Getting to Wimbledon Tennis by Tube, Train and Bus

The District line splits at Earl's Court and never rejoins, which is the single most useful thing to know before setting off for SW19. Take the wrong branch and you are at Richmond or Ealing Broadway with a long way back. Take the right one and three consecutive stations put you within walking distance of Church Road: Southfields, then Wimbledon Park, then Wimbledon at the end of the line. Each has a different walk, a different level of crowding and a different set of things that can go wrong.

Hundreds of thousands of people pass through the grounds across the fortnight, and almost all of them arrive within the same few hours of the morning and leave within the same few hours of the evening. That concentration, rather than distance, is what makes the journey worth planning. The mechanics below are the parts that stay the same from year to year. Shuttle arrangements, station restrictions and bus diversions are confirmed afresh each summer and should be checked on the morning you travel.

Southfields: the station the signage is built around

Southfields sits on the Wimbledon branch of the District line, one stop north of Wimbledon Park and two from Wimbledon itself. It is a small suburban station with a modest ticket hall and narrow platforms, and for eleven and a half months of the year it handles the traffic of an ordinary residential neighbourhood. For the other fortnight it becomes the main gateway to a major international sporting event, which is why the Club and Transport for London dress it in green and purple, staff it heavily and put stewards on the pavements outside.

The reason it is the default is simple. The walk from Southfields to the grounds is the shortest from any Underground station, it is level enough that most people never notice the gradient, and the route is signed the whole way. You do not need a map. Leave the station, follow Replingham Road, and turn into Wimbledon Park Road; the flow of people does the navigation for you.

Two practical points make a real difference. The first is that not every train heading this way goes to the end of the line. A proportion of District line services on this side of the network terminate short, at Parsons Green among others, so check the destination on the front of the train and on the platform indicator rather than assuming. The second is timing. Arrivals cluster hard between mid-morning and lunchtime, when everyone with a show court ticket converges at once, and the reverse flow builds from late afternoon onwards. Travelling either side of those windows makes the journey markedly less unpleasant.

Southfields, Wimbledon Park and Wimbledon all sit in the same fare zone as one another, so choosing between them costs nothing extra on a contactless card or an Oyster. That is worth remembering when Southfields is being queue-managed and you are weighing up whether to stay on the train for one more stop.

1. 1Alight at SouthfieldsDistrict line, Wimbledon branch. Check the train is not terminating short of the end of the line.
2. 2Leave the ticket hallStewards direct spectators away from residential side streets and onto the signed route.
3. 3Replingham RoadA short stretch of shops and cafes before the turn towards the grounds.
4. 4Wimbledon Park RoadThe main walking corridor, with marshals at the crossings and temporary barriers in place.
5. 5Church RoadTurn for the perimeter of the All England Club and the gate printed on your ticket.
6. 6Security and entryBag search and ticket scan at the gate, which is where the last of the queueing happens.

The standard signed route during The Championships. Stewarding and one-way pedestrian systems are set each year and can change the detail.

Wimbledon station: four networks in one building

Wimbledon is the busiest and best connected of the three, and the only one that is more than a suburban Tube stop. It is the terminus of the District line's Wimbledon branch, a South Western Railway station on the suburban route out of London Waterloo, a Thameslink stop on the loop that runs down through Blackfriars and Elephant and Castle towards Sutton, and the western terminus of the London tram network that runs out to Croydon. Four separate ways in, under one roof.

For anyone coming from the south west of England, the south coast, or the Southern network, that combination is what makes Wimbledon the sensible target rather than Southfields. A train from Waterloo takes well under half an hour. Clapham Junction, a few minutes up the line, is where most cross-London journeys from the south naturally interchange. The tram gives you a direct link from East Croydon, which in turn is where Gatwick services stop.

The cost is the walk. From Wimbledon station the grounds are more than a mile away, up Wimbledon Hill Road, through Wimbledon Village and then along Church Road. It is a genuine climb rather than a stroll, and in warm weather with a bag it is the sort of walk people underestimate on the way there and regret on the way back. Twenty-five to thirty minutes is realistic, more in a crowd.

What you get in exchange is the most interesting approach. The route takes you past the shops, pubs and greens of the Village, which is the pleasant end of the fortnight's atmosphere and worth an hour in its own right; our guide to Wimbledon Village and the wider SW19 area covers what is actually there. If the hill is the problem rather than the distance, the shuttle bus and the ordinary bus network both run from close to the station.

When Wimbledon beats Southfields

Three cases. If you are arriving on the main line or the tram, changing onto the District line for two stops to save a walk is usually a false economy, because the interchange and the wait cancel the gain. If you are travelling with luggage, Wimbledon has the space and the step-free access that the smaller stations do not. And in the evening, when Southfields is being held, the longer walk to a station with four sets of platforms is often the faster route home.

