Walking is one of the best ways to see London. You’ll save money on transport costs and for short distances, especially in the West End, it’s often quicker than taking the bus or tube.
Some tube stations in central London are only 300-500 metres apart. It’s not worth taking the tube to travel between Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Charing Cross or Embankment stations – it’s quicker to walk.
These two maps from TfL show:
- the time it takes to walk between tube stations (pdf)
- walking time and steps between shopping areas and attractions in the West End (pdf)
Legible London maps
To help you find your way around London, there are Legible London map columns everywhere. These columns give simple directions to places of interest and a list of streets in the local area. The maps show you where you can walk to in 5 and 15 minutes.
Walking route planners
Google maps for ios or android. You can save a map to use offline (see below).
Alternatively try the free Citymapper app. It’s one of the best all-round transport planning apps for London.
Some scenic or interesting walks between tube stations are on Mark Moxon’s Tubewalking website. His free app covers central London (zone 1).
Quiet and interesting routes can be found on the Footways website.
Maps
If you have a smartphone and don’t want to use your data allowance, it’s possible to save a Google map of London to use offline.
How to save a google map to use offline
1. Open the Google Maps app. (You need to sign into your google account).
2. Search for ‘London’
3. Click in bottom area, scroll along and select the three dots, then select ‘download offline map’. The whole of greater London will use 170-200 MB of free space. If you zoom in to central London only it will use 65 MB.
Offline maps
If you don’t want to download a Google Map, an alternative is the free Maps.me app which lets you download maps to use offline. It good enough for a general sightseeing/walking map.
Paper maps & books
An A-Z’s street atlas, a map and street directory in book form doesn’t depend on battery power or a data allowance. The mini A-Z is suitable for anyone visiting central London (zone 1).