Point-to-point from £45 one-way; hourly £55/h (3h min); half day £250; full day £400. No deposit, pay at journey's end by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Crest Chauffeurs London runs private transfers from central London to the Studio Tour at Leavesden in a chauffeur-driven electric Mercedes-Benz EQE, priced as a one-way point-to-point fare from £45 or as hourly/half-day hire so the car waits through the tour.
Journey times are typical, not guaranteed. We plan departure times around live traffic on the day.
| Option | Best for | Main tradeoff | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-way point-to-point | Single leg, return arranged separately | Doesn't cover waiting or the return journey | From £45 |
| Hourly hire (3h min) | Shorter visit, chauffeur waits nearby | 3-hour minimum applies even if you're quicker | From £55/h (£165 min) |
| Half-day hire | Full visit — outbound, wait and return in one price | Flat fee regardless of exact hours used | £250 |
| Full-day hire | Combining the Studio Tour with other stops | Only worthwhile with extra destinations added | £400 |
Leavesden is around 20 miles north-west of central London, reached mainly via the M1 and the A41. Outside rush hour the drive takes about 45 minutes; on a weekday evening it can run to 70 or 80 minutes.
The route runs out through Brent and Harrow before picking up the M1 towards Watford, then a short stretch on local roads into Leavesden itself. There's no direct Underground or rail line to the studio site, which is one of the reasons people book a car for the whole round trip rather than trying to piece together a train and a connecting bus.
Traffic direction matters more than traffic volume. On weekday mornings, London's roads are busiest heading into the centre, so a morning departure out towards Leavesden is usually against the heaviest flow and comparatively quick. The pattern reverses by early evening, when commuters are leaving the city in the same direction as a return journey from the Studio Tour — that's when the drive can slip from 45 minutes to 70 or 80. At the weekend the roads are clearer in both directions, and 45 to 50 minutes each way is typical on a Saturday or Sunday.
Because the timing swings so much with the day of the week, a chauffeur booking will usually be quoted as a range on a weekday rather than a single fixed number, so there's no surprise if the return leg takes longer than the outbound one.
There's no flat package price for Leavesden the way there is for the airports. The journey is priced as a one-way point-to-point fare from £45, as hourly hire from £55 an hour with a 3-hour minimum, or as a flat £250 half-day rate that covers the whole visit.
A one-way transfer from £45 makes sense if you already have a return booked separately, perhaps picking up a different group or combining the trip with something else first. It only covers the single leg into Leavesden, not the wait, not the drive back.
For most people visiting for the day, the more useful option is hire by the hour or by the half day. Hourly hire starts at £55 an hour with a 3-hour minimum, so three hours comes to £165. The flat £250 half-day rate covers the outbound drive, the chauffeur waiting through the visit, and the return leg in one fixed price, which is usually cheaper and simpler than booking two separate £45 point-to-point fares plus waiting time. A full day at £400 is worth considering if the Studio Tour is only one stop among several — a detour via St Albans or back into central London for dinner, for example.
Every quote is agreed and confirmed in writing before the car sets off, so the number on the booking is the number paid, whichever option is chosen.
If you are planning the day itself, see a full day in London with a driver.
A fixed one-way quote has no meter and no waiting charge, but it also doesn't include anyone waiting around at Leavesden — that's what the hourly and half-day rates are for. Hire the chauffeur by the hour or the half day and the car simply waits.
The Studio Tour isn't a fixed-length visit; some people are through in under three hours, others take most of a day with the shop and the café. Booking a one-way £45 transfer means the return has to be arranged as a separate journey once a time is known, which works fine with a bit of notice but isn't instant.
Booking hourly or half-day hire avoids that problem altogether. The chauffeur parks up and waits at Leavesden, and the car is ready whenever the visit finishes — there's a general preference here for the chauffeur to be the one waiting, rather than a group standing in a car park waiting for a car to arrive. Hourly hire has a 3-hour minimum; if the visit overruns, extra time is simply added at the same hourly rate rather than triggering any penalty. The half-day flat fee of £250 removes that calculation entirely — one price, whatever time inside the half day is actually used.
