Today I want to share the A Lady in London guide to the best themed walks in London with you. These routes and maps will lead you through the UK capital as they show off places that relate to particular topics. They’re some of the top free self-guided London walking tours if you have a particular passion and enjoy exploring the city on foot.
Themed Walks in London
I’ve created a number of themed London walks over the years. From walks based around books to ones that relate to royalty, my routes span a range of topics and genres.
Whether you’re a literature lover, a Potterhead, a nature enthusiast, a street art admirer, or a fan of the British monarchy, there’s a walk on my list you’ll want to take. There might even be two. Or three.
Whichever ones you go on, I hope they help you gain a greater appreciation for London and what the city has to offer for someone with your personal interests and passions.
You can find more routes and maps in the book London’s Hidden Walks, too. You can get it on Amazon here. There are additional ideas in my London walking books post as well.
If you want to go on a guided walk, GetYourGuide offers a number of great walking tours as well. I’ve done excursions with them in the past, and I’ve always had a good experience. You can see their offerings and book a tour here.
From Harry Potter walking tours to alternative street art tours and Buckingham Palace tours, there are a lot of good ones to choose from.
1. London Literary Walk
Since I love books, I’ll start my list of themed walks in London with with my self-guided literary walk. It’s perfect for you if you’re as much of a reader as I am.
This walk will take you to see some of the most famous places for books in the city. From sites where iconic novels were set to beloved bookshops and landmark libraries, it has a great mix of things to entertain your inner literature lover.
This themed London walk starts in Marylebone at one of the most famous bookshops in London. From there it will take you down Euston Road to places like the British Library and a canal boat that sells books from its mooring in King’s Cross.
You’ll then continue into Bloomsbury, a central London neighborhood with a lot of literary history. You’ll pass museums dedicated to famous British writers and visit another of the city’s best bookshops.
At the end you’ll walk through Soho, Covent Garden, and Piccadilly as you take in more literary sites and visit additional landmark bookstores.
If you like London and books in equal measure, you’ll love this one. You can find the full route and map on my London literary walk blog post. If you want more, you can follow my London itinerary for book lovers.
2. Royal Walk in London
Next on my list of the best themed walks in London is my self-guided Royal Walk. This one will take you through the city to see some of the most important landmarks, palaces, and sites associated with the British monarchy.
My Royal Walk in London starts at Kensington Palace, where many past and present members of the British royal family have lived. From there it will lead you to several royal landmarks in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.
The walk continues into Belgravia, past Buckingham Palace, and over to important historic royal residences in St James’s and Whitehall.
After that you’ll see the highlights of Westminster, stroll along the Thames, and take in regal sites on the Strand, Fleet Street, and the City of London.
My Royal Walk ends at the Tower of London, one of the most historic sites associated with the monarchy in London. If you still have energy left, you can tour it.
This walk is great if you want a longer route that will let you take in some of the most iconic sightseeing destinations in London as you go. You can make a whole day of it if you want to.
My royal walking tour in London is for you if you love all things related to the monarchy and you want to see some of the most iconic London landmarks on the way. You can find the full route and map on my blog post about a Royal Walk.
3. Harry Potter Walking Tour in London
Third on my list of themed walks in London is a self-guided Harry Potter walking tour. This one will take you around to some of the most famous places in the city and let you see sites that featured in the books and movies.
This unusual London walk starts in Westminster and continues up through Whitehall, where you’ll spot places like the Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street and the entrance to the Ministry of Magic in the Harry Potter movies.
From there this themed London walk continues through Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, and Soho.
You’ll see everything from Harry Potter movie premier locations to streets that are thought to have inspired Diagon Alley and famous theaters and bookshops.
After that you’ll see sites like Platform 9 3/4 in King’s Cross station and filming locations like Leadenhall Market, St Paul’s Cathedral, Millennium Bridge, Borough Market, HMS Belfast, and Tower Bridge.
This is one of the best themed London walks if you love all things Harry Potter and you want to see some of the city’s most iconic landmarks while you’re at it.
You can find the full route and map for this self-guided London sightseeing route on my blog post about a Harry Potter walking tour.
4. Street Art Tour in London
Next on my list of the best themed walks in London is my street art tour in the East End. This one will lead you around to see some of the best murals in Shoreditch and Spitalfields.
This walk starts in Old Spitalfields Market before continuing over on Brick Lane. It will guide you around the side streets off it, then take you north to Redchurch Street.
From there the walk continues in Shoreditch. It will lead you around places like Holywell Lane and Great Eastern Street before ending at Old Street station.
This is a great walk to do if you love art, creativity, and urban spaces in equal measure. It’s also fun if you want to explore cool London neighborhoods a lot of visitors miss.
You can find the full route, map, and video for this London walk on my blog post about a self-guided street art tour of London.
5. Royal Parks Walk in London
My fifth themed walk in London is one in the Royal Parks. This one will take you through some of the most famous green spaces in the heart of the UK capital.
My Royal Parks walk is ideal for people like me who love cities and nature in equal measure. It will offer you the best of both worlds as it leads you through Hyde Park, Green Park, and St James’s Park.
This walk starts in Kensington Gardens, where you can see Kensington Palace and the Serpentine Gallery. From there it will guide you through Hyde Park and along the Serpentine before leading you through Green Park to get to Buckingham Palace.
The walk ends in St James’s Park, which has some of my favorite gardens in London. This route is a great alternative to my Royal Walk if you want a shorter journey.
You can see the full route and map for this London walking tour on my blog post about the best walks in London. It has more self-guided tours you can follow, too.
Best Themed Walks in London
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my guide to the best themed walks in London. Whether you love books, Harry Potter, street art, nature, or the royal family, I’m sure you’ll have fun doing them.
I’ve published a lot of other London walks and compiled them in my London walking tours blog post as well. It’s a helpful resource if you want to see all my routes and maps in one place. And that’s not all.
I hope to bring you many more themed London walks in the future, and I’ll add them to this blog post as soon as I publish them.
If you want to bookmark or pin it on Pinterest, you can use this post as an easy reference for finding all my past, present, and future themed walking tours in London. Happy exploring!
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