Walking around London is the best way to get to know the city, and the truth is that in central London you can easily walk from one place to another seeing the most important attractions and points of interest in London if you like to walk.
When you don’t know a city or the distances it’s easy to want to use public transport to get from one place to another, but in London everything is quite connected and if you plan well what you want to see you can walk around London for a whole day without having to ride the subway. Another option is to take the tour bus , as it’s a quicker way to see a lot in a short time.
What will you find in this article?
- Stroll through London by day
- Stroll through central London
- Stroll along Southbank, the south bank of the River Thames
- Stroll through one of London’s parks
- Stroll through different neighborhoods of London
- Walking through London at night
- When night falls in London
- Stroll along the banks of the Thames at night
- Walking around central London at night
Stroll through London by day
Strolling through London during the day is one of the best options to see the best attractions in London , and the truth is that there are so many options that I would dare to say that they are endless! For this reason, we have created several routes to walk around London, which will undoubtedly be useful on your trip to London. You can find many of these routes in our mobile application , which you can download for free and can be used without an Internet connection.
Stroll through central London
Walking from one place to another through the center of London is very simple, since there are many streets and squares of tourist importance very well connected, being able to walk seeing some of the most important places in London easily without using public transport. If we start at Oxford Street , one of the most important shopping streets in London, we can walk to Regent Street and reach Carnaby Street easily. In these streets we find some of the most famous shops in London, such as Selfridges or Hamleys toy store . At the end of Regent Street is Piccadilly Circus , the famous square of the giant screen and the statue of Eros. From Piccadilly we can stroll around London’s Soho , one of the most visited neighborhoods in London. Here you will find many boutiques as well as cafes and restaurants. Walking through London’s Soho you will arrive at Chinatown , where Asian shops and restaurants are the main protagonists. Surely you arrive from here without realizing it to Leicester Square , the square where film premieres take place in London. From Leicester Square we can walk to Covent Garden in less than 10 minutes, although there are some shops along the way that still make it take us a little longer! After another 10 minutes walking we will arrive atTrafalgar Square , where the National Gallery is located. Next to Trafalgar Square is St James’s Park and Buckingham Palace, and from here you can easily walk to Westminster Abbey , Big Ben and the London Eye , reaching London’s Southbank area .
Stroll along Southbank, the south bank of the River Thames
The walk along the South bank of the Thames, Southbank, is one of the most beautiful that can be done if it is the first time that you are going to visit London. It is possible to walk from the London Eye to London ‘s Tower Bridge . This walk is beautiful, and you will see many of the most important tourist spots in London, such as Big Ben , Tate Modern , Shakespeare’s Globe , the Millennium Bridge , you will see St. Paul’s Cathedral on the other side of the river, London Bridge , Borough Market , HMS Belfast , and the Tower of Londonalso located on the other side of the river, which you can easily reach by crossing the London Tower Bridge on foot. You can take a look at our Southbank route for more information.
Stroll through one of London’s parks
As you may already know, London has many parks, and each of them is spectacular if I’m honest. So if it’s a nice day, strolling through one of London’s wonderful parks is something I would recommend, and one that we usually do on the weekends. Hyde Park is the most famous park in London, and as it is located in the center of the city it is possible to reach it from different parts of the city: It is located 15 minutes walk from Piccadilly Circus , at one end of Oxford Street , 10 minutes walk from Harrods department store and 15 minutes from Notting Hill . And Hyde Park has loads of things to see… like Kensington Palace , thestatue of Peter Pan … We tell you everything you can see in our article London’s Hyde Park .
In addition to Hyde Park, other London parks that I would recommend visiting are: Regent’s Park, Holland Park, St James’s Park, Richmond Park, Greenwich… Here we tell you more about each of them: London Parks .
Stroll through different neighborhoods of London
If you already know the center of London or you are going to be in London for several days, there are neighborhoods of London located outside of London zone 1 that are beautiful and that I would recommend visiting. Many people decide to spend a day outside London and visit other cities like Oxford or Cambridge , but if you want to spend a day somewhere different but without leaving London… I recommend you just go a little further on the same tube, and visit one one of the London neighborhoods less known by tourists.
My personal recommendation would be to visit Richmond Upon Thames , where you can easily spend a whole day seeing the downtown area, stroll along the riverbank, see Richmond Park, or even take a boat and visit Kingston Upon Thames or Hampton Court Palace. . Another very nice neighborhood is Greenwich , where we find the Greenwich Observatory, the Cutty Sark and Greenwich Park. Also, another of my favorite neighborhoods that you can visit is Hampstead .
You can see all our articles about different London neighborhoods here: London Neighborhoods .
Stroll through London at night
Walking around London at night is quite safe, but like every big city, there are some areas of London that are still best avoided late at night. There are several areas that I usually recommend to walk around London at night that I explain below.
When does it get dark in London
In winter in London it gets dark at around 4 in the afternoon, but normally in the middle of winter it doesn’t matter that it gets dark so early as we can enjoy Christmas in London to the fullest . The many Christmas markets open until later, and strolling through central London at night to admire the Christmas lights is undoubtedly one of the best plans for this time of year. In summer it doesn’t get dark until quite late in London, so sometimes in summer it’s hard to see London lit up!
In our article on the weather in London we are putting what the weather is like in London and what clothes we are wearing, as well as the time at which it currently sets in London in case it is useful to you!
Stroll along the banks of the Thames at night
On the north bank, just in front of the London Eye , you can take some beautiful photos of the London Eye and Big Ben illuminated at night, and the truth is that it is one of the places that we used to visit the most at night the first year we came. to live in London. If we cross Westminster Bridge we will reach the south bank of the Thames, and going through the London Eye we find a fairly long walk that, as I mentioned before, reaches past the Tower Bridge in London.. Passing the London Eye we find the Royal Festival Hall, where there are several restaurants and cafes, so it is an area where there are usually quite a few people even at night. If we continue walking, the views of the London skyline at night are practically unbeatable, and we can reach the Millennium Bridge to take the famous photo of the Millennium Bridge with St. Paul’s Cathedral at night. Along this walk we will pass through some areas with restaurants where there may be people, but I have to say that there are some specific areas that you will find that are poorly lit, but in general I do not consider it a dangerous area to walk at night since there are always people.
Stroll through central London at night
Another option is to walk around central London after dark. The Covent Garden and Leicester Square areas tend to be packed with people until quite late as there are tons of restaurants and bars as well as the theatres. The last theater session usually ends around 10 pm, so at that time a lot of people leave the theaters and go in search of restaurants for dinner.
London ‘s Soho is where a large number of bars, clubs and nightclubs are concentrated, which is why it is usually one of the most popular areas to go out at night. There are also loads of fantastic restaurants in London’s Soho, so I would encourage you to take a look around this area if you’re looking for dinner. In particular, I would recommend Bill’s Restaurant, Ping Pong or Dishoom, as they are some of our favorite restaurants in London.