Piccadilly Circus webcam
A busy West End junction connecting major shopping and entertainment streets. This street camera is a starting point for the area, rather than a dedicated broadcast of the advertising screens.
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Source, capture time and playback
Source: Transport for London. Clips are refreshed periodically and may be delayed. Loading a clip does not confirm its capture time. Playback contacts TfL’s media host. No video is requested before you press Play.
How camera sources and playback workSource listing not yet checked.
Other useful views
- Shaftesbury Avenue · West End
- Piccadilly - Ritz Hotel · West End
- Piccadilly - Green Park · West End
These are alternative camera locations; changing angles can show different scenes.
The setting behind the frame
Several major West End streets meet here. An image may offer only part of that junction, so the visible road edges and crossings are a more dependable place to begin than a named landmark.
What happened here
13 dated events from this place and the surrounding neighbourhood. Each entry names where it happened and links to the supporting record.
Some sources establish only a year or a period; those dates are kept at that precision. Nearby events are not presented as events in the camera’s view.
- Arts and culture
Criterion Theatre opens at Regent Circus
At this location · Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus
The Criterion Theatre held its first performance at what was then called Regent Circus, with works by H. J. Byron and W. S. Gilbert.
Source: Criterion Theatre
- Arts and culture
Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain completed
At this location · Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, Piccadilly Circus
Alfred Gilbert’s memorial fountain to Lord Shaftesbury was installed at Piccadilly Circus; its winged figure is popularly known as Eros.
Source: Historic England
- Buildings and transport
Bakerloo station opens beneath the Circus
At this location · Piccadilly Circus Underground station
The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway opened its Piccadilly Circus station, bringing a new Underground entrance to the junction.
Source: Historic England
- Buildings and transport
Piccadilly line platforms open
At this location · Piccadilly Circus Underground station
The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway platforms opened at Piccadilly Circus, completing the station’s original two-line service.
Source: Historic England
- Arts and culture
Illuminated advertising arrives
At this location · Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus gained its first illuminated advertising signs mounted on a building, beginning a defining part of the junction’s night-time appearance.
Source: London Museum
- Buildings and transport
Charles Holden rebuilds the station below ground
At this location · Piccadilly Circus Underground station
Construction began on a new circular ticket hall beneath the Circus. The rebuilt station opened on 10 December 1928 and became a landmark of modern Underground design.
Source: Historic England
- Buildings and transport
The new Circus ticket hall opens
At this location · Piccadilly Circus Underground station
The rebuilt Piccadilly Circus station opened with an elliptical ticket hall designed by Charles Holden and colleagues.
Source: Historic England
- Buildings and transport
First Underground station with fluorescent platform lights
At this location · Piccadilly Circus Underground station
Fluorescent tube lighting was introduced at platform level, making Piccadilly Circus the first Underground station to use it.
Source: Historic England
- Royal occasions
Coronation parade crosses Piccadilly Circus
At this location · Piccadilly Circus
The coronation procession for Elizabeth II passed through Piccadilly Circus. RAF musician Norman Blow recalled television cameras filming his band as it crossed the junction.
- Arts and culture
Waiting for Godot plays at the Criterion
At this location · Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot was staged at the Criterion, placing the theatre in the postwar movement towards experimental drama.
Source: Criterion Theatre history
- Public life
Theatre campaign saves the Criterion
At this location · Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus
A campaign involving John Gielgud, Diana Rigg and other theatre figures saved the Criterion from threatened redevelopment by the Greater London Council.
Source: Criterion Theatre history
- Buildings and transport
Holden’s ticket hall is restored
At this location · Piccadilly Circus Underground station
The station’s 1920s ticket hall underwent restoration, renewing the modernist interior beneath the Circus.
Source: Historic England
- Arts and culture
Criterion reopens with Ennio Marchetto
At this location · Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus
After extensive redevelopment, the Criterion Theatre resumed performances with Ennio Marchetto’s solo show.
Source: Criterion Theatre
Reading for this location
- Landmark contextPiccadilly Circus: a junction, not a roundabout →
- Landmark contextThe Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain: Eros and Anteros →
- Landmark contextPiccadilly Lights: understanding a changing landmark →
Location, source and frame limits
- Area
- West End
- Source junction
- Piccadilly Circus
- Image and clip
- Configured TfL still and short clip
- Capture time
- Not independently verified from a successful image or video load
- Provider
- Transport for London · source details
- Viewing direction
- Not verified from the source position alone
- Source position
- 51.50960, -0.13484 · TfL camera catalogue ↗
A road camera cannot show an entire neighbourhood, confirm a venue is open or replace current travel advice. Its angle and availability can change.
Turn the view into a miniature.
Rotate the streets, move a little closer, change the light. An original illustrated scene inspired by this location, with invented geometry and scale.
Before you settle in
Is this a continuous live stream?
No. TfL supplies periodically refreshed still images and short video files. Choose Play to load a clip. An image arriving successfully does not establish when it was recorded.
Will this camera always show Piccadilly Circus?
The page names its configured setting. Angles and availability can change; only the visible frame establishes what is shown. Nearby landmarks are not guaranteed to appear.
Can the miniature show current conditions?
No. It is an illustrated model with invented scale and geometry. Its lighting controls change the model’s appearance, not the camera image or London’s weather.