How far your gate is from security at Heathrow depends heavily on which terminal, and which part of it, you're in: the closest gates are a 5 to 10 minute walk, while the furthest gates in Terminals 3, 4 and 5 can be a 15 to 23 minute walk, sometimes including a transit train or underground tunnel. Heathrow's four terminals are not laid out the same way, so a walk time that applies in one does not transfer to another. Checked against Heathrow's own published terminal information and independent gate-mapping data, November 2026.
Walk times by terminal at a glance
| Terminal | Closest gates | Furthest gates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal 2 | ~5 minutes (A gates, main building) | ~15-20 minutes (B gates, T2B satellite) | B gates reached via an 800m underground tunnel from near Gate A16 |
| Terminal 3 | ~6-12 minutes (Gates 1-13, central ring) | ~15-20 minutes (Gates 40-42, far end of the long pier) | Single building, hub-and-spoke layout off a central departures ring |
| Terminal 4 | A shorter walk from the nearer gates | ~13-23 minutes (Gates 403-432, longest pier) | Heathrow's most spread-out single terminal by gate distance |
| Terminal 5 | ~10 minutes (A gates, main building) | ~20 minutes (C gates, via the internal transit train) | B and C gates are satellites reached by an automated transit system |
These are walking estimates from the security exit or main departure lounge to the gate, not from check-in, and they assume a direct route without stopping at shops or a lounge on the way.
Terminal 2: the A and B concourses
Terminal 2 (the Queen's Terminal) is structurally two airside buildings. The main building, T2A, holds gates A1 to A26 on one broad concourse, with the central departure lounge on the level above. The satellite, T2B, holds gates B31 to B49 (16 of its 20 numbered slots are active) and sits roughly 800 metres away, reached only by an underground tunnel that branches off the main concourse near Gate A16. The walk to an A gate from the main lounge is roughly 5 minutes; the walk to a B gate, via the tunnel, runs to 10-15 minutes from the main lounge and longer again measured from the security exit itself. There is no shortcut between A and B gates at any other level once you commit to the tunnel.
Terminal 3: one building, a long pier
Terminal 3 is a single building with a hub-and-spoke airside layout: a central departures ring sits at the heart of the concourse, with gate piers fanning off it and no satellite building to transfer to. Gates 1 to 13 cluster on the piers closest to the central ring, a 6 to 12 minute walk covering around 486 metres. Gates 23 to 42 run out along the terminal's long northern pier, and the far end, Gates 40 to 42, is a 15 to 20 minute walk from security. An underground, step-free walkway at level -1 also connects Terminal 3 to Terminal 2, around a 10 minute walk, which matters if you are transferring between the two rather than flying from either.
Terminal 4: Heathrow's longest single pier
Terminal 4 has 25 active gates, and its layout means the walk from security to the gate varies more than at most Heathrow terminals. The longest walk, from the security area out to Gates 403 to 432 at the far end of the pier, runs to roughly 13 to 23 minutes, covering around 941 metres, the longest single-pier walk of any Heathrow terminal. If your boarding pass shows a gate in the low 400s, allow noticeably more time than the standard security-to-gate estimate most airlines quote.
Terminal 5: three buildings linked by a transit train
Terminal 5 is split across a main building and two satellites, connected by an automated people-mover transit system rather than a walkway, based on Heathrow's own published terminal maps:
- A gates (A1-A23), main building: around 10 minutes' walk from security, no transit required.
- B gates (B32-B48), satellite T5B: around 15 minutes, including the transit ride.
- C gates (C52-C66), satellite T5C: around 20 minutes, including the transit ride, the longest of Terminal 5's three gate groups.
Because B and C gates are reached by transit train rather than on foot the whole way, build in a buffer for a possible wait for the next departure if you are cutting your connection fine, rather than assuming you can walk the distance faster than the system allows.
Why this matters for connections and boarding
If you have a short connection at Heathrow, or you're simply trying to judge how long to linger over a coffee before heading to the gate, the terminal and gate range on your boarding pass matters more than a single "allow 20 minutes" rule of thumb. A Terminal 3 flight from Gate 3 and a Terminal 4 flight from Gate 425 can have more than a 15-minute difference in walk time, even though both are nominally "at the gate" the moment boarding is called. Heathrow's own boarding gate information typically appears on departure screens around 45 minutes to an hour before departure, later for some short-haul flights, so you will not always know your exact gate the moment you clear security.
Travelling with reduced mobility or claustrophobia
If a long walk, an escalator, or a transit train is a concern, Heathrow's special assistance service can arrange a more direct route or transport between security and the gate as part of a pre-booked assistance request. This is worth arranging ahead of travel rather than on the day, particularly for Terminal 4's long pier or Terminal 5's transit-linked satellites. See our guide to booking special assistance at Heathrow for how far in advance to request it.