10 Best Scenic Walks in London

A walk from Blackheath to Greenwich Pier takes you through Greenwich Park, one of London’s 8 royal parks and home to the Prime Meridian, which serves as the reference point for Greenwich Mean Time. The Royal Observatory is also found in Greenwich Park, along with Queens House and several gorgeous gardens, lawns and orchards.

Start your walk in the pretty village of Blackheath, southeast London, entering Greenwich Park at its southern border. The walk to Greenwich Pier is around 1.5 miles and will take you through the park, providing incredible views of London. The route will also take you past Greenwich Market and historical sights such as the Old Naval College and the Cutty Sark as you reach Greenwich Pier.

Located in east London, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics and is now a popular attraction to visit in the capital. Home to beautiful parklands, gardens, restaurants and bars; the park also features a state-of-the-art swimming pool and VeloPark available for public use.

Visit the Olympic Park website to find a selection of walking tours and trails to help you make the most of your visit – including a London 2012 trail, an art trail and a parkland and wildlife trail. If you’re visiting with kids, there is also a children’s adventure trail, as well as playgrounds, water fountains, bike tracks and a climbing wall to keep them entertained.

If you’re in southeast London, Crystal Palace Park boasts 200 acres of Grade II* listed parklands just a 5-minute walk from Crystal Palace station. An almost 3-mile circular walk, based on Paxton’s Heritage Trail, will ensure you see all the main historical sites with a well-signposted route.

Planning to bring the family? The trail isn’t challenging, and the park has plenty of kid-friendly attractions to enjoy along the way. The dinosaur sculptures (dating back to 1852) are a must-see, along with a visit to the Crystal Palace Museum and children’s farm. There are also several playgrounds and a skate park, a Victorian circular maze and a boating lake, where you can hire pedalos.

The Thames Path serves up some incredible London attractions and city views as you walk along the banks of the river. A moderately challenging route, it’s around 4.8 miles from the Tower of London to Battersea Park, but the sights you’ll see will make it well worth the effort.

Stroll to St Paul’s Cathedral and head over the Millennium Bridge to Shakespeare’s Globe and the Tate Modern. As you wander along the South Bank, you’ll pass the National Theatre, the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Tate Britain. Plus, the end of the route takes you into Battersea Park, a 200-acre Victorian park with a riverside promenade and home to Battersea Children’s Zoo.

If you’re looking for a longer walk through central London, you can see some of the city’s most famous landmarks as you wander along the Regent’s Canal. The walk from Paddington to Limehouse Basin is around 7 miles and takes you through some of the city’s fascinating and historical sights.

Start your route in Paddington, northwest London, and head through Hyde Park and St James – with glimpses of the Wellington Arch, Buckingham Palace and St James’s Palace along the way. Wander down the Mall and pass through Trafalgar Square, then head towards Somerset House, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London before reaching your final destination at Limehouse Basin.

Designs of the Times is a self-guided walk through London that focuses on the history and architecture of the area’s most prominent buildings. This 90-minute tour will help you see the best of London’s financial district and provides a guide to many key attractions, such as St Paul’s Cathedral, the 350-year-old Temple Bar and Bloomberg Place.

Starting at the City Information Centre, the walking tour takes you on a circular route, via Moorgate, Broadgate and Liverpool Street. You’ll wander through the heart of the city, taking in the spectacular modern highlights of the city skyline – and their various nicknames – including St Mary Axe (the gherkin), the Leadenhall Building (the cheese grater) and 20 Fenchurch Street (the walkie talkie).

Hampstead Heath is a beautiful green oasis in north London with 320 hectares of parklands, woods and meadows and accessible from Hampstead, Belsize Park and Gospel Oak tube stations. The perfect place for a summer picnic, family-friendly the heath contains swimming ponds, the Parliament Hill Fields lido, a paddling pool and playgrounds to entertain the little ones.

There are 2 circular walking tours of Hampstead Heath – either 4.5 or 6.5 miles (depending on a stop at Highgate Cemetery and Highgate village). Both tours include the Parliament Hill viewpoint, Hampstead and Highgate ponds and Kenwood House, an impressive 18th century house. Take a moment to observe the fine art collection here, which includes works by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Turner.

At over 1000 acres, Bushy Park is the second largest of London’s royal parks and the perfect place for a leisurely stroll. Situated in the London Borough of Richmond, the park boasts beautiful grasslands, woods and waterways, along with a rich range of wildlife – from herons, kestrels and kingfishers to free-range wild deer.

There are various walking tours available in Bushy Park and it’s around 10km to cycle, run or walk around the perimeter loop. The Longford River is a lovely scenic route or you can enjoy a peaceful wander around the pretty Waterhouse Woodland Gardens, where you can also stop to rest and recharge at the Pheasantry Café.

You can find some of London’s most scenic walks on the capital ring, a route of 15 easy-to-walk sections covering 78 miles. The walk from Stoke Newington to Hackney Wick (section 13 of the Capital Ring) in Northeast London, covers 4 miles and is moderately challenging, taking around an hour and 20 minutes to complete.

The walk takes you through green-flag-awarded Springfield Park, home to several pretty gardens and conservation areas that are perfect for picnicking. You’ll then wander along Walthamstow and Hackney Marshes where you might see some street art. Much of the route is on the River Lea towpath as it heads into the Thames, with plenty of attractive views and wildlife to enjoy along the way.

If you’re looking for a more rural walk away from the busy city centre, choose the London Outer Orbital Path (nicknamed the ‘London Loop’), a series of walks around the outer edge of the city. It’s a lovely way to discover the more scenic side of the capital and consists of 150 miles of signposted footpaths – often through historic parks and ancient woodlands.

The route from Petts Wood to West Wickham Common is just over 8 miles of woods, parkland and farming fields in the borough of Bromley in South London. Look out for the quaint villages of Farnborough and Keston, as well as Holwood House and the charming views of West Wickham as you head through to Wickham Common.