Wimbledon Park station and why it is not always the answer

Wimbledon Park station is the closest of the three to the Queue, sitting on Arthur Road within a few minutes of the park where the queuing lanes are laid out. On a map it looks like the obvious choice. In practice it is the one to check before you rely on it.

The station is small, with a single entrance and limited circulation space, and it sits directly on the route that very large numbers of people use to reach Wimbledon Park. That combination has produced a range of arrangements over the years: entry restrictions at busy periods, exit-only working, temporary closures during peak flows, and in some years normal operation throughout. The arrangements have not been the same every Championships, and there is no fixed rule to quote here. Transport for London publishes travel advice for the fortnight, and the Club's own travel guidance says which stations it expects spectators to use. Both are worth a look on the morning rather than the week before.

If Wimbledon Park is operating normally, the walk from Arthur Road down towards Church Road is short and straightforward, and for anyone heading to the Queue rather than the gates it is the most direct approach on the network. If it is restricted, Southfields is one stop back towards town and Wimbledon is one stop on, so the recovery is easy in either direction. This is the specific case where being in the same fare zone matters, because a change of plan mid-journey costs nothing.

There is a wider point here that applies to the whole fortnight. The transport arrangements around SW19 are managed rather than fixed. Stations get capped, pavements become one-way, bus stops move, and none of it is arbitrary: it is what happens when a residential suburb hosts a crowd it was never laid out for. Plans that assume last year's arrangements are the ones most likely to fail.

The walk from each station, gate by gate

Three stations, three walks, and the differences are large enough to affect which ticket you buy and what time you set off.

From	Approximate walk	Terrain	Best for
Southfields	About 15 minutes	Level to gently undulating	Ground pass and show court holders, first-time visitors
Wimbledon Park	Short, when the station is open	Level, then a slope towards Church Road	The Queue and the Wimbledon Park side
Wimbledon	About 25 to 30 minutes	A sustained climb through the Village	Mainline, tram and Thameslink arrivals with time to spare

The gate you want is printed on your ticket, and it is not always the nearest one to the station you arrived at. Ground passes, show court tickets, debenture seats and hospitality all route through different entrances, and stewards will send you round the perimeter if you present at the wrong one, which can add a substantial walk to the end of an already long one. Read the ticket before you leave the station, not when you reach the fence.

Pavements along Wimbledon Park Road are ordinary residential pavements carrying extraordinary volumes, so temporary one-way pedestrian systems and barriered crossings are normal. Follow the marshals. Cutting through side streets to save two minutes is discouraged for a reason: these are people's homes, and the residents put up with a great deal for a fortnight every year.

Rain changes everything about this walk. There is very little shelter along the route, the crowd slows to a shuffle under umbrellas, and the queues at the gates grow because everybody arrives at once when a shower passes. If the forecast is poor, add twenty minutes and read our explainer on how rain delays are handled once you are inside, so that a wet morning does not turn into a wasted day.

The shuttle bus and where it runs from

A shuttle bus service operates between Wimbledon station and the grounds throughout The Championships, and it exists precisely because of the hill. It runs from close to the station, follows the route up through the Village and along Church Road, and returns the other way, operating from before the gates open until well after play has finished.

Two things about it are commonly misunderstood. It is a scheduled bus service rather than a free courtesy coach, so a normal London fare applies and payment is contactless, by bank card, phone or Oyster; London buses have not accepted cash for many years. And it is not a fast option in the peak. In the hour after the last matches finish, the queue for the shuttle at the grounds end can be long enough that walking down the hill to Wimbledon station is quicker, particularly downhill and particularly for anyone travelling light.

Where it earns its keep is the morning, in the rain, with children, or with anything heavy. Going up the hill is the hard direction, and the shuttle removes it entirely. It is also the more practical option for anyone who would find a long uphill walk difficult but does not need the full accessible provision described in our guide to accessible tickets and access around the grounds.

The precise stop, frequency and operating hours are set for each Championships and published in the Club's travel information. Treat the shuttle as a service that reliably exists in some form rather than one with a timetable you can memorise from a previous visit.

Ordinary bus routes along Parkside and Church Road

Beyond the shuttle, the standard London bus network serves the area, and for anyone coming from Putney, Richmond, Tooting, Kingston or the immediate south west it can be simpler than doubling back into the Tube network.

Two corridors matter. One runs along Wimbledon Park Road and through Southfields, linking the area northwards towards Putney and Richmond and southwards towards Tooting. The other runs up Wimbledon Hill Road, through the Village and out along Parkside past the eastern edge of Wimbledon Park, which is the corridor passing closest to the grounds themselves. Between them they cover most of the useful local approaches.

