Which Thames bridge is safest to cycle? Every London bridge ranked for bikes
Blackfriars, Southwark, Westminster, Lambeth and Vauxhall have protected cycle tracks, London Bridge keeps cars off on weekdays, and Hammersmith and Albert have no motor traffic at all. Tower Bridge and Battersea Bridge have nothing. Here are all eighteen crossings from Tower Bridge to Kew, east to west, with what you ride on and what changed this year.
- 16 crossings you can ride
- 2 where you wheel the bike
- 0 that carry it for you
Every bridge from Tower Bridge to Kew
In order east to west. The verdict is ours; the rating is what SuperSafe™ gives the bridge’s ridable way on our London map.
| Crossing | Verdict | By bike | What you ride on | Route |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower Bridge | Avoid | Ride across | General traffic | – |
| London Bridge | Good to ride | Ride across | Protected cycle track | – |
| Southwark Bridge | Good to ride | Ride across | Protected cycle track | Cycleway 7 |
| Millennium Bridge | Walk it | Wheel it | Foot tunnel or footbridge | – |
| Blackfriars Bridge | Good to ride | Ride across | Protected cycle track | Cycleway 6 |
| Waterloo Bridge | Rideable | Ride across | Painted lane | – |
| Golden Jubilee Bridges | Walk it | Wheel it | Foot tunnel or footbridge | – |
| Westminster Bridge | Good to ride | Ride across | Protected cycle track | – |
| Lambeth Bridge | Good to ride | Ride across | Protected cycle track | – |
| Vauxhall Bridge | Good to ride | Ride across | Protected cycle track | Cycleway 5 |
| Chelsea Bridge | Rideable | Ride across | Painted lane | Cycleway 8 |
| Albert Bridge | Good to ride | Ride across | General traffic | – |
| Battersea Bridge | Avoid | Ride across | General traffic | – |
| Wandsworth Bridge | Rideable | Ride across | Protected cycle track | – |
| Putney Bridge | Rideable | Ride across | Painted lane | – |
| Hammersmith Bridge | Good to ride | Ride across | Bike path | – |
| Chiswick Bridge | Rideable | Ride across | Shared path | – |
| Kew Bridge | Rideable | Ride across | Shared path | – |
The bridges, one by one
What is on the deck, what the junctions at each end are like, and what changed in 2025 and 2026, with the operator’s or council’s page linked under each.
Tower Bridge
AvoidYou can ride across Tower Bridge, but it has no cycle lane in either direction and the deck is too narrow for one, so most riders are better off on London Bridge, 600 metres upstream.
- Two general traffic lanes, one each way, shared with buses, lorries and around 500 bridge lifts a year.
- Bikes were 18.6% of the vehicles counted crossing it in Transport for London’s 2024 Thames screenline survey, the lowest share of the four central bridges in the City count.
- The bascules lift around 500 times a year, with extra lifts at short notice for maintenance; traffic waits, and so do you.
- No numbered Cycleway crosses it. Cycleway 4 starts just south on Tooley Street and Cycleway 3 runs past the north end.
- North bank
- Tower Hill and the Mansell Street gyratory, where Cycleway 3 crosses along the Embankment.
- South bank
- Tower Bridge Road at Tooley Street, where Cycleway 4 begins.
London Bridge
Good to rideLondon Bridge is the best crossing east of Blackfriars: wand-separated cycle lanes both ways since 2020, and on weekdays from 7am to 7pm only buses, taxis, motorbikes and bikes may use it as a through route.
- Cycle lanes in both directions, separated from traffic by wands, with the bus lanes moved outside them and general traffic cut to one lane each way, introduced in September 2020.
- Buses, taxis, motorcycles and cycles only as a through route, 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday, made permanent by Transport for London in 2022 after an experimental order.
- Bikes were 56.9% of all vehicles counted crossing it in the 2024 Thames screenline survey, the highest share of any bridge, up from 3.6% in 1986.
- North bank
- King William Street into the Monument junction, which London Cycling Campaign still lists among the City’s most dangerous for people walking and cycling.
- South bank
- Borough High Street, Duke Street Hill and Tooley Street, where Cycleways 4, 10 and 14 meet.