Either way, the price is set and confirmed in writing before departure, so there's no meter running and nothing to negotiate at the end of the visit.
A card machine travels in the car and takes Visa, Mastercard and American Express by contactless, chip and PIN, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Payment is taken at the end of the journey — no deposit is ever requested and no card is held on file.
There's nothing to settle in advance. No deposit is taken when the booking is confirmed, and no card details are stored anywhere, so the only payment moment is at the end of the journey, standing next to the car.
The one thing worth knowing in advance: UK contactless cards cap out at £100 per tap. A £45 one-way fare taps through without any issue, and so does most hourly hire. The £250 half-day rate and the £400 full-day rate both sit above that limit, so they need a PIN entry on the card machine or a phone payment through Apple Pay or Google Pay, which don't carry the same £100 ceiling. Neither takes longer than a normal contactless tap — it's just a different button pressed on the same machine.
Cash isn't part of the process at all; every fare, whatever the size, goes through the card machine in the car.
The Mercedes-Benz EQE seats up to 3 passengers with room for luggage, and the same chauffeur drives every leg of the journey — never a substitute, never a different car turning up. Booking is by WhatsApp, with the journey confirmed in writing.
Three passengers is the practical limit for the car, which comfortably covers a couple with a child, a small family, or three friends travelling together, along with the usual bags, coats and anything bought in the gift shop on the way out. It's one driver and one car throughout, not a company dispatching whoever's free — the person who confirms the booking on WhatsApp is the same person behind the wheel for every leg of the trip.
Booking starts with a WhatsApp message giving the pickup address, the date and time, and the number of passengers, plus whether the plan is a one-way transfer or hourly/half-day hire with waiting. A fixed price comes back in writing before anything is confirmed, so there's no estimate that changes once the car arrives. Being DBS-checked and operating under a TfL-licensed operator partner, the same checks that apply to every other journey apply here too.
More guides: Chauffeur Tour of London | Crest Chauffeurs · Car and Driver Hire for a Week in London | Crest Chauffeurs · Chauffeur for Elderly Parents in London | Crest Chauffeurs
Weekday traffic runs against you twice. Weekday mornings are heaviest heading into London and weekday evenings are heaviest heading back out as commuters finish work — the same pattern that makes timing a same-day return from Leavesden worth planning around.
Taking the half-day rate at £250 keeps the same chauffeur and car waiting through the visit, rather than arranging and paying for a separate one-way fare back into London once the tour finishes.
Source: Crest rate cardUK contactless cards cap at £100 per tap, so the £250 half-day or £400 full-day rate needs a PIN entry or a phone payment (Apple Pay or Google Pay) rather than a simple tap.
Source: driver, first-handA group of four or more. The Mercedes-Benz EQE takes a maximum of three passengers, so larger families or groups need a second vehicle, which this service — one driver, one car — doesn't provide.
The easiest way is a private chauffeur transfer: Crest Chauffeurs London collects from anywhere in central London and drives directly to Leavesden in a chauffeur-driven electric Mercedes-Benz EQE, priced from £45 one-way or £250 for a half day including the wait.
A one-way point-to-point transfer starts at £45. Hourly hire is £55 an hour with a 3-hour minimum, and a half day covering the whole visit is a flat £250; a full day combining other stops is £400.
Around 45 minutes outside rush hour, 45 to 50 minutes on a weekend, and up to 70 or 80 minutes on a weekday evening when traffic leaving London is heaviest.
Yes. Book hourly hire or the £250 half-day rate and the car waits at Leavesden until the visit is finished, rather than arranging a separate return journey.
UK contactless cards cap at £100 per tap, so the half-day and full-day rates need a PIN entry on the card machine or a phone payment through Apple Pay or Google Pay instead.
Get the price above, or send us the journey on WhatsApp. A fixed price comes back in minutes.
WhatsApp for a fixed quoteThe Crest guarantee. If anything about your journey isn’t right, tell us and we’ll put it right before you pay. No deposit, nothing held on your card — you pay at the end.