Running Routes in London

Published 21 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

From almost any central London hotel you are within fifteen minutes of a park you can run a loop in, and the two routes worth planning around are the Serpentine circuit in Hyde Park for a short morning run and the seven-mile Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, which links four Royal Parks on soft paths. If you are here on a Saturday, parkrun is free, takes a single registration and starts at 9am.

Running in a strange city is mostly a problem of information. You do not know which paths are surfaced, which gates are locked at 6am, which towpath is too narrow to pass anyone on, and whether you are allowed to just turn up at an organised run. This page answers those four things for London.

Distances below are the official ones where the park or trail publishes them. Where no official distance exists we have said so rather than inventing a number. For walking rather than running, our guide to the Thames Path and London's walking routes covers the long-distance trails in detail, and walking in London explains when it beats the Tube.

Gate times decide your run before the route does

London's parks are not open around the clock, and the hours differ from park to park. Nothing else here trips up visitors on their first morning as reliably, because two parks that look like one continuous green space can have different gate times.

One more date for anyone based in north London. Primrose Hill closes from 10pm to 6am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between early April and early November, repeating the arrangement of recent years. On weekdays it is open all night.

Mayfair, Victoria and Westminster: the seven-mile memorial walk

If your hotel is anywhere between Victoria and Piccadilly, the best long run in London starts at your door. The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk is seven miles long, marked by 90 aluminium plaques set into the ground with a rose at the centre, and it passes through four of the eight Royal Parks: St James's Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

You will pass Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace, Clarence House, Spencer House and Kensington Palace on the way. It was opened in June 2000. Because the plaques are set in the path, you do not need a map or a phone in your hand, which is the practical advantage over any route you might plot yourself.

Seven miles is more than a lot of people want on a city break, and the route divides sensibly. St James's Park and Green Park alone give you a flat loop of about two miles with the palace at one end; our guide to both parks has the layout. Run it clockwise from Green Park early and you will have Horse Guards Road largely to yourself before the day's ceremonial traffic starts.

Paddington, Bayswater and Kensington: the lake circuit

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens together come nearer than anywhere else in London to being a purpose-built running park, and the classic loop follows the water. The Royal Parks publish it as a route of about 5,000 steps: start at the Lido Café on the Serpentine's southern shore, follow the lake east, pass the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen, come back along the north bank, go under the bridge into Kensington Gardens, bear north on Peacock Walk towards the Italian Gardens near Bayswater Road, then turn back along the water past the Peter Pan statue and into Hyde Park again.

It is flat, it is almost entirely on surfaced paths and it is well lit at the Hyde Park end. Two warnings. The Diana Memorial Fountain has been closed since July 2026 because of a fault in the water system, so do not plan to use it as a marker or a place to cool off. And remember the gate times: the Kensington Gardens half does not open until 6am.

For a longer version, add Rotten Row and the Broad Walk. Our guide to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens has the full map of what is where, and the lidos and swimming ponds guide covers the Serpentine Lido if you want to finish in the water.

Marylebone, Euston and King's Cross: the Outer Circle and the canal

Regent's Park has the Outer Circle, the road that rings the park and the standard route for north London running clubs. Understand what it actually is: a public road carrying traffic, with a pavement beside it. It is long, even and easy to follow, but it is not a traffic-free path. Inside the park, the Broad Walk and the paths around the boating lake are quieter and softer.

The Regent's Canal towpath runs from Paddington through Regent's Park, past London Zoo's aviary and Camden Market, and on east to Limehouse. It is the flattest continuous route in London and it takes you through half a dozen neighbourhoods without a single road crossing in places.

There is a rule that visiting runners routinely break. The Canal & River Trust's Towpath Code gives pedestrians priority, precisely because they are the slower and more vulnerable users, and the Trust's campaign is called "Share the Space, Drop your Pace". On narrow stretches near Camden and Little Venice that means slowing to walking pace, not shouting "excuse me" and expecting people to jump. Our page on Little Venice and the Regent's Canal explains the geography.

The South Bank, Southwark and the City: the river both ways

The Thames Path runs along both banks through central London, and the obvious route for a visitor is a bridge-to-bridge loop: out along one bank, across a bridge, back along the other. It has the best views of any run in this article and the worst crowds.

Two things make it harder than it looks on a map. The path is broken by steps, ramps and short detours inland where buildings come down to the water, so it is not a rhythm run. And between roughly 10am and 8pm the stretch from the London Eye to Tower Bridge is packed with people who are not expecting anyone to be moving quickly. Run it before 8am and it is excellent; run it at 6pm and you will spend the hour weaving.

The published walking-routes guide linked above sets out which sections run continuously and which do not, so pick your bridges before you set off rather than discovering a diversion at mile three.

Richmond, Kew and the Tamsin Trail

If you are staying in the south-west, or willing to take the District line out for a morning, Richmond Park has the best off-road running in London. The Tamsin Trail is a circuit of the whole park, 11km or seven miles, which The Royal Parks estimate at two to four hours on foot. For a shorter outing, the Beverley Brook Walk cuts a 2.4km section through the park from the Roehampton Gate car park along the water.

