LodgEvent lists 62 events in London, the United Kingdom, including DigiMarCon UK 2026, Gamesforum London 2026 and Proptech Connect 2026. Upcoming dates run from 21 September 2026 to 23 September 2027. Browse dates, venues and nearby hotels for each event below.
London Trade Fairs & Business Events — Visitor Guide
London has more exhibition venues than any other UK city, and they sit at opposite ends of a very large capital. Establishing which venue your event uses is the first thing to do — ExCeL is in the eastern Docklands, Olympia is in west Kensington, and crossing between them takes over an hour.
LodgEvent lists 62 events in London across 15 venues, with ExCeL London hosting 27 of them. The strongest sectors here are Business Services & Professional, Software and Home & Interior.
The venues
| ExCeL London | Olympia London | Business Design Centre |
|---|
| Where | Royal Victoria Dock, east | Kensington, west | Islington, north |
| Size | ~100,000 m² | Mid-size, multiple halls | ~6,000 m² main hall |
| Suits | Large international trade shows | Mid-size specialist B2B | Focused boutique events |
| Nearest station | Custom House (Elizabeth line, DLR) | Kensington (Olympia) | Angel (Northern line) |
| From Heathrow | ~43 min (Elizabeth line) | ~45 min | ~1 hour |
ExCeL London — where most large shows are
ExCeL occupies a 100-acre site on the northern quay of Royal Victoria Dock, with around 100,000 m² of enclosed space. Since the ICC expansion it describes itself as the largest fully integrated conference and exhibition centre in Europe. It hosts DSEI, World Travel Market, Infosecurity Europe, Data Centre World and Black Hat Europe among others, and handles roughly four million visitors a year.
A detail worth knowing before you arrive: the central walkway, the Boulevard, runs 600 metres end to end. That is the length of the venue, and if your meeting is at one end and your seminar at the other, you will feel it. Wear comfortable shoes and check your hall number against the nearest entrance.
An ownership footnote that connects two ends of our listings: ExCeL has been owned since 2008 by ADNEC, the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company — the same operator behind the venue in Abu Dhabi.
Getting to ExCeL
The Elizabeth line changed this venue. Since 2022 it has served Custom House station at the western entrance, putting ExCeL 12 minutes from central London and 43 minutes door-to-door from Heathrow. Before that, reaching the Docklands was a genuine expedition. If your information about ExCeL predates 2022, it is out of date.
By DLR: Custom House serves the western entrance and the event halls; Prince Regent serves the eastern entrance and the ICC. The stations span the venue's full 600-metre length, so pick the one matching your hall. During major shows, extra shuttle trains run to Canning Town, which connects to the Jubilee line.
London City Airport (LCY) is five minutes away — a ten-minute DLR ride. For business travellers from European cities, flying into LCY rather than Heathrow saves the better part of an hour each way. It is a small airport with a short runway and limited routes, but if yours is among them, take it.
From Heathrow: Elizabeth line eastbound directly to Custom House. From Gatwick: Gatwick Express to Victoria, then District line to Canning Town, then DLR. From St Pancras (Eurostar): a couple of changes, around 40 minutes.
Olympia and the smaller venues
Olympia London sits in Kensington in west London and is in the middle of a major multi-year redevelopment. It suits mid-size specialist B2B shows, and its advantage over ExCeL is location — you are in central west London, with hotels, restaurants and the museums quarter around you rather than in a regenerated dock.
Business Design Centre in Islington is London's boutique exhibition venue, with a main hall of around 6,000 m². It works for focused events where the quality of the audience matters more than the floor space.
Alexandra Palace in north London is a Victorian building used for a mix of exhibitions and cultural events — memorable rather than practical, and further out than it looks on a map.
Where to stay
This depends entirely on your venue, and getting it wrong is expensive in time.
For ExCeL: There are seven hotels on site with around 1,400 rooms between them, ranging from budget to luxury, and over 10,000 rooms within twenty minutes. The on-site options are the practical choice for exhibitors — you walk to your stand. For visitors, Canary Wharf is a few minutes away by DLR with a better evening offering, and Stratford is a reasonable middle ground.
For Olympia: Kensington, Hammersmith and Earl's Court are all within reach, and you are in central London with everything that implies.
Staying centrally for an ExCeL event — in Soho or Covent Garden, say — is entirely possible thanks to the Elizabeth line, and many people do it. Budget 30–40 minutes each way and accept that you will be commuting.
On cost: London is among the most expensive cities in the world for hotels, and this is true regardless of whether a trade fair is running. Rates rise further during the largest shows. Book early, and treat the on-site ExCeL hotels or a Docklands option as a genuine saving rather than a compromise.
Entry — the UK changed its rules in 2026
This is the section most out-of-date guidance gets wrong, and getting it wrong means being refused boarding.
Since 25 February 2026, an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is legally required for visitors of over 80 nationalities travelling to the UK — including nationals of the United States, EU member states, Australia and Canada — unless they already hold a UK visa or other immigration permission.
| Details |
|---|
| Cost | £20 per traveller |
| Where to apply | The official UK ETA app, or GOV.UK |
| What it is | Permission to travel — not a visa, and not a guarantee of entry |
| If refused | No right of appeal; you may need to apply for a visa instead |
| Exempt | British and Irish citizens |
Carriers now verify your permission electronically before boarding. Without a valid ETA you will likely be refused at the gate — this is not something Border Force sorts out on arrival.
Dual nationals should take care. If you hold British citizenship alongside another nationality, travel on your British passport or a Certificate of Entitlement. An ETA on your other passport is not the right document.
If your nationality requires a full visitor visa, apply well ahead. Major London shows draw international delegations and appointment demand tightens around them; ask the organiser for a visa support letter.
Practical notes
The UK is not in the Schengen area, and this catches out visitors combining London with a continental fair. A Schengen visa does not admit you to the UK, and vice versa — they are separate systems requiring separate permissions.
Currency is the pound sterling, not the euro. Cards are accepted everywhere and contactless is the norm — you can tap in and out of the Tube and buses with a bank card, no separate ticket needed.
Transport: contactless payment or an Oyster card covers the Tube, DLR, Elizabeth line, buses and Overground, with a daily cap so you cannot overspend. There is no need to buy travelcards in advance.
Distances deceive. London is very large, and two points that look close on a Tube map can be forty minutes apart. When scheduling meetings across the city on a fair day, allow more time than seems necessary.
Tipping is around 10–12.5% in restaurants and is often added automatically as a service charge — check the bill before adding more. Tipping in pubs is not expected.
Based on what's currently listed, activity here concentrates in April, September and October.
Next up is IAAPA Expo Europe 2026 on 21 September 2026.
