Free Walking Tour London – Explore 2000 Years of London’s History (By a local)

Do you want a free walking Tour of London? Look no further. I started working in London in the mid eighties and over the last forty years, I’ve walked all over the city.

The problem with London’s brilliant Underground system is that you don’t see anything! London, for such an enormous city, is actually very compact and you can see loads on foot. This free self-guided walking tour London will take you on a stroll through 2000 years of history in one of the world’s greatest cities.

Distance – approximately 5.5 miles

Difficulty – Easy. Mostly flat with some steps

This free London walking tour takes you through 2000 years of the history of one of the greatest cities on the planet. Learn about Roman London. See the 11th century Norman fortress of the Tower of London. Gaze at the monument to the Great Fire of London of 1666. Stroll past the Globe theatre, a replica of the place Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. Wander around the heart of one of the world’s great financial centres.

This Free London Walk starts at Bank Station, one of London Underground’s premier interchanges. This should make this free London walking tour easy to access from all parts of the city. Linked underground by walkways from Monument station, the District, Circle, Northern, Central lines and the DLR are all served by Bank Station.

Leave Bank station by Exit 5 bearing left, you will come to a square with five roads leading off it. 

To the left is the windowless home of the UK’s central bank, the Bank of England. The Bank of England sets the UK’s interest rates and is who “Promises to pay the bearer” as written on every British bank note.

Should you wish to learn more about the history of the Bank of England, there is a free museum telling its story (Open Monday to Friday, only).

The square is also home to the Romanesque Royal Exchange. London’s first exchange for the trading of stocks and shares was built on this site in 1566.

Queen Victoria opened this version, the third on the site, in 1844. It now houses high end shops and restaurants, along with a Fortnum and Mason coffee house.

It has also played a role in the proclamation of new monarchs, most recently that of King Charles in 2022.

The square features some noteworthy statues. In front of the Royal Exchange is the war memorial commemorating the London troops who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars. To the right is South African engineer, James Henry Greathead. His invention, the Greathead Shield, facilitated the excavation of the tunnels used for London’s Underground. A significant equestrian statue of The Duke of Wellington dominates the square. This was raised in recognition of his support for the building of London Bridge.

Free Walking Tour of London – Hidden Alleys of the City

Head down Cornhill Street to the right of the Royal Exchange and, after about 150 yards, turn right at St Michael’s Church into the alley, which bears its name. 

St Michael’s Church has a thousand-year history with records showing it was in place before William the Conqueror’s invasion of Britain in 1066. Although it was another victim of the Great Fire, the tower survived. It also features a quiet garden sitting on land with a value equal to the GDP of a small nation. 

Further down St Michael’s Alley, you’ll see the Jamaica Wine House, opened in 1652. This was the site of the first of the City’s famous coffee houses.

Turn Left after the Jamaica Wine House, past the garden, turn right and then left into Bell Inn Yard. Walk under the archway into Gracechurch St, near the Crosse Keys Pub. Cross the road, turn left, then walk 150 yards.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London – Leadenhall Market

Our next stop is Leadenhall Market. The original building, completed in 1449, was built on the foundation of the first century AD Roman forum. The fifteenth century market specialised in meat and game, and was owned by one of London’s most famous mayors, Dick Whittington. Whittington’s story of coming to London to search for the ‘streets paved in gold’ has become a favourite pantomime at Christmas. This version of the market dates from 1881.

Today, the market’s clientele include shoppers looking for a bargain in the quirky shops and office workers having a pint after a day at the office.

Leadenhall also doubled for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films.

Return to Gracechurch St, and turn left down the hill to the tall pillar of the Monument to the Great Fire of London.

On September 2nd, 1666, the king’s baker, Thomas Farriner, failed to put out a spark in his bakery in Pudding Lane. It ignited in the early hours of the morning and soon a massive fire was running out of control in the city. Strong winds aided the fire’s spread, as did the fact that the buildings were mainly wooden, with the upper stories virtually touching each other. The fire raged for 4 days, destroying over 13,000 homes and 87 churches, including St Paul’s Cathedral.