Southwark Bridge
Good to rideSouthwark Bridge carries Cycleway 7 on kerb-separated cycle lanes both sides, and is one of the quietest of the central bridges for motor traffic.
- Kerb-separated cycle lanes on both sides of the deck, the layout Cycling UK held up as the model for other bridges.
- Cycleway 7 runs over it from Colliers Wood to the City; the Southwark Bridge Road approach has light segregation.
- Bikes were 36.3% of vehicles counted crossing in the 2024 Thames screenline survey.
- North bank
- Queen Street, crossing Upper Thames Street and Cycleway 3 at a signalled junction.
- South bank
- Southwark Bridge Road, past Southwark Street towards Elephant and Castle.
Millennium Bridge
Walk itThe Millennium Bridge is for people on foot only, so you wheel the bike between St Paul’s and Tate Modern; Southwark Bridge, 300 metres east, is the ridable alternative.
- A pedestrian bridge: riding across is not permitted, and it is narrow enough that walking a bike at busy times is slow.
- Closed for three weeks of repairs in October 2023; otherwise open at all hours.
- North bank
- Peter’s Hill below St Paul’s Cathedral, with steps and a ramp down to Queen Victoria Street.
- South bank
- The Thames Path outside Tate Modern.
Blackfriars Bridge
Good to rideBlackfriars Bridge carries Cycleway 6 on a two-way protected track along its west side, with a grade-separated junction onto Cycleway 3 at the north end, which makes it the easiest central bridge for a nervous rider.
- A two-way kerb-protected cycle track on the west side of the deck, opened in April 2016.
- Transport for London counted 4,695 cyclists in the morning peak within months of the track opening, up 55%, and cyclists reached 70% of the traffic at peak times.
- Bikes were 40.2% of vehicles counted crossing in the 2024 Thames screenline survey.
- North bank
- New Bridge Street, where Cycleway 6 passes over Cycleway 3 on the Embankment without a junction.
- South bank
- Blackfriars Road towards Elephant and Castle, where the Tideway public realm works were still fencing off sections in 2025.
Waterloo Bridge
RideableWaterloo Bridge has painted cycle lanes rather than protected ones, narrowed in places by the security barriers added in 2017, and its south end lands you on the IMAX roundabout, so it is rideable but not relaxed.
- Kerbside cycle lanes with no physical separation from the bus lane; anti-terrorism barriers placed in the lanes in 2017 leave little or no space in places.
- The scheme to replace the IMAX roundabout with two-way streets, protected cycle lanes and a public square was consulted on in 2017 and is listed by Lambeth as in development, with no funding confirmed.
- The views are the best of any bridge, which is why the footways are busy with people stopping to look.
- North bank
- The Strand and the Aldwych one-way system.
- South bank
- The Waterloo roundabout around the IMAX, whose planned rebuild with protected lanes has been in development since 2017 and is still unbuilt.
Golden Jubilee Bridges
Walk itThe two Golden Jubilee footbridges beside Hungerford railway bridge are for walking only, reached by steps and lifts, so a bike is carried up and wheeled across.
- Pedestrian bridges on each side of the railway, with steps and lift access at both ends and no ramp.
- Westminster Bridge, 500 metres upstream, is the nearest crossing you can ride.
- North bank
- Embankment station and Villiers Street, by steps or lift.
- South bank
- The Southbank Centre and Royal Festival Hall, by steps or lift.
Westminster Bridge
Good to rideWestminster Bridge has protected cycle lanes on both sides, 1.8 metres wide with bus stop bypasses, completed in 2018, and a remodelled junction at St Thomas’ Hospital with its own cycle signals.
- Kerb-protected cycle lanes both sides, 1.8 metres wide, with three bus stop bypasses crossed by zebra crossings for passengers.
- Built from 2017 and finished in 2018, after the hospital trust dropped its legal challenge to the bypass design.
- The footways are among the most crowded in London, so expect people stepping into the lane near the Parliament end.
- North bank
- Bridge Street into Parliament Square, where Cycleway 3 along the Embankment ends.
- South bank
- Westminster Bridge Road at St Thomas’ Hospital, with separate cycle signals and new crossings from the 2018 rebuild.
Lambeth Bridge
Good to rideLambeth Bridge was rebuilt for cycling in 2025 and 2026: footway-level protected lanes both sides, and the two roundabouts at its ends, which Transport for London called the worst in London for cycle collisions, replaced with signals.
