Canning Town sits between two of London's biggest event venues. The O2 is just across the river on the Greenwich Peninsula, and ExCeL London is a mile east along the Royal Victoria Dock. On a busy weekend, tens of thousands of people pass through on their way to a concert, an exhibition or a conference. Minibus hire Canning Town customers book is shaped by those venues, with event runs, exhibition shuttles and conference transport, along with London City Airport runs and family events.
Canning Town sits in the south-west of Newham, where the River Lea meets the Thames, with the A13 crossing it on a flyover and the Canning Town roundabout below. From our base in SE1, it's about twenty to thirty minutes outside the rush hour, through the Rotherhithe or Blackwall tunnel.
Minibus hire Canning Town for O2 events
The O2 hosts the biggest concerts, comedy tours and sports events in London, with around twenty thousand people at a big show. From Canning Town, it's a few minutes by road through the Silvertown Tunnel or the Blackwall Tunnel, and a single stop on the Jubilee line.
Groups of friends, birthday parties and fans travelling in from Essex and Kent book us to get there together and home afterwards. The O2 has set drop-off and pickup areas for coaches and minibuses on the peninsula, and the roads around it are busy after a show. We'll agree the pickup point in advance and plan the timing for the end of the show. Shows at indigo, the smaller venue inside the O2, finish earlier, and we'll time the pickup to whichever venue you're at. Our North Greenwich page has more on O2 nights.
ExCeL exhibitions and conferences
ExCeL London hosts trade shows, consumer exhibitions, conferences and big events such as the London Boat Show and gaming and comic conventions. Exhibitors, visitors and delegates book us for shuttles between hotels and the venue, for runs carrying display kit and for evening events.
ExCeL has east and west entrances with their own drop-off areas, and we'll use the one nearest your hall. For exhibitors, tell us about stand kit and we'll check what fits in the back. The DLR to Custom House and Prince Regent is quick for single visitors, but samples and display stands are easier by road. For conferences, we can run several trips at the start and the end of each day.
London City Airport and the Royal Docks
London City Airport is about ten minutes from Canning Town outside the rush hour, along the North Woolwich Road. Business travellers and families flying to European cities book us for the run, and for groups of delegates or fans landing at City for an event at ExCeL or the O2, it's one of the shortest transfers in London.
Stansted is about forty minutes, Heathrow about an hour and Gatwick about an hour and a quarter. For arrivals, share the flight number and the driver will be waiting when the group lands.
City Island and Trinity Buoy Wharf
London City Island, on a bend of the River Lea, has new homes, the English National Ballet's headquarters and a footbridge to Canning Town station. Trinity Buoy Wharf, nearby, has London's only lighthouse, the Container City studios and riverside cafés, and it hosts events and filming.
Groups visiting the ballet, events at the wharf and school trips to the riverside book us to get there. The roads on the peninsula are quiet but narrow, so we'll agree the drop-off point in advance.
Family events and the community
Canning Town has a long dock-working history and a mix of long-standing East End families, West African, Caribbean, Eastern European and South Asian communities. Weddings, christenings and birthdays here often fill a hall, and the minibus collects guests from homes across Canning Town and Custom House and takes them to the venue and back. Rathbone Market, the new town centre by the station, is the usual meeting point for collections.
Schools book us for museum visits, swimming and sports fixtures, and youth groups book us for trips out of London, to the coast or to adventure centres in Kent and Essex.
The A13, the tunnels and the charges
The A13 runs over Canning Town on a flyover, and the Canning Town roundabout below it is busy at peak times. The Silvertown Tunnel, which opened in 2025, links the Royal Docks to the Greenwich Peninsula, and since it opened, charges apply to both the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels at set times. If your trip uses either tunnel during charging hours, the charge goes on the quote. Minibus hire Canning Town groups book for an O2 night usually crosses the river by one of these tunnels, so we'll include the charge from the start.
For minibus hire in Canning Town, call 020 7183 0567.