The O2 and London's Big Arenas

Published 20 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

London's biggest indoor shows happen at The O2, out on the Greenwich Peninsula, in a room holding around 20,000 people and empties them all onto one Tube station in about 25 minutes. Getting in is easy. Getting out is the part worth planning, and the single most useful thing you can do is decide before the show whether you are taking the Jubilee line, a boat or a bus.

Our guide to London's music venues covers where the city's concerts happen; this page is about the mechanics of a 20,000-seat night: which entrance, what you can carry, what the queue looks like at 22:40, and which of the alternatives to the Tube actually work. The same logic applies at Wembley and at the mid-sized halls further out.

North Greenwich: the default route, and its one flaw

North Greenwich station sits directly under the entrance plaza, and the Jubilee line runs frequently in both directions, towards Stratford and Canning Town to the east and towards Canary Wharf, London Bridge, Waterloo and Bond Street to the west. The station is step-free and the walk from platform to arena door is short.

The flaw is arithmetic. A sell-out show empties 20,000 people towards one set of escalators over roughly half an hour. Station staff queue the crowd on the plaza and release it in batches, which is orderly but slow, and the westbound platform fills first because that is where most people are going. Expect 20 to 40 minutes between leaving your seat and boarding a train after a big show.

There are two ways round it. Leave before the encore, which costs you the last two songs and saves half an hour; or do the opposite and stay for 30 minutes in a bar on the peninsula, by which time the queue has gone. The worst option is to join the crush at exactly the moment everyone else does.

For fares, North Greenwich is Zones 2 and 3, so a day of travel from central London is capped at £10.50 with contactless or Oyster (Zones 1 to 3, 2026). Our guide to capping on Oyster and contactless explains how that works if you are travelling as a group.

The boat: the escape route most people never use

North Greenwich Pier is a short walk from the arena, and the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers service from it runs upriver through Canary Wharf, Tower, London Bridge, Westminster and the London Eye. On selected event nights The O2 and the operator run a post-show river service, with an Express boat that leaves promptly 15 minutes after the show ends, followed by a Request service. Tickets should be booked before the event, and passengers board in the order they reach the pier.

This is the most comfortable way out of the peninsula, and it lands you in the centre rather than at a Tube interchange. Two caveats. River Bus fares are separate from the Tube and do not count towards daily caps, so it is an extra cost on top of your travel, and the fare depends on how many zones you cross. Our guide to river bus services sets out the zones and how to pay; the operator's own ticket page has the current peak and off-peak times, which are worth reading rather than guessing.

The other thing to know is that the post-show service is not on for every event. If the boat is your plan, confirm it on the venue's transport page for your specific date, and have a fallback.

The cable car trap

The IFS Cloud Cable Car crosses the Thames from the Greenwich Peninsula terminal, next to North Greenwich station, to the Royal Docks. The O2 gives event ticket holders 50% off one-way and round-trip cable car tickets on the day of their event: show your event ticket at the cable car ticket office. Shoppers who spend £35 or more at the outlet centre get the same discount.

Here is the catch that spoils a lot of plans. The cable car closes at 21:00 Monday to Thursday, and on Sundays and bank holidays; on Fridays it runs to 22:00 and on Saturdays to 23:00. A concert that finishes at 22:30 on a Tuesday means the cable car is long shut. Treat it as a way of arriving, or as a daytime trip, rather than as a way home. Our guide to the cable car has fares and the full timetable.

Adult fares are £7.00 one way and £13.50 for a round trip, with children at £3.50 and £6.75 (2026). Contactless and Oyster work, but journeys do not count towards daily caps. With the 50% event discount, arriving by cable car and leaving by Tube is a genuinely good combination in summer, when it is still light at 19:00.

What you can carry into The O2

The bag rule is stricter than most visitors expect, and it is enforced at the door. One bag per person, no larger than A4 or a standard handbag. Backpacks, travel cases and large tote bags are refused, with the exception of tote bags bought from the arena's own merchandise outlets, which are still searched.

If you turn up with a bigger bag, there is a storage facility just outside the main entrance at £10 per bag. Everything is searched and screened before it is accepted. The venue's pages give two different closing times for that facility, one saying 30 minutes after the end of the event and another an hour after, so collect your bag promptly rather than going for a drink first.

Other rules worth knowing: laptops are refused entirely at sporting events and at shows using phone pouches; food and drink bought outside cannot be taken in, so finish it before you reach the screening lanes; and the arena is cashless throughout. Everyone passes through a screening system, which the venue says is safe for people with pacemakers and for pregnant visitors.

Tickets, resale and what goes wrong

Tickets for The O2 are digital and are usually uploaded to your account close to the event, which worries people who bought months earlier. If they have not appeared a few days ahead, check you are signed in with the email address used for the purchase, reinstall the app, and contact the ticket seller. If you still cannot see them or you have no smartphone, the box office will help, but you need photo identification matching the booking and your order confirmation, and you should be there 90 minutes before doors.

For sold-out shows, use the official resale route named by the venue or the promoter and nothing else. Street sellers and social media offers outside a 20,000-seat arena are the classic setting for ticket fraud, as our guide to common scams in London explains.

