At its eastern end, the A202 begins at a junction with the A2/New Cross Road, in the New Cross area of the London Borough of Lewisham. The A2 carries traffic eastbound towards the M25 and destinations in Kent. New Cross Gate station is situated to the east of the A202 terminus. Heading westbound, the route is named Queen's Road as it enters Peckham and the London Borough of Southwark.
Continuing westbound, the A202 passes along the northern rim of Nunhead as it continues towards Peckham town centre. It passes the eponymous railway station, Queens Road Peckham, as it enters the central portion of the locality. Queen's Road was formerly known as Deptford Lane. It was renamed in honour of Queen Victoria, who often passed through it on her way to the Royal Naval School at New Cross. The route is named Peckham High Street between the railway station and the road's junction with Rye Lane, after which it is named Peckham Road. St Giles Church and the Camberwell College of Arts mark the end of Peckham Road and the point at which it becomes Camberwell Church Street, and at which the route enters Camberwell. The A202 meets the A215 at a crossroads to the south of King's College Hospital, after which the route is known as Camberwell New Road. A short portion of Camberwell New Road forms the border between the Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth.
Camberwell New Road enters Lambeth at a junction with Foxley Road in Kennington. In the Lambeth, the A202 meets the A23, which runs southbound towards Brixton and Gatwick Airport, and the A3, which links the City of London to Clapham and destinations in Surrey and Hampshire. Oval tube station is situated at the A202 junction with the A3, and A23 roads. In Kennington, the A202 runs along the southern rim of The Oval as Harleyford Road. The Oval is the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club. As it leaves Kennington, the route enters the large Vauxhall gyratory, which encircles the Vauxhall Bus Station. As of April 2019, TfL has plans to reconfigure the gyratory and remove the bus station. The Vauxhall area is famous for its "gay village." The Royal Vauxhall Tavern is situated on the A202 route, at the point where Harleyford Road merges with the gyratory and the nearby Kennington Lane. The A202 leaves the gyratory in a northwesterly direction over Vauxhall Bridge, the point at which it also leaves Lambeth. At this point, the A202 forms part of the London Inner Ring Road. If heading north-west, traffic travels clockwise around the Ring Road. Travelling anti-clockwise, the Ring Road leaves the Vauxhall gyratory along the A3204/Kennington Lane towards Elephant and Castle in an eastbound direction.
After Vauxhall Bridge, the A202 continues northwest. The route, carried by Vauxhall Bridge Road, forms the boundary between Millbank and Pimlico. The A202's western terminus is at Victoria station. The Ring Road continues clockwise on A302/Grosvenor Place, which leads to Hyde Park Corner.
runs alongside the A202 between Kennington and Westminster. The route begins near The Oval on the 'northbound' side of Harleyford Road. CS5 runs northwest towards Vauxhall. At Vauxhall, the route crosses Kennington Lane at a signal-controlled junction, running along the eastern perimeter of the gyratory. North of the gyratory, CS5 runs as a bike freeway across Vauxhall Bridge. On the northern side of the bridge, CS5 meets CS8 at a signposted junction. CS8 runs from Wandsworth to Lambeth Bridge, near the Houses of Parliament. CS5 continues northwards to Regency Street, where it leaves the A202 and travels towards the centre of Westminster. Cyclists may rejoin the A202 northwest towards Victoria at a signal-controlled junction at this point. South of The Oval, cyclists on the A202 meet Cycle Superhighway 7. CS7 runs alongside the A3 between Elephant and Castle and Clapham Common. The northbound terminus of CS7 is the City of London, whilst its southern terminus is in Collier's Wood. For the most part, CS5 is traffic-free and cyclists are segregated from other road traffic.