Is the London marathon still open to enter by anyway? if not what other marathon do people recommend?
No, it has closed in terms of the ballot entry (
info) - typically it's open for one week only and in a change to the past few years the ballot entry opened on the day of this year's race and closed one week later so you've missed it for 2020. However there are other options if you really want to run the London Marathon in particular e.g. 1) a charity place (fundraising requirements vary but £1,500 is about the minimum I think I've seen with many asking for £2,000), 2) Good For Age - open 7-16 August 2019, you've got to have run a certain time or better in a recent marathon (this is sub 3 hours for men aged 18-39 at the moment and realistically there's more runners who can do this than places so they often reduce the times yet further), 3) if you're a member of a registered athletics club they usually get allocated places based on the numbers of registered members but may have their own requirements you've got to meet in order to be eligible for a place and 4) keep an eye out for competition places - sports companies sometimes have competitions to win a place, I think Lucozade did last year, maybe New Balance and a few more so look out for them.
In terms of other marathons it depends what time of year, where/how far you're willing to travel, how big an event you want to take part in (e.g. small field which can be fun but usually far fewer spectators and you might end up running alone for a lot of it or large field which tends to mean lots of people around you and spectators) what kind of conditions you want (e.g. flat/fast, hilly, scenic, fun. I've personally only run the Edinburgh (end of May) and Brighton marathons (mid-April) and both are good in their way, I know quite a few people who've run London and Manchester marathons - both are meant to be amazing experiences but Manchester bills itself as the flattest major marathon so should be faster all other things being equal.