Eating before a show on the peninsula

The O2's entertainment district, between the station and the arena doors, has a long row of chain restaurants, a cinema and a bowling alley, and it is the obvious place to eat. It is also where all 20,000 people have the same idea, so book a table or eat before 18:30.

The alternative is to eat one stop away. Canary Wharf is three minutes by Jubilee line and has far more choice; our guide to the district covers what is open in the evening, which is not everything, since it empties after office hours. Old Greenwich, a bus ride or a short walk from the peninsula, is more attractive but further from the arena, as our guide to Greenwich describes.

Wembley: two venues, three stations

Wembley has a stadium of around 90,000 seats and a separate indoor arena beside it, and they host different things on the same site. For either, Wembley Park is the main station, on the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines in Zone 4, which caps a day's central travel at £12.80 with contactless or Oyster (Zones 1 to 4, 2026).

The useful trick at Wembley is the other two stations. Wembley Stadium station, served by Chiltern Railways from Marylebone, and Wembley Central, on the Bakerloo line and the Overground, both sit within walking distance and are far less crowded after an event than Wembley Park. Splitting your group between exits is a reasonable strategy at a stadium event.

Wembley also hosts a London NFL game each autumn, which brings its own timings and crowd; see our guide to American football in London. To see the inside of a stadium without buying a match ticket, our guide to London's stadium tours weighs them up, and the London Stadium in the Olympic Park runs its own.

Alexandra Palace and the mid-sized halls

Not every big show is an arena show. Alexandra Palace, on a hill in north London, has a Great Hall used for concerts and major sporting events and a smaller West Hall, and it sits in a public park with one of the best free views in the city.

Its own railway station is at the Wood Green entrance to the park, with Great Northern services direct from Moorgate via Highbury and Islington, and a service to and from King's Cross; the station is in Zone 3. The nearest Underground station is Wood Green, on the Piccadilly line, about 20 minutes from Piccadilly Circus, and the W3 bus runs from Finsbury Park and Tottenham to the palace itself. The walk up from Wood Green is a real hill, which matters in the rain.

The bag rule for live music in the Great Hall is tighter than The O2's: one small bag no bigger than 30 cm high by 20 cm wide by 10 cm deep, with anything larger sent to the bag drop. The venue is cashless, there is usually a cloakroom, and for gig nights it opens a festival village of bars and street food outside the hall. Its big winter sporting events are covered in our guide to darts and snooker in London.

A realistic timetable for leaving

Work backwards from the last train rather than from the advertised finish time.

• Show ends 22:30. You are out of your seat by 22:35 if you are quick, and out of the building by 22:45.
• Plaza queue. Allow 15 to 30 minutes at The O2 on a sell-out night, less on a weeknight or if the arena is not full.
• On a train by 23:10 to 23:20. That is comfortable for central London on any night of the week.
• Changing to another line. Add the interchange, and check the last train on your second line, not just the Jubilee.
• Staying beyond Zone 3. This is where people get caught. Either book a room in town for the night or plan a night bus route in advance.

Our guide to London's travel zones explains what the caps cost from each ring, and if you would rather sleep near the river than cross the city at midnight, our guide to staying in Greenwich covers the area a short bus ride from the arena. For anything still serving at 23:30, see our guide to late-night food.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to get out of The O2 after a concert?

Allow 20 to 40 minutes from leaving your seat to boarding a Jubilee line train after a sell-out show. Staff queue the crowd on the plaza and release it in batches. Leaving before the encore, or waiting 30 minutes in a bar, both avoid the worst of it.

What size bag can I take into The O2?

One bag per person, no larger than A4 or a standard handbag. Backpacks, travel cases and large tote bags are not allowed inside, other than tote bags bought at the arena's own merchandise outlets. Larger bags can be left at the storage facility outside the main entrance for £10.

Can I take the cable car home after a show at The O2?

Usually not. The cable car closes at 21:00 Monday to Thursday and on Sundays, 22:00 on Fridays and 23:00 on Saturdays, so most evening shows finish after it has stopped. It works well for arriving, and event ticket holders get 50% off on the day of their event.

Is there a boat from The O2 back to central London?

On selected event nights, yes. Uber Boat by Thames Clippers runs a post-show service from North Greenwich Pier, with an Express boat leaving 15 minutes after the show ends. Book before the event, as passengers board in the order they arrive. River fares are separate from Tube fares and do not count towards daily caps.

Which station is best for Wembley?

Wembley Park on the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines is the main one and the busiest. Wembley Stadium station, served from Marylebone, and Wembley Central on the Bakerloo line and Overground are both within walking distance and much quieter after an event.

Sources

• The O2 - Bag policy (checked September 2026)
• The O2 - Security and screening (checked September 2026)
• The O2 - Coming to an event (checked September 2026)
• The O2 - Uber Boat by Thames Clippers and post-show river service (checked September 2026)
• The O2 - IFS Cloud Cable Car discount (checked September 2026)
• Transport for London - London Cable Car opening hours (checked September 2026)
• Alexandra Palace - Getting here (checked September 2026)
• Alexandra Palace - FAQs including bag policy (checked September 2026)