Today I want to share my 5 best walks in London with you. I love walking in this city, and I’ve discovered some great routes over the years. I’ve included maps, too.
Best Walks in London
When I first moved to London, I missed a lot of things about home, but one of the things I didn’t miss was driving. I’ve never been a car person, and moving to a walkable city was exciting.
So exciting that I walk pretty much everywhere now. In doing so, I’ve discovered a lot of amazing little corners of London and gotten to know the details of the city much better than I would have otherwise.
Over the years, my enthusiasm for walking in London has turned into a bit of an obsession. I used to think that walking for more than 20 minutes was a bit crazy, but now some of my walks span hours or even parts of days.
I’ve walked from South Kensington to Tower Hill, and from Chelsea to Rotherhithe, taking in areas of London that I never would have known about and capturing photos along the way.
My Instagram feed is full of photos of London from my walks, and I’ve come to enjoy the photography element of walking as much as the journey itself. In order to share that love with you, today I bring you my 5 best walks in London.
London Walk 1: South Kensington to Soho
There’s a lot going on in central London, and one of my favorite ways to experience the energy is to take in some of the city’s most famous landmarks on a walk from South Kensington to Soho.
Starting at the South Kensington tube station, I walk along Brompton Road, where the Natural History Museum and V&A museum are.
The road continues northeast, passing by famous department stores like Harrods and Harvey Nichols, and luxury hotels like the Mandarin Oriental as it turns into Knightsbridge.
Eventually it leads to Hyde Park Corner, where Apsley House and Wellington Arch are located.
Piccadilly comes next. The famous street cuts through Mayfair and St James’s, the Royal Academy on one side and Green Park and Fortnum & Mason’s famous food halls on the other.
Piccadilly ends in the circus of the same name, where the statue of Eros’ brother, Anteros, sits below the giant flashing screens advertising everything imaginable.
London Walk 2: The South Bank
One of the most popular places for walks in London is the South Bank. Starting at Westminster Bridge, the views of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben set the stage for a great stroll.
Then comes the London Eye, another of the city’s famous landmarks.
From there the path leads past the Southbank Centre, home of restaurants, theaters, and markets, then passes along a curve in the river before coming to Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge, and Shakespeare’s Globe.
Eventually the path leads to Borough Market, one of London’s most famous foodie destinations.
It’s a great place to graze the afternoon away on a Saturday, and I usually end my walk there if for no other reason than being distracted by all the great market stalls.
This is one of the best south London walks if you like a mix of entertainment and sightseeing.
London Walk 3: The Thames Path
The Thames Path runs for an eternity along the river in London, but my favorite stretch is the one between Hammersmith and Chiswick. It makes for one of the best walks in London.
Starting at Hammersmith Bridge, the path follows the water past historic pubs, little parks, and some of the prettiest houses in west London.
I love stopping for a waterfront drink at The Dove and watching the rowers go by from a sunny table on the terrace.
Once it reaches Chiswick, the Thames Path reveals even prettier houses with lovely riverside gardens.
It continues along a horseshoe bend, but I usually can’t resist the temptation of Chiswick High Road, so I peel off at some point to head north for the shops and restaurants there.
London Walk 4: The Royal Parks
I love walking in parks, and whenever I can incorporate a park into one of my walks in London, I do. This walk starts to the west of Hyde Park in Kensington Gardens. It feels like a country walk in London.
The hidden little gardens next to Kensington Palace are some of my favorites in the area, and I like to explore them before moving through to the Round Pond and over to the Serpentine.
Sometimes I pop into the Serpentine South Gallery and its counterpart, the Serpentine North Gallery, to get my contemporary art fix before moving on along the skinny lake.
Once on the east side of Hyde Park, I emerge at Hyde Park Corner and make my way across the roundabout to Green Park.
Green Park is particularly pretty in the springtime, as it’s one of the most famous places in the city for daffodils. But it’s lovely at any time of year, and perfect for summer picnics.
At the southeast corner is Buckingham Palace, where I sometimes get to watch the Changing the Guard ceremony if I time things right.
On the other side of the palace is St James’s Park, one of my favorite green spaces in London. Its gardens are gorgeous all spring and summer, and I love watching the birds playing in the pond.
London Walk 5: Hampstead Village
Hampstead has always been one of my favorite London neighborhoods, and walking there is like being transported into a country village miles away from city life.
Starting at the tube station, I head down Heath Street and Church Row, one of the prettiest streets in the area. From there I pass by the quiet cemetery and up Holly Walk, another lovely street.
Holly Walk winds up on Holly Hill, where the Holly Bush pub sits on Holly Mount. It’s one of my favorite pubs in London, and I can never resist stopping there for a while.
Afterwards I cut down the pretty steps of Golden Yard to Heath Street, making my way down to Hampstead High Street to explore the shops and restaurants for a bit.
Eventually I turn onto on Flask Walk, a lovely street with antiques shops and pubs that leads through the village to Hampstead Heath.
