LonDone parkrun Transport Connections
LonDone is the term for completing all parkrun events in Greater London. There are currently 62 parkrun events in Greater London. The first was Bushy Park which started on October 2nd 2004 and there’s typically a couple of new events added to the region each year. London is blessed with great public transportation links with most parkrun events within walking distance of a train, tube, tram or DLR stop. Travelling by bus gives you even more options.
Driving to the events is generally discouraged, but it will be the preferred option for some parkrunners for some events. Key considerations for drivers are parking options and whether the event is in, or the trip is through, the ULEZ or Congestion Charge zone.
Content on this page is sourced from the individual event pages, desktop research and input from the parkrun community. There make be some errors in the early release of this page and things can change. When planning your trip use this as a guide but always check the Course page of the relevant parkrun event and check other travel sites for any issues on your route for the day. Let me know if you spot any errors or have new information and I’ll make a quick update.
Links to key sections:
See my main parkrun LonDone page for more geekery on the Greater London parkrun events.
Public Transport: Nearest Stations and Stops
Notes:
Nearest station, excluding bus stops, is shown with a white background. Nearest alternative type shown with a light blue background.
Nearest and nearest alternative stations are all within walking distance of the start line. “Walking distance” is subjective but for the purposes of this I’ve determined it as “half-a-parkrun” (2.5 km).
Stations with an orange background are longer walks of between 2.5 km and 5 km.
“N/A” indicates that there’s no station of this type within a 5 km walk for the start line.
The Bus column shows the nearest stop to the start line. There’s normally several other stops nearby and on different routes.
Ally Pally to Fulham Palace:
Gladstone to Orpington:
Osterley to Wormwood Scrubs:
Parking, ULEZ and Congestion Charges
Driving to London parkrun events is generally discouraged and it can often be expensive. I learned that the hard way when I running late for Victoria Dock had to pay £20 for a short stay in the nearest car park.
If you are driving the main three things to know are about parking, the ULEZ zone and Congestion Charge.
Most events have a car park either in the park or nearby. Some can be small so plan to arrive early to make sure you get a space and have time to pay (if needed) and walk to the start. If there’s a charge many car parks have pay-by-app options. This is great if you already have the app but takes time if you’re a first-time user and need to set it up. Northala Fields is an example of app-only parking with no options to pay by cash or card at a machine. I’ve made note of any specific details on parking, but let me know if you have additional local knowledge.
The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is a large area of London where you have to pay a charge if your car doesn’t meet certain emissions standards. You can find out if your car is exempt, see the area covered, and pay the fee on this TFL page. From August 29th 2023 the ULEZ zone was expanded to include most of Greater London, and all London parkruns are now in the zone. 2 events; Bedfont Lakes and Riddlesdown are right on the edge of the zone. It’s possible to reach these by car and park outside of the ULEZ zone, however be careful not to cross into it on the drive there.
There are currently no parkrun events inside the Congestion Charge zone. As with the ULEZ Zone, be careful when planning your drive as you may have to pass through the zone even if the parkrun event is outside of it.
Ally Pally to Fulham Palace:
Gladstone to Orpington:
Osterley to Wormwood Scrubs:
Cafés and Toilets
Knowing whether there’s a toilet at the event is often important when planning your trip. Most events have one near the start line but if they don’t it’s worth checking to see what’s on your route, especially for long trips. The original information here is from the Course pages from each event. Let me know if you have additional information (e.g. opening times, disabled access) on each that would help other parkrunners.
The cafés shown here are either ones noted on the Course pages or the closest one if not mentioned. These are not recommendations.
Ally Pally to Fulham Palace:
Gladstone to Orpington:
Osterley to Wormwood Scrubs:
The LonDone parkrun tube and train map
There’s often chat in the Facebook parkrun groups about having a transport map showing the nearest stations to the London parkrun events. I’m certainly not the first to have this idea or to give it a go. Here’s my attempt at putting one together. Things to know are:
It shows nearest stations to parkruns and key interchanges, not all stations and lines.
Other stations may be more convenient for each parkrun, depending on where you’re coming from. Check the tables above for alternatives.
It’s intended to be an “artistic impression”, not for navigation.
Nearest airports to London parkrun events
I’m guessing that parkrun’s encouragement of using public transport doesn’t include flying to events. This section is likely to be pretty niche, but I included it anyway. The map and table below shows the nearest major London airport to each parkrun event. “Nearest” is defined as the quickest route via public transport rather than as the crow flies.
The reality is that anyone flying to London for a parkrun is likely to choose whichever airport has the best cost and route options from wherever they are flying in from. Every parkrun event is accessibly from each of these airports within 90 minutes, so flying into any London airport on a Friday gives you lots of options to get to the event by parkrun o’clock on the Saturday.
A few notes on the exercise:
I included major commercial airports and excluded RAF or smaller airfields such as Northolt or Biggin Hill.
London Southend (SEN) was in-scope but there is no London parkrun that is closer to it by public transport than to a different airport. Harrow Lodge is the closest event to SEN but it’s quicker to get there by public transport from London City Airport (LCY).
Walthamstow is the only parkun event that is closer to London Stansted (STN) than any other London airport. This is mostly due to LCY being very well connected to many public transport routes with fewer options into London from STN.
Ally Pally to Fulham Palace:
Gladstone to Orpington:
Osterley to Wormwood Scrubs:
More parkrun posts
parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.
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