Two books show you how
I've written about London guided walking tours before; they provide a fun and educational opportunity to explore London's quirky, historical or just plain fascinating neighborhoods with a group and a knowledgeable guide.
But what if you want to explore these neighborhoods at your own pace? Maybe stop in a pub for a drink along the way, or visit an intriguing shop?
Well, no worries -- I've just found two books written to help you explore London's neighborhoods on your own. Each provides enough entertaining information about the areas you'll walk through that you won't feel like you're missing out by not having a guide.
The following two books highlight a variety of self-guided walking tours in the city and surrounding areas that you can do on your own.
The first book, On Foot Guides' London Walks written by Celia Woolfrey, claims to be the only London walking guide with aerial view mapping. The mapping, created from specially commissioned photographs taken from a helicopter flying at 1,500 feet, really helps show you the way as you read the directions.
There are 15 walks in this guide. An introduction explains why London's a great place to explore on foot, and offers information on shopping, transportation, sightseeing tours, etc.
There are also sections on how to link some of the walks together, and lists of which walks are best taken at various times of the week or year. Take Covent Garden, for example. "The atmosphere is more relaxed on the weekend," Woolfrey says, "when there's almost continuous street theater and people come here just to have fun."
The book also suggests which walks are best for kids.
Each walk in London Walks has:
- A description of the area
- Aerial maps
- Where the walk starts and ends
- Photos
- Directions and a description of what you're looking at
- Boxed text with tips on where to eat and drink in the neighborhood
The series also offers New York Walks and Paris Walks.
Frommer's 24 Great Walks in London is also a good walking guide, offering (obviously) 24 walks throughout London. I've always been a fan of Frommer's guides and I like this equally as well as London Walks.
This guide doesn't offer aerial mapping, but the maps are clear and easy to follow. The introduction offers less general London travel information, but you won't need that if you've got another guidebook on London. Instead, it offers a larger selction of walks.
Much like the London Walks, each walk has:
- A description of the area
- photos
- directions and a description of what you're looking at
- Boxed text with tips on where to eat and drink in the neighborhood
Those "where to eat and drink" tips are valuable; you're bound to get hungry or thirsty while walking and it's always nice to know where to go. For example, Frommer's 24 Great Walks in London describes one pub, The Horse and Groom, as follows: "Hidden away in quiet mews, this intimate pub has the feeling of a friendly country locale." Sounds like a place I'd like!
The folks at Frommer's have been busy; the series also offers 24 Great Walks in the following cities: New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Paris, Dublin, Chicago, Barcelona, Venice, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and Rome. You can find them all on Amazon.com, just search for "Frommer's 24 Walks."
By the way, if you want more information on some nice places to stop and dine along the way while you're walking, check out these cool London food and restaurant blogs:
- Food and Drink in London, written by two guys named Howard and Ben.
- Ripe London, written by a "Cuban-marinated, Russian-blooded New York food fiend, now adopted Londoner and occasionally-wobbly rolling Stone"
- Londonelicious, written by an American girl who likes food and London, but not cooking.
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