London Marathon 2026 spectator's guide: Road closures, tips and where to watch

The London Marathon takes place this weekend on Sunday, April 26th. More than 1.1 million people entered the ballot to race, and upwards of 50,000 will pound the capital’s pavements in days.

It’s a massive event, but one that will also cause some headaches if you’ll just be looking to navigate around the city this weekend.

The route

The route sees the runners start in Greenwich, head through Woolwich and Deptford before crossing the river into Shadwell. Then they wind around the quays of Canary Wharf before heading back across the Thames, past Temple and down to St. Jame’s Park where the whole thing finishes.

Closed roads

To accommodate the sea of runners descending on London, many streets are closed for the event. Driving anywhere near the route will be a nightmare, so we'd suggest taking public transport if possible.

See the image above for a map of the affected roads.

The first of the road closures takes place from 4am, despite the race not starting for the elite pack until 8:50am. And the end point area of the marathon actually closes up shop from early doors on Friday April 24th.

You will be able to get around the mid chunk of the route until around 8am, although with all the fencing involved, you can’t expect it to feel remotely normal, even on foot. Expect your usual journey and walking route times to be extended greatly.

And while the earliest of the road closures will be unwound by 14:30pm, Tower Bridge through to Victoria Embankment will still be blocked off until the late evening between 20:30pm and 22:00pm.

The marathon organisers also raise a red flag about the tube stations situated closest to the route. These will be particularly busy:

• Cutty Sark
• Canada Water
• Bermondsey
• Tower Bridge
• Canary Wharf
• Heron Quays
• Limehouse
• Tower Hill
• Westminster

That last one, Westminster, will be exit-only pretty much all day, from 7:00am to 19:00pm.

Where to watch the London Marathon

The entire marathon route is going to be busy throughout. And if you’re tempted by the start at Greenwich Park, or the scenic area by Cutty Sark, you’ll have to contend with the massive crowds — Cutty Sark in particular becomes incredibly congested, being a big focal point near the start of the race.

So why not spread yourself out further along the route? Recommendations of areas from the marathon team include Poplar, Westferry, and Rotherhithe peninsula, and they're great areas to watch from.

The stretch from Poplar to Limehouse, which incorporates Westferry, is perhaps our favourite spot — there are several DLR stations to use, the amenities of Canary Wharf nearby, and a load of great pubs. For an on-route pint, try The Clement Attlee pub on Commercial Road, right next to Limehouse station. And a short walk from there is The Grapes, owned by Gandalf himself, Sir Ian McKellan.

How to track a London Marathon runner

Of course, if you’re actually cheering someone on, you may want to attempt to follow them around the course. For that eventuality, we recommend downloading the 2026 TCS London Marathon app. It uses smart checkpoints to estimate where they are on the route at all times — which should be accurate-ish at least until they hit the wall or need a pee, anyway.

Running yourself? Don’t miss our round-up of the freebies you can pick up across London afterwards as a participant...

• All the freebies 2026 London Marathon runners can get: Pints, pizzas and more!

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