Customer Reviews

Walking London: Thirty Original Walks In and Around London

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The only problem with this book is that one would have to live in London to have the time to do all 30 walks! The level of detail for the walks is just right - long enough to make it interesting, short enough that it can be read and followed while actually doing the walk. Each walk has a summary paragraph; the start and finish location with Underground and Bus information on how to reach that location; the length [distance]of the walk; the time required to do the walk; information on refreshments en route; and then the walk itself with a route map of the walk. For added flexibility, the map and commentary allow one to start/stop each walk at just about any point on the route. I teach an Insider's London class and recommend this book for both first-time and return visitors.

I used this guide while walking in London two years ago, and I'm taking it to London again this summer. The variety of walks is a joy. I did not see this book on sale while in London, and some English friends saw mine and wanted a copy for themselves. No wonder--it's that good. If you like to walk and do other exploring besides the usual London tourist things, then don't go to England without a copy of this book in your suitcase or backpack. My only suggestion to the author is to bind future editions of the the book in a way that the chapters can be removed and replaced. So I wouldn't have to carry the whole book along, I tore the pages out for each walk I did, and then taped them back in place afterward, but there must be a better way.

Highly recommended if you are planning an extended stay in London, or have been there a few times already and seen the major sites.

My favorite memories of six months spent working in London were of the walks I took from this book just about every weekend. Some of the walks are short enough that you can do two or three in a day, depending on what adventures arise. The best for me was Kew to Hammersmith, along the Thames, an all day walk, where I had tea in a church basement, a pint in a pub on Strand-on-the-Green, got caught in a rainstorm in a church graveyard, got lost in the woods on the grounds of Chiswick Manor...my workmates were very impressed, and started asking to come along!

I wanted to get to know the city in more than the typical touristy way, and this book made it possible. The walks were really the highlight of my four weeks of study in London; I met so many interesting, friendly people and saw so many things that might not have been destinations in and of themselves but were memorable as part of the walks. I was a college student (female) traveling alone when I used this book, and it gave me the confidence to explore many places that I wouldn't otherwise have ventured to, simply because I had some sense of what I could expect when I arrived. One of the most amusing moments was when I bumped into another walking tourist at the Portabello Road market...he also had a copy of the book and was following the Notting Hill tour on the same morning that I was.

This book is wonderful for doing walking tours of London on your own and seeing the neighborhoods close-up rather than just the gloss over the tour companies give. The variety of the walks in this book is excellent in length and variety of things to see. We needed to use another map to get us back on the walking tour in a couple of places but mostly that was because we were staring at the sights rather than following the tour directions properly. The times given for the tours are definitely at a leisurely pace that allows for plenty of time to look at the shops and sites along the way. Showing starting and stopping points at the Tube stops made the walks very easy to get to.

London is a wonderful city for people who like to walk. It's flat, central London isn't all that huge, there are gobs of beautiful parks and there are even some public toilets in the parks, benches and drinking fountains. "Walking London" is a fine guide to a series of multi-neighborhood walks and well worth buying. It would be better if it were available in an electronic form that could go on an iPod since carrying a book this size along on a walk detracts from the walk somewhat. Even so, buy the book and copy the pages for walks you intend to take.

Highly recommended by my friends who use it extensively. They find it more cost effective than group tours and, of course, it allows the user to set their own pace, rather than follow that of a group.

So much good information. Can't wait to start walking! So many walks, so little time!

This book looked like a great idea, and certainly had a number of walks that looked interesting, but after we got to London we didn't end up taking any of them. One drawback is if you wanted to take a walk you'd have to drag the whole book with you. It really needs tear out pages. Part of our problem was the weather - cold and rainy, not a big surprise for London in April - didn't really make walking all that attractive. The other problem was our 13 daughter wasn't all that into any of the walks listed. It would probably we useful for adults and a trip when you can expect nicer weather.

Want to go to London, without leaving home? Or write about an adventure in London? This work is golden.