Getting Around Leicester by Chauffeur

The M1 runs down the western side of Leicester, meeting the M69 at junction 21 alongside the retail development at Fosse Park. That junction carries motorway traffic, Coventry traffic, retail traffic and local traffic simultaneously, which is why it queues so reliably at weekends and through December.

The A563 outer ring runs around the city and is almost always the right answer for anything travelling from one side to another. The A6 comes down from Loughborough in the north and continues south towards Market Harborough. The A46 sweeps around the eastern side towards Newark and Coventry, and the A47 runs east to west through the city.

For arrivals from London the M1 is the obvious route, and the drive commonly falls somewhere around two hours depending on how the southern stretch behaves. From Birmingham the M69 is generally around forty five minutes to an hour, and from Nottingham the M1 is usually thirty to forty minutes.

The heart of Leicester is closed to traffic. Gallowtree Gate, the Clock Tower, High Street and the lanes around the cathedral and the Guildhall are pedestrian, and the Highcross development is accessed from its car parks rather than from the street. The Cultural Quarter to the east has narrow streets and evening pedestrian flow.

That leaves a ring of permitted stopping points around the outside of the core, none of them more than a few minutes from anywhere inside it. We choose the one that suits your destination and your luggage, confirm it in writing, and hold there rather than circling. New Walk, the Victorian promenade running south from the centre, is pedestrian too and worth knowing about as a walking route rather than a driving one.

Leicester station on London Road has a handsome Victorian frontage with carriage arches, and the forecourt behind them handles taxis and short waiting. It is more workable than many city stations, though it is tight at peak times and the London Road approach is busy. We confirm the meeting arrangement before you travel as a matter of course.

Leicester's commercial life is spread between the centre, the business parks along the ring road, and the science and engineering sites connected to the universities. Space Park in the north and the sites around Meridian and Grove Park to the south west are typical of the destinations where a car is not optional.

The county adds more. Loughborough with its university and sports facilities is around twenty five minutes north, Melton Mowbray around half an hour east, and Rutland Water and Uppingham a little beyond. Those are pleasant drives and awkward journeys by any other means, which is why a day booking suits Leicestershire rather better than a series of separate transfers around a city small enough to cross on foot.

The King Power Stadium sits south of the centre near the river and the Aylestone Road corridor, and matchdays bring closures and heavy queues along the approaches. Welford Road, home of the rugby, is closer to the centre and its crowds interact directly with the city core, which makes an evening fixture a genuine consideration for anyone with a dinner reservation.

The other date that reshapes Leicester is the autumn Diwali celebration on Belgrave Road, which draws very large crowds and closes the road and its approaches. It is one of the biggest events of its kind outside India and it affects the northern side of the city substantially on the days it runs.

In all these cases the plan is the same in principle and different in detail. We identify which approaches close, choose a set-down and a collection point outside the affected area, and build in additional time. Where your travel dates coincide, we flag it at the quotation stage.

East Midlands Airport is the nearest, reached north on the M1, commonly twenty five to thirty five minutes from the centre. Birmingham is generally around fifty minutes to an hour and a quarter via the M69 and M42, and offers a wider range of destinations. Both are straightforward runs on good roads.

For long-haul, Heathrow is usually in the region of two and a quarter to three hours down the M1 and around the M25, and the last third of that is the part that varies. For an early morning long-haul departure we would generally recommend travelling down the previous evening rather than leaving in the small hours and hoping the motorway cooperates.

Whichever airport you use, we work backwards from check-in with a real margin, we prefer to meet arrivals inside the terminal, and we confirm the arrangement in writing before the day. Published arrival information is checked before the chauffeur leaves for the airport. Where a flight is delayed the collection time moves with it, and nobody needs to start making arrangements from a baggage hall with a trolley in one hand.