I will be in London 4/26/09 and just found out that the London Marathon will take place that day. How will this marathon impact transportation and sightseeing that day?
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5533 posts
I lived in London on the South Bank and remember going out for a walk, crossing the bridge, and coming upon the marathon on a nice spring day. If I hadn't seen it myself, I would not have noticed anything unusual that weekend.
Unless you are in the area along the route, you probably won't even know there is marathon going on. There are some roads that are closed, but riding the tube will be pretty much as normal. You might check to make sure there are no closures that weekend (they are posted on www.tfl.gov.uk). Sometimes when there is an event, they close certain tube entrances, but I doubt they do this for the Marathon.
The marathon starts outside of the city and a good portion is away from the tourist area. Avoid Greenwich and the Tower of London that day. The route also goes along the Embankment and on to St James Park, so you may want to avoid that area as well.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
A marathon shouldn't affect Tube traffic, which is the easiest way to get around London anyway.