Taxi would be very expensive! Don’t be scared of trains, we’ve done it lots of times and still alive to tell the tale! Get the Gatwick express to Victoria (or Waterloo, I can’t remember, it’s one of those two anyway) and from there you can get underground (or, indeed, walk) to various London landmarks such as changing of the guard. (Although that only happens at certain times of day; you’d have to check). The London Eye is only a couple of minutes walk from Waterloo. Anyway, in 8 hours you can have a great day in London doing all the main stuff, and get back to Gatwick in plenty of time for your next flight. Just take the Gatwick express and get a railcard day ticket and forget your worries about the bombings. Statistically, you are in much more danger of fatal accident taking a taxi (to say nothing of the expense). Anyway, my #1 recommendation while in London is to buy some lovely English chocolate, like Cadbury’s and Wispa or Wispa Gold.

Its a long and expensive taxi ride, probably about 65 pounds ($80 US each way) The train is safe and the best way to go. We used it last year on our trip to get into town with our luggage. You can buy your ticket online:

http://www.gatwickexpress.com/index.asp?SID={7C84F847-3459-4952-8398-A21F63AE81FE}

The trains run every 15 minutes and take about 30 minutes. You can get the train right in/at the airport. Check out the airport web site:

http://www.airwise.com/airports/europe/LGW/

Here’s a link to maps of London:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1106.aspx