I am planning my trip and want to see if anyone has advice for one of my days. I am going to start at 9am at the Tower of London and spend 2 hours there. I then want to go to St Pauls Cathedral and stay for an hour Then Dr Johnson's House and tour it and end in Covent Garden. It Looks like a long distance on the map. When should I walk or take the tube or bus. Where would be a good place for lunch. I like street food so I can eat while walking or just stopping for a short time. I like walking but don't want to walk to exhaustion if there is nothing interesting to see or the distance is further than I realize.
Thanks for any help
Posted by
New York, NY
4071 posts
The TFL Plan a Journey is my go-to
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4088 posts
Yes, TFL, and then if you want backup run the itinerary through Google Maps.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
That's the same route as Rick's Historic London: "The City" Walk found here on audio file or in print in his London 2018 guidebook. Buses run along Fleet Street and The Strand, if you run out of steam.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7206 posts
From the tower to St. Paul’s is about 1.1 miles. From there to Dr. Johnson’s house is .6 miles, and from there to Coventry Garden in .8 miles. Total of 2.5 miles. It’s an easy walk. I hope your visiting times are approximate in case you want to spend more time at any one place. En route you can stroll past Leadenhall Market and possibly make a short stop at at Bank of England museum (free). Others have mentioned seeing some of the places in n the RS walking tour.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14818 posts
I'd probably walk.
Outside the Tower of London you'll pass by All Hallows by the Tower church which is interesting. Then, I agree with seeing Leadenhall Market. (Are you a Harry Potter fan? This is where the Leaky Cauldron was. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadenhall_Market ) This area also has some cool little pedestrian alleyways that are fun to walk thru. Here is a route suggestion altho I can't get googlemaps to do exactly what I wanted (It is insisting I go up and down the same street outside Leadenhall. In real life, you'll just walk across the street and nip down Bell Inn Yard), you'll get the idea. After Leadenhall you can go past St Mary-le-Bow, another church with an interesting history re-built by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary-le-Bow ), then on to St Paul's.
https://goo.gl/maps/PBVymgynpt72
I will also say that 2 hours is pretty short for Tower of London. It's huge, there is a lot to see. I generally wear out before I get to everything so it's good to limit your time but 2 hours seems on the light side to me.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Bus route 15 will take you all the way, getting off at St Paul's and then in Fleet Street for Dr. Johnson's House. For Covent Garden, get off at the first stop in the Strand. Once you get past St Paul's route 11 will also follow the same route.
Posted by
OP
DURHAM, NC
55 posts
Thanks everyone for the links and advice. Leadenhall market looks like good place for lunch on the way to St Pauls.
The TFL website was great to go thru. I found all the maps for the jubilee walks. On every day of my trip I try to find a mix of museums, walking (while people watching) and (window) shopping. I can loose myself in museums if I am not careful. I can see the Tower of London taking the whole morning. I am finding London way too interesting to do justice to it in 5 days.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
68 posts
Don't make the mistake we made and show up at Leadenhall Market on a Sunday at dinner time. Everything was closed - shops and restaurants, too!