Guides · London meetups · Fairness first
How London groups actually meet — without the midpoint fight
When five people live in five boroughs, “somewhere central” is a habit — not a plan. Here’s a clearer way to agree.
The London meetup problem
Most London plans fail the same way: someone drops a pin “in the middle”, half the group is on a slow interchange, and the person who complained least still had the worst journey home.
Crow-flies centre feels fair. Tube maps are not crow flies. If your group spans Hackney, Brixton and Shepherd’s Bush, the “middle” can punish someone every single time.
A three-step process that actually works
1. Pick the activity, not the postcode. After-work drinks, a rainy-day museum, a park picnic or a bookable court — FairWhere Placelists are built for these jobs.
2. Shortlist from a curated list. Don’t invent ten venues from memory. Start from places that are already group-usable (bookable pubs, free permanent collections, textable meeting pins).
3. Rank by journey fairness. Enter everyone’s starting points (and return locations if they matter). FairWhere Score compares travel burden across the group — not map geometry alone.
When to use a meeting point instead of a venue
If people are arriving at different times, or you still need to decide the pub after you find each other, start with a meeting-points Placelist. South Bank stretches for about a mile; “meet on the Heath” is worse. Exact gates, foyers and landmarks save the 20-minute wrong-entrance walk.
Once you’re together, you can walk to a nearby drink or gallery — or run a second fair shortlist for the venue itself.
What FairWhere does (and doesn’t) do yet
FairWhere ranks a shortlist by journey fairness and helps the group agree. It does not replace the venue’s own booking flow. Use official book / website links where shown, then confirm on the venue’s usual channel.
The product is in London beta. More cities are planned later. For the methodology behind the score, see How FairWhere decides.
Frequently asked questions
- What’s wrong with meeting in the middle in London?
- A geographic midpoint ignores Tube lines, walking legs, changes and the trip home. Two people the same crow-flies distance from a venue can have very different door-to-door journeys.
- What’s a better process for a group meetup?
- Agree the activity first (drinks, park, museum, sport), shortlist from a curated Placelist, then rank that shortlist by journey fairness for everyone’s starting points — optionally with return locations.
- Do we need exact home addresses?
- Postcodes, stations or saved places are enough to rank a London shortlist. FairWhere is in beta and planners currently work for London only.
- What if we only need a pin, not a venue?
- Use a meeting-points Placelist (South Bank, Hampstead Heath, Richmond Park) so the group texts a specific foyer, gate or landmark — then ranks those pins fairly.