Long-distance transfers
A private car from any London address to any Exeter address, priced before you book and held whatever the motorway does. About 3h 20m on a clear run.
London to Exeter is 170 miles by road, about 3h 20m off-peak and up to 4h 20m in traffic. A Saloon is £505 fixed, an MPV £635, an eight-seater £705. One driver, one vehicle, door to door.
| Vehicle | Capacity | Fixed fare |
|---|---|---|
| Saloon | up to 4 passengers, 2 large cases | from £505 |
| MPV | up to 6 passengers, 4 large cases | from £635 |
| 8-seater | up to 7 passengers, 7 large cases | from £705 |
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 M4 then the M5 south from Bristol to Junction 30. It is 170 miles, and on a clear run that is about 3h 20m including the break the driver is legally required to take on a journey this length.
The stretch that decides your arrival time is the M5 around Bristol and the Somerset stretch on a holiday Friday. Leaving London before 06:00 or after 19:00 avoids the worst of it, and on a bad afternoon the same drive stretches to 4h 20m.
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. GWR from Paddington takes roughly 2h 10m city centre to city centre and costs 45 to 150 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. £505 split between three is about £168 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 university moves, Exeter Airport transfers, and families heading on to the Devon coast.
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 cathedral and the quay 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 Exeter 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.
Any address inside the M25 and most outside it. The quote is built on the real distance from your door to Exeter, not from a notional city-centre point, so a Croydon pickup and a Camden pickup are not quoted the same.
Extra pickups on the way out are usually free if they sit roughly on the route. Four colleagues from four addresses is one booking, not four.
Three sizes, and the difference is boot space more than seats: £505 for four passengers and two large cases, £635 for six and four, £705 for seven and seven.
The longer the run, the less forgiving a full boot becomes - which is why we ask for the bag count rather than guessing from the headcount.
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.
Book online, by phone or on WhatsApp. A written confirmation follows with the fare, vehicle class and pickup time, and the driver's name and registration arrive before the day rather than on it.
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 170-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 Exeter, not to a drop-off on the edge of it. Hotels, offices, hospitals, private addresses, business parks and the airport all work as destinations.
Somewhere beyond Exeter is quoted as its own journey, up front. We do not quote the city fare and then discover the extra thirty miles when the driver is already moving.
Multi-stop days around Exeter work better as a day hire than as separate bookings, and we will price it that way if that is what you are actually doing.
For one person with hand luggage, honestly, they often should not - GWR from Paddington is quicker and cheaper. We say so above because pretending otherwise would not survive contact with a search engine.
Door to door is the whole argument. A 170-mile drive with one driver replaces a taxi, a train, a wait and another taxi, and it leaves when you say rather than when the timetable says.
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.
The exact entrance, the headcount, and the bag count as its own number. Those three settle most of what could otherwise go wrong at the start of the journey.
Give us the fixed point at the other end and we will work the pickup out from it, allowing for the M5 around Bristol and the Somerset stretch on a holiday Friday. Add child seats with ages and anything awkward to load.
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.
It is a deliberate choice and it costs us money on bad days. A meter passes every delay to the passenger; a fixed fare keeps it with the operator who chose the route, which is where it belongs.
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 £505 in a Saloon, £635 in a six-seat MPV and £705 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 3h 20m for the 170 miles on a clear run, and up to 4h 20m 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 - GWR from Paddington takes about 2h 10m and costs 45 to 150 pounds. For three or more the car is level or better: £505 split three ways is roughly £168 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 M5 around Bristol and the Somerset stretch on a holiday Friday costs you nothing extra. The driver re-routes and keeps you informed, and if the delay threatens something fixed at the Exeter end we will tell you early rather than late.
Usually yes. If you are making several stops in and around Exeter 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 170-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.