The party was made up this time of Peter Nash, James Grazebrook, David Coleman from Barton Marine Equipment, and Andrew Webster, publisher of BB : a motley crue some might say, but one that has all the requirements necessary to sample the best - and some of the not quite the best - watering holes to bring you the lowdown on where to go.

In short, it seems there are a few major areas to concentrate on. But none is in the immediate ExCeL area. You will have to travel away from ExCeL for your evening delights.

But first: a refresher on ExCeL.

We promised to let you know the state of the roadworks approaching ExCeL from the east. So I jumped on the trusty Honda VFR 750 and set off gently up the M25, keeping to the National Speed Limit at all times.

Improved road signs

Keeping my eyes peeled for the much-vaunted "improved road signs" for ExCeL, I managed to miss the turning that signfollowers will need to take (if they see the damned sign).

Coming from the M25 on the A13 you need the A1020.

Confusingly, the A1020 runs south, while the same road running north is the A406 North Circular Road.

And the only sign for ExCeL that I saw as I rode through the underpass was a yellow AAtype sign a long way up the slip road by the roundabout.

But my reason for taking all this trouble is that I didn't want to take the signposted route anyway. Because the A1020 takes you off south on a tour of the Royal Docks.

My reason for this trip was to see if the A13 - which runs north of ExCeL - would deliver us all to the west entrance without the long and winding road to the south.

As I rode past the sign that announced the roadworks would be finished in August 2003 (this trip was in late October), the reason for the detour south became immediately obvious.

Past the A1020/A406 junction, the A13 is not the sort of place you want to be. OK, when it's finished, it will be the shortest route to ExCeL. And out of normal working hours - like 01.00 - it's probably quicker than the detour south.

But right now, don't even think about it.

And it won't be any better by the time we get to ExCeL.

According to the signs, the overpass that will mark the exit from the A13 south into ExCeL west won't be finished until June 2004 (at the earliest, no doubt), so that bit of the A13 will remain a no-go area for some time yet.

I've now travelled to ExCeL by every available means. I've used the car. I've used the bike.

I've driven the A2 from the M25 south of the Dartford crossing through the Blackwall Tunnel.

I've driven (and now ridden) the A13 that runs in from the M25 north of the Dartford crossing.

And I've even let the train take the strain.

11/2 hours door-to-door But let me just tell you this:

Andrew Webster, made the train journey from Southampton Parkway to our hotel on Canary Wharf in just 1 1/2 hours. Door-todoor.

Using trains to get all the way to ExCeL from Tunbridge wells (Royal Tunbridge Wells to you) took me the same 1 1/2hours, even with having to find the craftily-hidden Jubilee Line at London Bridge.

Believe Messrs Webster and Nash: even though ExCeL has 7,000 car parking spaces, you don't need the hassle of having a car in that bit of London.

If the M25 and A13 don't get you, the traffic wardens will.

Now: back to the eating and drinking.

During the day there are lots of places on site at ExCeL for lunch or a snack - Leith's Tapas, Pizza This Pasta That, Seabar and So! offer lunches, while Costa Coffee, Oi! Bagel and Juicepiration offer quick snacks.

If you want a pub atmosphere, there are now three Fox pubs at ExCeL. One is at the west entrance, one is at the east entrance and the third - open only at the end of October - is in ExCel's central boulevard. The two outside are Big Pubs. The Fox@ExCeL is between the Custom House DLR stop and the west entrance to ExCeL and is quoted as a 1,000-seater pub.

The other one is the Fox@Connaught, which is at ExCeL east. Presumably it's the same kind of big-capacity pub.

The new Fox@Boulevard is more of a bar/snack emporium.

If your expenses will bear the brunt, the 5-star Sunborn Yacht Hotel is in the Royal Victoria Dock just outside ExCeL's east entrance.

For the post-show relaxer, you have the two Fox pubs outside ExCeL, the Victoria pub opposite ExCeL's west entrance and the bars in the hotels littered around. At ExCeL west you'll find the Ibis, Novotel, Holiday Inn, Custom House Hotel and the Quality Hotel.

