Mid-range · 6-hour walk · London
Westminster to St Paul's in six hours
The abbey, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden, then the river crossing to St Paul's and Tate Modern.
Central London is far more walkable than its reputation, provided you pick one corridor and stay in it. This one runs west to east along the north bank and crosses once, at the end, on the footbridge that lines up with St Paul's dome. The abbey and the cathedral are the only tickets; everything between them is free, including the two national collections on the way.
The route, stop by stop
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Westminster Abbey
Book online and go at opening. The Poets' Corner and the Coronation Chair are what people stay for; the nave moves quickly.
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Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
Across the road from the abbey. Tours run on Saturdays and when the House is not sitting; otherwise it is a photograph and a walk along the river wall.
20 min here Walk here → -
Trafalgar Square
Ten minutes up Whitehall past Downing Street and the Horse Guards. The National Gallery on the north side is free and open late on Fridays.
30 min here Walk here → -
Covent Garden
The market building, the street performers in the piazza, and the only part of this walk with somewhere decent to eat at a normal hour.
45 min here Walk here → -
St Paul's Cathedral
The dome climb is 528 steps to the Golden Gallery and the reason to buy the ticket. The Whispering Gallery is a third of the way up.
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Millennium Bridge and Tate Modern
Cross south on the footbridge that lines up with the dome behind you. Tate Modern is free and the Turbine Hall is worth the ten minutes even if nothing else is.
45 min here Walk here →
More walks in London
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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
Tower of London · St Dunstan-in-the-East · Sky Garden · Leadenhall Market · Royal Exchange · Guildhall · Postman's Park
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
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