The heath is my favorite park in London, and I spend the rest of my walk exploring, from the great views from Parliament Hill to the bathing ponds and famous halls of Kenwood House.
If you want to take a longer walk in Hampstead, head over to my self-guided walk post.
Walks in London
I hope you’ve liked this guide to the best walks in London. If you’re able to do one or more of them, I’m sure you’ll have fun exploring more of the UK capital.
I’ve written a lot more London walks and they’re all in my London walking tours blog post. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
You can read about other lovely walks in London’s Hidden Walks as well. You can get it here. There are additional ideas in my London walking books post, too.
How about you? What do you think are the best walks in London?
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Oh gosh, I REALLY need this blog post especially now my jeans are getting a bit too tight! I’m going to save your map! x
Jasiminne
Nice! Hope it helps!
Great suggestions, Julie! I also love the bit from Buckingham Palace to Holland Park. So many iconic sights along the way!
Yeah, that’s a great one!
Love walking around London. I’ve read that the walk from a tea shop by the canal to Camden is lovely (Time Out). That was a few years ago and I still have made it. I visit about once a month so must try to finally make this walk as well as some of your suggests this summer. Hope we get a good one!
I hope you get a chance to!
These walks look amazing! My fiancé and I have just moved to Reading UK from Atlanta and the biggest thing we miss besides family & friends are our cars!
Nice! You’re not alone!
Hey, I’m visiting London from Atlanta next week! I’ll bring some ATL love (and traffic, jk) for you! I love this blog and can’t wait to check out these walks!
Thanks! I hope you have a great trip!
Great suggestions! Walking is definitely one of the best ways to explore London. Wandering around all the squares in Bloomsbury is another favourite walk of mine 🙂
That’s great! I love that area!
Lovely! My favorite walk is in Richmond along the Thames.
Yeah, it’s really pretty there!
I feel the exact same way about driving!! Thanks for sharing! I’ll definitely go on one of these next time I’m in town.
Happy travels 🙂
You’re welcome!
My hubby and I are always looking for great London walks Julie so I love this post as it’s given me some ideas of walks I’ve not done before like Hammersmith to Chiswick. Little Venice and Regents canal is another one of my favourites too ☺
Yeah, Little Venice and Regent’s Canal are great places to walk!
I have two:
During Summer my all time favorite is walking around Greenwich.
From Westminster Pier ride a River Cruise to Greenwich (wait…I know we are talking about walking but just hear me out… ofcourse cant walk from City Center to Greenwich!lol)
From Greenwich Pier you can visit the Famous Tea Clipper Cutty Sark…then walk through College way (there will be loads of beautiful Museums/colleges and gardens along) to Old Royal Naval College – then through National Maritime Museum Gardens – Queens House – then up to Royal Observatory…where you can have picnic and enjoy the magnificent skyline.
During Christmas Season.
From Houses of Parliament &Big Ben through Westminster Bridge to London Eye, cross Jubilee footpath bridge Bridge then right to Somerset House to Covent Garden to Leicester Square to Piccadilly to Regent Street to Oxford Circus to Marble Arch ending the night at Winter Wonderland. Have been doing this walk for 4 years now and I still enjoy the yearly Christmas decors and lights!
My simple favorite weekend walks include walking around Chiswick House, or Hamstead Heath.
Those are great walks! Thanks for sharing!
Love these recommendations! I’m just like you. I was more than happy to give up my car and move to a walkable city. Too bad more cities in the U.S. aren’t like Europe in that way.
Yeah!
great tips! My boyfriend and I are always on the lookout for new walks ;0) thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome!
Walking is by far my favorite way to see a city! Riga is so small that I walk just about everywhere. It’s such a nice change from the constant driving in the U.S.!
That’s great! I remember walking around Riga and loving the Art Nouveau architecture.
I love walking too. The Southbank walk is great all year round especually at Christmas time all the lights. Magical. Also the short walk from Shoreditch to Spitalfields thru Brick Lane and stopping for big fat chips at that lovely little retro chip shop opposite the market is awesome. Taking in the Box Park and the graffiti.!!.
Yeah, those are great walks!
I did the walk along the Thames you recommend today only I started at Buckingham Palace and walked through St. James Park before crossing the bridge at Big Ben and I extended all the way to the Tower Bridge and ended at the Tower of London. It was an unbelievably beautiful walk, I loved it! Thanks for the recommendation.
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
How far west can you go along the Thames Path, where you’re on the river? We will be there next month!
I’m not sure how far it goes, but I know it’s a pretty long walk if you do the whole thing. I’m sure you can use Google to find an exact answer.
Well done! I lived in the UK for 20 years, the last 7 in South London before moving home to the states 2 1/2 years ago and am back in the UK again. I’m familiar with most places mentioned in your post. I used to work in Hammersmith so know the dove very well plus I did the Thames path walk from Kingston to Hammersmith so, all very familiar. I will have to try Hampstead as that’s one of the areas that I’m not too familiar with.
That’s great! I hope you enjoy Hampstead.