A pre-booked taxi from Bristol Airport to Torquay covers the roughly 88-mile drive down the M5 in about 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, with quoted one-way fares typically running £150 to £200 for a standard car. Public transport is cheaper but slower: the A1 Airport Flyer into Bristol Temple Meads plus an onward train usually takes 2 to 3 hours door to door and can cost from around £25 if booked ahead, while a coach connection via Bristol Coach Station runs closer to 3.5 to 4.5 hours all in. Checked August 2026, here is how the taxi, train and coach options actually compare.
How do I get from Bristol Airport to Torquay?
Torquay and the wider Torbay area (Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, marketed together as the English Riviera) sit on Devon's south coast, roughly 88 miles from Bristol Airport by road. There is no direct train or coach service from the airport terminal itself, so every public transport option starts with the A1 Airport Flyer into central Bristol before you pick up a train or long-distance coach. A pre-booked taxi or private transfer is the only genuinely door-to-door option. Which one suits you depends on group size, luggage, arrival time and how much the time saving is worth.
By taxi or pre-booked transfer
Several operators quote fixed, pre-booked fares for this route rather than metered pricing, since it falls well outside Bristol Airport's usual local taxi zone. Torbay-based operators quote an all-in price of around £192 for the roughly 88-mile run, Devon airport transfer firms quote fares starting from about £152 to £197 for a standard 1-4 seat car, and larger 5-8 seat vehicles typically add £30 to £40 on top. International transfer brokers list higher starting prices, often £240 or more, reflecting their own booking fees rather than the underlying local fare, so it is worth comparing a specialist Devon or Bristol operator against a national aggregator before booking.
Journey time by road is consistently quoted at around 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours via the M5, with no tolls since the Severn Bridge charges were scrapped in December 2018. Traffic on the M5 through Somerset and into Devon can add time on summer Fridays and during school holiday changeover weekends, so build in a buffer if you are booking a fixed onward connection. This site's taxi prices guide explains how airport taxi and private hire pricing generally works, and the taxis page covers the rank and ride-hailing options at the terminal itself for shorter local journeys.
By train, via Bristol Temple Meads
There is no railway station at Bristol Airport, so the rail option begins with the A1 Airport Flyer coach into Bristol Temple Meads, a journey of roughly 25 to 40 minutes for an adult single from £9.50, running 24 hours a day. Full details of the Flyer and other airport coach services are on this site's public transport page.
From Temple Meads, Great Western Railway and CrossCountry run services on to Torquay, a distance of around 80 miles. Some services run direct, while others involve a change, typically at Exeter St Davids or Newton Abbot. Quoted journey times vary a fair amount by source and by specific train: rail ticket sites show a fastest direct journey of around 1 hour 30 minutes, an average closer to 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, and some connecting services taking up to 2 hours 25 minutes. Advance single fares start from around £9 to £15 when booked ahead of travel, rising well beyond that for an anytime or walk-up ticket bought on the day, so booking in advance makes a real difference on this leg. Add the Flyer journey, the connection at Temple Meads and the rail leg together, and door to door you are typically looking at somewhere around 2 to 3 hours in total.
By coach, via Bristol Coach Station
National Express runs a coach service connecting Bristol Coach Station (Marlborough Street) to Torquay Coach Station, and the A1 Airport Flyer also stops at Bristol Coach Station, so the same 25 to 40 minute Flyer leg gets you to the right departure point for both rail and coach travel. Some departures run in around 2 hours 35 minutes with no change; others route via Exeter and take closer to 3 hours 25 minutes, or longer if the connection has a wait. Fares for this leg have been seen from around £16 to £26 one-way when booked in advance, making the coach the cheapest through option if your dates and times line up with the more direct departures. It is worth checking the specific timetable on the day, since frequency on this route is lower than on core Bristol to Exeter or Bristol to Plymouth services, and not every departure is a direct one.
Combining the Flyer with the coach leg, a typical door-to-door journey by coach runs to around 3.5 to 4.5 hours, which makes it the slowest of the three options but usually the cheapest if you can book ahead and your timing works.
Bristol Airport to Torquay: options compared
| Option | Cost | Journey time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-booked taxi or transfer | From ~£150 to £200 | ~1h45m to 2h | Only door-to-door option; fixed fare rather than metered; compare a Devon/Bristol specialist against national brokers |
| A1 Flyer + train via Temple Meads | £9.50 (Flyer) + rail fare from ~£9-£15 | ~2h to 3h door to door | Cheapest if booked well ahead; some direct trains, some with a change at Exeter St Davids or Newton Abbot |
| A1 Flyer + National Express coach | £9.50 (Flyer) + coach fare from ~£16-£26 | ~3.5h to 4.5h door to door | Slowest option; lower frequency than core routes, check for direct departures |
Timing and booking advice
- Book a taxi or private transfer in advance rather than expecting to find one on spec at the terminal, since this is a long-distance transfer rather than a standard local run, and most operators quote it as a fixed pre-booked fare.
- For train or coach travel, book the onward leg from Temple Meads or Bristol Coach Station as far ahead as you can. Advance fares on both rail and coach are significantly cheaper than anytime or walk-up tickets, and the saving is larger on this route than on shorter airport transfers.
- Check whether your specific train or coach is a direct service or one that changes at Exeter, Newton Abbot or elsewhere. The difference between a direct and a connecting departure can be an hour or more.
- Build in extra time around the M5 through Somerset and around Exeter on summer Fridays, bank holiday weekends and school holiday changeover days, all of which affect both taxi transfer times and coach schedules on this corridor.
- If you are travelling on to Paignton or Brixham rather than Torquay itself, most taxi and transfer operators price the whole of Torbay similarly, while rail and coach services generally terminate at Torquay, Torre or Paignton stations, so check the exact drop-off point when booking.
- For a wider view of routes from the airport to other parts of the South West, see this site's routes page, and for a comparable shorter journey, the Bristol Airport to Exeter guide covers a similar mix of coach, train and taxi options.
FAQs
Answers to some of the more specific questions travellers ask about this route.