Stratford is the East London district that hosted the 2012 Olympic Games. Today it is home to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre and East Bank, a new cultural quarter with a free V&A museum, and it is one of the best-connected places in the city.
Stratford lies about ten kilometres east of the West End, in the borough of Newham. Before the Olympics, much of the land that is now the park was industrial wasteland, railway sidings and polluted rivers in the Lea Valley. It was cleaned up and rebuilt for London 2012, and since then the park, the venues and new neighbourhoods around them have kept growing. Old Stratford, around the Broadway and the older shopping centre, is a busy, diverse and working-class town centre that feels quite different from the gleaming new areas.
For visitors, Stratford is a place for open space, sport, modern architecture, shopping and increasingly for culture. It suits families, sports fans, shoppers and anyone curious about how London is changing. It is less interesting if you are looking for historic streets or old pubs, and parts of it can feel windswept and unfinished.
Stratford in brief
- Best for
- The Olympic Park, sport, a free V&A museum, shopping, modern architecture
- Main stations
- Stratford (Central, Jubilee and Elizabeth lines, DLR, Overground, National Rail); Stratford International (DLR, Southeastern high-speed trains); Hackney Wick (Overground); Pudding Mill Lane (DLR)
- Olympic Park
- Open every day, free to enter
- V&A East Museum
- Free; daily 10am-6pm, Thursday and Saturday until 10pm
- ArcelorMittal Orbit
- Viewing deck from £15, slide from £19 (plus a £5 booking fee)
- London Stadium tour
- £22 online in advance, £24 on the day (adult)
- Time needed
- Half a day to a full day
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park today
The park stretches for more than a kilometre north from Stratford station along the River Lea and its channels. The southern half is the busier part, with the main venues, cafés, fountains and wide lawns. The northern half is greener and wilder, with wetlands, meadows, playgrounds and the Lee Valley VeloPark. The park is free to enter and, according to its operators, open every day.
It is a good place for a walk or a bike ride, and families come for the play areas. Tumbling Bay Playground, in the north of the park, has tree houses, sand, water and rope bridges. In summer, the South Park fountains are popular with children. An information point in the Pavilion at Stratford Cross is open from 11am to 4pm every day, according to the park's visitor information page.
Our guide to the London 2012 Olympics and the park today covers the history and the full list of venues. If you want to explore on two wheels, see our guide to Santander Cycles and cycling in London.
The Orbit, the stadium and the pool
The Olympic venues are still in use, and several of them are open to the public.
- ArcelorMittal Orbit. The twisting red steel tower beside the stadium is now run by Zip World under the name "Zip World London at ArcelorMittal Orbit". The viewing deck, called ArcelorMittal Orbit 360, costs from £15, and Helix, a 178-metre tunnel slide spiralling down the outside of the tower, costs from £19. Both add a £5 booking fee. The slide has a minimum age of 8 and a minimum height of 1.3 metres. See our guide to visiting the Orbit.
- London Stadium. The main Olympic stadium runs guided tours lasting 60 to 75 minutes. An adult ticket costs £22 online in advance or £24 on the day. On weekdays, tours usually start at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, and at weekends every hour from 10am to 3pm. Details are in our guide to the stadium tour and match days.
- London Aquatics Centre. Designed by Zaha Hadid, with a wave-shaped roof, it is now a public swimming pool run by Everyone Active. The park says swimming here costs the same as at a local leisure centre; book online or in the operator's app. Our Aquatics Centre guide explains how to book a swim.
- Lee Valley VeloPark and the Copper Box Arena. The velodrome offers track cycling sessions and has BMX and mountain bike tracks, while the Copper Box hosts sports events and concerts.
The London Stadium is home to West Ham United. The club was relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2025/26 season, so there are no Premier League matches at the stadium in 2026/27. If you want top-flight football, our guide to Premier League football in London lists the six London clubs that are in the league this season.
Match and concert days change the whole area. When there is a football match or a big concert at the London Stadium, tens of thousands of people pass through Stratford station and Westfield before and after the event. Expect long queues at the station and slow-moving crowds in the park, and do not count on a stadium tour that day. Check the London Stadium's event calendar before you plan a visit.
East Bank: London's newest cultural quarter
East Bank is a group of new cultural and educational buildings on the southern and eastern edges of the Olympic Park. It is one of the largest new cultural developments in London in many years, and it has given Stratford a reason to visit beyond sport and shopping.
The centrepiece is the V&A East Museum, which opened on 18 April 2026 on the waterfront at Stratford. It is free, and the V&A says it is open daily from 10am to 6pm, until 10pm on Thursdays and Saturdays. The museum warns that there may be a queue to get in. It is a 15 to 20 minute walk from Stratford and Stratford International stations.
A short distance away, near Hackney Wick, the V&A East Storehouse opened on 31 May 2025. It is a huge open store where visitors can walk among hundreds of thousands of objects from the V&A's collection, and it is also free, with the same opening hours. You can book an appointment to see a specific object up close, but this must be done at least two weeks ahead. The Storehouse is about eight minutes' walk from Hackney Wick station. For the V&A's main building in west London, see our guide to the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.
Also part of East Bank are Sadler's Wells East, a dance theatre that opened in February 2025, the London College of Fashion and UCL East, part of University College London. The last planned venue, BBC Music Studios, is due to open in 2027.
Late evenings at V&A East cost nothing. On Thursdays and Saturdays both the museum and the Storehouse stay open until 10pm, and entry is free. Combine an evening visit with dinner by the canal in Hackney Wick, and you have a full night out for the price of a meal.
