The City
Holborn to Blackfriars – This walk delves into the heart of British law and includes a visit to the good Dr. Johnson’s house.
Tube: Holborn
Walk down Kingsway to Aldwych. Bush House on Aldwych is home to the BBC World Service. Follow the building to the right and turn left down India Place. Across the Strand is Somerset House, with its lovely courtyard. Its north wing houses the Courtauld Gallery, filled with old masters and Impressionist paintings, while the south wing contains the Gilbert Collection of decorative arts.
At the riverfront side of the building make your way down to the street level, where Somerset House’s original riverboat lies beneath the glass floor. Turn left along Embankment and left up Middle Temple Lane in to Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court, a collection of buildings where London’s lawyers, or barristers, have their chambers. Exit the building via Essex Court in front of the magnificent turrets and spires of the Royal Courts of Justice, which houses some 60 courts. Turn right now along Fleet Street. The many newspapers that once had their offices here such as the Times, Telegraph and the Sun have moved on. Only the news agency Reuters remains.
Turn left up narrow Hind Corner and follow it up to Gough Square where the inimitable Dr. Samuel Johnson lived from 1748 to 1759. His house is maintained as an excellent museum. Exit Gough Square past the statue of Johnson’s cat, Hodge, and go right into Wine Office Court. Ye Old Cheshire Cheese pub, rebuilt in 1667, was a regular haunt of Johnson’s. Turn left on Fleet Street and then right at Bridge Lane and right again into New Bridge Street, where you will find Blackfriars tube.
The City - London’s financial district has survived wars, plagues, great fires, and even the greed of the 1980s.
Tube: Tower Hill
Walk across Trinity Square, down Muscovy Street, and right onto Seething Lane. Diarist Samuel Pepys lived here and is buried at the end of the street in the Church of St. Olaf. Glance backwards down Seething Lane and imagine him perched atop the Tower of All-Hallows, surveying the Great Fire of 1666 with increasing alarm. The steps of London Street take you past Fenchurch Street station to Billiter Street.
Ahead, in the distance, Sir Norman Foster’s Swiss Re Bank Building boldly announces the twenty-first century, while a left on Fenchurch Avenue to Lime Street leads to Richard Roger’s Lloyds Insurance Building. A quick left on Lime Street and a right on Leadenhall Place reveals Leadenhall Market. Exit the market at the far end at Gracechurch Street. Cross the street and nip into Bell Inn Yard, then turn right into St. Michael’s Alley to reach the Jamaica Wine House, established in 1652 as London’s first coffeehouse.
Pass into Castle Court and make a sharp right into Ball Court. At Simpson’s Tavern traditional British fare has been served since 1757. Re-emerging into the modern City, turn left and cross over Cornhill to gain entrance to the read or the Royal Exchange. The frantic traders of old have been replaced by retailers like Gucci. Exit through the front entrance to appreciate the building’s neoclassical architecture. To the right, the windowless Bank of England keeps watch over its gold reserves. Turn right onto Prince’s Street and left onto Lothbury to the Guildhall, home of the Museum of Clocks. Leave the Guildhall via King Street and turn right onto Cheapside to head to St. Paul’s tube.
St. Paul’s – the oldest area in London is densely packed with historical sites, including Christopher Wren’s finest church.
Tube: Blackfriars
The Blackfriars area is named after the religious order whose monastery once stood nearby. Leave the tube station from exit 2. Head down Queen Victoria Street, turn left onto Wardrobe Terrace and walk up St. Andrew’s Hill and right onto Carter Lane. On your right Wardrobe Place was the site of a royal armaments depot that burned to the ground in 1666. The fire also destroyed the original St. Paul’s Cathedral; the new one, Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, can be seen at the top of Dean’s Court. It dominates the area and somehow survived the blitz of World War II. A combination ticket offers access to its highlights, including the acoustic wizardry of the Whispering Gallery, the stunning views from the Stone and Golden Galleries, the Crypt and the American Memorial Chapel.
After exiting the cathedral, walk around to the north side and turn right onto New Change and left on the Watling Strret. Follow this ancient Roman road and turn left on Bow Lane to St. Mary-le-Bow Church. Those born within the sound of its bells are said to be true cockneys. There are good eateries on the Lane; try Zucatto for Italian or Tao for Japanese.
After lunch return down Bow Lane and turn left at the white stone tower of St. Mary Aldermary, built in 1510. Cross the junction at the lights and turn left onto Cannon Street. At number 111 is the London Stone. The 3,000 year old stone was once thought to be the mystical guardian of the City, and all distances from London were measured from it. At the end of Cannon Street, descend into Monument tube station.
Barbican to Covent Garden – This walk lead past one of the world’s oldest meat markets, ancient Inns of Court and the City’s quirkiest museum.
Tube: Barbican
A walk down Long Lane from the tube bring you to the famous Smithfield’s Meat Market, once the scene of jousting, royal tournaments and grisly executions. The modern-day market takes place in a network of restored Victorian buildings; most of the meat traders are gone by 9am (local pubs open at 6am!). Long Lane becomes West Smithfield where the Bishop’s Finger Pub serves great sausages.
A few feet away is the 13th century stone gateway to St. Bartholomew-the-Great, the second-oldest church in the city (the oldest is the Tower of London). Pass the William Wallace plaque and turn left onto Giltspur Street. The Old Bailey (England’s main criminal court) can be seen straight ahead as you turn right along Holborn Viaduct and onto Holborn,
Take a left into the gabled façade of Staple Inn. Pass through the right-hand exit into Southampton Buildings, and head left down Chancery Lane and right onto Carey Street. Join the legal bigwigs at Roxy Beaujolais’ Seven Stars pub, in operation for over 400 years. Turn right at Serle Street into the vast Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The gate on the right takes you into Lincoln’s Inn Hall, one of the four Inns of Court (where London’s barristers are trained). The gardens are open to the public from 12-2pm .
Retrace your steps to Lincoln’s Inn Fields and right the doorbell of the Sir John Soanes Museum which remains exactly as architect Soanes left it in 1837. Exit the square via Remnant Street. Cross Kingsway into Great Queen Street. Past the colossal Grand Masonic lodge is Long Acre and, finally, Covent Garden tube.
