London Parents - how easy is it to get to the city if staying in the Docklands?

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Staying 2nd week August for 1 night - me Hub and DS so 3 of us.

We usually stay central and jump on a tube however the Docklands area is quite far out I believe???

There are some fantastic hotel deals in 4-5* hotels with spa pool in the docklands area - we have a show booked for 7pm how easy would it be to get to the city and how?

Docklands Light railway, then the tube. Doesn't take long.

Weekend or midweek? The DLR is sometimes unreliable at weekends. Your best advice is to go to TFL Journey planner on their website and put in the address of the hotel and the theatre to work out how long it will take door to door - I'd guess at 45 minutes - which is not unmanageable but a fair slug out of your day if you want to go back to the hotel, have a short rest and change and then go out to the theatre - it's at least 2 hours lost.

Also, download the CityMapper app onto your phones before you get here, it's invaluable.

It's 9 August so Tues but Schools hols.

We plan to get into London at around 10am and head straight to the hotel - use the pool, spa until our room is ready then chill go for dinner around the docklands then head to Covent Garden for 6.30pm as our Show is 7pm.

I second citymapper. It is amazing.

Depends where you are staying in Docklands. It's quite big. Some places advertised as Docklands are part of Canary Wharf (financial district) and would feel quite grand and "London-y" plus there's bars and restaurants in the area......whereas other places advertised as Docklands might be out in Blackwall or Mudchute and would feel very different. Places like Blackwall and Mudchute only have Docklands Light Railway service and this can be a little slow.

Other places in Docklands are connected to the Jubilee line which is a tube line.

The Docklands Light Railway (which, if your DS is fairly young, he will probably love. it's like a monorail train) will stop at Bank tube station.

Looking at the Crowne Plaza London Docklands Western Gateway Royal Victoria Dock, London - E16 1AL - It says the Emirates Sky thingy is opposite it - not sure what this is???

Nearest train it says is: Royal Victoria (Docklands Light Rail/DLR)

Emirates thing is a cable car from North Greenwich (has the Dome now O2, lots of restaurants and entertainment etc) to a bit of Docklands near the Excel centre with some shops, restaurants, offices etc. Fun to ride on but hasn't helped reduce commuting problems at all!

It's a good place to stay for a nice but quiet hotel but you will be going into central London for your entertainment.

Royal Victoria Dock is very far out. It's nice enough in itself, I haven't been there for a year or so. It felt a little barren then but I expect there is more there now. If a sunny day, possibly enough tourists milling about waiting to use the cable car to make it feel buzzy.

I don't know if I would count on being able to nip out to a restaurant there, though. Definitely do your research re: food options in advance.

You could do cable car over to North Greenwich, have dinner in the o2 dome (if you're OK with chain restaurants) then get the tube in to town. The Cable Car is not quick and there might be a queue depending on tourists but would be an "experience".

Or if you can find somewhere to eat around your hotel, you could get DLR from Royal Victoria to Canning town (1 stop), change to Jubilee line, then go into town, and I reckon it would take you about 45 minutes.

Hope that helps

There's an excellent Chinese place with dim sum by Prince Albert DLR, where you can watch planes landing and taking off across the dock at City Airport as well as watching DLR trains pass.
It's not that far out - you can get to Bank or Bond St in half an hour or less, and it's also handy for exploring Greenwich. It's not a pretty area but is practical - lots of businessmen.

Umm Im thinking this is too far out as we need to be in the city for no later than 6.30pm so working backwards dinner around 4pm for an hour then head over to the city 45mins so all going to be a bit of a rush hey ho will have to pa ££££ now for something more central

Or you could set off from your hotel at 4:30 and eat supper in the west end somewhere within 10 minutes walk of the theatre. If you started at 5:30/6 you'd have loads of choice of places with space.