In short
- Peninsula Square is the set-down, two to three minutes from the doors, busiest 60 to 20 minutes before showtime.
- Edmund Halley Way is the collection point, one street back and clear of the pedestrian surge.
- Millennium Way is the fallback when the square closes for a stadium-scale event.
- Coaches and large minibuses use a separate set-down and cannot use the car points.
- Leaving the peninsula means the A102 and a tunnel. Check whether road charges apply to your date.
The three streets, in order of usefulness
Almost everything about getting a vehicle to The O2 comes down to which of three streets you are on and at what time.
| Street | Use | Walk to doors | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peninsula Square | Set-down | 2–3 min | Closest legal stop. Marshalled on big nights, and busiest an hour before doors. |
| Edmund Halley Way | Collection | 4–6 min | One street back. Clears far faster after a show than the square does. |
| Millennium Way | Fallback | 6–8 min | Used when the square closes to traffic for a stadium-scale event. |
| Coach set-down | Large vehicles | Varies | Separate arrangement, confirmed per event. |
Arriving
The window between sixty and twenty minutes before showtime is the busiest, because that is when most of twenty thousand people decide to arrive. If you can be set down before that, the square is straightforward. If you cannot, expect traffic management to be directing vehicles and be ready to walk from slightly further out.
The practical advice is simple: aim to arrive at least forty-five minutes before doors. That covers the bag check, the queue and a drink, and it means the vehicle sets down on a moving street rather than a stationary one.
Leaving, which is the harder half
Twenty thousand people leave the arena inside about fifteen minutes and most of them walk the same way, towards North Greenwich station. Waiting on the square means waiting inside that flow.
Edmund Halley Way sits one street back, out of the pedestrian surge, and it clears far sooner. The short walk buys a considerably shorter wait, which is why it is the default collection point rather than the frontage.
If your group is likely to split up, agree the meeting point before you go in. Signal on the plaza after a show is poor and battery life after a long evening is worse.
Getting off the peninsula
Traffic out of Greenwich Peninsula funnels towards the A102 and the Blackwall Tunnel, with the Silvertown Tunnel as the alternative crossing. Both carry road user charges, and the Dartford Crossing has its own charge for anyone heading back into Kent.
These charges are set by others and change from time to time, so check them against your travel date rather than relying on a figure you remember from last year. If you are booking a vehicle, ask whether the charges sit inside the quote before you commit.
indigo, Up at The O2 and the rest of the complex
The building is several venues. The arena holds around twenty thousand; indigo is a 2,800-capacity room sharing the same plaza; there is a cinema, an outlet centre and a large number of restaurants.
That matters because the peninsula operates on whichever event is largest. A quiet night at indigo with the arena dark is one of the easiest venues in London to reach. The same night with a sold-out arena show is a completely different exercise. Check what else is on before you plan the evening.
Accessibility
The O2 operates its own accessible drop-off arrangements, and they differ depending on the event and how traffic is being managed that night. If anyone in your party cannot manage the walk from the standard points, arrange it in advance rather than on the evening, because the closest reachable point is not fixed.