Mid-range · 6-hour walk · London
The City of London in six hours
The Tower and the Crown Jewels, a bombed church turned garden, the glasshouse on top of the Walkie-Talkie, Leadenhall Market and the Roman arena under the Guildhall.
The Square Mile is where London began: the Romans built Londinium here, and the City still has its own Lord Mayor and its own police. On weekdays it belongs to the bankers and at weekends it empties, so come on a weekday for the markets, and book the Tower and the Sky Garden ahead.
The route, stop by stop
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Tower of London
William the Conqueror's fortress, begun in the 1070s, with the Crown Jewels and the Yeoman Warders' tours. Go at opening and see the jewels first, before the queue.
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St Dunstan-in-the-East
A church damaged in the Great Fire, given a tower by Wren, and bombed in the Blitz. Its shell is now a garden, with climbing plants through the empty windows.
15 min here Walk here → -
Sky Garden
Three floors of gardens under the glass top of 20 Fenchurch Street, the tower nicknamed the Walkie-Talkie. Free, but tickets are released in advance and go quickly.
45 min here Walk here → -
Leadenhall Market
A painted Victorian market hall of 1881 on the site of the Roman forum. It stood in for Diagon Alley in the first Harry Potter film.
25 min here Walk here → -
Royal Exchange
The heart of the City, where the Bank of England, the Mansion House and the Royal Exchange face each other across one junction.
20 min here Walk here → -
Guildhall
The City's town hall since the Middle Ages. Under its art gallery are the remains of London's Roman amphitheatre, found in 1988 and free to visit.
45 min here Walk here → -
Postman's Park
A small park with a wall of glazed tiles, each remembering an ordinary person who died saving someone else's life.
15 min here Walk here →
More walks in London
British Museum · Russell Square · Charles Dickens Museum · St Pancras International · Granary Square
Cutty Sark · Painted Hall · Greenwich Market · Royal Observatory · General Wolfe statue
Old Spitalfields Market · Christ Church Spitalfields · Fournier Street · Brick Lane · Redchurch Street · Columbia Road Flower Market
London Eye · Southbank Centre · Shakespeare's Globe · Borough Market · Tower Bridge
Buckingham Palace · St James's Park · Fortnum & Mason · Burlington Arcade · Royal Academy of Arts · Savile Row · New Bond Street · Claridge's
Westminster Abbey · Houses of Parliament and Big Ben · Trafalgar Square · Covent Garden · St Paul's Cathedral · Millennium Bridge and Tate Modern
British Museum · Chinatown · Victoria and Albert Museum · Natural History Museum · Royal Albert Hall · Serpentine · Primrose Hill · Camden Market
Tower of London · Tower Bridge · Borough Market · Tate Modern · St Paul's Cathedral · Covent Garden · National Gallery · Houses of Parliament and Big Ben · London Eye
More in London
Every walking route in London, the full London guide for where to stay and what a day costs, or walks in other cities.