W11 · W10 · W2 · West London
In February 1911, a queue formed on Portobello Road for the opening night of a small new picture house: twenty silent minutes of Henry VIII on screen, and a building barely anyone expected to last the decade. It survived a wartime bombing, years as a genuine flea-pit locals nicknamed the Bug House, and a 1980s demolition threat beaten back by ten thousand signatures. It’s still selling out, now with double beds in the front row. A chauffeur service Notting Hill regulars actually use has learned to move at roughly that same pace: adapting constantly, without ever quite losing the original character.
20% VAT INCLUDED
20% VAT INCLUDED
20% VAT INCLUDED
20% VAT INCLUDED
20% VAT INCLUDED
20% VAT INCLUDED
20% VAT INCLUDED
20% VAT INCLUDED
20% VAT INCLUDED
A street that’s empty on a Tuesday morning can be entirely closed to traffic by Saturday lunchtime, and one weekend in August it disappears under two million people entirely. Portobello Road, Ladbroke Grove and the surrounding grid, sitting inside the Transport for London Congestion Charge zone, change character by the hour more than almost anywhere else in London, and a chauffeur who only knows the postcode on paper will find that out the expensive way.
None of these six places behave quite the way a map suggests. The Ledbury books out weeks ahead, Portobello Road is a different market by the hour, and Holland Park sits close enough to feel like it shouldn’t be this quiet. We plan around the reality of each address, not the pin on Google Maps.
W11
Antiques, produce and crowds that swell hugely every Saturday, quieter but still busy through the week.
Ledbury Road
Two Michelin stars under chef Brett Graham, one of the hardest tables in west London to secure.
Portobello Road
Britain's first Black-owned cinema from 1993 to 2000, now known for double beds in the front row.
Westbourne Grove
Bill Granger's all-day dining room, usually queued out the door on weekend mornings.
W11 border
A genuinely quiet escape bordering Kensington, home to peacocks and a Kyoto garden.
W11 / W2
The transport hub tying the whole district together, and usually the busiest single junction in it.
Agreed before you travel, and unaffected by whatever the market is doing to traffic that day.
| Destination | Estimated Time | Indicative Price |
|---|---|---|
| Heathrow Airport | 30–40 min | from £70 |
| Gatwick Airport | 55 min | from £95 |
| Canary Wharf | 40 min | from £55 |
| City of London | 30 min | from £45 |
| Mayfair | 15 min | from £35 |
The carnival that closes these streets every August did not begin as a street event at all. Journalist and activist Claudia Jones organised it indoors in 1959, as a response to the race riots that had shaken the area the previous year, staging a Caribbean showcase inside St Pancras Town Hall rather than on the road. It moved outside in 1966 and has grown every year since into what is now Europe’s largest street festival, drawing crowds estimated at close to two million over the August bank holiday weekend.
For anyone travelling through Notting Hill that weekend, the road closures are extensive and set weeks in advance. We plan pickup and drop-off points outside the footprint entirely rather than attempting to reach an address inside it, and we’d recommend confirming your booking well before the schedule is published if you know you’ll need a car that weekend.
One fixed number, quoted before you travel, whether it’s a quiet Wednesday or a Saturday market crowd.
from £180 per journey
The default for one or two passengers, wherever in W11 or W10 you're headed.
View this vehicle →from £170 per journey
Room for a family, a market-day group, or a genuinely large Portobello Road haul.
View this vehicle →from £140 per journey
ULEZ-exempt entirely, with a 25% Congestion Charge discount from January 2026. Price varies by model and journey.
View this vehicle →Your flight is monitored automatically, so a delay in the air simply moves your pickup time rather than leaving you waiting.
| Airport | Distance | Journey Time | Indicative Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow Airport (LHR) | 11 miles | 30–40 min | from £70 |
| Gatwick Airport (LGW) | 32 miles | 55–70 min | from £95 |
| Stansted Airport (STN) | 40 miles | 65–85 min | from £110 |
| Luton Airport (LTN) | 30 miles | 55–75 min | from £105 |
| London City Airport (LCY) | 15 miles | 45–60 min | from £65 |
Portobello Road on a Saturday is a different logistical problem to almost anywhere else on this page. Stalls run for the better part of a mile, pedestrian traffic spills into the road itself well before the official closure, and a car left waiting on the wrong stretch can be genuinely stuck rather than simply delayed. We agree a specific holding point off the market itself, then walk the timing back from there.
Dinner reservations carry their own version of the same problem. A table at The Ledbury or a weekend booking at Granger & Co rewards a driver who already knows Ledbury Road and Westbourne Grove don’t behave the way a satnav assumes, particularly once the restaurant’s own queue starts spilling onto the pavement. For a fuller list of where we take diners locally, see our Notting Hill restaurant chauffeur page.
Local trips across W11 and W10 start from around £35, with airport transfers ranging from £65 to £110 depending on the airport. The price is fixed before you travel.
Yes, but not directly on the market itself. We agree a specific holding point just off the stalls in advance, avoiding the worst of the pedestrian crowds.
Yes, though pickup and drop-off points sit outside the closure footprint. We’d recommend booking well ahead of the published road closure schedule.
Yes, Notting Hill sits inside the zone and this is built into your fixed price with nothing added afterwards.
Yes, we plan around the restaurant’s own queue and Ledbury Road’s access points rather than assuming a direct approach.
Same-day requests are often possible, though we’d suggest confirming the evening before for a departure before 7am.
Fixed prices, market days accounted for, and a driver who already knows the district changes by the hour.