Route numbers and diversions are the part not to commit to memory. Road restrictions around Church Road during the fortnight mean local services are frequently diverted, stops are suspended and temporary stops appear, and the arrangements are published shortly before the event rather than being permanent. Checking a live journey planner on the day is the only reliable approach.

Buses do have one genuine advantage over the Tube here, which is that they are far less affected by the crowd-management measures that periodically close or restrict station entrances. When Southfields is being held at the gates after a late finish, a bus north or south along Wimbledon Park Road to a less congested station is often the fastest way out of the area, even though it looks like the long way round.

The other thing a bus gives you is a view of what the fortnight does to the neighbourhood. Residents' parking bays suspended for stewarding, temporary pedestrian barriers along the pavements, marshals on every junction. It is a substantial piece of traffic management, and understanding it explains most of the advice in our parking and park and ride guide, which is the companion to this page for anyone considering driving instead.

Reaching the Queue in Wimbledon Park by public transport

The Queue is a different journey from the one to the gates, because it happens at a different time of day and often before the network is running. Wimbledon Park, the open ground across Church Road from the Club, is where the queuing lanes are laid out, and the whole system is explained in our guide to how the Queue works.

For daytime queuers arriving in the morning, the approach is the same as for ticket holders: Southfields and the walk down Wimbledon Park Road, or Wimbledon Park station if it is operating normally, with stewards directing queuers away from the gate route and towards the park entrance.

Overnight queuers have a harder problem. There is no Night Tube service on the District line, so the Underground is simply unavailable during the hours in the middle of the night when the front of the Queue forms. The options are night buses, which run on the main corridors through Wimbledon and Putney, a taxi or private hire booking, or arriving the previous evening while the network is still running and staying from there. Anyone planning that last approach should read our overnight queuing guide and the companion piece on what to take with you before deciding, because the kit list and the transport plan are really the same decision.

One detail catches people out. Camping equipment counts as luggage, and the grounds have strict limits on what can be brought in, so anything you sleep in has to go somewhere before you enter. The left luggage arrangements are covered separately, and they are worth understanding before you arrive with a tent on your back and a train home to catch.

Coming from Heathrow, Gatwick and the London termini

The Club is in south west London, which is convenient from some directions and awkward from others. The routes below are the standard ones and the geography behind them does not change.

From	Route	Change at
Heathrow	Piccadilly line east, then District line to Southfields or Wimbledon	Earl's Court
Gatwick	Main line to East Croydon, then London Trams to Wimbledon	East Croydon
Waterloo	South Western Railway suburban service direct to Wimbledon	None
Victoria	District line direct to Southfields or Wimbledon	None
St Pancras and Blackfriars	Thameslink towards Sutton, direct to Wimbledon	None
Paddington	District line via Earl's Court	None or Earl's Court
Euston and King's Cross	Underground to St Pancras for Thameslink, or Victoria for the District line	St Pancras or Victoria

From Heathrow, the Piccadilly line east to Earl's Court and a change onto a Wimbledon-bound District train is the cheapest and least complicated option, though it is slow and involves handling luggage at the interchange. The faster alternative is a rail service into Paddington and the District line from there, at a higher fare.

From Gatwick, the tram from East Croydon is the route most people do not know about. It runs directly into Wimbledon station and avoids central London altogether, which on a hot morning with a bag is a considerable improvement over crossing town with the rest of the commuting population.

Arriving from outside London

Anyone travelling down for the day from the Midlands or the north faces the same problem in a different form: the terminus you arrive at determines how awkward the last part is. Euston and King's Cross are on the wrong side of the city for SW19, and the cross-London leg from either of them adds a meaningful amount of time to an already long morning. Thameslink from St Pancras is the tidiest of the options, because it runs direct to Wimbledon without a change and takes you out of the busiest Underground corridors.

From the west, Paddington puts you on the District line without a change, though it is a slow ride across the whole width of the network. From the south and south west, Waterloo is straightforwardly the best terminus in London for this trip, and the suburban service to Wimbledon is frequent enough that a missed train is a minor inconvenience rather than a crisis.

Two habits are worth adopting for a day trip. Book the return leg with enough slack that a late finish does not strand you, because advance tickets on the long-distance operators are tied to specific trains and a fifth set does not count as a valid reason to travel on a later one. And leave the heavy bag at the terminus rather than carrying it round south London, since the grounds will not take it and the walk from any of the three stations is long enough without it.

1. 1Gatwick AirportMain line services north towards London call at East Croydon.
2. 2East CroydonChange from the main line platforms to the tram stops outside.
3. 3London TramsThe Wimbledon branch runs west across south London.
4. 4Wimbledon stationTram, Tube, Thameslink and South Western Railway all meet in one building.
5. 5Onward to the groundsShuttle bus, local bus, or the uphill walk through the Village.

