Olympia, London (Olympia Exhibition Centre)

Known to CAMRA members for hosting for many years the now-defunct Great British Beer Festival, the Olympia site had a massive £1.3 billion makeover in the early 2020s, and the inside finally started to open again in mid-2026.

Incipio Group has opened multiple bars and eateries including Bar Arriba, a Mexican-inspired venue serving small bites and cocktails; Wolves of Tokyo, an 80-cover Japanese restaurant with 200-capacity cocktail bar; and wine bar Lillies. These are all in The Canopy roof area which has its own address and postcode, Emberton Walk, London W14 8FJ. Other venues include Arbour Bar & food hall, and the Pillar Hall houses speakeasy-style bar Pepperbird. So, you will not be short of somewhere to eat or drink or both! Venues are card-only; they have their own websites with opening hours and food/drink menu details.

Music, entertainment and exhibition venues are via operators AEG, Trafalgar Entertainment and The Shubert Organisation. Venues include the 1,575-capacity British Airways Theatre. Olympia also accommodates two new hotels – the 204-room Hyatt Regency London Olympia, and the 146-room CitizenM London Olympia.

The site has a 200-metre frontage on Hammersmith Road so some pre-visit research may be wise, to avoid getting lost in its vastness. Our photos were taken from ground-level but the site cannot really be appreciated without looking at an aerial drone photo.