Staying in Peterborough for work: a practical guide

This guide is for anyone about to spend weeks staying in Peterborough for work, and for the person arranging that stay. A contractor on a long job, an employee mid-relocation, a project team working away: the questions are the same either way. How do I get around, where do I buy food, where do I eat when I cannot face cooking, and what do I do with the weekends?

It is not a tourist guide. It covers the practical side of living in the city for a while: transport, shopping, eating out, downtime, and the small routines that make a multi-week stay feel less like a stint and more like living somewhere.

Getting around: rail, road and early starts

Peterborough earns its keep as a working base because getting in, out and around it is simple. That matters more than anything else when you are commuting to a site every day and heading home at weekends.

• Rail. Peterborough is on the East Coast Main Line, with direct trains to London and good connections to the north. The fastest London services take under an hour, though journey times vary by service, so check before you travel.
• Road. The city sits just off the A1(M), which gives a direct run south towards London and north towards Yorkshire and the North East. For most drivers, the weekend trip home starts on one main road.
• Airports. Luton and Stansted are both within a practical drive. Allow extra time for traffic and check the route on the day rather than trusting the estimate from the week before.
• Buses and taxis. Regular buses serve the city and the surrounding area. For an early start before services are running, book a taxi or private hire the night before rather than chancing it in the morning.

Stocking up: supermarkets, the kitchen and Queensgate

The difference between surviving a long stay and settling into one is mostly food. Accommodation with a kitchen only helps if there is something in the fridge, so do a proper shop in the first day or two rather than living out of meal deals.

The major supermarket chains are well represented in and around Peterborough, so keeping the essentials in is a short trip rather than an expedition. One weekly shop covers breakfasts, packed lunches and most weeknight dinners, and it costs a lot less than eating out by default.

For everything else, Queensgate is the main shopping centre in the middle of the city, with independent shops in the streets around it. Anything you forgot to pack is fixable within a lunch break.

A weeknight routine that works: cook most nights, keep something quick in the freezer for the late finishes, and save eating out for the evenings when you want a change of scene, not just because the fridge is empty.

Eating out: places worth knowing

When you do want that change of scene, Peterborough has a wide mix of cuisines and price points. The places below cover quick meals, sit-down dinners and pubs. They are options to try, not endorsements, and the city has plenty more beyond them. Opening times and menus change, so check before making a special journey.

• The Ladz, Cowgate. A no-frills spot for a filling casual meal in the city centre, useful after a long shift.
• Momoz & More, Westgate. Indian and Nepalese dishes with plenty of choice for an informal dinner.
• Turtle Bay, Queensgate. A central Caribbean restaurant that suits a lively, easy-going team evening.
• Cote, Church Street. Polished but relaxed, a sensible choice for a client meal or a quieter dinner in the centre.
• Kathmandu Lounge, Church Street. Nepalese dining in the centre, a good shout when the team wants something different from pub food.
• Middletons, Bridge Street. Steakhouse-style dining with a broad menu, practical for a group with mixed preferences.
• The Boathouse, Thorpe Meadows. A waterside pub that suits a relaxed meal or a drink after work, with outdoor space for the warmer evenings.
• The Woodman, Thorpe Wood. An easy-value pub for casual food and drinks, convenient if the job is west of the centre.

After work and at weekends

Weeks away go better when the evenings and weekends have something in them beyond the accommodation and the site. Peterborough has more to work with than most people expect.

• Fresh air. Nene Park follows the River Nene through meadows and woodland, and Ferry Meadows within it has lakes, walking and cycling routes and open space. It is the easiest way to clear your head after a day on site.
• An hour after work. Peterborough Cathedral is the city's standout landmark, with striking Norman architecture, and a walk around the historic centre fills a free hour well. Peterborough Museum on Priestgate is a compact stop for a quieter afternoon.
• Keeping a routine. The city has a range of gyms and leisure facilities, which makes it easy to keep a normal exercise routine going during a longer stay. Golfers have courses around the city, including Orton Meadows, Elton Furze and Peterborough Milton.
• When family visit. Ferry Meadows works well for children, the Nene Valley Railway runs heritage steam and diesel services on selected dates, and the city has bowling, soft play and an ice arena. For something different, Flag Fen is a Bronze Age archaeology park on the eastern side of the city.

Settling into a multi-week stay

A stay measured in weeks is not a long business trip. It is living somewhere else for a while, and it goes better with a bit of routine. Five habits, set up in the first few days, do most of the work.

• Test the commute. Travel the route to site before the first early start, ideally at the time you will actually be going. The gap between the map's estimate and a wet Monday morning is worth discovering in advance.
• Make the space yours. Unpack properly on the first evening. Living out of a bag for a month is miserable, and a dedicated spot for work and another for switching off makes the place feel like a base rather than a stopover.
• Keep essentials stocked. A weekly shop, a few freezer standbys and the workday basics kept topped up. It saves money, but mostly it removes the nightly question of what to do about dinner.
• Flag problems early. If something in the accommodation is not right, report it as soon as you notice rather than living with it. Small problems are easiest to sort while they are still small, and nobody can fix what they have not been told about.
• Raise extensions early. Project dates move. If the job looks like running over, raise the extension as early as you can, because the sooner the question is asked, the more options there are likely to be.

Common questions

How long is the train from Peterborough to London?

Peterborough is on the East Coast Main Line, and the fastest direct trains to London take under an hour. Journey times vary by service and time of day, so check before travelling. It makes a London meeting perfectly doable in a day from a Peterborough base.

Is Peterborough practical without a car?

It depends on where the work is. The city centre, the station and Queensgate are walkable, and buses cover most of the surrounding area. For sites outside the centre, or early starts before the buses are running, a car or a pre-booked taxi makes life much easier. If a vehicle is part of the plan, sort out where it will park before the stay begins.

What part of Peterborough should visiting workers stay in?

Honestly, it depends on the site. Peterborough is compact enough that most of the city is within a reasonable drive of most workplaces, so the right base is the one with the easiest run to where the work actually is. Start from the site postcode and work outwards, and check the commute at the time people will really be travelling, not mid-afternoon.

Is there anything for family who visit at the weekend?

Yes. Ferry Meadows is the easy first pick, with lakes, walking routes and space for children to run about. The Nene Valley Railway runs heritage steam and diesel services on selected dates, and the city has bowling, soft play and an ice arena. Check opening days before travelling, especially outside the summer.

If you are the one arranging the stay

The accommodation we arrange is in Peterborough, and it is chosen for exactly this kind of stay. Tell us what your people need, a kitchen, laundry, somewhere to work, and we will look for accommodation that fits, so week four still feels like home. Support during a stay is available 24/7, so if something goes wrong there is somebody to ring.

There is more about the city as a base, connections included, on our serviced apartments in Peterborough page. And if you are still weighing an apartment against a hotel, our guide on how to choose for a stay of weeks walks through the arithmetic.