How to Get to the Fortune Theatre

29 Russell Street, London WC2B 5HH, a short street between Covent Garden Piazza and Drury Lane, with Theatre Royal Drury Lane directly opposite.

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Which door?

The main entrance is on Russell Street, level from the pavement, with the Box Office on the right as you go in. If you need the lift, it's at the side entrance on Crown Court, and staff at the front will take you there.

By tube

Covent Garden (Piccadilly line) is the nearest, 5 to 6 minutes' walk. From the station, head into the Piazza, follow the covered walkway round to Russell Street, and walk to the end: the theatre is on the corner, facing Drury Lane. Holborn (Central and Piccadilly lines) and Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly lines) are both 10 to 15 minutes' walk.

By train

Charing Cross is the nearest mainline station, within 15 minutes on foot along the Strand and up through Covent Garden.

By bus

The nearest stops are on the Aldwych, at Drury Lane, 2 to 4 minutes' walk: walk up Catherine Street past Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and the Fortune is on the crossroads just beyond it, on your right. Which bus to take depends on where you're coming from:

• From North London: the 1 (Belsize Park and Camden Town), the 68 (Euston and Russell Square), the 76 (Tottenham Hale and Stoke Newington), the 91 (Wood Green and King's Cross), the 243 (Wood Green and Dalston) and the 341 (Tottenham and Angel)
• From West London: the 9 (Hammersmith, Knightsbridge and Piccadilly Circus) and the 23 (Paddington, Marble Arch and Piccadilly Circus)
• From the east and the City: the 15 (Limehouse and Tower Hill) and the 26 (Hackney, Shoreditch and Liverpool Street)
• From South London: the 59 (Brixton), the 68 (Camberwell and Elephant & Castle), the 87 (Clapham Junction and Vauxhall), the 172 (New Cross and Elephant & Castle), the 188 (Greenwich and Canada Water) and the SL6 (West Croydon and West Norwood)
• From the Strand stops, at Southampton Street and Savoy Street, about 4 minutes away: the 139 (Golders Green and Baker Street) and the 176 (Forest Hill and Camberwell)

Late at night, the N1, N9, N15, N21, N26, N44, N68, N87, N89, N91, N155, N171, N199, N550 and N551 use the same Aldwych and Strand stops.

By taxi

Black cabs are easiest to hail on the Strand or the Aldwych, a couple of minutes down Catherine Street, rather than outside the theatre.

By car

There's no parking at the theatre, and Covent Garden is largely pedestrianised, so this isn't a theatre to drive to if you can avoid it. Two car parks are about 10 minutes' walk away:

• Q-Park Covent Garden, Bedfordbury, under the St Martin's Lane Hotel. Small, and it closes at 11pm
• Q-Park Chinatown, Newport Place. Open 24 hours, with EV charging

Book a space ahead if you can.

• Congestion Charge: £18 a day. It runs 7am to 6pm on weekdays and midday to 6pm at weekends, so a matinee means paying it, and arriving after 6pm for an evening show means you don't.
• ULEZ: all day, every day, if your car doesn't meet the standard.

For a drop-off, Russell Street is the front door. Blue Badge bays around Covent Garden are few, so don't count on one.

What time to arrive

Arrive 15 to 20 minutes before, no later. You can get in 90 minutes early, and into the auditorium from about half an hour before. The foyer is small, and bags may be checked at the door.

What if I'm late?

Neither the theatre nor the show publishes a latecomer policy, so nobody can tell you in advance when you'd be let in. Arrive late and you lose the start of the story, where the plan the show turns on is set up.