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The UK’s capital is home to some of the sporting world’s major events, from tennis at Wimbledon to cricket at Lords and The Oval and Premiership football to the Oxford-Cambridge University Boat Race at Putney. There is also plenty of opportunity to participate in a wide variety of sports yourself. For Londoners working in the centre of the city there are several public sports centres and innumerable private health clubs. Each area has further private clubs, as well as public facilities provided by the borough council. Often the latter are relatively cheap to use.

Wimbledon is the focus of the tennis world for two weeks every summer. There are public courts at most park, plus a host of private clubs boasting excellent facilities.

Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood is the home of the MCC and, south of the Thames, the Oval Cricket ground is home of Surrey Cricket Club. Both grounds feature test matches and regular 20/20 cricket events.

London is the home of 13 of the 92 professional football teams in England including Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham. For international rugby union matches, Twickenham is the place to be, particularly in the spring, and there are several first-class London teams playing rugby throughout the season. As far as both football and rugby are concerned, amateur teams can usually be spotted honing their skills in London’s parks and commons every Sunday!

Horses and equipment can be hired for casual riding in Hyde Park and Richmond Park and also on Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common. Most golf courses are out of town, although the Hampstead Golf Club N2, is a good nine-hole course open to non members for a green fee at certain times. The River Thames is a great host to many leisure activities; rowing is growing in popularity and docklands provides facilities for all sort of water sports. If you would rather be under the water, than on it, sub aqua clubs meet all over London - your local pool will be able to give you details.

For information about any sports in London, contact your local London borough council. Alternatively, get in touch with Sport England by either telephone or via its website for extensive information on available facilities.

Central London

Leisure Centres

In central London, public leisure centres - most of which have swimming pools - include the Golden Lane Leisure Centre in the City; Jubilee Sports Centre in Caird Street, the Queen Mother Sports Centre on Vauxhall Bridge Road, Seymour Leisure Centre on Seymour Place, The Porchester Centre in Queensway, Kensington Leisure Centre on Walmer Road, Chelsea Sports Centre on Chelsea Manor Street and a gym at Paddington Recreation Ground. Private health clubs in the area include a David Lloyd Centre at Points West SW7; LA Fitness at Aldgate, Holborn, Leadenhall Street, London Wall and St Pauls (all in the City), Marylebone, Piccadilly, Victoria and at Aldwych; Holmes Place on the Strand, in Oxford Street, Mayfair, Marylebone and Regent’s Place; and Living Well clubs in Russell Square and Millbank.

Other Sports

If you are a keen golfer frustrated by living in London, never fear: Urban Golf will keep your shots on course until you can visit the real thing. Located in Piccadilly, it’s a ‘virtual golf’ simulator where you can play on one of 35 of the world’s best golf courses - they’ll even provide the clubs!

Cyclists have the reassurance of knowing there’s a whole collection of London Cycle Guides available. These covering all areas of London in an A-Z format, keeping cyclists abreast of lanes and cyclepaths in the capital.

Ten-pin bowling can be enjoyed at Funland in the Trocadero Centre in Piccadilly, Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, All Star Lanes in Southampton Row and at Namco Station in Westminster Bridge Road, almost next door to the London Eye.

Not content with all this? Fancy an ice-dance spectacular? Around Christmas time, ice rinks are constructed in the centre of the Broadgate development in the City and at Somerset House on the Strand, giving you plenty of opportunity to glide gracefully, or break someone else’s fall.

West London

Leisure Centres

Public leisure centres in West London are many and varied – again, most have pools. The New Chiswick Pool is in Edensore Road, Hammersmith Squash & Fitness Centre is in Shortlands, Lillie Road and Phoenix Fitness Centres can be found in Fulham and White City respectively. Residents of Ealing have access to Gurnell Leisure Centre and Acton Baths and Twyford Sports Centre, while Harrow has the Bridge Park and Harrow Leisure Centres and the Roger Bannister Sports Centre in Harrow Weald. There will almost certainly be private facilities close to where you live in London: LA Fitness has clubs in Bayswater and Hallam Street W1; Esporta clubs can be found in Chiswick Park and at Chiswick Riverside; Living Well facilities in the Hilton Metropole Hotel on Edgware Road and David Lloyd has clubs on Fulham Broadway and Bushey Road in Raynes Park.

Other Sports

At Hammersmith and Chiswick on the Thames are well-known centres for rowing and sailing. Ruislip Lido has beaches and 40 acres of water, used by water skiers and sailing craft. Brunel University’s sports facilities are very good and are open to the public at certain times. There are ten-pin bowling centres at Tenpin in Kendal Avenue W3 and at Firstbowl Queensway, where there’s also has an ice rink.

There are plenty of opportunities for walking along some pretty trails. Bentley Priory Circular Walk passes through some very attractive parts of Harrow’s Green Belt, and there is a towpath along the side of the Grand Union Canal. There are maps of walking trails around the villages of Harrow on the Hill and Pinner, with bridle routes mapped out around Hillingdon. Bayhurst Wood to the north of Hillingdon is a countryside park with picnic and barbecue areas.

North London

Leisure Centres

Public leisure centres in North London – most with a pool and gyms - are available at Talacre Sports Centre, Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre, Kentish Town Leisure Centre, Mornington Sports & Fitness Centre and Oasis Sprts Centre. Islington provides Archway Leisure Centre in MacDonald Road, Cally Pool in Caledonian Road, Finsbury Leisure Centre in Norman Street, Highbury Pool in Highbuty Crescent, Sobell Leisure Centre in Hownsey Road, Ironmonger Row Baths and Islington Tennis Centre in Market Road. In Barnet, the Finchley Lido is popular during the summer months and Burnt Oak and Copthall Leisure Centres both offer fitness training and optional fitness classes. Private clubs in the area are well distributed; LA Fitness have facilities in Finchley Golders Green, Highgate, Muswell Hill and Southgate; Esporta has clubs in Islington and Swiss Cottage; Living Well can be found in Maida Vale and there’s a David Lloyd centre in Finchley High Road.

