How to Get to Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre

Water Street, Canary Wharf, London E14 5GX.

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By tube, Elizabeth line and DLR

Canary Wharf is the station, about five minutes' walk, and it serves the Jubilee line, the Elizabeth line and the DLR. They are three separate station buildings rather than one, so the walk is not identical from each. Heron Quays on the DLR is also close.

On the Jubilee line: London Bridge 7 minutes, Waterloo 11, Westminster 13, Green Park 15, Bond Street 17, Baker Street 20.

On the Elizabeth line: Whitechapel 3 minutes, Liverpool Street 6, Farringdon 9, Tottenham Court Road 10, Paddington 17, Heathrow 45.

Finding the door, which is the hard part

The theatre does not front onto a street you would walk down by accident, and the signage inside the station points to a road name rather than to the theatre. From the Jubilee line:

1. Take the east exit and go up the escalator.
2. Cross the plaza in front of you, heading towards the water.
3. Take the bridge on your right.
4. The theatre is down an alleyway on your left, past the plastic whale.

The landmark to look for is the bronze mockingjay on the roof. Without it the building reads as another of the warehouse-style blocks along the water, which is exactly why people walk past it.

By bus

Churchill Place is the closest stop, served in both directions by the D3, D8 and SL4.

The Canary Wharf station stops add the 135, the 277 and the D7.

• D3 Bethnal Green, Shadwell, Limehouse, Canary Wharf, Leamouth
• D7 Poplar, Island Gardens, Westferry Road, Canary Wharf, Mile End
• D8 Stratford, Bromley-by-Bow, Poplar, Canary Wharf, Crossharbour
• 135 Crossharbour, Canary Wharf, Limehouse, Aldgate, Old Street
• 277 Dalston, Hackney Central, Mile End, Canary Wharf, Crossharbour
• SL4 Superloop: North Greenwich, Canary Wharf, East India, Blackheath, Lee, Grove Park

After an evening performance the two that matter are the night buses. The N550 will take you all the way back to Trafalgar Square, by way of Canning Town, Limehouse, Aldgate and Bank, which makes it the one to know if you are staying in town. The N277 runs the other way, out through Mile End and Hackney towards Islington.

By river

You can come by boat to Canary Wharf Pier, which is served by Uber Boat by Thames Clippers.

• RB1 Battersea Power Station, Westminster, Canary Wharf, Greenwich, Woolwich, Barking Riverside
• RB6 Putney, Battersea Power Station, Embankment, London Bridge, Canary Wharf, North Greenwich
• RB4 the cross-river shuttle between Canary Wharf and Rotherhithe

It is a lovely way to arrive. Check the last sailing on your date before you plan on it for the way home.

By car

There are four underground public car parks on the estate, and three of them come out inside the malls. The two nearest the theatre are Canada Square, entrance on Montgomery Street, sat nav E14 5EW, and Jubilee Place, entrance on Bank Street, sat nav E14 5NY. Cabot Square (E14 4AP) and Westferry Circus (E14 4HD) are the other two.

Three things:

• The height restriction is 2.0m in all four
• They are cashless. No car park on the estate takes cash, which catches people out on the way in
• Blue Badge bays and parent-and-child bays are provided

There is no parking at the theatre itself. There is a drop-off point, and no accessible parking on site.

What time to get here

Arrive 20 to 25 minutes before the performance, no later. The extra time is for finding the place rather than for queueing. The building is down an alleyway, the station signage points to a street name rather than to the theatre, the internal signage to some Districts is poor, and every bag is searched on the way in.

If you have booked a table at Songbird inside the theatre, arrive about two and a half hours before the performance.

Need to step out? Do it at the interval. Anyone who leaves during the performance is not let back in.

If you are late, you will still get in. There is a latecomers' moment in the performance and you are held until it comes round. That is a different rule from the one above: latecomers are admitted, but nobody who leaves mid-performance is let back.