London is one of the world’s great cities. And with its grand parks, paths along the Thames, and historic sites, London is also a great city for runners. This guide is for running in central London and some of the signature spots in nearby suburbs (see our runs by neighborhood post). For more great runs in London’s outer suburbs (within the M25 corridor), click here. If you’d like to have an in-person guided running experience in London, we highly recommend our friends at Go! Running Tours.
The best places to run in London are around the famous and historical Royal Parks: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Green Park, St. James Park, and Regents Park are all relatively close together and are interconnected. Other running highlights include the paths along both sides the Thames River, and the ‘lanes and mews’ of some of the quieter residential streets. For those in London for business, there are great places to run in the Docklands and Canary Wharf. We’ve also mapped great running routes in some popular spots just outside central London: Hampstead, Wimbeldon, East London/Olympic Park area, Bushy Park and options near Heathrow Airport, and some more pastoral options south of the city.
One great aspect about running in London is the excellent transportation system allows you to run one way and “tube” it back. The expansion of bicycle accommodation in recent years has also opened up some new running options and connectors. A few particular points of advice for running in London: remember to LOOK LEFT when crossing the street; pack for chilly, wet weather running; bring reflective gear for those shorter winter days.
A wonderful additional resource for in-depth running info for London is this book, A Runners Guide to London. Our thanks to Hayden Shearman for his help with some of our London routes.