- Both roundabouts replaced with signal-controlled junctions, new pedestrian crossings and protected cycle lanes on both sides of the bridge; works started 30 January 2025 and the scheme was reported complete in June 2026 at £24 million.
- Transport for London recorded 31 collisions at the two roundabouts between September 2021 and August 2024, 22 of them involving someone cycling.
- Before the rebuild the bridge had a narrow painted lane with no separation.
Since June 2026 both ends are signalled junctions and the lanes are protected; older advice to avoid the northern roundabout no longer applies.
- North bank
- Millbank and Horseferry Road, where Cycleway 8 passes the bridge end; the old northern roundabout is now a signalled junction.
- South bank
- Lambeth Palace Road and Albert Embankment, also signalled since 2025.
Vauxhall Bridge
Good to rideVauxhall Bridge carries Cycleway 5 on a two-way protected track along its east side; the bridge itself is easy, and the south end at the Vauxhall Cross gyratory is the part to take slowly.
- A two-way protected cycle track on the east side, opened in November 2015 in place of the southbound bus lane.
- Transport for London counted 29% more cyclists at peak within a month of the track opening, with bikes 40% of road users.
- The Vauxhall Cross gyratory scheme is approved but unfunded; Lambeth was still pressing Transport for London for a commitment in December 2025.
- North bank
- Bessborough Gardens and Millbank, where Cycleway 8 runs along Grosvenor Road.
- South bank
- Vauxhall Cross, a gyratory whose two-way conversion with protected lanes was approved in 2018 and still has no start date.
Chelsea Bridge
RideableChelsea Bridge carries Cycleway 8 with a wand-protected southbound lane and a northbound bus lane bikes share, and the junction with Grosvenor Road at its north end has a banned left turn for drivers that makes it safer than it was.
- The southbound cycle lane was widened and protected with wands in 2021, and the northbound bus lane extended to run all day.
- Ten people were hurt in collisions at the Grosvenor Road junction in the three years before the left turn was banned.
- Queen’s Circus at the south end recorded a fatal, two serious and three slight collisions in the 2023 dangerous junctions list.
- North bank
- Grosvenor Road and Chelsea Bridge Road, where the left turn from Grosvenor Road onto the bridge has been banned since 2020.
- South bank
- Queen’s Circus at Battersea Park, which London Cycling Campaign ranked the eighth most dangerous junction in London in 2023.
Albert Bridge
Good to rideAlbert Bridge has been closed to motor vehicles since 7 February 2026 after a crack was found in a cast-iron abutment, and stays open to people walking and cycling, which makes it the quietest crossing in west London for as long as the repair lasts.
- Closed to all motor traffic since 7 February 2026; a temporary prop was fitted in April 2026 to keep it open to pedestrians and cyclists during the repair.
- Kensington and Chelsea approved a full repair in March 2026, around £8.5 million over about a year, with a return of motor traffic expected in 2027 and no firm date.
- Before the closure it carried a 3 tonne weight limit, camera-enforced since January 2024, so it never had heavy lorries.
Since February 2026 there is no motor traffic on the bridge; check the council’s page before relying on it, as it has had short full closures for repairs.
- North bank
- Chelsea Embankment at Oakley Street.
- South bank
- Albert Bridge Road into Battersea Park.
Battersea Bridge
AvoidBattersea Bridge has no cycle lanes and Transport for London says the listed structure cannot take any; two people cycling were killed at its junctions in 2021 and 2023, and the 2024 to 2025 safety works changed the approaches, not the deck.
- Around 4,000 cycle journeys a day, more than 10% of its traffic, with no cycle lane in either direction.
- London Cycling Campaign counted 28 collisions at the junction in the three years to September 2023, 15 of them involving people cycling, and two cyclists were killed, in January 2021 and August 2023.
- Transport for London’s Safer Junctions scheme ran from November 2024 to late 2025: eleven new pedestrian crossings, bus lanes, cycle signals and a section of protected track on the approaches.
- Albert Bridge, 600 metres east, is the quiet alternative while it is closed to motor traffic.
- North bank
- Cheyne Walk and Chelsea Embankment, rebuilt from June 2025 with corner build-outs and new crossings.
