Short stay parking at Gatwick

The multi-storeys next to each terminal: what they are genuinely good for, and the point at which they stop making financial sense.

Last reviewed 6 September 2026. Prices and car park rules change often — confirm the current details before you travel.

Each Gatwick terminal has a short stay multi-storey car park directly alongside it. These are the closest you can park to the check-in desks, and they are built around a single idea: you are not here for long.

Where they are

Short Stay North serves the North Terminal and Short Stay South serves the South Terminal, each within a short covered walk of its terminal building. There is no transfer bus, no waiting and no shuttle involved — you park, you walk, you are in the terminal.

For anyone with heavy luggage, small children, or a tight connection, that absence of faff is the product. Everything else about short stay parking follows from it.

How the pricing works

Short stay tariffs are structured for visits measured in hours rather than days. The opening period is priced for people popping in, and the rate then climbs steeply as the hours accumulate. By the time you reach a full day you are paying a great deal more than a long stay car park would charge, and by the time you reach a week the difference is not worth defending.

This is not a trap so much as a design decision — the airport wants the spaces closest to the terminal turning over quickly, so it prices them to make sure they do. But it does catch people out, usually those who parked "just for a couple of hours" and then got delayed.

Rates change, and drive-up rates are normally higher than booking ahead, so check the current tariff before you rely on any figure.

What short stay is genuinely good for

• Dropping someone off properly. If you want to help with bags and see someone into the terminal rather than pulling over at the forecourt, short stay is the civilised way to do it — and unlike the forecourt drop-off zones, you are not being timed.
• Meeting an arrival. Flights are late. Short stay lets you park and wait inside rather than circling the airport or paying forecourt charges repeatedly. Check the arrivals board before you set off, though — the cost of waiting adds up.
• Genuinely short trips. An overnight or a single night away can work out fine, particularly against the hassle of a transfer bus at both ends.
• Airport business. Anything where you are on site for a few hours and time matters more than money.

When to use something else

The moment your trip is measured in days rather than hours, look at long stay instead. The transfer bus costs you perhaps twenty minutes at each end; the price difference over a week or a fortnight is large enough that most people would happily take the bus.

The exception is when the transfer itself is the problem — travelling with someone who cannot easily manage a bus and a wait, or arriving back at an hour when you simply want to get in the car and go. In those cases paying the premium is a reasonable trade, and worth pricing against the airport's own premium and valet products, which are designed for exactly this and may work out better.

Practical notes

• Note your level and bay number when you park. Multi-storeys look identical on every floor and you will be coming back to it tired.
• Check the height restriction before arriving in anything tall — roof boxes and vans are a common problem in multi-storey car parks.
• If you have booked in advance, bring the confirmation. Entry is normally by number plate recognition, but it is worth having the booking reference to hand if the barrier does not recognise you.
• If your plans slip while you are away and you need longer than you booked, it is far better to contact the operator than to simply overstay.