Discovering London by foot

London is vast. It covers 1, 700 square kilometres. It's comprised of 32 boroughs with their own sights, parks, squares and character. Living in London could seem hellish to some, but there is a lot of green space in London. There are 8 royal parks covering 5000 acres of land. There are a multitude of other open spaces and parks in London including my favourite, Hampstead Heath, the largest ancient parkland and one of the highest points in London which allows for the most breathtaking views of London from Parliament Hill.















In my opinion London is a great city for walking. When it's decent weather, I walk everywhere. I just start walking from my house without a map and if (when) I get lost I'll just ask for directions. I always get some funny looks when I say "yes I really am walking to Regent's park from Angel". We have 2 legs, why not use them.

TFL and the London Boroughs have teamed up to promote 6 major walking routes in London as part of Walk London. The website gives us details of numerous walks you can do and includes downloadable maps with clear instructions and nice places to explore along the way. They also offer a range of guided walks you can do with groups of people around different themes: nature, culture, heritage, health. One of the walks is the Green Chain Walk which involves walking through dozens of woodlands and open spaces that cover south east london. One of these is from the Thames Barrier to Oxteas Meadows. All the routes are also accessible by public transport so you can walk as little or as much as you want.












Whether you've been living in London for years or you're visiting for the first time, these walks or indeed walking generally, is a great way to discover the wonderful city that is London.

[Anouk]