Walking in London, London

I believe the best way to see any city is by foot - because there are some places buses and cars can't go. London is a huge playground to explore, with beautiful streets (a lot of them cobbled - so don't wear shoes with no grip, you'll end up on your butt!), paths and parks.

For a better idea of walks to go on see the London page below or the London Walks page for a theme tour.

Everyone in England walks. Get use to the foot pain, get use to the standing. This might take a while to get use to. Try to take breaks and sit as much as you can. When walking always be sure to bring a backpack/purse that has water and a snack in it. Sometimes all that walking makes you hungy and thirsty. But when carying your back pack be weary of pit pockets and keep your backpack/purse at the front of you.

this is about a yellow african whose sometimes more Brit than the Brits.
He is originally from Beira, Mocambique, then Salisbury , S.Rhodesia, now Kent in the UK.
he and his two sons are involved in Bridges, all international travellers see regularly, a useful site of an EFFREEKAN who has made it.
Jeeslijk, ons kan maar trots wees ;-)))

loer so bietjie by
Yee Associates Architects & Designers

maar trug na Joeys, daar het ons ook ons nuwe Madiba Bryg tsuuen the rand van die Witsies an the boykies van Newtown University se kos wereld - meer inligting by my SuidAfrikaanse en joburg blaaie

With budget airlines all over the place it´s sometimes more expensive to take the train from the airport to London than the actual plane ticket.
I decided to give it a shot at walking from central London to Stansted airport in october 2005 and spend a joyful 2 days walking through the northern suburbs of London before reaching the airport to catch my flight back to Copenhagen.
On top of getting free transport to the airport, it´s also a nice way to see lesser known parts of London and you will finally convince all your friends that you are totally crazy :O).

A Bank holiday would affect transport frequencies for sure, so factor that in.

In Southwark, defo visit Monument, Borough Market and Tate Modern. St Pauls (north of Tate Modern) is an architectural masterpiece, and many famous citizens are interred there. The Whispering gallery is fun, but I found the views from the top are NOT that great, obstructed by all the odd buildings around it. Only the river view south is decent. You get better views from Tate Modern's restaurant :) Or Oxo tower restaurant :)

Tower Bridge exhibition is cool, insightful, gets into the mechanics, etc. Views from the enclosed top walkway are brilliant :) Also, check their timetable to view it opening to let tall boats come through, you'll be in the neighbourhood, after all!

You can easily walk along the south bank, from Tower bridge upto Westminster bridge (max 25 minute walk), past the Eye. Again, the Eye is only good for views of the Houses of Parliament, not much else!

Walk around Parliament Square, the Abbey, up Whitehall (past Downing St) and upto Trafalgar Square. Walk time = 15 minutes.

From Trafalgar Square turn right towards Strand & Covent Garden for restaurants & theatres galore :) If you turn left you end up in Piccadilly & Leicester Square - shopping, clubs, restaurants & cinemas.

As another walking trip (recommended when transport is bad), from Parliament Square walk up Victoria St to Victoria & round the right toward Buckingham Palace. 20 minute walk. BTW, you reach Buckingham even from Trafalgar Sqaure (via Admiralty Arch), straight along The Mall - grand frontal approach! That's a 10 minute walk. Include a stroll through St James' Park on the left, off the Palace. On the right is Green Park, and behind that is Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens. These 2 parks are best explored from South Kensington tube after a visit to V&A, Science Museum, etc.

Top right of Hyde Park is Marble Arch, and right (east) of that is Oxford Street (shopping). North of Bond Street is Baker St (Madame Tussuads - definitely a no, no in my opinion). However, Regents Park is most beautiful, worth a visit.

A canal tour (www.jasons.co.uk, as mentioned earlier) is an excellent idea, taking you from Warwick Gardens (Little Venice), past Regents Canal, to Camden Lock (market). A great ride. We can meet up at Warwick Gardens for this, if interested!

North west of Hyde Park is Notting Hill & the famous Portobello Market. Worth a peep for sure :)

Greenwich would make a fine day out, go further to Woolwich arsenal to see the Barrier museum. National Maritime museum is brilliant, as is the Observatory, park, Queens House. Need a dry day for all this!

British Museum is near Holborn (or Tottenham Court Road tubes), Holborn being just north of Covent Garden. There's another cool museum on the left just before Holborn tube on Lincolns Inn Fields - Sir John Soanes museum. Most delightful, free entry, but get there early. The Brit Museum is massive, check the website to tackle your main areas of interest first!