At ExCeL east there's the Travel Inn Capital, the Ramada and, of course, the Sunborn Yacht Hotel. Remember the Sunborn is a fancy hotel, so expect fancy prices in the bar.

Have to travel When it comes to evening fare, remember ExCeL is not as far away from the dizzy delights of the West End as you might think. And if you want night life, you will have to travel away from ExCeL. So if you have to travel, you could stick with what you know and go back to one of your old favourite haunts you used when we were at Earls Court.

Travelling away from ExCeL for a night out isn't as bad as you might think. A lot of cabbies seem to live east of London, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to get a Fast Black for the return journey late at night.

£10 fare not a problem As to the cost of cabs - for this trip our host was the Britannia Hotel on Canary Wharf, where general manager Reinhold Faller and his deputy, Kory W Thompson, gave us their opinions.

"Most people leave here in groups, " said Faller. "With four to a cab, a £10 fare isn't a problem."

A cab to the West End takes around 20 minutes and costs around £11 during the day, added Thompson.

Warming to his task, Faller went on to tell us his taxi had taken just 15 minutes to get from Leicester Square to Canary Wharf after dinner in the West End. "But don't forget the tube journey is also quick, " he said. "Getting to Green Park on the Jubilee Line takes about 25 minutes."

But remember the entire Docklands area is pretty well served by the Jubilee Line and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), so maybe your outward evening journey could be on public transport.

Our trips around the area were by no means exhaustive, but we can tell you this:

1) f you want a curry, Brick Lane is the place.

2) f you want hip, cool and trendy then Hoxton Square is the place, dude.

3) If you want a wide range of restaurants and bars, both Canary Wharf and Butler's Wharf have more than enough for you to try a new place every night throughout the show.

Brick Lane is a cab journey, or a tube ride to Aldgate East.

The tube involves a ride to West Ham and a change on to the District Line.

Aldgate East is, of course, at the south end of Brick Lane, aka the Whitechapel Road (yes: it's where Jack The Ripper roamed). You need to walk up Brick Lane to get to the curry houses. And Brick Lane is a bit naff at the bottom end - just follow your nose.

Canary Wharf is the place most people associate with Docklands. As ExCeL has gone through its development process, so Canary Wharf has blossomed.

It seems every time I go there, a new office block is towering over the place.

London expanding And the rest of the east end of London is gradually expanding to engulf Docklands. It won't be long before ExCeL occupies a similar position relative to the centre as Earls Court does today: it will soon be solid London all the way from the City out past ExCeL.

Canary Wharf is a DLR ride away from ExCeL and its two DLR stations. Custom House is at the west entrance and Prince Regent is at the east entrance.

You can get to Canary Wharf by staying on the DLR, but the shortest route is to change at Canning Town onto the Jubilee Line. The DLR route goes all round the houses.

Butler's Wharf is on the south side of the River Thames immediately east of Tower Bridge. You could do a DLR trip to Tower Hill, then stroll over the river if the weather's good.

It's a lot further than you think and the breeze doesn't have a lot to stop it, but you get a unique perspective of London from there. The best way is a Fast Black, to be honest.

Turn left when you get to the south side. When we were there, David Blaine was Doing His Thing in his plastic box just to the west of Tower Bridge.

We took a look at him after we finished eating at about 23.00(ish) to find huge crowds making lots of noise and spotlights illuminating the box.

How the man did that, we had no idea.

Or why he did it, come to that??.

Between Canary Wharf and Butler's Wharf, I think our recommendation would be that Butler's Wharf is livelier than Canary Wharf.

Bear in mind that we went to both in the week: Canary Wharf on a Tuesday and Butler's Wharf on a Wednesday. So there shouldn't have been much difference in the numbers of people.

But we found Butler's Wharf was heaving. We had to try three restaurants before we could get a meal. Things might be quieter with no David Blaine to attract the crowds, but Tower Bridge will remain an attraction long after Mr Blaine has returned to the USofA.

