The Original London Walks

London is steeped in history - and it is also busy with traffic. In Central London, busy traffic roar along every main street as with every city in the world. London is also unique in having the first underground railway system in the world, affectionately known as the Tube.

We live about 30 miles (48km) from London, which is easy to reach by commuter train into Waterloo. And although when opened, they realised that Waterloo Station on the South Bank was in the wrong place (all other rail terminals are across the River Thames), for us it makes an excellent starting point for the South Bank Walk, which is a section of the Thames Path which follows the river from its source at the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire. The two Tube stations that serves the Walk are Waterloo station (Bakerloo Line and Northern Line via Charing Cross) and further east, London Bridge (Northern Line via Bank)

London Bridge mainline station is an even more classic example of "Whoops, we really messed up here!" It is the oldest station in London, and originally a terminus. But being rather far from Central London (which is north of the river) they eventually decided that, to make life easier for the commuters, they laid an extra track which sweeps past the terminus and extends to Cannon Street, Blackfriars and Charing Cross stations, all sitting on the north bank of the Thames itself.

These stations reflect the history of London, unlike many modern cities, London grew to its present form at a trial-and-error basis, which includes the South Bank Walk.

The western end of the walk is crowded during the day and well into the evening. Here is the London Eye, a huge bicycle wheel with 32 pods attached to a spoked frame. Also located here is the London Aquarium, where one can sit and watch sharks swim within a huge circular tank. Although the section between Westminster Bridge and Southwark bridge is pretty much modern commercialism, the path is always busy with casual strollers, which gives the attraction a sense of uniqueness. Since there is no motorised traffic, it can be difficult to believe that this is the heart of a capital city.

If you're heading eastward towards Tower Bridge, from Southwark Bridge the immediate views begins to take on the real historic atmosphere. Buildings are older and you can see history as if you have travelled back in time itself.

Just before arriving at railway bridge serving Cannon Street Station, you come to a pub called The Anchor. This was built in 1612, and it retains the 17th Century charm. It now houses a restaurant, and we stopped here for a sumptious meal within 17th Century decor, for a reasonable price. On a warm day, one can also eat at the patio enclosure which offers a fantastic view of the river and the city beyond, especially of the dome of St Pauls Cathedral. There is also a coffee takeaway at the same premises.

Pass under the rail bridge and you are at Clink Street, named after a Middle Age dungeon. Although this street is open to traffic, seldom does any vehicle use it, as it is now a cul-de-sac, with the other end opening at St Saviours Dock which is the home of the replica of the tall ship Golden Hinde, which was captained by Charles Drake who sailed it around the world. It is now a museum, with public access.

The path veers away from the river at this point, passing Southwark Cathedral where you can also sit outside for a coffee. Once you pass under London Bridge, the path rejoins the river bank through a rather narrow, almost obscure alley. If you are walking in the opposite direction, this alley can be easily missed, and you will find yourself climbing the flight of steps to street level. So look out for the direction symbol, which is an acorn within an arrow pointing left.

The section from London Bridge to Tower bridge is much more modern, and after you pass the HMS Belfast, a permanently moored warship open to the public as a floating war museum, the path widens into a huge plaza, with the Local Authority offices and home of the Mayor of London, dominating the area in a building that looks like a cross between a lopsided egg and an armadillo. On the other side of the river, the Tower of London, built in the 11th Century, sits gracefully, while further back, the tall glass Guerkin dominates the skyline. Old and young makes London such a unique city.

Before crossing the river at Tower Bridge, pass under it and take a stroll through the cobbled Shad Thames, a street steeped in history, and lined on both sides with warehouses which has been restored. The multitude of high walkways linking the two warehouses as they cross the street, makes a spectacular sight.

You have walked through London without encountering a motor vehicle!

One of the best things I have done when visiting London is the London Walks. They have dozens of different walks given by an array of different guides. I have been on 6 or 7 so far and have found many to be great. The most famous of course is the Jack the Ripper tour which is just as good as advertised. My personal favorite is Helena’s “Westminster & the West End” walk which does give you a grand overview, both historically and geographically. The distance and time are just about right for a good walk: two hours on average and I’d say most cover about two miles. Not too strenuous at all. For the evening tours (besides the Ripper walk) I would definitely recommend the pub tours. Well worth it to hear some history and find some hidden gems.

My husband and I just came back from a weekend in London and did two walks. The first was "Royal London & Westminster Abbey". Our guide Brian was fantastic and gave us a lot of history. I absolutely recommend this walk!

Our second was the "Along the Thames" pub walk. If I were to do a pub walk again, or recommend one to a friend, it would not be this one. The reason being our guide David, while theatrical and witty, was too long-winded. We visited two bars and were only allowed 15 MINUTES in each! On a friday night, that is absoulutely ridiculous. It took us 5-8 minutes to get up to the bar and order a drink. Then we had to down it in 5-8 minutes! These bars were great and loads of fun, but for a 3 HOUR tour, 30 minutes of drinking is not what we expected. Our guide actually took us to three bars, but the third one was only pointed out to us, and was where the tour ended.

My main complaint is this: The description of the tour said that food was available on the walk. The walk is from 7pm-10pm approx. Well the first bar had food, but we only had 15 minutes to hang out....not enough time to order food, especially on a Friday night when it's hard just to get a beer, let alone a table. The second bar did not serve food, and by the time we arrived at the last bar where the tour ended, they had stopped serving food because it was after 10pm! Needless to say, there were many people on the tour who were complaining about how hungry they were. Lucky for us, we grabbed a bite to eat before the walk started.

Overall, I am glad we did both walks. The pub walk was in a part of London that we would probably have skipped if we had not done it....so I'm glad we did it. The bars we went to were fantastic and we visited them again later on during the weekend.

So do the walk if you haven't visited that part of London before, but eat before you go and plan on returning to the bars at another point to actually enjoy them and try the variety of beers.