How to Get to the Empress Museum

Empress Museum, Empress Place, London SW6 1TT. This is Earls Court, in West London.

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By tube and train

The nearest station is West Brompton: District line, London Overground and National Rail, and about five minutes from the door. From Earl's Court (District and Piccadilly) allow about ten. Two more District line stops, West Kensington and Fulham Broadway, are within walking distance if either suits your route better.

By bus

Buses pull in on Lillie Road, by the Empress State Building and outside West Brompton station, with each stop only a short walk from the door. Both take:

• The 74, from Putney and Fulham in one direction, and from Baker Street, Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner and South Kensington in the other
• The 430, from Roehampton and Putney, or from South Kensington
• The N74 and N97 late at night, with the N31 from Earls Court Square

The 190, from Richmond and Hammersmith, ends at the Empress State Building stops. From Earls Court Square, three or four minutes away, there's also the 328 (Golders Green, Kilburn, Notting Hill and Kensington), the C1 (Victoria, Knightsbridge and South Kensington) and the C3 (Clapham Junction and Imperial Wharf).

By car

More realistic here than at a West End theatre: Earls Court sits outside the Congestion Charge zone, though ULEZ still applies across London. There is no car park at the venue itself and the frontage is closed to traffic, so you will not be pulling up at the door.

What there is instead is the ordinary West London mix: supermarket car parks around West Cromwell Road, a handful of NCPs a little further out, and bookable residential driveways on and around Lillie Road, which is usually the cheapest way to do it and the only one you can guarantee in advance. For Blue Badge holders the nearest option is Empress Place (SW6), a short walk away, first come first served and not reservable. These are merely suggestions. You will have to do your own research on exactly where to park.

By bike

Good cycle routes and dedicated pedestrian walkways run through the Earls Court site.

What time to arrive

Arrive early, and this is the one venue where we mean more than fifteen minutes. Doors open a full hour before the show, at 6:30pm for evenings and 1:30pm for matinees, and the pre-show that follows is part of what you have paid for: performers working the crowd, characters, bars and the Empress Diner. Turn up at 7:20pm and you've paid for an hour you won't use. Bags are checked on the way in, so allow for the queue.