Tour Route of London | London Walking Tour

London’s premier walking trail:the Jubilee Walkway

Jubilee Walkway route

London is a great city for sightseeing on foot – if the weather is fine that is! There are many tourist attractions within close proximity of each other and many visitors would have pounded the pavements to Buckingham Palace and Westminster, strolled around Trafalgar and Leicester Squares, spent time shopping along Oxford Street or dashed off to the Tower of London or to the Embankment to catch the London Eye on their London vacation.

But, to get a better appreciation of where things are in relation to one another, learn more about the key London tourist attractions and not miss out on anything along the way, there’s a more structured way that you can cover London’s sightseeing attractions on foot. You can follow the Jubilee Walkway on your own and its Free!

What is the Jubilee Walkway

The Jubilee Walkway is the London’s premier walking trail and one of the city’s six designated strategic routes. The Walkway was first developed for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. It was designed to connect the majority of key London attractions, so that anyone walking the trail can follow it easily and get to know London sights. “The Walkway was designed so that anyone walking it would have travelled through areas of London noted for entertainment, assembly, ceremonial, and open-air activity, passing many historic sites” said Max Nicholson who was chairman of the London celebrations for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.
Every year on 12th July, there is a walk on the Jubilee Walkway to commemorate Mr Nicholson, the man who initiated it; for details, please see http://www.maxnicholson.com/.

Directional discs, gold discs and panoramic panels

Jubilee Walkway Directional Disc

This London walking tour is approximately 14 miles (23km) long and although some may be able to walk it in a day, it’s probably best to do it over 2 or 3 days to allow yourself time to take in the London sights. Directional discs are set in the footpath at every junction with the cross of the crown pointing you in the direction of travel.

Along the way, panoramic panels installed close to the path also give you a rundown of the views across London from the Walkway. These panoramic panels are also on the Embankment and on many of London’s bridges to identify the buildings along the way. You’ll also see some gold discs on the Walkway which mark special events in the history of the Walkway.

In the year of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, the Jubilee Walkway was completely refurbished. Almost all the panoramic panels were either updated or replaced in order to reflect the changes in London’s skyline. Gold discs were also placed in the following places:

one near Guildhall where the Queen lunched on Golden Jubilee day
three near Poultry panel which the Queen unveiled on 24 October 2002 to mark the completion of the work
six along The Mall to mark the Golden Jubilee spur opened by the Queen on 2 June 2003, the 50th Anniversary of the Coronation; and
a further one on the South Bank to mark the unveiling of a panel by HRH The Duke of Gloucester

The Jubilee Walkway route can be split into five separate itineraries:

Itinerary 1 – The Western Loop walk
Itinerary 2 – The Eastern Loop walk
Itinerary 3 – The City Loop walk
Itinerary 4 – The Camden Loop walk
Itinerary 5 – The Jubilee Loop walk

Following the trail and spotting the directional discs and gold discs on this London walking tour can be a fun activity for children as well. Certainly the Owl’s Trail in Dijon is very popular with kids.