Westfield Stratford City and shopping
Westfield Stratford City, directly between Stratford station and the Olympic Park, is one of the largest shopping centres in London. It has department stores, hundreds of fashion and electronics shops, a large food court, restaurants, a cinema and a casino. Most people walking from the station to the park pass through it.
It is practical rather than charming, and it gets very busy at weekends and in the weeks before Christmas. Shops in England over a certain size can only open for six hours on Sundays, so expect shorter Sunday hours for the larger stores. Our guide to Sunday and bank holiday opening hours explains the rules.
On the other side of the railway lines, the older Stratford Centre is a traditional indoor shopping mall with market stalls, discount shops and cafés, used mainly by local people. If you want brand-name bargains rather than a mall, our guide to outlet shopping near London covers the main options.
Hackney Wick and the canals
On the western edge of the park, across the River Lea Navigation, Hackney Wick and neighbouring Fish Island are a former industrial area of warehouses and workshops. Artists moved in when rents were low, and the area is still known for its street art, studios, craft breweries and canal-side bars. It has become more polished in recent years, but it keeps a creative, slightly rough character.
The towpaths along the Lea and the Hertford Union Canal are pleasant for walking and cycling, linking the Olympic Park with Victoria Park to the west. On sunny weekends, the canal-side bars and cafés are very busy. After dark, some of the towpaths and industrial streets are quiet and poorly lit, so stick to the main roads.
Old Stratford and the Theatre Royal
Stratford existed long before the Olympics. The area around Stratford Broadway, just south of the station, is the old town centre, with a church, the town hall and busy streets serving one of the most diverse communities in the country. You will hear many languages and find food from across South Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean.
The Theatre Royal Stratford East, on Gerry Raffles Square, is a small Victorian theatre with a long tradition of new, popular and politically minded work. It is one of the most interesting theatres in London outside the centre. Stratford is also home to smaller arts venues and to Sadler's Wells East on the park side.
Stratford by day and by night
On weekdays the park is fairly quiet, used by students from UCL East and the London College of Fashion, office workers from the new towers and local people. Westfield is busy all day. Weekends bring families, sports events and shoppers, and the park can be crowded on sunny afternoons.
In the evening, Westfield's restaurants and the bars in Hackney Wick are the main places to go, and the V&A East late openings add a cultural option on Thursdays and Saturdays. The park itself is large and open, and parts of it are dark and empty at night. The area around Stratford station is very busy and generally safe, but like any major transport hub it has pickpockets and phone thieves, so keep your belongings secure. Our guide to safety in London has practical tips.
Getting to Stratford
Stratford is one of London's biggest transport hubs, and the Olympic Park says it has ten Tube and train links. From central London, the options are:
| Line | Useful for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth line | Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street, Liverpool Street, Paddington | Fast and step-free; see our Elizabeth line guide |
| Central line | Oxford Circus, Bank, Liverpool Street | Runs all night on Fridays and Saturdays |
| Jubilee line | Westminster, Waterloo, London Bridge, Canary Wharf | Runs all night on Fridays and Saturdays |
| DLR | Canary Wharf, Greenwich, Royal Docks | Step-free; driverless |
| Southeastern high-speed | St Pancras International from Stratford International | About seven minutes; not included in daily caps or Travelcards |
Stratford station is in Zones 2 and 3, so ordinary Tube, Elizabeth line, DLR and Overground journeys from central London are covered by the Zones 1-2 daily cap of £8.90. The exception is the Southeastern high-speed service from Stratford International, which is fast but excluded from caps and Travelcards. Our guide to London's travel zones explains how boundary stations work.
Stratford is also handy for Stansted Airport: some Stansted Express trains call at Stratford, and contactless is valid on them (Oyster is not). See our Stansted Airport guide before you travel. Nearby Canary Wharf is a few stops away on the Jubilee line or the DLR, making it easy to combine both areas in a day.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Olympic Park in Stratford free to visit?
Yes. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is free to enter and open every day. You pay only for specific attractions, such as the ArcelorMittal Orbit, a London Stadium tour or a swim at the London Aquatics Centre.
Is V&A East open yet?
Yes. The V&A East Storehouse opened on 31 May 2025 and the V&A East Museum opened on 18 April 2026. Both are free and open daily from 10am to 6pm, with late opening until 10pm on Thursdays and Saturdays.
Do West Ham play in the Premier League at the London Stadium?
Not in the 2026/27 season. West Ham United were relegated from the Premier League at the end of 2025/26, although the London Stadium remains their home ground. The six London clubs in the Premier League this season are Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur.
How long does it take to get from central London to Stratford?
It is quick from most of central London. The Elizabeth line and the Central line run directly from the West End and Liverpool Street, and the Jubilee line from Westminster and London Bridge. The Southeastern high-speed train from St Pancras International to Stratford International takes about seven minutes.
Is Stratford a good place to stay in London?
It can be, especially for families and budget travellers who want modern hotels and fast transport. It is not close to the main historic sights, so you will travel into the centre every day, but the Elizabeth line and Central line make that quick. Read our guide to budget hotels in London to compare areas.
Sources
- Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - Getting here (checked September 2026)
- Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - Visitor information (checked September 2026)
- Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - East Bank (checked September 2026)
- V&A - Visit V&A East Museum (checked September 2026)
- V&A - Visit V&A East Storehouse (checked September 2026)
- Zip World - Helix (checked September 2026)
- London Stadium - Tour FAQs (checked September 2026)