The fixed geography of the route. Journey times vary with service patterns and are not stated here.

Getting home after a late finish

Play at The Championships cannot continue past 11pm. That limit is a planning condition rather than a tennis rule, imposed on the Club by the local authority, and the reasoning behind it is set out in our explainer on the Wimbledon curfew. For transport purposes what matters is the consequence: however dramatic a fifth set becomes, everybody is leaving before midnight, and the last services of the day are still running when they do.

The pinch point is not the timetable. It is the station. Southfields cannot absorb several thousand people arriving on foot at once, so after a busy evening it is routinely queue-managed, with a holding line on the pavement outside and stewards releasing people in batches. That wait can be a long one, and it is entirely outdoors.

The alternatives are worth knowing before you need them. Walking down to Wimbledon station, which is longer but downhill and served by four networks, frequently beats queuing at Southfields. Buses along Wimbledon Park Road or Parkside can take you to a less congested station. And leaving a few minutes before the end of the last match on your court, which nobody wants to do, is the single most effective way to avoid the whole problem.

1. 1Play endsThe 11pm curfew means no match runs later, whatever the score.
2. 2Exit the groundsStewarded routes push the crowd towards Church Road and Wimbledon Park Road.
3. 3Assess SouthfieldsIf a holding queue has formed outside the station, factor in the wait before joining it.
4. 4Consider WimbledonDownhill, longer on foot, but with Tube, tram, Thameslink and South Western Railway services.
5. 5Bus as a release valveLocal routes towards Putney, Tooting or Kingston reach quieter stations.
6. 6Night servicesNo Night Tube on the District line, so after the last trains it is night buses or a booked taxi.

The decision sequence rather than a timetable. Last-service times differ by line and are published by the operators.

Step-free travel and what it does and does not mean

Wimbledon station is the reliable step-free option on this corridor, and it is the station to plan around for anyone travelling with a wheelchair, a pushchair or heavy luggage. The trade-off is the distance and the hill at the other end, which is where the shuttle bus and the accessible transport arrangements become relevant.

The two smaller stations are a different matter, and this is not something to take on trust from a guide. Southfields and Wimbledon Park are older suburban stations with the layouts that implies, and Transport for London's Step-free Tube Guide is the only source worth relying on for their current status, because lift and access works change it. Check it rather than assuming, and check it close to the date.

Step-free is also a narrower promise than it sounds. It refers to the route from street to platform. It does not describe the gap and the step between platform and train, which on some District line stock and platforms is significant, and it says nothing at all about the pavement between the station and the gates. That walk has cambers, crossings, temporary barriers and a great many people moving in both directions at once.

Anyone who needs more than a step-free station should read our guide to accessible tickets and the arrangements inside the grounds, which covers the booking route, wheelchair spaces, companion seats and on-site facilities. The three parts of the journey, getting there, getting in and getting round, are arranged through different processes, and it is worth understanding all of them before committing to a plan.

Timing the journey around the order of play

The order of play is published the evening before, and it is the document that should determine what time you leave home. Outside courts have generally started earlier in the day than the show courts, with Centre Court last, and the pattern of start times has been adjusted over the years rather than being fixed for all time; our explainer on the order of play sets out how the schedule is built and why matches move.

Gates open well before the first matches, and there is a reason to be there when they do. Entry involves a bag search and a ticket scan, and the queue at the gates is at its longest in the half hour before play starts, because that is when everyone who worked backwards from the start time arrives simultaneously. Arriving early costs nothing except an early train and buys a calmer entry, a choice of seat on the outside courts, and time to work out where anything is.

Bag rules directly affect how long the security queue takes, both for you and for everyone behind you, and the limits on size and number are enforced at the gate rather than negotiated there. Our bag policy and security guide has the detail, and reading it before you pack is the cheapest possible time saving.

For anyone building a whole day around a single trip, the choice of which day to come matters more than the choice of route, and the two interact. Early rounds have more matches on more courts and heavier crowds on the transport network; later rounds have fewer matches and a different arrival pattern. Our comparison of which day of the fortnight to attend works through the trade-off, and the wider England sport hub collects the rest of the Wimbledon guides alongside the football, rugby and golf sections. If you are planning around the tennis calendar more broadly, the tennis section covers the grass court events that lead into the fortnight.

One last thing that is easy to forget. The journey home is the harder half. It happens in the dark, in a bigger crowd, after a long day in the sun or the rain, and often with tired children. Whatever plan you make for getting there, spend two minutes making the reverse one before you set off.