Walking in London A compact 16-page colour A5 booklet packed with useful and concise information detailing walking opportunities including long distance paths and promoted routes, parks and protected countryside areas, public transport information and a host of useful contacts. The perfect guide to finding your way about the region on foot, from parks and riverfront in the heart of the city to the edge of the North Downs. £1.50 + p&p: Order here! |  |
 | Get walking...south of the river! If you're new to walking and live in Lambeth, Lewisham or Southwark, one of our 12-week walking programmes could help you get fit and relax. There are also Little Legs Big Strides programmes for families with pre-school children. Read more. |
Paths and routes
Parks and Countryside
Books of walks and maps
Our listings highlight especially useful and interesting books, including those containing walks suitable for families.
A comprehensive directory for London walkers is London: the definitive walking guide by Colin Saunders (see below)
Public transport
Local Ramblers
Further information
Walking in London
London is a great city to go walking in. You can stroll by the river Thames along the popular Thames Path, or follow a network of lesser-known waterside walks. Or you can wander in a wealth of green space, from the famous Royal Parks to large semi-rural areas like Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest, and an uncountable number of other parks, gardens, nature reserves and woodlands.
The City of London with its fascinating mediaeval streets and alleyways begs to be explored on foot, and around the margins of London you will even find some genuine countryside such as the chalk hills of the North Downs. You’ll find great walking, too, in the countryside immediately surrounding the capital.
Obviously in such a populated area a sense of solitude is rare, and traffic can be intrusive on London’s notoriously congested streets. But to compensate there is the fascinating history and culture of one of the world’s great cities, and facilities and services, including a good public transport network, near at hand. Thanks to the pioneering work of the London Walking Forum, local Ramblers and some far-sighted boroughs, London has one of the most extensive networks of off-road walking routes of any city. With a commitment to encouraging walking included in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, this network should be enhanced and expanded and conditions improved for walkers elsewhere.
For more information on walking in London, follow the links above.
Other useful books
General publications of interest to the London walker.
- London: The definitive walking guide by Colin Saunders, ISBN 1 85284 339 X. Cicerone, £12.
A comprehensive directory of walking opportunities in London, compiled in conjunction with the London Walking Forum. Highly recommended. - London at your feet. Introductory leaflet to London's six "strategic" walking routes. Free from Transport for London
More about the strategic routes - London Cycle Guides, free from Transport for London. Maps of cycle routes that are of some use to walkers as they include off-road routes and quieter streets. Also of interest to wheelchair users though no specialised information such as locations of dropped kerbs.
- Get High in London: Start Climbing London's Hills by John Stockbury, ISBN 0 9532875 2 1. MHL, £3.99 (also by mail order). A nifty little guide to walking the urban hills, with most walks generally under 5km/3 miles long and all well-connected with public transport. Covers Alexandra Park, Barn Hill, Blackheath, Clapham Common, Crouch Hill, Crystal Palace, Dollis Hill, Hampstead Heath, Harrow, Highgate, Kingston, Mill Hill, Muswell Hill, Parliament Hill, Primrose Hill, Putney, Richmond, Stanmore, Streatham Common, Sydenham Hill, Wimbledon Common and Winchmore Hill, sometimes with multiple routes to the summit.
- Green-Spaces Guide to London, ISBN 0 9535414 1 X. Verdant Books, £5.99. Useful pocket-sized guide to parks, gardens and other open spaces.
- Exploring Woodland: East Anglia and North Thames, ISBN 0 00 714440 7. HarperCollins, £4.99.
Exploring Woodland: Southeast England, ISBN 0 00 717547 7. HarperCollins £5.99.
Useful and attractive pocket directories of woodland sites which include woods in north and south London respectively, most with free open access and walking trails. Jointly published with the Woodland Trust. - Countryside Places around Croydon, free leaflet pack from Downlands Countryside Management Project. Access to open spaces in Croydon for all abilities.
- South East Walker. Free quarterly newspaper for RA members in London and certain other parts of southeast England.
See also
Maps for walkers in London
The following Ordnance Survey maps cover greater London:
In built-up areas, a street atlas may be more useful than an OS map. The best known is the London A-Z, published in a variety of sizes and formats by the Geographers' A-Z Map Company. However, the Philip's street atlases may be more useful as they identify public paths, open spaces and some promoted routes. Street atlases are widely available locally in bookshops and newsagents.
Specialist maps aimed at walkers cover some parts of London:
- A New Perspective to London: Euston and King's Cross to the West End. 3-D style walking map published by TfL, also available from tube stations (stocks may be low but copies can also be obtained from Ramblers main office). Disappointing: really just a more graphic streetmap, with little information of particular interest to walkers except for the route of the Jubilee Walkway.
