Circle Line

Note: We walked the original circle line loop and not the 2009 extension to Hammersmith. The extension forms the exact same route of the Hammersmith & City Line.

  • Completed on 29th May 2017
  • 27 Stations over 16 miles
  • 1 Day Effort
  • London Boroughs: Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster, City of London, Islington & Camden

The Circle line is a spiral-shaped line, running from Hammersmith in the west to Edgware Road and then looping around central London back to Edgware Road. The railway is below ground in the central section and on the loop east of Paddington. Unlike London’s deep-level lines, the Circle line tunnels are just below the surface and are of similar size to those on British main lines. The original line served 27 stations including most of London’s main line termini. The 2009 extension to Hammersmith brought the total to 36 stations. Almost all of the route, and all the stations, are shared with one or more of the three other sub-surface lines, namely the District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

The first section became operational in 1863 when the Metropolitan Railway opened the world’s first underground line between Paddington and Farringdon with wooden carriages and steam locomotives. The same year a select committee report recommended an “inner circle” of lines connecting the London railway termini, and the Metropolitan District Railway (commonly known as the District Railway) was formed to build the southern portion of the line.

In 1871, services began between Mansion House and Moorgate via Paddington, jointly operated by the two companies. Due to conflict between the two companies it was not until October 1884 that the inner circle was completed. The line was electrified in 1905, and in 1933 the companies were amalgamated into the London Passenger Transport Board. In 1949, the Circle line appeared as a separate line for the first time on the Tube map. In 2009, the closed loop around the centre of London on the north side of the River Thames was broken at Edgware Road and extended west to become a spiral to Hammersmith.

  • Victoria Station. Today’s start and end point.
  • St James’s Park Station
  • Westminster Station
  • Embankment Station
  • Temple Station
  • Royal Courts of Justice
  • 186 Fleet Street. The Fictional Location of Sweeny Todd’s Barber Shop
  • Blackfriars Station
  • The Black Friar Pub, built in 1875 at the edge of the former Friary
  • Mansion House Station
  • Cannon Street Station
  • Monument Station
  • Tower Hill Station
  • Aldgate Station
  • Petticoat Lane
  • Spitalfields
  • Liverpool Street Station
  • Moorgate Station
  • Barbican Station
  • Barbican
  • Farringdon Station
  • Kings Cross St Pancras Station
  • Euston Square Station
  • Great Portland Street Station
  • Baker Street Station
  • Edgware Road Station
  • Praed Street
  • Paddington Station
  • Bayswater Station
  • Notting Hill Gate Station
  • High Street Kensington Station
  • Builder’s Arms Kensington
  • Gloucester Road Station
    *Not my photo – phone battery died
  • South Kensington Station
    Not my photo – phone battery died
  • Sloane Square Station
    Not my photo – phone battery died