Fiona MacLeod’s Self-Guided Walking Route for the Independent Tourist Who Wants to See the City at Street Level Without Paying for a Bus
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
By Fiona MacLeod | The London Prat
The best free thing to do in London is walk the Thames. The South Bank walk from the London Eye to Tower Bridge is widely known and deservedly popular. The walk I want to describe today is shorter, more focused, and in my view produces the highest density of extraordinary things per mile of any walk in the city: from St Paul’s Cathedral across the Millennium Bridge to Tate Modern, along the South Bank to Borough Market, across London Bridge, and back through Monument to the start. Three miles. Two hours minimum. Free, except for anything you eat at Borough Market, which will not be free but will be worth it.
St Paul’s Cathedral: External View and Optional Interior
Begin at St Paul’s Cathedral, which charges for interior access but whose exterior is free and whose position at the top of Ludgate Hill, surrounded by the financial architecture of the City of London, is one of London’s most dramatic urban views. The cathedral was designed by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London in 1666, took 35 years to complete, and has been the site of significant state occasions from the funeral of the Duke of Wellington to the wedding of Charles and Diana. Whether you pay to go inside (worth it if you have time: the Whispering Gallery is genuinely remarkable) or simply appreciate the exterior, allow 20 minutes before the walk begins. The St Paul’s Cathedral website has current prices and opening hours.
Millennium Bridge to Tate Modern
The Millennium Bridge — the pedestrian suspension bridge designed by Norman Foster, Arup, and Anthony Caro that wobbled famously when it opened in 2000 and had to be closed for repairs, reopening in 2002 — is the correct way to cross the Thames from St Paul’s to the Tate Modern. The view from the centre of the bridge, downstream to Tower Bridge and upstream toward Waterloo, is one of London’s defining panoramas. The crossing takes four minutes. At the far end, the Tate Modern occupies the former Bankside Power Station in a conversion that is architecturally significant in its own right. Entry to the main collection is free. The Turbine Hall, which hosts large-scale commissioned installations, is free. Allow at least 90 minutes. Bohiney Magazine’s Tate Modern guide has the current exhibition schedule. The London Prat’s walking guide has the full route with timing.
South Bank to Borough Market to London Bridge
From the Tate Modern, walk east along the South Bank — past the Globe Theatre (whose exterior and yard are free, whose performances and exhibition are paid) — to Borough Market, which operates Thursday through Saturday. At Borough, eat, drink, and spend approximately 45 minutes longer than you planned. From Borough Market, cross London Bridge on foot (the original London Bridge was sold to an American businessman in 1968 and relocated to Arizona, a fact that London does not publicise as actively as you might expect). On the north side of London Bridge, the Monument to the Great Fire of London (admission charged, column climbable, panoramic view rewarding) is two minutes away. The walk ends at Monument Tube station. Total cost: Tube fare plus Borough Market expenditure. Total experience: more London than most organised half-day tours deliver, at your own pace, in the open air, with the river beside you for most of it. This is the walk. Do it.
More London laughs: The Daily Mash | NewsThump.
Final Thoughts for the London Visitor
London rewards preparation and also rewards abandoning it. The city is large enough that planning a visit requires choices, and experienced enough at receiving visitors that the infrastructure for whatever choice you make is well-developed. Book the Tower of London in advance. Get the Oyster card before your first Tube journey. Go to Borough Market on Saturday morning. Walk across the Millennium Bridge at least once. And then leave enough unstructured time for the afternoon that does not go according to plan and produces the experience you talk about most when you get home. That afternoon will happen in London if you leave room for it. It always does. The city has been providing the unexpected afternoon to visitors for several centuries and has not yet run out of material. More London travel guidance at Bohiney Magazine and at The London Prat’s visitor resources, where Fiona MacLeod’s London coverage is updated regularly with current information, seasonal recommendations, and the honest opinions that tourist boards tend not to publish. London has been receiving visitors for two thousand years and has refined its hospitality infrastructure across that period to the point where the only remaining obstacle to an excellent visit is insufficient planning and insufficient spontaneity in equal measure. Plan enough to avoid the queues. Stay flexible enough to take the afternoon that presents itself. Eat the doughnut. Walk the bridge. Get the Oyster card. The Millennium Bridge wobble story alone is worth the walk. Cross it. Look at St Paul’s behind you and Tate Modern ahead. You are standing in the middle of two thousand years of London on a bridge that embarrassed its engineers in the best possible way. This is the city. Welcome to it.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/london-walk-st-pauls-borough-market-fiona-macleod/
