker 1]

alfaracer85 said:

Holy thread resurrection!

Thought it better to add to this than start a new one- Does anyone have any recent experience of bike parking at Gatwick? I'm thinking of leaving my bike there (if it's safe) for 4 weeks while I'm away, struggling to find other transport that fits with my schedule unfortunately so the bike seems easiest. I did consider storage but as I'm leaving/returning on a Sunday that becomes awkward too. Any other ideas?

Maybe call P & H Motorcycles. They are a 5 minute bus/taxi ride from the airport - not sure if they would do some sort of storage deal, but they might know someone who does....

[Grey-6rey]

Did you use the parking at Gatwick? I’m planning to and have phoned to check it’s still free etc. Just wondered how it was?

[HairyMaclary]

Sorry its not Gatwick but I flew out of Heathrow T5 this year and was very impressed with the bike parking right next to the departures entrance.

For free! No place to store kit so that had to go in the top box.

[TheInternet]

I used it last May, it was excellent provided you can deal with your gear. I bucked the trend and parked tucked away on a busy (red?) car park level overlooking the terminal entrance. Bike wasn’t obvious from inside the car park but anybody up to no good would be seen/heard from over the road.

[Ash19]

Hi All
Though I would update you all as I’m travelling soon from Gatwick for the 1st time with my motorbike. I travelled today to look before I travel.

You don’t need a Ticket ! Confirmed by airport parking ! And you are allowed to ride around the barriers!

I was very surprised how much parking there is available for bikes!
All in short stay car parks 1”2 & 3 on every level and nearly every corner.

Can not comment on storage facilities! As I have a top box and panniers 👍

[ccr32]

Will be doing this very soon myself when flying out of Gatwick - have done it in the past but was a good few years ago, and was flying out and back the same day so it didn't have to stay there very long. Seem to remember just dumping the bike where I saw a load of other bikes parked, and that was fine. This time will be for a few days so would want to do it properly, and am hoping things are as they have been reported on here!

The Gatwick website itself seems a bit hopeless in terms of information, only saying on its FAQs "There are designated bays for motorcycles in our Short Stay car parks", with no indication of where, if there is a cost involved, what you do when you get to the barriers etc. So will just take all the info from the posts above and hope for the best!