- South bank
- Battersea Bridge Road, with new crossings, bus lanes and a short section of protected track from the 2024 works.
Wandsworth Bridge
RideableWandsworth Bridge has had a protected northbound cycle lane since 2021 and is getting stepped cycle tracks on both sides in a rebuild that runs from May to October 2026, during which the carriageway lane is suspended.
- A northbound bus lane plus a 2 metre protected cycle lane went in under a temporary order in 2021, lifted cycling 25% and was made permanent in 2023; the southbound lane was substandard.
- Wandsworth’s 2026 programme, 26 May to the end of October, adds stepped cycle tracks on both sides, wider footways and a permanent northbound bus lane; the west side was finished by September.
Works run until the end of October 2026 with the cycle lane suspended; both sides get stepped tracks when they finish.
- North bank
- Wandsworth Bridge Road into Fulham.
- South bank
- The Wandsworth Bridge roundabout and Jews Row, with junction changes in the 2026 works.
Putney Bridge
RideablePutney Bridge has a painted cycle lane and around 6,600 cyclists a day, but the junctions at the Putney end keep changing: a southbound bus lane was suspended in late 2025 and the cycle-only left turn onto the High Street in February 2026.
- Around 6,602 cyclists a day, 15% of all road users on the bridge.
- The southbound bus lane outside the Odeon, added in 2024, was suspended on trial in December 2025 because left-turning traffic blocked it.
- The cycle-only left turn from Putney Bridge Road onto the High Street was suspended in February 2026, the council calling its use modest.
- North bank
- Fulham High Street and Putney Bridge station, with a segregated northbound approach lane from late 2024.
- South bank
- Putney High Street and Putney Bridge Road, with countdown crossings and early-release cycle signals from the December 2024 scheme.
Hammersmith Bridge
Good to rideHammersmith Bridge has carried no motor traffic since April 2019, and since 22 April 2025 its re-decked carriageway has a cycle lane in each direction with people walking down the middle, which makes it the most relaxed crossing on the river.
- Closed to motor vehicles in April 2019 after cracks in its cast-iron pedestals, fully closed in August 2020, and reopened to people walking and cycling in July 2021.
- The main carriageway reopened on 22 April 2025 after a £2.9 million re-decking, laid out as a northbound cycle lane, a southbound cycle lane and a two-way pedestrian lane in the centre.
- In July 2026 Hammersmith and Fulham applied for a phased repair that keeps the bridge open to walking, cycling and river traffic; full restoration for motor vehicles, around £300 million, was judged not achievable.
Since July 2026 the council’s plan is a bridge for walking and cycling only; a return of motor traffic is off the table for now.
- North bank
- Hammersmith Bridge Road, linking Cycleway 9 and Cycleway 34.
- South bank
- Castelnau in Barnes.
Chiswick Bridge
RideableChiswick Bridge carries the A316 with a separate path beside the carriageway on our map, so you can cross away from the traffic, but both approaches are dual carriageway and Richmond’s signed route to Chiswick avoids the A316 altogether.
- Our London map carries a path separate from the carriageway across the bridge; the road itself is rated busy.
- Closed to traffic for the RideLondon events each year, when the whole route is bikes only.
- North bank
- Great Chertsey Road, the A316, towards Chiswick roundabout.
- South bank
- Clifford Avenue, the A316, towards Mortlake and Richmond.
Kew Bridge
RideableKew Bridge has a shared-use footway for northbound riders on its east side, and a carriageway that Transport for London widened for traffic in 2021 by removing the cycle lane, which the Mayor conceded was not the best layout for cycling; Cycleway 9 starts at its north end.
- Northbound shared-use footway on the east side; the northbound shared cycle lane on the carriageway was removed in April 2021 to add a traffic lane.
- Cycleway 9 works at the north end finished in March 2021, and a two-way section from Kew Bridge to Watermans Park opened in October 2023.
- North bank
- Kew Bridge Road and Brentford High Street, where Cycleway 9’s protected lanes begin.
- South bank
- Kew Green and Kew Road, with protected lanes on the A205 from 2021.
