How to Get to the Shaftesbury Theatre

210 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8DP. The theatre stands on Princes Circus, at the point where Shaftesbury Avenue meets New Oxford Street and High Holborn.

By tube

Three stations, all about five minutes away, on five different lines between them.

• Tottenham Court Road, about 5 minutes. Northern, Central and Elizabeth lines
• Holborn, about 5 minutes. Central and Piccadilly lines
• Covent Garden, about 5 minutes. Piccadilly line

Three stations at the same walking distance means a disrupted line on the night costs you nothing.

Step-free journeys

If stairs are a problem, use Tottenham Court Road. It's step free from street to train on the Elizabeth and Northern lines, while Holborn and Covent Garden both involve stairs. The Stalls are reached by lift once you're inside, so the whole trip can be step free. Access has the detail.

Buses that stop nearby

The nearest stops are on New Oxford Street and round Tottenham Court Road station, all about three minutes from the door.

• From the east and the City: the 8 (Bow, Bethnal Green, Liverpool Street and St Paul's) and the 55 (Walthamstow, Hackney and Old Street)
• From North London: the 19 (Finsbury Park, Highbury and Angel), and the 24 and 29 (Camden Town), which stop on Charing Cross Road by the station, about four minutes away
• From West London: the 98 (Willesden, Kilburn, Marble Arch and Oxford Street)
• From South and South-West London: the 188 (North Greenwich, Greenwich, Elephant & Castle and Waterloo), the 176 (Penge, Dulwich, Camberwell and Waterloo), the 14 (Putney, Fulham, South Kensington and Knightsbridge) and the 19 (Battersea, Sloane Square and Piccadilly Circus)

Late at night, the N1, N8, N25, N68, N98, N171, N207 and N242 stop on New Oxford Street, and the N19, N38, N41, N55 and N253 by Tottenham Court Road station.

It sits apart from the main theatre cluster

Most West End theatres, including nearly all the other Shaftesbury Avenue ones, are packed into the streets around Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. This one is at the far end of the avenue, where it meets New Oxford Street.

It feels further out than it is. It's only 5 to 10 minutes from Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Covent Garden, so not a different part of London.

By tube it is better served than most of the cluster, with three stations about five minutes away. If you are coming by Underground rather than walking from another theatre, this is one of the easier ones to reach.

By train

Charing Cross is about 13 to 15 minutes on foot. Waterloo is about 23, and King's Cross and Euston about 25 each.

Driving and parking

The theatre is inside both the Congestion Charge zone and the ULEZ. The nearest car parks are at Southampton Row and Russell Square.

Coach bays are on High Holborn, Montague Place and Malet Street, all within about ten minutes.

What time to arrive

Doors open 90 minutes before the performance. Arrive 15 to 20 minutes before the start, no later, and allow a little longer for the Royal Circle, which is stairs only. Latecomers are held and shown in at a suitable break in the performance, sometimes to a different seat until the interval.