On the day of the Lord Mayor's Show, no buses can travel through the City of London or along the Embankment from 7am until about 4pm.

The road closures are fairly consistent from year to year so we can give you an idea of their effects on bus timetables, but the full details will be issued by TfL in the week before the Show. We will update this page as more information becomes available.

The main picture is not official; it's our best attempt to summarise what usually happens, and the details will be slightly different each year. You can download a more detailed PDF version.

In short, every single bus that would normally go through the City of London will either go around or turn back. That means disruption not only to individual journeys but also to the overall timetable for most of the day. We apologise for the trouble this will cause, but the Lord Mayor's Show has been getting in the way for over 800 years. Samuel Pepys complained about the inconvenience too.

Traffic around the edge of the closed area is likely to be busy as people try to find their way round the City, but the perimeter is well supplied with tube stations. If you normally use the buses to get into town, your best course is probably to take the first bus then get on the tube at the first station. During the Show the Central Line and the City branch of the Northern Line will be more busy than usual, but the Circle and District lines remain at normal Saturday levels.

Reopening

Most roads are closed until about 3.30pm, depending how long it takes to clear the area and open the barriers. Bus services may take a little longer to recover but the City is used to the Show and by about 4.30 you'll find that everything is back to normal.