Long-distance transfers
A private car from any London address to any Manchester address, priced before you book and held whatever the motorway does. About 3h 50m on a clear run.
London to Manchester is 200 miles by road, about 3h 50m off-peak and up to 5h in traffic. A Saloon is £590 fixed, an MPV £740, an eight-seater £825. One driver, one vehicle, door to door.
| Vehicle | Capacity | Fixed fare |
|---|---|---|
| Saloon | up to 4 passengers, 2 large cases | from £590 |
| MPV | up to 6 passengers, 4 large cases | from £740 |
| 8-seater | up to 7 passengers, 7 large cases | from £825 |
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 M1 north to Junction 19, then the M6 and M56 into the city. It is 200 miles, and on a clear run that is about 3h 50m including the break the driver is legally required to take on a journey this length.
The stretch that decides your arrival time is the M6 around Birmingham between Junctions 4 and 11, which is the single worst stretch of motorway on this route. Leaving London before 06:00 or after 19:00 avoids the worst of it, and on a bad afternoon the same drive stretches to 5h.
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. Avanti West Coast from Euston takes roughly 2h 08m city centre to city centre and costs 80 to 190 pounds depending how late you book. 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. £590 split between three is about £197 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 film crews, trade-show exhibitors with heavy kit, and families who will not put three children and four cases through a Euston rush hour.
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 Manchester Piccadilly 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 Manchester 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.
It changes the price, so we quote on it. A 200-mile run to Manchester measured from Westminster is not the same journey as one measured from Havering, and pretending otherwise just means somebody is overpaying.
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 £740 MPV, not the £590 Saloon, whatever the seat count suggests.
Over 200 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 200-mile trip they change more than most. Move the time or date and the fare holds, provided the route is unchanged.
We go to the door, not to the city boundary or the station. Any Manchester address works, and a stop on the way in costs nothing if it is roughly on the route.
If your destination sits outside Manchester proper - a village, a site, a venue further on - we quote that distance rather than charging the Manchester fare and adding a surcharge on arrival.
For a day of several stops around Manchester, ask for a day rate. It normally costs less than the individual legs and keeps one driver with you.
For one person with hand luggage, honestly, they often should not - Avanti West Coast from Euston is quicker and cheaper. We say so above because pretending otherwise would not survive contact with a search engine.
What the car does that rail and a domestic flight cannot is run door to door, at a time you pick, with as much luggage as fits and no transfer. Over 200 miles that removes two taxi rides, a check-in, and the risk that one missed connection loses the day.
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.
Give us the fixed point at the other end and we will work the pickup out from it, allowing for the M6 around Birmingham between Junctions 4 and 11, which is the single worst stretch of motorway on this route. 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.
On a slow day we lose on it, which is rather the point - the risk sits with the people making the routing decisions, not with the passenger.
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 £590 in a Saloon, £740 in a six-seat MPV and £825 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 50m for the 200 miles on a clear run, and up to 5h 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 - Avanti West Coast from Euston takes about 2h 08m and costs 80 to 190 pounds depending how late you book. For three or more the car is level or better: £590 split three ways is roughly £197 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 M6 around Birmingham between Junctions 4 and 11, which is the single worst stretch of motorway on this route costs you nothing extra. The driver re-routes and keeps you informed, and if the delay threatens something fixed at the Manchester end we will tell you early rather than late.
Usually yes. If you are making several stops in and around Manchester 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 200-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 14 September 2026.