Guide to Southbank Centre

Set across 11 acres, we are London’s favourite meeting spot, with restaurants, bars, street food markets and dramatic riverside views.

We believe in the power of great art and culture to bring people together, and add something amazing to your life. We work hard to bring unbeatable cultural experiences to new audiences – especially those who’ve always felt excluded from the arts.

Through music, performance, art and events, we take you out of the everyday, every day. 

The Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Hayward Gallery, National Poetry Library and Arts Council Collection.

We are home to six Resident Orchestras: Aurora Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra,  London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Orchestra.

Our creative learning and participation activities help everyone express their creativity and explore their potential. 

Did you know that we are a registered charity? We’re also a National Portfolio Organisation supported by Arts Council England, which means that we are one of the leading organisations in our field.

Tube / Underground:
Waterloo (Northern, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Waterloo & City lines) is 200 metres away.
Embankment (District and Circle lines) is 600 metres away, over Hungerford Bridge.

Bus:
Routes 1, 59, 68, 76, 139, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341, N1, N68, N171, N343 and SL6 stop on Waterloo Bridge (100 metres away).
Routes 11, 76, 77, 381, C10 and N381 stop on York Road (500 metres away).

Train:
The nearest train stations to the Southbank Centre are Waterloo, Waterloo East and Blackfriars on the south side of the River Thames, and Charing Cross on the north side.

Alternative car-parking

You can pre-book parking within walking distance of the Southbank Centre through YourParkingSpace.co.uk, which connects drivers with parking space owners. Southbank Centre visitors can get a 20% discount on their website with the code ‘SBCENTRE21’.

(The Southbank Centre is not connected to YourParkingSpace and is not responsible for content on their website. For any issues or enquiries contact YourParkingSpace directly).

Blue Badge car parking

We have four free Blue Badge parking spaces available for visitors, allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to find out more.

There are no child care or crèche facilities but there are a lot of activities and concerts dedicated to children and families.

Accessible toilets and baby changing stations are in all venues, with a cloakroom (with lift access) in the Royal Festival Hall for buggies/coats. The site is pushchair and wheelchair friendly, with lifts available.

There are several dining options onsite. The main destination restaurant is Skylon, a Modern British Brasserie located on Level 3 of the Royal Festival Hall, offering floor-to-ceiling views of the Thames.

Skylon can and should be booked in advance, especially for pre or post-show dining. Drinks and snacks are also available from Festival Bar & Kitchen (Level 2, Royal Festival Hall) which serves pizza and drinks.

Situated on Level 5 of our Royal Festival Hall, Seventy5th Balcony Bar offers panoramic views of the River Thames and the central London skyline. It’s the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle below and enjoy drinks and food with friends. And if the weather is right you can step out onto the balcony and really make the most of those views.

The Southbank Centre facilities are specifically designed to serve guests before, during (interval), and after performances. It is important to note that light snacks are also available from the bars around the venue during the interval.

Key Opening times:

Skylon:
Monday – Friday, 12 noon – 12 midnight
Saturday, 11.30am – 12 midnight
Sunday, 12 noon – 11pm

Festival Bar & Kitchen: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 10.30pm

Ballroom Café: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 8pm

Seventy5th Balcony Bar: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 10.30pm

There is no specific dress code, people can dress as they want.

All of our performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are our ticket offices and toilets, as well as our cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.

On occasion there may be short queues to enter our buildings, events and exhibitions. If you are not able to queue or need further assistance, our Visitor Assistants are here to help you.

We are making more and more events accessible to a wider audience through a range of assisted formats: British Sign Language interpretation, Speech-to-Text transcription, Audio Description, Captioning and pre-event Touch Tours.

We are also introducing more Relaxed Performances and Sensory Adapted Performances, suitable particularly for people with autistic spectrum conditions, sensory and communication disorders and learning disabilities.

We aim to provide access upon request to our visitors who require an accessible provision to be put in place for them to be able to attend a performance, but this will be subject to the request being made within a reasonable timeframe (minimum six weeks before the event date), financial resource, and approval from the events promoter. Please contact us if you require this service and we’ll do all we reasonably can to help. We aim to make hearing enhancement available at all live performances.