London Boat Show visitors

Essential information for those planing to brave a trip to Earls Court

London International Boat Show kicks off today with 'preview day' followed by the regular days until the show's conclusion on Sunday week.

The theme this year for the show is Turkey and the pool has been sculpted to ressemble a Turkish marina complete with market stalls (will they be touting exotic carpets we wonder?), local cuisine and whirling dervishes (as you find in every marina in Turkey). £200,000 worth of Club Sunsail holiday are to be given away as promotions during the show, so watch out for these.

The Daily Sail will be bringing you the latest news from the show as it happens...

Show Opening times
3 January - 12 January: 10am - 7pm (10am - 6pm Sunday 12th, 10am - 9:30pm Thursday 9th)
Preview Day 2nd January: 10am - 7pm

How to buy tickets & ticket prices
Tickets can be purchased by calling 0115 912 9111 (lines open 24 hours) or on line by clicking here (NB You will have to pick tickets up from the West Brompton - Earls Court 2 entrance and not the main Warwick road entrance).

Discounted on-line booking prices:
Adult £10.50. (£12.00 at the gate). Child under 16 £4.00. (£5.00 at the gate). Child under 5 Free.
Family Discount ticket: Save £17.50 on the at-the-gate price! Fast track entry two adults and up to four children (normally £44). Only available in advance.
Group discount: Save £3.00 each on adult tickets. Get your friends together and come as a group Adult £9.00 each. (min 10 adults) Only available in advance on the phone, (0115 912 9111).
After 4pm - half price
Available at the gate only, after 4pm every day except Preview Day. Adult £6.00 Child £2.50

Our top tips for getting to Earls Court

Driving into and through London even so close to the New Year is sheer hell and to be avoided at all cost. Much better to take public transport and then the underground to Earls Court, where there is nice underground walkway taking you straight into the exhibition centre.

Anyone coming into London by train (either from the north or south) would be well advised to investigate taking the over-ground railway directly to the little known West Brompton station which is a two minute stroll from Earls Court. As an example it takes roughly 5 minutes to get to this station from Clapham Junction rather than the best part of an hour on a sweaty tube train from Waterloo.

If you have no other choice than to drive then here is the official map of the car parks available. You can pre-book a car parking space over the phone by credit card by calling freephone 0800 056 8444 (opening hours Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm).