The best way to see a city is on foot, and London is no exception! When we visited London over the summer, we had a limited amount of time and a lot we wanted to see. Our self guided walking tour of London’s top sights ended up being one of the highlights of our 2 week trip through London, Amsterdam, and Paris.
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Self Guided Walking Tour of London Overview
This walking tour of London is a leisurely scenic walk along the beautiful River Thames. Along the way, you will have the opportunity to see and visit some of London’s top attractions: Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Borough Market, The Shard, Shakespeare’s Globe, London Eye, Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, AND Westminster Abbey! As you walk along the River Thames you will also see fun street art and murals as an added bonus.
The walking tour totals approximately 4 miles (6.4 kilometers), when you factor in exploring some of the sights in more depth, with frequent opportunities to rest. While this guide will follow our route from Tower Bridge to Westminster Abbey, you can easily do the route in reverse order or just do a portion of the trek if you don’t want to commit to the full length.
Traveling with children and considering doing this walk? Go for it – especially if they’ll be in a stroller! My 2 year old had the BEST time looking at the boats and buildings, and there are some fun places along the way for your little ones to stretch their legs that we’ll mention in this post.
Pro Tip: Prior to your trip, download the London City Centre area via Google Maps so you can navigate the area without needing wifi
The Route
Tower Bridge (9:30-10:30am)
This walking tour of London begins at Tower Bridge, an iconic landmark steeped in over 125 years of history that you can (and should!) go inside. You will want to start on the Tower of London side since the rest of the tour takes place on the other side of the bridge. While the Tower of London is an absolutely fantastic place to visit, you could spend a whole day there, so we advise you save it for a different day. Check out this tour Premium Tours offers if you would like a guided Tower of London tour and the chance to see the Crown Jewels!
It is strongly encouraged that you book your tickets for Tower Bridge in advance. If following this guide to a tee, we recommend getting tickets for the 9:30am time slot, as this will allow you to see the inside of Westminster Abbey at the end of this self guided walking tour before it closes for the day.
You can take the 206 steps to the top to walk across the glass bridge or there is an elevator. Your eyes will probably be glued to the glass floor that allows you to see the cars zooming across the bridge below, but don’t forget to look up – literally! A mirror is above the glass walkway, allowing visitors to take selfies that show how cool it is to be suspended above the rest of the world! As you walk across, you will also have the opportunity to read about the history of the bridge and the people who built it.
Tower Bridge is a great stop for those traveling with children (not just because of the coveted elevator!). Upon entry, staff will give your children a booklet that contains a scavenger hunt and kid-friendly historical information.
The gift shop for Tower Bridge is located on the opposite end of the Tower of London by the engine rooms (included in your ticket). You can take an elevator or stairs to get to the street level it’s on which is also where you will need to head to continue the walking tour.
Tower Bridge to Borough Market (10:30am-12:30pm)
The walk from Tower Bridge to Borough Market is 0.6 miles (0.97 kilometers). There are some wonderful photo opportunities along the waterfront with Tower Bridge, The Shard, and art installations serving as nice backdrops. If following the times outlined in this guide, you will make it to Borough Market at lunch time which is the best time to be there!
After leaving Tower Bridge, you’ll simply continue along the Thames taking the path labeled The Queen’s Walk. Just before you reach London Bridge (surprisingly underwhelming to have a whole song about it), you’ll want to get back up to street level, best done via St. Olaf’s Stairs (there is also an accessible option here for those not wishing to take the stairs). You will continue toward the direction of London Bridge, and once reaching it, take a left. Stay on this path until you reach the Borough Market area.
Borough Market is a whirlwind of food, smells, and people. It will be crowded at lunch time but not impossible to navigate. To prevent yourself from feeling overwhelmed with the many options available, we recommend checking out the vendor options in advance. We had delicious Argentinian empanadas from Porteña, and we could not resist trying the chocolate strawberries from Turnips that have gone viral on TikTok. They lived up to the hype and were absolutely DELICIOUS. If you want a snack for the road, you can’t go wrong with a jammy heart from The Cinnamon Tree Bakery.
Borough Market to The London Eye (12:30pm-2:45pm)
With your belly full, exit Borough Market by the William Shakespeare Mural for a cute photo op. You will be taking the Bankside path along the Thames to reach the London Eye. Around the point you reach Shakespeare’s Globe and the Tate Modern, the name of the path changes to The Queen’s Walk. You’ll continue along The Queen’s Walk until you reach Jubilee Gardens. This part of the route is 1.3 miles long (2.09km).
Young and old alike will enjoy riding the Golden Carousel located outside of Jubilee Gardens, and it is in this area that you will catch your first glimpse of Big Ben! Jubilee Gardens is a great spot to get a drink and rest. If you have children, you won’t want to miss The Children’s Play Area of the gardens which has a wonderful playground suitable for all ages.
This area has lots of things to do from The London Aquarium to Shrek’s Adventure to Build A Bear Workshop. Towering over all of these attractions and impossible to miss is The London Eye. We absolutely recommend booking a ticket in advance so you can get a bird’s eye view of the city. It takes approximately 30 minutes to do the full rotation, during which you have unobstructed panoramic views of London. Each car has plenty of standing room along the perimeter of the car with a bench in the middle for those who wish to sit.
We booked our London Eye tickets for 1:45pm. The line to board was quite long but moved fairly quickly. There are ticket options to skip the line, but we were glad we didn’t splurge on them as the wait was only around 25 minutes.
Not interested in riding the London Eye? You might enjoy exploring the nearby Graffiti Tunnel or visiting the Florence Nightingale Museum.
London Eye to Westminster Abbey (2:45pm-4:30pm)
You are nearly to the end of the self guided walking tour of London’s top sights! There is only half a mile left (0.97 km). Make your way to Westminster Bridge – You can’t miss it because Big Ben is at the opposite end waiting to greet you. Before you cross, take the steps down to the water level for an excellent unobstructed view of Parliament and Big Ben. This is also where the COVID Memorial Wall is located.
After crossing the bridge, snap a few pictures with Ben before heading next door to Westminster Abbey. You should purchase your tickets for Westminster Abbey in advance. Following the provided times in this guide we booked the 3-3:30pm time slot and got there around 3:15pm. The Abbey closes at 4:30pm on a lot of days, so don’t spend too much time with Big Ben and Parliament before heading to Westminster – they’ll be there when you leave the Abbey. If you are ahead of schedule, you should be permitted to enter early even with the later ticket time.
Westminster Abbey is absolutely gorgeous and has a rich history. Here you can see the Coronation Chair (used for over 700 years) and the Royal Tombs of Edward the Confessor, Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, Henry V, and Henry VII to name a few. Literature lovers will enjoy visiting the Poet’s Corner where over 100 of the world’s greatest poets have been buried or memorialized, including William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Rudyard Kipling. Other famous graves to lookout for are Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, and Charles Darwin.
You’ve reached the finish line!
This concludes our self guided walking tour of London’s top sights. Over the course of 7 hours, you have seen 10 of London’s top attractions and eaten delicious food along the way! After all that walking, you should catch the tube or a taxi back to your accommodations and take a long nap!
This guide covers a lot of London’s top sights, but there is still so much more that London has to offer! Use our special link to check out the plethora of guided tours that Premium Tours offers in the London area and beyond. We used them to celebrate the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge and had a wonderful experience! A lot of their tours include transportation, so they are a great option if your feet fancy a break after you’ve finished our walking tour of London’s top sights!
Do you plan on taking our self guided walking tour of London’s top sights during your next visit to England’s capital city? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
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Such a lovely kid friendly guide to a day in London. you made it so convenient for me to plan our first day in London.
Excellent guide!
This looks like a great route to fit in so many of the top spots in one day, thank you!
Such a lovely guide for a walking tour! I’ve only visited London once but I didn’t get to visit some of the places you mentioned. I’ll have to go back and check out your recommendations!
This is a great guide for a walking tour! I love taking myself on self-guided tours of a city.