Long-distance transfers
A private car from any London address to any Bournemouth address, priced before you book and held whatever the motorway does. About 2h 15m on a clear run.
London to Bournemouth is 105 miles by road, about 2h 15m off-peak and up to 3h 05m in traffic. A Saloon is £315 fixed, an MPV £400, an eight-seater £445. One driver, one vehicle, door to door.
| Vehicle | Capacity | Fixed fare |
|---|---|---|
| Saloon | up to 4 passengers, 2 large cases | from £315 |
| MPV | up to 6 passengers, 4 large cases | from £400 |
| 8-seater | up to 7 passengers, 7 large cases | from £445 |
Fares are per vehicle, not per person, and cover fuel, tolls, the congestion and clean-air charges, and the driver's hours for the whole journey. Nothing is added at the end.
The route is the M3 then the M27 and the A31 through the New Forest, then the A338 spur into town. It is 105 miles, and on a clear run that is about 2h 15m including the break the driver is legally required to take on a journey this length.
The stretch that decides your arrival time is the A31 around Ringwood and the A338 on a summer Saturday. Leaving London before 06:00 or after 19:00 avoids the worst of it, and on a bad afternoon the same drive stretches to 3h 05m.
Your driver plans the break around you rather than around the schedule. If you want to stop for food, or not stop at all beyond what the rules demand, say so when you book and that is how it runs.
Worth setting out honestly. South Western Railway from Waterloo takes roughly 2h city centre to city centre and costs 30 to 90 pounds. That is quicker than the car on pure journey time, and for one person travelling light it is usually the right choice.
The comparison changes with numbers and luggage. £315 split between three is about £105 each, and that is door to door - no getting to the terminus, no waiting on a concourse, no taxi at the far end. Add a fourth passenger and the car is clearly cheaper.
It also changes with what you are carrying. The people who book this run are conferences at the BIC, Bournemouth Airport connections, and the summer beach weeks.
Four situations come up again and again. A group of four or more, where the per-head maths tips. Anyone with luggage that will not go on a luggage rack: instruments, sample cases, filming kit, sports equipment. Anyone travelling outside the timetable, whether that is a 03:00 start or a Sunday-evening engineering closure. And anyone making several stops, which a train simply cannot do.
If you are visiting the pier and the seven miles of beach and two other places in a day, one car for the day is both cheaper and far less trouble than three separate journeys.
The return runs the same way and the same price. Book both legs together and the driver either stays with you or comes back on a set date. For an early flight or an early meeting at the London end we will set the Bournemouth pickup from your arrival time rather than guessing.
On a same-day return the driver waits. On an overnight or longer, it is usually cheaper to book two one-ways, and we will tell you which is better for your dates rather than selling you the more expensive option.
Homes, hotels, offices, hospitals, station forecourts - all work as pickup points for Bournemouth, and all are quoted on the distance from that door rather than a notional centre.
Collecting two or three people from different addresses costs nothing extra when they are broadly on the way, which is how most group bookings on this route actually run.
Pick the vehicle by luggage. Four passengers with four large cases need the £400 MPV, not the £315 Saloon, whatever the seat count suggests.
Over 105 miles this matters more than it does on a short hop. Four adults wedged around four suitcases is a miserable way to spend several hours, and we would rather size it correctly at the quote stage.
Child seats and boosters are free but must be named in advance with the child's age, since the seat is fitted before the vehicle leaves. Skis, bikes, instruments, golf clubs, flight cases and wheelchairs all travel when flagged at booking. Parties above seven go in several vehicles routed together.
However you book, you get the same thing: a written confirmation with the fare and the time, then the driver's name and registration ahead of the journey.
Card, bank transfer or cash, with corporate accounts and monthly invoicing available for firms that run this route regularly. Nothing is added at the end - no meter, no checkout fee, no fuel surcharge, no surge.
Plans change, and on a 105-mile trip they change more than most. Move the time or date and the fare holds, provided the route is unchanged.