The Monument, built to commemorate the damage, was completed in 1677, is 202 feet tall, and is located precisely 202 feet from the fire’s ignition point. If you’re feeling energetic, the monument is open to the public and you can climb the 311 steps to the top. The entry fee (2024) is £6 for adults, £4.50 for seniors.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London – London Bridge 

From the Monument, turn right onto Monument Street, then left onto the major road, King William Street. Walk to the River Thames, but do not cross the bridge. 

The current London Bridge is modern and one of the more nondescript of London’s bridges. It replaced the last one, which was bought by an American who liked the idea of owning a landmark. He shipped it brick by brick to the US and it currently stands in Arizona. An urban legend says he thought he was buying the far more memorable Tower Bridge, although the buyer denies this. 

This 17th century bridge replaced a 600-year-old one, which itself replaced the first, which was built by the Romans.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London – River Thames

Walk down the steps onto the (signed) Thames Path. Facing the river, turn left and you will see Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast in front of you.

Old Father Thames has always been a thoroughfare for transport and commerce for London. Even though it might not be as busy as it once was, water taxis and boats laden with freight still ply the ancient waterway. Uber has recently taken over the Hop on Hop off water bus service.

Follow the Thames Path for about 400 yards until you reach the Tower Millennium Pier.

Across the river, you’ll see The Shard, one of the tallest buildings in Europe, and also the battleship HMS Belfast. We’ll get closer to that later, when we cross the river.

As you follow the riverside path, note old Billingsgate Market on your left. There has been a market at Billingsgate since 1400, and in the 19th century, it was the biggest fish market in the world. This location closed in 1982 when the market relocated to the Docklands. Now, it’s a prestigious events venue, but the golden fish weathervanes are a reminder of its original purpose.

When you reach the Millenium Pier, turn left up Petty Wales

You now have a superb view of William the Conqueror’s fortress built in the 1070s as a statement of his hold over England. Since then, the Tower has been a palace, a jail, an execution site, the Royal Mint, and even a zoo.

It is home to the Crown Jewels and the famous Beefeaters (take their guided tours, they’re hilarious). It also houses half a dozen ravens. The legend runs that, should the Tower’s ravens ever leave, the kingdom will fall. They have their wings clipped, just in case.

The ditch surrounding the Tower used to be a moat, fed from the river Thames. Unfortunately, even at a time when London was a bit ‘fragrant’, the fetid water stank so badly, they had to drain it. In the summer, this area is now a wildflower meadow, a blaze of colour thanks to the bee friendly flowers planted each year.

The Tower of London is a must-visit in London. 

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London: London Wall

Keep following Petty Wales (its name is a corruption of petit, the French word for little) until it becomes London Hill Terrace. Cross the main road to the Merchant Navy War Memorial in Trinity Square Gardens.

This monument pays respect to the fallen merchant seamen of the Second World War. To its right, there is also a smaller monument to sailers who lost their lives in the Falklands conflict of 1992.

Walk about 50 yards right and climb the steps to a raised platform.

Here you’ll find a large sundial. Read around the edges of the sundial for a nice potted history of London.

Retrace your steps and follow the path clockwise around the sundial’s platform.

In front of you, is a substantial piece of the original city wall which encircled and protected London for 1500 years, The lowest portion dates from Roman times, (see the layers of flat orange bricks) and was built around 200 AD. A bronze statue of the Roman emperor Trajan stands in front of it (although he never actually visited Britain). 

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London: Tower Bridge

Cross the road using the Tower underpass. Turn left, following the Tower of London moat, then climb the steps to Tower Bridge Road, which crosses the Thames over Tower Bridge.

One of London’s most iconic bridges, it opened in 1894 after 8 years of construction work. Its gothic style is deliberate to complement the Tower of London. If you’re lucky, you may see a ship travelling up the Thames while you’re there. When this happens, the central arms carrying the roadway raise to allow the ship to pass under. 