Other Sports

Middlesex plays county cricket games at the Uxbridge Sports and Cricket Club Ground in Park Road. There are golf courses on Hampstead Heath, in Mill Hill, Muswell Hill, Highgate, Southgate and Finchley. Many of the private golf clubs in the area are open to the public at certain times, usually during the week, on payment of a green fee.

Contradictory as it may seem, north London is a great place to live if you love the great outdoors! From famous Hampstead Heath, with its walks, cyclepaths and golf club, and Regent’s Park with its zoo and open-air theatre to Waterlow Park in Highgate, Clissold Park in Stoke Newington and Finsbury Park, there’s always somewhere to explore. The Regent’s Canal runs right through Little Venice into north London and offers great towpath walks away from the hustle and bustle on the capital’s roads.

East London

Leisure Centres

Best of the bunch in this area include Balham Leisure Centre in Plaistow, Atherton Leisure Centre in Stratford, Newham Leisure Centre in Prince Regent Lane, Plaistow, the John Orwell Sports Centre at Tench Street in Wapping, Whitechapel Sports Centre in Durward Street, the Tiller Leisure Centre in Tiller Road, Docklands and St George’s Pools on The Highway. Other sports centres are at Wanstead and Barkingside. Private sports clubs in the area include Living Well in the Hilton London Docklands hotel and LA Fitness at West India Quay.

Other Sports

Docklands has its own Golf Range at Brunswick Wharf, Leamouth Road; Romford has an Ice Rink. There’s ten-pin bowling at the Hollywood Bowl 2 in Rotherhithe. Cycling can be enjoyed using cyclepaths all over London, but if you want to get slightly more off-the-beaten-track locally, the Lea Valley Watersports Centre - in addition to a whole range of water-based activities - has a cycle centre and cycle paths around all the lakes, where of course you can roam unhindered by London traffic. Bring your own bike or hire one at the Centre.

The docks are a prime source of particular sports, including Go Karting at F1 City Racing Circuit in the Royal Albert Dock Basin (Gate 14) off Woolwich Way. It’s in the watersports category, though, that the area comes into its own, with Docklands Sailing & Watersports Centre on Westferry Road, Docklands Watersports Club at King George V Dock, the Shadwell Basin Project and Surrey Docks Watersports Centre. Marinas are big business in the area now, and can be found at St Katharine Haven in St Katharine Way and in Limehouse.

Football is almost a religion in the east end of London: the local clubs West Ham, Tottenham and Arsenal are great rivals and there is nothing to beat the passion and atmosphere of a local derby!

South London

Leisure Centres

Local leisure centres include Arches in Trafalgar Road, Greenwich; Dulwich Leisure Centre; Furzedown Recreation Centre in Chillerton Road, SW17 and Battersea Youth & Sports Centre. Further to the west, Shene Sports Centre is in East Sheen, and Hampton Sport Arts and Fitness Centre is in Hampton. The National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace, with its Olympic sized swimming pools and athletics facilities, can be used by the public if it’s not being used for an event, but though it’s name may sound bang up to date, its facilities are in fact rather dated. Private sports clubs in the area include Esporta in Wandsworth and Wimbledon, and David Lloyd clubs in Kidbrooke Park Road, Kidbrooke and Rectory Lane, Sidcup.

Other sports

There are quite a number of publicly-funded facilities in which to enjoy outdoor activity in South London: Battersea Park Millenium Area is a fantastic athletics track, home to several athletics clubs, plus there is another athletics track on Tooting Bec Road, Tooting Bec. If you would rather spectate than participate, the National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace hosts a number of international athletics and swimming events, and the London Marathon starts on Blackheath, with part of its route passing through Deptford and Greenwich before turning north to Canary Wharf and the city.

Many of the parks and recreation grounds offer a range of facilities for football, tennis, bowls and putting. Horse riding is available on Putney Heath and in Richmond Park and rowing on the Thames from Barn Elms Boathouse.

You can enjoy walking and cycling in Battersea Park, King George’s Park, on Tooting Common and Wandsworth Common. Additionally, the Green Chain Walk takes you on a pleasant 40-mile long course through 300 private and public open spaces, beginning near Thamesmead and leading eventually to New Beckenham. Other footpaths providing a variety of walks include those at Joydens Wood, the Shuttle Riverway and the Cray Riverway, which takes you through the picturesque Cray Valley.

For football fans, the nearest teams in the south east boroughs are Crystal Palace, Millwall and Charlton Athletic. Blackheath Rugby Club is the oldest rugby union club in the world and today’s side plays at the Rectory Field.

There are also many golf courses scattered around the area and Lewisham has the most extensively used municipal course in Europe, at Beckenham Place Park. Ten-pin bowling can be enjoyed at the Elephant & Castle Superbowl, the AMF Bowling in Belmont Hill, Lewisham and at Streatham Superbowl. Watersports enthusiasts enjoy canoeing, sailing, windsurfing and power boating at the Surrey Docks Watersports Centre, while South Dock Marina in Rotherhithe is London’s largest working marina. Back on dry land there is a dry ski slope at Bromley Ski & Board Centre in Sandy Lane, Orpington.