Location

Race Assembly is in the City of London School for Girls which is on St Giles Terrace in the Barbican Estate. The event start and finish will be close by ensuring that all competitors get to experience the challenge of this complex multi-level area. Access to St Giles Terrace is only from Fore Street/Wood Street. Do not try to approach the terrace from through the Barbican Estate itself – not only will you be Out of Bounds and so disqualify yourself from the competition, but you will also likely get lost as the estate is extremely confusing to navigate through!

The race is based in the centre of the City of London, which is easily accessible from London’s five international airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City) and all the major railway termini.

Below are instructions for how to get to Race Assembly by London Underground, Bicycle, Barclays Cycle Hire, Car, Plane and Eurostar.


Arrival by Rail

Transfer onto the London Underground network. The closest underground station is Barbican which is on the Circle Line, Metropolitan Line and Hammersmith & City Line. See below for the walking route from this station. Another possibility is to approach from St Paul’s station on the Central Line. Please do not approach Race Assembly through the Barbican Estate, but use the roads shown on the map at the top of this page only.

Route from Barbican Station (Circle & H&C Lines)

Leave Barbican station at street level. Turn right, cross at the traffic lights and follow Aldersgate Street down to the roundabout underneath the Museum of London. Turn left and go along London Wall. At the traffic lights, turn left and head up Wood Street. Race assembly is on St Giles Terrace, which is accessed at the far end of the street on the left. It is an 800m walk in total.

Route from St Paul’s Station (Central Line)

Leave St Paul’s station, cross over the road at the junction and head up St Martin’s Le-Grand to the roundabout. Turn right and go along London Wall. At the traffic lights, turn left and head up Wood Street. Race assembly is on St Giles Terrace, which is accessed at the far end of the street on the left. It is an 800m walk in total.


Arrival by Bicycle

There are cycle stands in the race arena, outside the school entrance.


Arrival by Barclays Cycle Hire

The nearest Barclays Cycle Hire docking station is on Fore Street (26 docks), which is 300m from the race arena and is normally nearly empty at the weekends. Also there is the docking station on the roundabout underneath the Museum of London (52 docks) which is 400m from the race arena (see the map above). It is normally half-full at the weekends.


Arrival by Car

Public transport will be the best option for this event. There are some car parks reasonably close to the Assembly Area but they can prove to be very expensive, even on a Saturday. We recommend the use of NCP Aldersgate Street Car Park (670 spaces) which is £7 for two hours or £14 for four hours. This is 500m from assembly. Address details (for sat nav): 158-170 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4HY.


Arrival by Plane or Eurostar

Directions from London Heathrow airport (LHR)

  • Take the Heathrow Express (or cheaper Heathrow Connect) train to Paddington.
  • Transfer to Platforms 15/16 and take the Circle or Hammersmith & City underground line to Barbican station.
  • See above for the route from Barbican station.
  • N.B. The Piccadilly line from Heathrow is partially closed.

Directions from London Gatwick airport (LGW)

  • Take a train northwards (Southern or Gatwick Express) to London Victoria station.
  • Then take the Victoria underground line to King’s Cross St Pancras.
  • Then take the Circle (or Hammersmith & City or Metropolitan) underground line to Barbican station.
  • See above for the walking route from Barbican station.
  • N.B. The Northern line through the City is closed.

Directions from London Stansted airport (STN)

  • Take the Stansted Express train service from Stansted Airport station to London Liverpool Street.
  • Then take the Circle (or Hammersmith & City or Metropolitan) underground line from Liverpool Street station to Barbican station.
  • See above for the walking route from Barbican station.

Directions from London Luton airport (LTN)

  • Transfer by airport shuttle bus to Luton Airport Parkway station
  • Take a train southwards to St Pancras Midland Road station.
  • Then take the Circle (or Hammersmith & City or Metropolitan) underground line from King’s Cross St Pancras station to Barbican station.
  • See above for the walking route from Barbican station.

Directions from London City airport (LCY)

  • Take the Docklands Light Railway from London City Airport station to Bank station.
  • Then take the Central underground line to St Paul’s station.
  • See above for the walking route from St Paul’s station.


Directions from St Pancras International station

  • Take the Circle (or Hammersmith & City or Metropolitan) underground line from King’s Cross St Pancras station eastwards to Barbican station.
  • See above for the walking route from Barbican station.