How to Get to the Vaudeville Theatre

404 Strand, London WC2R 0NH, between Charing Cross and Covent Garden, a few doors along from the Adelphi.

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By tube

• Charing Cross (Northern and Bakerloo lines), 5 to 6 minutes, and the simplest walk.
• Covent Garden (Piccadilly line), 6 minutes. It gets very congested at theatre time.
• Embankment (District and Circle lines), 7 minutes.
• Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly lines), 7 minutes.

By train

Charing Cross is the nearest mainline station, 5 to 6 minutes on foot. Waterloo is a 10 to 15 minute walk over Waterloo Bridge, which is a lovely one on a nice evening.

By bus

The Strand is one of the busiest bus corridors in central London. Heading east, get off at Southampton Street (Stop A), right outside the theatre. Heading west, it's Savoy Street (Stop U) or Bedford Street (Stop J), a minute or two away.

• From West London: the 9 (Hammersmith, Kensington, Knightsbridge and Piccadilly Circus) and the 23 (Ladbroke Grove, Paddington, Marble Arch and Piccadilly Circus)
• From North London: the 91 (Wood Green, Crouch End, Holloway, King's Cross and Holborn) and the 139 (Golders Green, West Hampstead, St John's Wood, Baker Street and Oxford Circus)
• From the east and the City: the 15 (Blackwall, Limehouse, the Tower of London and St Paul's) and the 26 (Hackney, Shoreditch, Liverpool Street and St Paul's)
• From South London: the 87 (Wandsworth, Clapham Junction, Vauxhall and Westminster), the 176 (Penge, Forest Hill, Dulwich, Camberwell, Elephant & Castle and Waterloo), the 26 (Victoria and Westminster) and the 139 (Waterloo)

More routes cross Waterloo Bridge, three or four minutes' walk away. Coming from the south, get off at Lancaster Place (Stop T), at the north end of the bridge. Heading south, the same routes stop at Aldwych / Drury Lane (Stop S), about five minutes away.

• From South London: the 1 (Canada Water, Bermondsey and Elephant & Castle), the 59 (Streatham Hill, Brixton and Kennington), the 68 (West Norwood, Herne Hill and Camberwell), the 172 (Brockley, New Cross and the Old Kent Road), the 188 (North Greenwich, Greenwich, Deptford and Surrey Quays) and the SL6 (West Croydon and West Norwood)
• From North London: the 1 (Hampstead, Camden Town and Russell Square), the 68 (Euston and Russell Square), the 76 (Tottenham Hale, Stoke Newington, Dalston and Old Street), the 243 (Wood Green, Tottenham, Dalston and Hoxton) and the 341 (Tottenham, Manor House, Islington and Farringdon)

Late at night, the N9, N15, N21, N26, N44, N87, N89, N91, N155, N199, N343, N550 and N551 all stop on the Strand outside.

By car

There's no parking on the Strand itself, but two car parks are within walking distance:

• Q-Park Covent Garden, Bedfordbury, 4 minutes' walk. Open 7am to 11pm, with only 33 spaces, so book ahead
• Q-Park Chinatown, Newport Place, further away, open 24 hours

The theatre is inside the Congestion Charge zone. It applies 7am to 6pm on weekdays, and midday to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. For an 8pm show you'll arrive after it ends; for a matinee you'll pay it, £18 a day. The ULEZ applies around the clock if your car doesn't meet its standards.

William IV Street, a few minutes away on foot, has a handful of Blue Badge bays.

What time to arrive

Arrive 15 to 20 minutes before, no later. There are security checks at the door, and with no aisles in most rows, getting into the middle of a row takes longer once it has filled. For an evening show, the theatre and bars open an hour before and the auditorium 45 minutes before; for a matinee, everything opens 45 minutes before.

If you need the stair climber, arrive at least 45 minutes before. SIX runs straight through with no interval, and latecomers only go in if staff can find a suitable break, so a late arrival can miss a good part of the show.