- A New Perspective to London: Waterloo to the City. As above, including Jubilee Walkway and Thames Path, though the latter is shown inaccurately.
- Walking in Lewisham. Simple but useful foldout map with A-Z street map of the borough overprinted with walking routes and much useful information. Free from Lewisham council: email imogen.ayami@lewisham.gov.uk. See also Lewisham Walks
- Wandsworth's Active Living Map. Includes streets, some walking routes, local cycling routes (some of which follow quieter streets), parks, rail and underground lines, plus information and advice on walking, cycling and keeping active. Free from local libraries, information centres and GP surgeries, or from www.wandsworthpct.nhs.uk/health/leap, or tel 020 8682 6170 [10/05].
- A specialist footpath map covering Enfield is available from Enfield Preservation Society: see Books of country walks
More on maps for walkers
Other useful contacts
- British Waterways London Office
- Colne Valley Park
- Cross River Partnership 10th Floor, Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QP, tel 020 7202 6905.
www.crossriverpartnership.org
Walk This Way website: www.southbanklondon.com/walk_this_way - Countryside Agency London Office
- Disabled Ramblers
- Downlands Countryside Management Project The Omnibus Building, Lesbourne Road, Reigate RH2 7JA, tel 01737 737700
www.countryside-management.org.uk
Partnership of local authorities, government agencies and other organisations managing chalk downland in the south of Sutton and Croydon and in the Surrey Hills for conservation and countryside access. - Green Chain Project: see Green Chain Walk
- Jubilee Walkway Trust: See Jubilee Walkway
- King's Cross Partnership 31a Wicklow Street, London WC1X 9JX, tel 020 7713 1177
www.kingscrosslondon.com - Lea Rivers Trust The Millers House, Three Mills Lane, London E3 3DU, tel 020 8981 0040
www.leariverstrust.co.uk - Lee Valley Park
- Living Streets (Pedestrians' Association) London campaign
- London Blind Rambling Club 22 Waverley Road, Rayners Lane HA2 9RD, tel 020 8868 0096 (phone staffed by volunteers)
- London Cycling Campaign Unit 228, 30 Great Guildford Street, London SE1 0HS, tel 020 7928 7220
www.lcc.org.uk - London Open House Unit C1 Linton House, 39-51 Highgate Road, London NW5 1RS, tel 020 7485 2493
www.londonopenhouse.org
Charity for architectural education that organises the annual Open House weekend where many private buildings are open to the public. - London Tourist Board
- London Walking Forum
- London Wildlife Trust See Wildlife Trusts
- Long Distance Walkers Association
- Lower Mole Countryside Management Project 2 West Park Farmhouse, Horton Country Park, Horton Lane, Epsom KT19 8PL, tel 01372 743783
www.countryside-management.org.uk
Partnership of local authorities, government agencies and other organisations managing countryside in Kingston, Sutton, the Mole Valley and Surrey Hills for conservation and countryside access. - National Cycle Network See Sustrans
- National Trust
All regularly staffed National Trust properties in Greater London are administrated by the NT's Thames & Solent region. The management of a few NT open spaces in south London is based at properties outside Greater London, so these open spaces are administrated by South Eastern region. - New River Action Group See New River Path
- North Downs Way National Trail
- Port of London Authority 7 Harp Lane, London EC3R 6LB, tel 020 7743 7900
www.portoflondon.co.uk
Manages the tidal section of the Thames downstream of Teddington Lock. - River Thames Society Valerie Andrews-Jones, tel/fax 01923 823199
www.riverthamessociety.org.uk
Protects and promotes the Thames and encourages its use for all purposes - Royal Parks
- Sustrans
- Thames Chase Community Forest
- Thames Path National Trail
- Thames Water
- Transport for London including useful walking website
- Vanguards Rambling Club See Vanguard Way
- Watling Chase Community Forest
- Weight Concern organise health walks in central London.
- Woodland Trust
Local authorities
The Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority, working through Transport for London, have strategic responsibility for developing all modes of transport, including walking. Individual footpaths, pavements, signing and most parks and open spaces are the responsibility of the London Borough Councils, and the Corporation of London in the City of London. All the boroughs are listed below. Some borough websites are excellent sources of information on local resources for walkers.
Outer London boroughs, as indicated below, also have a responsibility to maintain official ‘definitive’ maps of public rights of way. Many paths in inner London are also rights of way but there is no legal requirement for councils to keep maps of them.
Any problems on footpaths should be should be reported to the relevant borough, and you can also report a problem by filling in our online report form
