Book London Marathon hotels around your race-morning train

Race morning in London starts on a station platform, kitbag over one shoulder, in a carriage full of runners bound for Greenwich. It ends 26.2 miles later on The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace, legs heavy, with one thought: how quickly can I get to a hot shower? Where you sleep decides how easy both ends feel. And in 2027 the race runs over two days, for one year only.

Your race day decides your booking. The 2027 TCS London Marathon is a Double: 100,000 runners over Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 April, on the same route from Greenwich to Westminster both days. The men's Good For Age races run on Saturday and the women's on Sunday. The Championship fields are split too, men on one day and women on the other.

Ballot entrants were drawn for both days, and the day you were given is fixed: no swaps, not even to run beside a friend. Saturday's race is likely to start at 09:00. Its Finish Line on The Mall closes at 17:30, so you have 7 hours 45 minutes at most. Sunday is likely to start at 09:30.

Number collection sets the rest of the week. Your Event Pack comes only from the Running Show at ExCeL London, never on race day. London Marathon Events is looking at opening the show from Tuesday 20 to Saturday 24 April. A Saturday runner should land by Friday; a Sunday runner has Saturday in hand.

The London Marathon starts in Greenwich and Blackheath, from three Start Lines whose fields meet just before Mile 3 in Woolwich. In 2026 the start was split into five colour-coded areas, each reached by Southeastern train: Blue, Green and Yellow from Blackheath station, Red from Greenwich and Pink from Maze Hill. Trains ran direct to Blackheath from Charing Cross, Waterloo East, London Bridge and Victoria, and to Greenwich and Maze Hill from Cannon Street and London Bridge, with the first ones leaving central London at about 06:50. A race number gave free travel on Southeastern from those London terminals to the start, while supporters needed a ticket. Your bib tells you which area to head for, and your pre-race emails name the best station. The 2027 route and start stay the same on both days, so the 2026 trains are the best guide until the new details reach runners.

A bed a short walk from London Bridge, Cannon Street, Charing Cross or Waterloo East puts you one direct train from the start. That is the simplest race morning a first-timer can ask for. London Bridge is the most flexible of the four: in 2026 it had direct trains to all three start stations.

Two things to weigh. London Bridge gets very busy on race morning, and the three stations closest to the start are extremely busy. Build in time and take an early train. The extensive road closures make a taxi a poor bet: rail is the way in. Sleeping in Greenwich or Blackheath swaps the train for a walk, at the price of a long trip back from The Mall. The hotels we rate for runners across the city are on our page for running in London.

For the finish, Mayfair and Knightsbridge keep the journey back short. The last miles run along Victoria Embankment, past Parliament Square and down Birdcage Walk, then turn at Buckingham Palace onto The Mall, where you collect the kitbag that travelled from the start. On Sunday a secondary Finish Line in Green Park stays open until 23:59:59.

The Chesterfield Mayfair, a 4 star hotel in Mayfair, and Egerton House, a small 5 star hotel in Knightsbridge, both sit a short trip from the finish, away from the crowds on The Mall itself. The Chesterfield suits runners who want to walk to dinner on the night. Egerton House suits a couple who want privacy and a quiet street to come back to. Both work for the runner whose only plan after 26.2 miles is a bath and an early dinner.

For a calmer base, The Montague On The Gardens sits in Bloomsbury near Russell Square and the British Museum. It is a peaceful place for supporters to return to after a long day of cheering. Royal Lancaster London, a 5 star hotel on the corner of Hyde Park, has Lancaster Gate station on the Central line next door and Paddington a 6 minute walk away. The park's paths are mostly flat and paved, just right for the shakeout runs of taper week (short, slow jogs that keep the legs loose).

On race day in 2026, runners rode the Underground, Overground, DLR and buses free by showing their bib. That takes care of the trip home to any of these four. For more hotels and their live prices, compare the stays on our page for running in London.

Collect your number early in the week. The Running Show at ExCeL London is the only place to pick up your Event Pack: race bib, safety pins and the official kitbag for the bag drop. In 2026 the show got busier as the week went on and was very busy on Saturday. Wednesday or Thursday was the calm choice. In 2027 the show stays open on Saturday 24 April while day one of the Double is run. That helps a Sunday runner, but it is a crowded last chance.

Take the DLR or the Elizabeth line to Custom House, and bring the QR code from your email plus a passport or driving licence. Leave your suitcase at the hotel: luggage is a burden in the queues. Your start wave time arrives by email about three weeks before race day. That is the moment to lock in your race-morning train.

April in London is cool and changeable. This table shows our month-by-month climate averages for London, measured in the city: daily highs and lows and the days with 1 mm or more of rain.

April averages 14.2 °C by day and 4.9 °C at night, with 9.5 wet days in the month. That points to a cool wait in the start area and a mild finish. Pack an old layer you are happy to leave behind before the gun, and a light waterproof jacket for the days around it. Rain is common in London all year, and spring is no exception.

Run the morning backwards from your start time. Pack only what fits in the official kitbag, the one bag the bag drop accepts. Stick on your race number label and drop it when you are ready: it travels to the finish for you.

Walk to your terminal, show your bib at the Southeastern gate line and take an early train. On the Underground, Overground, DLR and buses in 2026, runners showed their bib to staff and did not tap in or out. A tap was charged and could not be claimed back. Free travel on Southeastern covered only the trip from its London terminals to the start: a Southeastern journey into London that morning, or after the race, needed a ticket. Your supporters need tickets all day, and a plan of their own. Tell them your start time and target pace so they know when to look for you.

A London Marathon week is mostly logistics, and almost all of it follows from one choice: where you sleep. Get that right and race morning is a short walk and one train, with the trip back from The Mall already planned. If London is one stop on a longer run of big-city marathons, our guide to running Boston's routes and Heartbreak Hill covers another, and our running holidays with theKlub build more trips around a race. With your place and your day confirmed, book a room within a short walk of London Bridge station.