In short
- ExCeL is roughly a kilometre long with a gateway at each end. Know your hall number before you travel.
- Build access is usually the day before opening, at hours when public transport barely functions.
- Breakdown runs late and always overruns. Plan the vehicle to wait, not to arrive at a fixed time.
- Size the vehicle for the kit, not the crew. Four people with a stand is a minibus job.
- London City Airport is about ten minutes away, which makes fly-in fly-out genuinely practical.
Know your hall, not just the venue
ExCeL runs the length of the Royal Victoria Dock with entrances at either end. Western Gateway serves the lower-numbered halls, Eastern Gateway the higher ones, and the walk between them is around a kilometre through a busy concourse.
Being dropped at the wrong end with a flight case is a genuinely bad start to a build day. Give your driver the hall number rather than the venue name, and confirm it when the job is booked rather than on the morning.
Build and breakdown timings
These are the hours that make exhibition work different from ordinary business travel.
| Stage | When | Travel implication |
|---|---|---|
| Build day | Day before opening, early access | Departure from Kent before the trains are useful. |
| Show day one | Early arrival for stand prep | Standard morning run, but earlier than visitor hours. |
| Show days | Regular hours | Predictable. Block booking suits these. |
| Final day | Show closes mid-afternoon | Nothing happens immediately. Breakdown waits for clearance. |
| Breakdown | Evening, often late | Overruns as standard. The vehicle waits. |
Breakdown almost never finishes when scheduled. Book the vehicle to wait rather than to arrive at a fixed time, and check that waiting is priced in rather than charged by the hour.
Moving stand kit
The most common sizing error in exhibition work is booking for the crew and forgetting the stand. Four people with laptop bags fit an estate; four people with two flight cases, a pop-up display, a graphics roll and six boxes of literature do not.
| What you are moving | Vehicle |
|---|---|
| Two people, laptops and samples | Saloon or estate |
| Four people, sample cases | MPV or 8-seater |
| Crew plus pop-ups and literature | 8-seater with seats folded |
| Full stand build materials | Minibus, seats configured for load |
| Large team across several days | Minibus on a block booking |
Describe the actual items when you book rather than saying 'some stand kit'. A graphics roll is long, a flight case is heavy and rigid, and boxes of brochures are dense. All three affect the answer differently.
Getting there from Kent
ExCeL is one of the easier London venues to reach from our patch, because the Royal Docks were built with vehicle access in mind and the A2 and tunnels feed almost directly into them.
| From | Distance | Morning journey |
|---|---|---|
| Gravesend | 23 miles | 45–70 min |
| Dartford | 18 miles | 40–65 min |
| Bexleyheath | 11 miles | 30–50 min |
| Bromley | 15 miles | 35–55 min |
| Rochester | 31 miles | 55–85 min |
| Maidstone | 35 miles | 60–90 min |
| Canterbury | 58 miles | 85–115 min |
| London City Airport | 2 miles | 10–15 min |
The City Airport connection
London City sits about ten minutes from ExCeL, which enables a pattern that is awkward at most venues: fly in, go straight to the stand, work the show, break down and fly out.
For international exhibitors and for teams coming from elsewhere in the UK, this is frequently faster and cheaper than any alternative. Mention the flight numbers when booking so the timings are built around them and delays do not cause a missed collection.
Block booking a multi-day show
Three separate return journeys cost more and take more arranging than one block booking covering the run of the show. A block holds the vehicle for the duration, keeps the pricing consistent, and produces a single invoice at the end.
For companies exhibiting at several shows a year, an account arrangement removes the arranging from every individual event: book by email, get invoiced monthly, with VAT shown separately for accounts.