Luton is roughly 30 miles (about 46–48 km) from central London, depending on the exact start and end points.

Quick Scoop: Distances

  • Straight-line (as the crow flies): about 29–30 miles / 46–48 km between Luton and London.
  • Typical road/driving distance: about 33–36 miles (around 53–57 km), depending on the route and where in London you’re heading.
  • Train distance is similar to the road distance, since services usually run between Luton and London St Pancras or nearby central stations.

You can think of it as a medium hop: close enough for daily commuting, but far enough that traffic or train delays can really change your total travel time.

Travel Time Snapshot

  • By train: around 35–40 minutes from Luton to London St Pancras International in normal conditions.
  • By car: commonly 45–60 minutes, but this can stretch with rush-hour traffic in or around London.
  • By coach/bus: usually around 1 hour or slightly more, depending on stops and congestion on the M1.

In practice, if you need to be in London at a fixed time (flight, meeting, show), it’s wise to allow extra buffer for traffic or rail issues, especially at peak times.

Simple HTML Table (Distances & Times)

Since you asked for structured info, here’s an HTML table you can reuse:

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Mode</th>
      <th>Approx. distance</th>
      <th>Typical time</th>
      <th>Notes</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Straight-line</td>
      <td>≈ 46–48 km / 29–30 miles [web:1][web:3][web:5][web:7]</td>
      <td>–</td>
      <td>“As the crow flies”, not a travel route.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>By road (car)</td>
      <td>≈ 33–36 miles / 53–57 km [web:1][web:7][web:10]</td>
      <td>≈ 45–60 min in normal traffic [web:1][web:7][web:10]</td>
      <td>Via M1; allow extra time at rush hour.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>By train</td>
      <td>Similar to road distance [web:7]</td>
      <td>≈ 35–40 min Luton → London St Pancras [web:7]</td>
      <td>Frequent services; often the quickest option.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>By coach/bus</td>
      <td>Road distance, via M1 [web:7]</td>
      <td>≈ 60+ min depending on traffic [web:7]</td>
      <td>Cheaper, but more variable in time.</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

TL;DR

Luton is about 30 miles (roughly 50 km) from London, with travel times of about 35–40 minutes by train and roughly an hour by road in typical conditions.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.