The fare takes you to a specific address in or around Bournemouth, not to a drop-off on the edge of it. Hotels, offices, hospitals, private addresses, business parks and the airport all work as destinations.
Destinations past Bournemouth get their own price before you book. Give us the full postcode and the figure you see is the figure you pay.
Journeys that carry on past Bournemouth the same day, or take in several addresses across the region, are quoted as a day hire instead - usually better value than three transfers, and the same driver throughout.
For one person with hand luggage, honestly, they often should not - South Western Railway from Waterloo is quicker and cheaper. We say so above because pretending otherwise would not survive contact with a search engine.
The car's advantage is not speed, it is the absence of everything around the journey: no terminus, no check-in, no connection, no taxi at the far end, no luggage limit.
It also removes the part nobody costs properly: the time either side. A 2-hour train becomes considerably more once you have reached the terminus, waited, and travelled from the far station to where you were actually going. Door to door is the only comparison that means anything, and it is the one this page is priced on.
Not much, and all of it short. Which door you will be at, not just the postcode. How many people. How many large cases, counted separately, because that is what decides the car.
Then the time something fixed happens at the far end - a check-in, a meeting, a first race. We would rather set the pickup backwards from that than from a departure time you estimated. Plus child seats with ages, and anything unusual for the boot.
That is the whole of it. Route, traffic, timing, vehicle choice, where the driver waits - all ours, and the quoted price does not move while we sort them out.
The figure you are quoted is the figure you pay. There is no meter running and no recalculation at the end of the journey.
Someone has to carry the risk of a bad road. We think it should be the firm that picked the route, not the person sitting in the back.
It also means the number works before the journey: you can put it in an expense claim or split it between the people travelling without waiting to see what the meter says. There is no bank-holiday rate, no weekend premium and no surcharge added at the end. The only thing that changes a quoted fare is you changing the journey.
From £315 in a Saloon, £400 in a six-seat MPV and £445 in an eight-seater. That is the whole fare for the vehicle, not a per-person rate, and it is fixed when you book rather than metered.
About 2h 15m for the 105 miles on a clear run, and up to 3h 05m if you leave in a weekday peak. The driver takes a break where the hours rules require it, and that is already inside the time quoted.
For one person booking early, usually yes - South Western Railway from Waterloo takes about 2h and costs 30 to 90 pounds. For three or more the car is level or better: £315 split three ways is roughly £105 each, door to door, with no luggage limit and no connection to miss.
Yes. There is no night rate, no weekend rate and no surge. A 04:00 departure on a bank holiday is quoted at the same figure as a Tuesday lunchtime.
Yes, and a return booked at the same time is the easier arrangement. The driver either waits or returns on a set date, and you get the registration and driver details in advance either way.
It includes all three, plus any congestion or clean-air charge on the route. There is nothing to settle at the end and nothing added at checkout.
Up to four with two large cases in a Saloon, six with four cases in an MPV, and seven with seven cases in an eight-seater. Larger groups travel in several vehicles routed together.
Yes, and if the extra stops are roughly on the way out of London they do not change the fare. Four people from four addresses is one booking. A genuine detour gets requoted before you commit, not added afterwards.
We do. The fare was fixed when you booked, so a closure or a long queue at the A31 around Ringwood and the A338 on a summer Saturday costs you nothing extra. The driver re-routes and keeps you informed, and if the delay threatens something fixed at the Bournemouth end we will tell you early rather than late.
Usually yes. If you are making several stops in and around Bournemouth on the same day, a day hire normally costs less than the individual legs and keeps the same driver and vehicle with you throughout. Ask and we will price both ways.
A few days is comfortable, and it is when the fare is at its most competitive against a walk-up rail ticket. We do take same-day bookings on a 105-mile run when a car and a driver's hours allow it, but the choice of vehicle narrows.
Fares are fixed at booking and shown per vehicle. Distances and journey times are approximate and vary with traffic and the exact pickup address. Page reviewed 25 September 2026.