The ground is a mix of hoggin path, grass and mud, and the park has real hills, which almost nothing else in London does. It also has free-roaming red and fallow deer, and runners get no exemption from the rule: 50 metres of clearance at all times, rising to 100 metres from a male that appears active during the September-to-November rut. A running deer and a running human at the same moment is how people get hurt.

Our Richmond Park guide has the gates and the deer rules in full, and Bushy Park nearby is flatter, quieter and just as big.

parkrun: what it is and how a visitor joins

parkrun is a free, weekly, timed 5km event held in parks all over the world. It started in Bushy Park in 2004, and parkrun's own event data lists more than 80 Saturday 5km events inside Greater London, plus around 60 junior events. It is not a race and not a club, and nobody minds what pace you go at: you can walk it.

The joining process is short, but there is one step you cannot skip.

1. Register once, anywhere in the world. parkrun says you only need to register once "regardless of how many different events you visit". If you already have a barcode from a parkrun at home, use that one. Do not register a second time.
2. Bring a scannable barcode, printed or on your phone screen. parkrun operates a "No barcode, No result" policy, which is applied literally. Without it you can still run; you simply will not get a time.
3. Turn up by about 8.45am on a Saturday. London's 5km events start at 9am.
4. Children under eleven must be within arm's reach of a responsible adult for the whole event. One dog per runner is allowed at most events, on a short, handheld, non-extendable lead.

Junior parkrun is a separate thing: 2km, on Sundays at 9am, for children aged 4 to 14. Same registration, same barcode rule. There are junior events at Battersea, Burgess Park, Southwark Park, Highbury Fields, Peckham Rye, London Fields, Paddington Recreation Ground and a dozen other London parks.

The original event at Bushy Park is still going, and it is the biggest. Its own published course description calls it a fast, flat anticlockwise loop starting near the Diana Fountain, over grass, hoggin path and track, with 1,049 events and more than 900,000 finishes recorded by August 2025 and an average finish time just under 28 minutes. If you only do one parkrun in your life, that is a reasonable one to choose. Details are on the Bushy parkrun course page.

What is different about running here

A few things surprise visiting runners, and none of them are about fitness.

• Traffic comes from the right. At every crossing, look right first. Most central London crossings have "LOOK RIGHT" painted on the kerb, and it is there for exactly this reason.
• Cyclists share a lot of the paths. Towpaths, the Tamsin Trail and many park routes are shared. On the towpath, pedestrians have priority; in Richmond Park, cyclists are asked to keep to the roads and the Tamsin Trail.
• Water is easy to find but not signposted. Refill points are scattered across the parks and stations. Our page on tap water and refill points explains where, and that London tap water is safe to drink.
• Heat is worse than the temperature suggests. Few buildings have air conditioning and the city holds heat overnight. In a hot spell, run before 8am; see London in a heatwave.
• Hotel rooms are small. If you are drying kit, ask about a drying rack rather than assuming a radiator; our guide to what a London hotel room is actually like covers the space you will get.

Finally, if your trip happens to fall in April, the streets themselves become the event. Our guide to watching the London Marathon explains where to stand, and the Royal Parks Half Marathon runs on closed roads through four Royal Parks each October, with places allocated by ballot and through charities well in advance.

For the parks at their best either side of summer, see our guides to cherry blossom in London and autumn colour in London. If you want a flat, wide, almost empty loop with a lake in the middle, Victoria Park in the east and Clapham Common in the south are both underrated.

Frequently asked questions

Can visitors take part in parkrun in London?

Yes. parkrun costs nothing and anyone may take part, visitors from abroad included. You register once online, print or save your personal barcode, and turn up at any event. If you have already registered for a parkrun in another country, use that same barcode rather than registering again.

What time does parkrun start in London?

The 5km events start at 9am on Saturdays, and junior parkrun, a 2km event for children aged 4 to 14, starts at 9am on Sundays. Arrive by about 8.45am for the briefing. Check the individual event's own page in case of a cancellation.

Where is the best place to run in central London?

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, for the lake circuit on surfaced, flat, well-used paths. For something longer, follow the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, a seven-mile route marked by 90 plaques through St James's Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

How long is the Tamsin Trail in Richmond Park?

It is 11km, or seven miles, around the edge of the park. The Royal Parks estimate two to four hours to walk it. Runners should keep at least 50 metres from the deer at all times, and 100 metres from an active male during the autumn rut.

Are London parks open early enough for a morning run?

Hyde Park and St James's Park open their pedestrian gates at 5am, and Regent's Park at 5am too. Kensington Gardens and Greenwich Park do not open until 6am. Richmond Park is open around the clock apart from the November and February deer culls.

Sources

• The Royal Parks - The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk (checked September 2026)
• The Royal Parks - Top London parks for autumn walks (Serpentine and Tamsin Trail routes) (checked September 2026)
• The Royal Parks - Hyde Park opening times (checked September 2026)
• The Royal Parks - The Regent's Park opening times and Primrose Hill closures (checked September 2026)
• parkrun UK - Register (checked September 2026)
• Bushy parkrun - The course and safety rules (checked September 2026)
• Canal & River Trust - Share the Space, Drop your Pace and the Towpath Code (checked September 2026)
• The Royal Parks - Royal Parks Half Marathon (checked September 2026)