Canary Wharf, in comparison, seemed to empty after about 20.00. But we're quietly confident that both areas will be heaving on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

A little help We had help in preparing our itinerary for the evening out.

Patricia Holmes runs the Tower Hamlets regeneration and tourism department and was only too pleased to make sure boat show exhibitors and visitors got the most out of their time in Docklands.

She suggested we begin at the Aurora Bar in the Great Eastern Hotel at Liverpool Street station. Andrew Webster's picture of messrs Grazebrook, Coleman and Nash hides the fact that the drinks in the Aurora can be prohibitively expensive. I don't know who paid for this round, but my drink - it's a Gold Rush - cost £22. Definitely snazzy (they wouldn't let us take a shot of the whole place, so we can't show you) and definitely top budget. A glass of wine could cost you £13.50.

Our recommended eatery was Cafe Naz in Brick Lane. It's a curry house - main course around £7.00 - which didn't suit all of our party, so we decided to make for Butler's Wharf.

And it really is wall-to-wall restaurants down there. The Bengal Clipper promised two courses for £10; Cantina said two courses for £11. The topend Pont de la Tour was full, so we avoided the £20 a head main course. The Chop House offered a main course from £15 to £20 and this, too, was packed.

Cantina was also packed, but some smooth talking from Webster found us a table. And after some lengthy negotiations, I managed to take a picture to show you what most of the Butlers Wharf eateries looked like: full.

Kitchen at full tilt Our waitress said our choices would take almost an hour to prepare because the kitchen was at full tilt, so we ended up with pizzas and beers that were entirely acceptable.

We were joined at the Cantina by Jamie Ounan, who is the Tower Hamlets Night Owl. His task was to take us on a Cook's Tour of bars, so we hailed a Fast Black up to Old Street. "If you get a mini-cab, ask the price before you set off, " said Night Owl. "And never pay that price - always haggle down."

And beware, he said - there are a lot of unlicensed minicabs working in London. You could be ferried around by a driver with no licence, no insurance, no MOT and no intent other than to make money out of you.

Back to the tour. A stroll round the corner into Leonard Street brought the Percussion bar: a dingy downstairs joint that served us a Smersh, which was Bison Vodka and apple juice. Really! It tasted like apple strudel and slipped down nicely. One thought you may care to toy with is the poster on the wall announcing the Hoxton Pimps Easter Fest??.

The Home Bar in Lennox Street was swiftly recommended and the Bricklayers Arms in Charlotte Street is where some of the current crop of artists hang out. Tracy Emin, apparently is a regular?.

The Comedy Club in (I think) Rivington Street , has acts like Lee Evans and Tara Stout ("A total babe, " said Night Owl).

The Cargo Club is like The Cavern - all live music. But they wouldn't let us in there (how demeaning).

The Cafe Kick in Shoreditch High Street is a bar that also has lots of football tables.

By this time we were getting thirsty, so we headed into Hoxton Square, taking a bemused look at Damien Hurst's forever in formaldehyde animals on the way to Bluu (apparently the old Blue Note).

Now this bar was very definitely cool and we spent some time there, drinking and chatting. As you do. In fact, I think we ended our evening there before bidding our Night Owl farewell and grabbing a taxi back to the hotel and hitting the bar to put the world to rights.

Bed time came, I seem to remember, at around 02.30 . . .

We still didn't find any nightclubs we can recommend to you. But we can assure you there is life east of Earls Court.

You 'll find an updated Halyard/ BB ExCeL guide with this issue and for those who manage to lose the guide before they get to ExCeL in January, Halyard will be dropping more guides onto the stands there.

Now we'd like you to help us out by telling us how you get on. Let us know the bars and clubs you found good (or bad) and we'll collate them into a recommended guide for the 2005 show.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to roadtest as many bars, restaurants and clubs as you can during the Schroders London International Boat Show.

You 'll have fun. Trust us.