Choose a hotel location by travel time

Measure from the door to the correct entrance

Use the hotel’s full address and the visitor entrance of each destination. A large station, museum or exhibition site may have several entrances with different access arrangements. Include the walk from reception to the stop, waiting, changes and the final walk. A journey planner’s train time alone is not the time you will spend travelling.

In London, TfL’s planner lets you compare routes with fewer changes or less walking and set access preferences. These options help expose a route that looks quick but involves an unsuitable interchange. Equivalent local transport planners are useful abroad: start with the destination’s operator rather than an old route description in a review. TfL journey planner.

Test the time of day that matters

Run each route for the intended date and approximate departure time. Repeat the evening journey in the return direction. Do not assume that a route available after breakfast runs equally often late at night, or that a weekday plan describes a weekend. Look for the last useful service if a theatre performance or dinner is central to the trip.

For the departure journey, work backwards from the arrival time requested by your airline or train operator. Include collecting bags and getting out of the hotel. If the useful public transport connection starts too late, compare a different hotel, an earlier transfer arrangement or a final night nearer the departure point. Resolve this before choosing a non-refundable room.

Weight repeated journeys more heavily

Count how often you expect to make each journey. A hotel beside the airport may simplify two transfers while adding a long return trip on every sightseeing day. Conversely, a conference hotel can be useful even when it is far from the historic centre if that is where you will spend most of your time.

Use a simple total: the outward and return travel time for each planned day, plus arrival and departure travel. Treat the result as a comparison tool, not a timetable promise. Keep fares alongside the minutes. If paying more for another neighbourhood removes several daily changes, decide whether the saved time is worth that difference to your party.

Check the route against the people travelling

Consider the journey with actual luggage, a pushchair or a mobility aid. Ask whether everyone can manage the walking involved and whether a return journey remains practical after a full day. Inspect the hotel approach for entrances, gradients and access instructions. A station’s accessibility label does not tell you whether every part of the surrounding route will meet your needs.

TfL Go provides platform-level access information and lift status, which can help you check a London route in more detail. Recheck service and lift information near departure because the route chosen while booking may need to change. For another destination, ask the operator or hotel for similarly specific access information. TfL Go accessibility features.

Choose a workable fallback

For each shortlisted hotel, identify one alternative way back if the main route is unavailable. This could be another station, a different bus or a pre-arranged vehicle. Check the practical access and pickup location rather than assuming a taxi can stop outside any entrance. Save the hotel address in the local language if you will need to show it to a driver.

Finally, check what sits around the hotel: somewhere to get breakfast, a useful evening meal option and any essentials your party needs. A day backpack can make an outing easier if it comfortably holds those essentials, but it should fit the itinerary and bag rules of your attractions. Choose the location first, then pack for the actual journeys.

Your next steps

• Compare routes from the hotel door to real entrances.
• Test evening and departure-day transport.
• Count repeated journeys and their likely fares.
• Save an alternative return route.

Keep planning

• Reserve a hotel travel cot with the right practical details
• Compare hotel prices using the whole stay
• Check an accessible hotel room before booking
• Make a late hotel arrival straightforward