I was a bit late in applying for nurseries but did apply to the two that are a reasonable distance to our home & convenient for us or the childminder to drop off/pick up etc.
One of the nurseries I applied to suggested I should be applying to at least 4 different places. The thing is if we did this we would be travelling right across our long narrow borough to drop DD off & it would involve quite a lot of travel & inconvenience through rush hour traffic.
We don't have a car at the moment, but if we did the journey would be impossible by car anyway as the traffic is completely horrendous.
So I've just applied to the 2 that are very close/walking distance to us (I also applied to the one attached to the CM's daughters school - this is a way away but CM can easily drop off/collect so it would be OK but I didn't hear back from them). I've got my fingers crossed to know if she's been accepted on 18th October - we've going to be stuffed if she hasn't been.
Apparently being close to the nursery is a really big help, but no guarantee.
What did you do? Did you apply to nurseries that you know would make your days unmanageable commuting to just to get a free place or into the nursery of your choice?