Hampton Court is a good trip, as is Kew Gardens in the neighbourhood.

Windsor Castle (including return transport) is at least a half day trip, so Bath would have to be another trip, though a sound choice :) Start early in the morning for each!!

All the above is easily achievable in 6 days.

Walking around some of the sights will be a highlight of your trip, try that.

To summarise: I'd skip Tussuads, the Eye, double-decker tour. I've done many hop-on-hop-offs, & found they're great if pressed for time, to get a quick synopsis. But if you have plenty of time, and will be strategically located (eg around Southwark), a lot of the sights can be integrated on the back of many walks; eg get the tube to Holborn, do Brit Muse, Soane's then walk along Kingsway to Covent Garden for theatre (10 mins), walk south to Trafalgar (8 mins), etc :) Another day walk all the way upto Big Ben, Victoria, etc. Easy-peasy :)

Of course if walking is an issue, get a travelcard for days you intend to travel a lot; or oyster card for short bursts (for instance a single bus trip, of any length costs 2 UKP on-the-spot versus 1.20 UKP via oyster).

Enjoy my city ;)

Hi, It is a fun walk, taking in many sights.

You could do it either way around, though, for some night pics, you should also go at night.

Tower bridge is better seen from London bridge, ie further east. Great for night shots of the bridge & the Tower.

Millenium bridge frames St Pauls Cathedral very well, as it does Tate Modern on the south bank. Once walking from the southbank towards Westminster, you'll pass Waterloo & the London Eye, County Hall, and finally you'll see on the opposite banks the Houses of Parliament. Now this also lends itself well to night shots.

Walking time (leisurely) from Millenium bridge to W/mister is about 20 minutes. I'd suggest starting from Tower bridge to W/minster. This takes roughly 30 minutes.

Enjoy the river views, the breeze, the sights.

You could even opt for a RIB ride from Millenium pier; it circuits from Lambeth Palace to the Thames barriers (passing Canary Wharf, Greenwich). Superb fun, and a different perspective from water-level, and going under the famous bridges :)

4 more images

A fun way to arrive at Greenwich from the north bank of the Thames is walking down the subway (foot-tunnel) connecting Island Gardens to Greenwich.

The entrance shafts at both ends lie beneath glazed domes, elevators (installed in 1904, upgraded in 1992) and spiral staircases allowing pedestrians to reach the sloping, tile-lined tunnel at the bottom. The cast-iron tunnel itself is 370.2 m (1,217 ft) long and 15.2 m (50 ft) deep and has an internal diameter of about 9 feet (2.7 m). Its cast-iron rings are lined with concrete which has been surfaced with some 200,000 white glazed tiles.

The northern end was damaged by bombs during World War II and the repairs included a thick steel and concrete inner lining that reduces the diameter substantially for a short distance (photo 4)

Classed as a public highway, by law it is kept open 24 hours a day. However, the attendant-operated lift service is only open from 7am to 7pm on weekdays and Saturdays, 10am-5.30pm on Sundays, with no service on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

Sir Alexander Binnie was the civil engineer who designed it. Opened on 4 August 1902, it replaced an expensive and sometimes unreliable ferry service, and was intended to allow workers living on the south side of the Thames to reach their workplaces in the London docks and shipyards then situated in or near the Isle of Dogs.

Binnie's design feats included the first Blackwall Tunnel (1897) and Greenwich foot tunnel (1902) (both in Greenwich, London) and, further upstream, Vauxhall Bridge (1906).

* Alternative: you can always do this journey via the DLR connecting both stops as well!
As for arriving at Island Gardens, if you want to skip the DLR, you can take a bus (15) from Cannon Street (passing Tower of London) to All Saints, and then another bus (D7) to here! Sightseeing from above!

Like Rome, London is best seen by walking around it. The best thing to buy is a copy of the A-Z or a good map of London, which will also show the Underground and bus routes.
To see the less well -known areas of London, invest in one of the London Walks. , The British Museum, St John 's Wood Tube and other venues; and they give the programme for the season [winter/ summer]. There are many programmes available, all last about 2 hours and cost £7.50 adult, £ 5 concession and full-time students. Children under 15 go free. The walks are conducted by accredited guides, many of whom are renowned actors.
There are also all day trips to places outside London like Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Stonenhenge, Stratford and the Cotswalds.
groups meet at designated tube stations and walks take place as scheduled whatever the weather.