If you want to see the inner workings of the bridge, tours are available.

Assuming the bridge is down, continue across the river to the South bank. Immediately turn right down the steps (which looks like the entrance to a tube station) and turn right along The Queen’s Walk towards HMS Belfast.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London: HMS Belfast

You will have seen this warship moored up on the Thames from London Bridge, but now you get a much better view.

Launched in 1938, HMS Belfast was the most powerful cruiser in Britain’s Second World War fleet. She suffered damage from a mine within months, and didn’t return to action until 1942. Then, possessing one of the best radar systems, she played a pivotal role in protecting the Arctic convoys. After providing support for the D-Day landings, she also saw action in the Korean war before being decommissioned in 1963. She has been moored in the Thames as a floating museum since 1971.

Continue along Queen’s Walk past Hays Galleria shopping and eating complex.

Check out the wonderfully bonkers pirate ship in the Galleria.

Carefully climb the awkward diagonal steps up to the road crossing London Bridge. Now turn left following the Southwark High Road to Southwark Cathedral. 

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London – Southwark Cathedral

There are theories that a convent stood here in the 7th century. It is certainly mentioned in the Domesday book, the Norman register of England after the conquest of 1066.

Dedicated to St Mary, it was known in the 11th century as St Mary Overie (over the river) and, after various iterations, was consecrated as Southwark Cathedral in 1905.

Many famous people have worshipped at Southwark. Shakespeare lived in the parish and his brother Edmund is buried here. John Harvard, founder of Harvard University in the States, was baptised here. Charles Dickens set several of his books in Southwark and attended bell ringing practice at the cathedral, and diarist Samuel Pepys describes visiting the cathedral.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London – Borough Market

At this stage, you may wish to visit Borough Market. This wonderful market filled with stalls selling fresh food like artisan cheeses and breads and the sights and smells shouldn’t be missed. If you’re feeling peckish, there are many exceptional street food vendors to buy snacks from. Please note the market is closed on Mondays.

When you are done, retrace your steps back to the cathedral and, with the cathedral on your right, follow Cathedral Street and Pickford’s Wharf to the replica of the Golden Hinde.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London – The Golden Hinde

Tucked away in dry dock is a life-size replica of the famous Elizabethan galley, The Golden Hinde.

In 1577, Sir Francis Drake, as captain, became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. The Hinde (initially named the Pelican) and a flotilla of other smaller ships was tasked with harrying Spanish ships and settlements and set out on a three-year adventure which saw battles, water deprivation, encounters with native Americans, shipwreck and plague.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London: The Clink Prison Museum

Opposite the ticket office to the Golden Hinde, Pickford Wharf continues and will lead you to Clink Street.

Clink Street is home to a museum celebrating all things prison and punishment, (including a hands-on torture chamber!).

Opened in 1145, The Clink is one of England’s oldest prisons and the etymological origin of the phrase, “He’s in the clink”, for someone who’s in jail.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London: Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

Follow Clink Street and, when you reach the Premier Inn, turn right to the river, continuing upstream (left) along Bankside to the Globe Theatre. 

This is the third theatre on the site, with the first having been built in 1599 as a home for Shakespeare’s theatre troop, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. It saw the first performances of many of Shakespeare’s greatest plays including, Macbeth, Twelfth Night and Hamlet.

The first Globe burnt down when a prop set fire to the thatched roof in 1613, but was rebuilt the following year and continued to operate until 1642, when Oliver Cromwell’s Long Parliament shut down all London theatres.

It was rebuilt based on documentation of the first two theatres after a long campaign by Sam Wanamaker and opened in 1997. It now hosts an extensive programme of Shakespeare and other plays. The theatre maintains the traditions of the Elizabethan style, with wooden pews and cheaper ‘groundling’ tickets for the audience standing in front of the stage. The theatre has no real roof, so the audience is subject to the vagaries of the London weather!

What roof there is, is thatched. The Globe is the only thatched roof building in London as they were banned after the Great Fire in 1666. The Globe got a special dispensation for its design.

