London on foot

This item appears on page 16 of the March 2009 issue.

I enjoyed Patrick Erricker’s tips on making touring in London more affordable (Dec. ’08, pg. 11). I’m into my sixth year living in Greater London (near the Kew Gardens tube station), and I wanted to share my five tips on enjoying London on foot.

London is a walker’s paradise, especially in April through October when the days are longer. There is more sunshine than people expect, and the weather is rarely worse than a mizzle (between a mist and a drizzle). Best of all, you could walk somewhere new every day for decades and never need a car.

Here are five ways to enjoy London and its environs by foot.

The Ramblers

Strolling through the English countryside is legendary. You may walk across miles of unmarked fields among too many sheep to count, enjoy a meal in a pub in the “middle of nowhere” or learn about the significance of a historical landmark, all without having to pull out your own guidebook, map and compass.

Volunteers in the Ramblers Association (2nd Floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TW, U.K.; phone 0207 339 8500, www.ramblers.org.uk) lead at least 50 rambles each week around London, most of them car-free. On the website, select “local groups” to find a walk, then just show up.

Walking tours

You are standing in the shadows of one of the most notorious council estates, Trellick Tower. Normally, this might make you uneasy. Instead, you stand transfixed as Andy Duncan of London Explorers Group (19 Boileau Rd., London SW13 9BJ, U.K.; phone 07958 656 888, www.leglondon.co.uk) gossips about the drama that ensued after Ian Fleming named one of his greatest Bond villains for Trellick Tower architect, Ernö Goldfinger.

Dr. Duncan is a historian and leads a walk four days per month; most walks cost £10 (near $15) each.

If you are in an “I need a walking tour and I need it now” mood, The London Walks (PO Box 1708, London, NW6 4LW, U.K.; phone +44 [020] 7624 3978, fax 020 7625 1932, www.walks.com) leads 10 to 20 walks per day in London. Most leaders have a drama background, keeping their audiences entertained as well as informed.

They also organize Explorer Days where your guided walks take place outside London at such tourist destinations as Cambridge, Bath, Stonehenge, Leeds Castle and Canterbury. You show up at the designated spot and meet the guide (and the others who have decided to show up), then travel by train to the destination. You are led on a walk in the morning, given time for lunch (or travel to the next site), then are led on a second walk.

A walk with London Walks (formerly The Original London Walks) costs £7 ($10.50) adult or £5 senior. Their Explorer Days walks each cost £12 ($18) adult or £10 senior plus the cost of train transportation and any entrance fees. London Walks pamphlets are widely available around London.

London Wetland Centre

Traipsing through reeds and on boardwalks over water, you come to your first bird hide. Serious bird-watchers have expensive binoculars and cameras on tripods trained over the wide, marshy lake. Several turn to give you a look clearly warning that if you so much as rustle your jacket too loudly there will be trouble. Retreat quietly and continue along the path.

You’re just outside central London in a former concrete tank reservoir site that the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust cleverly converted into a bird sanctuary of 100-plus acres called the WWT London Wetland Centre (Queen Elizabeth’s Walk, Barnes, London SW13 9WT; phone 020 8409 4400, fax 4401 or visit www.wwt.org.uk and select the London centre).

Catch the “Duck Bus” (aka 283) at the Hammersmith London Underground Station (Piccadilly and District lines) and you will be deposited on the doorstep of this quiet urban wilderness. (A one-day London Travelcard for this zone costs £7.20.)

National Gardens Scheme

A plethora of new gardens awaits the green-space enthusiast who has visited most of the better-known gardens in greater London. The National Gardens Scheme, or NGS (Hatchlands Park, East Clandon, Guildford, Surrey, GU4 7RT, U.K.; phone 01483 211535, fax 211537, www.ngs.org.uk), opens over 3,600 private gardens across England and Wales for charity, and over 200 of these gardens are in or near London.

Competition is fierce and it is a great honor for a garden to be included in the NGS “Yellow Book” (see June ’07, pg. 93). From April through September, consult the NGS “GardenFinder” on the website and choose which private garden to visit that day. The garden settings vary, and you may find yourself in a suburban back garden, vegetable allotment, manor house or even between floating barges. Admission costs vary by garden, generally £2-£4.50 ($3-$7).

Thames Path

The Thames winds from its source in the Cotswolds 184 miles to the Thames Barrier in London, and most of it is accessible by public transportation. Visit the website of the Managers of the Thames Path (National Trails Office, Environment & Economy, Holton, Oxford, OX33 1QQ, U.K.; phone 01865 810224, www.nationaltrail.co.uk/thamespath), pick a section at random and make a day of it.

The nine miles from Reading to Henley include Sonning Mill Theatre, colorful flower gardens surrounding the Shiplake Lockmaster’s brick cottage, thrills as longboats navigate their way through narrow locks while lockmasters shout instructions, a miniature railroad with station running through a large private estate and, finally, Henley-on-Thames, site of the annual 5-day Henley Royal (rowing) Regatta. Any section you choose will have its own charm.

CARRIE GILLESPIE

Kew, London, UK