How Cyclemate routes it
The bridge SuperSafe picks most is Blackfriars
We routed 182 journeys between fourteen north-bank and thirteen south-bank neighbourhoods, from Hammersmith to Canary Wharf and Putney to Greenwich, and counted the bridge each SuperSafe™ route crossed. Blackfriars carried 87 of them. Chelsea came next with 26, then Vauxhall with 20 and Hammersmith with 16. London Bridge took 9, Tower Bridge 5 and Albert Bridge 4; Battersea, Waterloo, Putney and Westminster were never chosen.
The direct route for the same journeys spread across Blackfriars, London Bridge, Westminster, Putney and Battersea. That is the difference a safety rating makes: a protected track a few hundred metres off the straight line beats a busy bridge on it. Plan a route and tap SuperSafe™ to see which bridge it chose and why.
- 87
- of 182 SuperSafe routes over Blackfriars
- 0
- over Battersea Bridge, against 9 by the direct route
- 7
- bridges with a protected track or no motor traffic
Notes and sources
Infrastructure, closures and dates are from Transport for London, the City Bridge Foundation, the boroughs (Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth, Richmond) and GOV.UK, with news reports where the official page could not be reached; each bridge links its sources. The share of bikes among vehicles per bridge is Transport for London’s 2024 Thames screenline survey. London Cycling Campaign’s dangerous junctions list supplied the collision counts at Battersea and Queen’s Circus.
The routing figures are one experiment on our London map, run on 6 October 2026 with daytime costs: 182 neighbourhood pairs routed SuperSafe™ and direct, counting the first bridge each route crossed. Twenty-one journeys between Fulham or Hammersmith and south-west London crossed at Wandsworth or further west and are not in the counts. For everything east of Tower Bridge, where there is no bridge to ride, see how to cross the Thames by bike east of Tower Bridge.
Last checked on 6 October 2026. Spotted a change? Tell us and we will update the page.
Cycling London’s bridges: your questions
Which Thames bridge is safest to cycle across?
Blackfriars, Southwark, Westminster, Vauxhall and Lambeth bridges all have protected cycle tracks, and London Bridge has wand-separated lanes with only buses, taxis, motorbikes and bikes allowed through on weekdays from 7am to 7pm. Hammersmith Bridge has no motor traffic at all. Of 182 cross-river journeys we routed through central and west London, SuperSafe chose Blackfriars Bridge for 87.
Which Thames bridges should cyclists avoid?
Tower Bridge and Battersea Bridge, which have no cycle lane in either direction and share two narrow lanes with buses and lorries; Transport for London says neither listed structure can take one. London Bridge is 600 metres from Tower Bridge and Albert Bridge, closed to motor traffic through 2026, is 600 metres from Battersea Bridge.
Can you cycle across the Millennium Bridge?
No. The Millennium Bridge and the Golden Jubilee footbridges beside Hungerford Bridge are for people on foot, so you wheel the bike across. Southwark Bridge, 300 metres east of the Millennium Bridge, and Westminster Bridge, 500 metres upstream of the Golden Jubilee bridges, are the nearest you can ride.
Is Hammersmith Bridge open to cyclists?
Yes. Hammersmith Bridge has been closed to motor vehicles since April 2019 and reopened to people walking and cycling in July 2021; since 22 April 2025 its re-decked carriageway has a cycle lane in each direction with pedestrians in the middle. In July 2026 the council applied for a phased repair that keeps it that way, with a return of motor traffic judged unachievable.
Is Albert Bridge open to bikes?
Yes. Albert Bridge has been closed to motor vehicles since 7 February 2026 after a crack was found in a cast-iron abutment, and stays open to people walking and cycling while the repair, expected to take about a year, is carried out. Check Kensington and Chelsea’s page before you rely on it, as it has had short full closures.
Which Thames bridge do most cyclists use?
By share of traffic, London Bridge: bikes were 56.9% of all vehicles counted crossing it in Transport for London’s 2024 Thames screenline survey, ahead of Blackfriars at 40.2%, Southwark at 36.3% and Tower Bridge at 18.6%. Blackfriars has carried the most cyclists by number in Transport for London’s counts since its protected track opened in 2016.
What changed at Lambeth Bridge?
Both roundabouts at its ends, which Transport for London called the most dangerous in London for cycle collisions, were replaced with signal-controlled junctions, and protected cycle lanes were built on both sides of the bridge. The works began in January 2025 and were reported complete in June 2026.