If standing for a full Shakespeare performance doesn’t appeal, you can take a guided tour behind the scenes of this fascinating theatre.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London: Tate Modern

After the Globe, keep moving along Bankside. After about 250 yards, we arrive at the Tate Modern Art Gallery.

Opened in 2000, this extension of the Tate Gallery houses modern art from around the globe.

Originally, the Bankside power station, it has been renovated into its current form while still keeping the architectural feel of the current building.

The massive turbine hall now forms a dramatic display space.

Entry to the Tate Modern is free, but if you want to get more from the experience, art experts run guided tours.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London: Millennium Bridge

Next, we cross back over to the north side of the Thames via the Millennium Bridge

The Millennium Bridge opened in 2000, as its name suggests. People quickly nicknamed it the ‘Wibbly Wobbly bridge’ because of the seasickness walkers often felt because of its instability. They rapidly improved the bridge to dampen the movement.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London: St Paul’s Cathedral.

In front of us, as we cross the bridge, is St Paul’s Cathedral. Built by Sir Christopher Wren when the original burnt down during the Great Fire, it is one of London’s signature landmarks.

It has been the backdrop to many historic events in British history. King Henry V lay in state here, Elizabeth I gave thanks here after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Gunpowder plot conspirators were executed outside it, the suffragettes plotted to bomb it, and the wedding of Prince (now King) Charles and Princess Diana was held here.

St Pauls holds the remains of some of the UK’s most famous war heroes, legends like Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Churchill. Alexander Fleming (who discovered penicillin) and the cathedral’s architect, Christopher Wren, are also buried in the cathedral crypts.

This massive cathedral boasts the second largest dome after St Peter’s in Rome and was the highest building in London until as recently as 1963. The dome also hosts one of the cathedral’s most famous features. The Whispering Gallery, a circular walkway around the dome, has such good acoustics that a murmur at one end can be clearly heard at the other.

One of the most famous images of World War II is that of fire wardens on the roof of St Pauls, saving it from Hitler’s incendiary bombs. A memorial to those killed during the Blitz can be seen on the approach to the cathedral. It is now the national Fire Service memorial for all firefighters.

Don’t cross the road to the cathedral. Turn right and walk to the wonderful public water fountain.

Originally installed outside the Lord Mayor’s church, St Lawrence Jewry, in 1866, The St Lawrence and Mary Magdalene Drinking Fountain didn’t make it to its current position until 2010. Worth the wait, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Cross the road and follow New Change between the Festival Gardens on the left and the Reflection Garden. on the right. Take the first right onto Watling Street.

Free Self-guided Walking Tour of London: Watling Street

We will start the final part of our journey through London’s long and complex history by following the Roman road, Watling Street. In Roman times, this road ran all the way from Kent to St Albans and, at that end, is reputedly the site of the Battle of St Albans, where Queen Boudicca’s army which had sacked Colchester and London was finally defeated, ending resistance to Roman rule in Britain.

Follow Watling Street for about 200 yards, possibly stopping for some light refreshment at one of the old pubs which stand here. On the right-hand side of the street here, outside the 16th century church, St Mary Aldebury, sits a life-size statue of a master showmaker, or cordwainer.

Cordwainers were highly skilled shoemakers who created footwear from the finest goatskin leather. The craftsmen sourced this material from Cordoba, Spain, hence their name.

London Free Walking Tour: Mansion House

When you arrive at a complex junction, take the 2nd left onto Queen Victoria Street.

This will bring you past The Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. The building features a colonnaded portico in the Palladian style and is used to host grand functions for the likes of foreign heads of state. The Chancellor’s annual keynote speech on the state of Britain’s economy is also held here.

London Free Walking Tour: Bank Station.

Bank station, the start and end point of the tour is opposite the Mansion House.

Conclusion 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this walk through the history of this great city. If you did, please leave a message. I’ve done this walk many times, and I’ve used multiple friends and relatives as guinea pigs, but if any of the instructions didn’t work for you, let me know and I’ll update them.

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