London on foot: the abbey, the south bank, the tower, the City
One straight line along the Thames, crossing twice: the coronation church, the whole south bank, the fortress, and the old City with a free garden at the top of it.
London is too big to walk, which is why nobody tries to walk all of it. This is the one stretch that works on foot end to end: one line along the river, flat the whole way, with the two bridges doing the only real work. The great museums are deliberately not here - they are separate days, and trying to bolt one on is how people end up seeing neither.
Where to start: At the abbey when it opens. It is the one stop here with a queue that gets worse all day, and everything after it is outdoors.
The walk, in order
- 1 Westminster Abbey
Start where the monarchs are crowned and a surprising number of them buried. Two hours inside; the queue at opening is a fraction of the queue at eleven.
- 2 The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
Straight outside, the neo-Gothic palace along the water. The outside is the point for this walk - interiors are tours only and booked well ahead.
- 3 South Bank
Cross Westminster Bridge and turn left. From here to Blackfriars the walk is one continuous riverside path, and the view of what you just left is better than anything on the north side.
- 4 London Eye
First thing on the south bank. Worth it on a clear day and a poor use of an hour on a grey one - decide by looking up, and book a slot if the answer is yes.
- 5 Tate Modern
A power station turned into the national collection of modern art, free to enter. The Turbine Hall alone justifies the detour inside even if you skip the galleries.
- 6 Shakespeare's Globe
Next door: the 1599 playhouse rebuilt in oak and lime plaster. Tours by day, and standing tickets for a play are cheap if your evening is free.
- 7 Borough Market
Ten minutes on, under the railway arches - a thousand years of trading and the best lunch on this walk. Quietest before noon; Sunday is the thin day.
- 8 Tower Bridge
Cross back north on the Victorian bridge everyone mistakes for London Bridge. The walkway with the glass floor is a separate ticket; the crossing itself is free.
- 9 The Tower of London
The fortress at the far end: a thousand years of it, the crown jewels, and the ravens. Half a day if you do it properly, ninety minutes if you pick the jewels and the walls.
- 10 St Dunstan in the East
Five minutes uphill and almost nobody comes: a Wren church left as a roofless shell and planted as a public garden, with vines growing through the windows. Free, small, and the quietest stop of the day.
- 11 Leadenhall Market
Into the City proper for the green and maroon Victorian arcade. Dead on a weekend, which is exactly when it photographs best.
- 12 Sky Garden
Finish three floors of glass above the City, free but booked in advance - not the only free view up here (Horizon 22 and the Garden at 120 are minutes away and cost nothing either), but the one worth planning the day around. Time the slot for sunset and the whole walk lays itself out below you.
Where to cheat
St Paul's sits just off the line at the Blackfriars end - add it if you skip the Eye. The Tube shadows this entire route, so any tired half of a party can jump from Westminster to Tower Hill on the District or Circle line - seven stops, about ten minutes - and rejoin. Buses along the south bank run the same way and cost less than a coffee.
Honest expectations
The British Museum, the National Gallery and the V&A are all free and none of them fit in this day - they are each a separate morning, and squeezing one in turns this walk into a march. Sky Garden needs booking days ahead and sells out its sunset slots first; the Eye can be booked online on the morning you decide, which is cheaper than the walk-up price and skips the standby queue. The Tower and the abbey are the two paid stops that genuinely take the time they claim; everything else here you can walk past in ten minutes and still feel you saw it.
More of this country is on the United Kingdom page. Going between towns instead? See the routes. Other cities on foot are on city walks.