London...walking times?
 

Received much useful info with my last post.
M kingdom 2: I have put your walk on my itinerary, and am especially looking forward to Kensington Palace Gardens Road and the houses along it. I had not planned on spending time in that area and now will make a point of getting there. Speck deli sounds great.
Anonymous and Janis: I moved my out of town tour to a day I do not have theater tickets.
Kaudrey: super tip about going to Heathrow first and getting rid of luggage before going to Windsor. Had not realized Windsor was so close to Heathrow.
Elaine: have just starting reading your incredible London file and msg re Changing of Guards on board. Was glad to see tips re Changing of Guard. I will omit it in favor of spending more time elsewhere.

I am trying to get a handle on walking times ( I walk about a 20 min/mile) between various places. I want to maximize my time and don?t want to waste time on the Tube when walking would be quicker, and vice versa.

Can anyone help me with time/mile approximations of any of the following walking distances? I am staying at The Strand but used Somerset House as nearest landmark. Strand is opposite Savoy Hotel.

1. Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge
2. Across Waterloo Bridge from Somerset House to Waterloo Station
3. Across Tower Bridge to London Eye
4. Somerset House to Tower Bridge
5. Somerset House to Regent Street (looking for British Visitor Center)
6. Somerset House to British Museum
7. Somerset House to Harrods
8. Somerset House to Westminster Cathedral (for Sunday service)
9. London Eye to Shakespeare's Globe
10. Marble Arch to Somerset House
11. Victoria Station to Charing Cross Station by foot

Am finding Journey Planner on London tube site helpful, although I find if I put in street address of StrandPalace (372 Strand) , it locates me on the other side of Aldwych. Have to spend more time trying to understand busses. Find getting a handle on public transportation a priority in new city. I tend to try to walk everywhere, and that is sometimes a mistake.

I know London is huge...any comparisions to size of New York City?

Also, despite being an English lit teacher, I have omitted Stratford in favor of Oxford and Bath, as I have read Stratford is really a "Shakespeare Disneyland." Any comments?

It's not Journey Planner but Multi Map which is putting the Strand on the other side of Aldwych.

Since you have no bicycle, for many of these journeys busses are so frequent that even including the wait for a bus busses give the fastest transit. I show walking time, and mark B or U those journeys best done by bus, except in the rush hours to 0930 and from 1700 to 1830, when the Underground is better. On each journey I have marked B there are direct bus services, or services with one change, and outside the rush hour these are quicker than walking. On journeys I have marked B (all day) the busses are the fastest route any time of day.

1. Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge
1 hour. B or U

2. Across Waterloo Bridge from Somerset House to Waterloo Station
15 mins. B (all day)

3. Across Tower Bridge to London Eye
From Somerset House across Waterloo Bridge to London Eye 20 mins. B (all day)
From Tower to London Eye 1 hour. B or U

4. Somerset House to Tower Bridge
3 hours. B or U

5. Somerset House to Regent Street (looking for British Visitor Center)
15 mins. B

6. Somerset House to British Museum
15 mins. B (all day)

7. Somerset House to Harrods
3 hours. B or U

8. Somerset House to Westminster Cathedral (for Sunday service)
15 mins. B (all Sunday)

9. London Eye to Shakespeare's Globe
2 hours. B (all day)

10. Marble Arch to Somerset House
3 hours. B or U

11. Victoria Station to Charing Cross Station by foot
2 hours. B or U

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Ben has give you a wonderful response. Just two comments/corrections. I can't see how it would take you two hours to walk from the Eye to the Globe. That riverside walk is barely 1.5 miles.

Also - do you mean Westminster Abbey or Westminster Cathedral?

Ben,

Are B & U different bus routes? I'm going to london in september and this info is extremely useful, so I just wanted to clarify.

Thanks

In Ben's post B = bus, U = Underground (the tube)

Ben,

Well...If I'd used my brain a bit more, I probably would have figured that out! :) Thank you for not calling me stupid!

oops,

I mean "Janis" thank you...okay, I'm blaming this total brain malfunction on horrible sinus problems. ;;)

It is nearly 2 miles from Somerset House to Westminster Cathedral. I think you would have to add at least 20 minutes to Mr. H's estimate.

Thank you, especially Ben, for all the wonderful advice. I am making notes and revisions to my plans as I go through this information.

Have studied this a bit further and your responses have pointed out one of my travel foibles...I tend to see parts of cities as closer than they really are.

You have saved me much wasted time.

I did mean Westminster Cathedral, as I read there is a great boys' choir there for Sunday service.

I am also going to try a candlelight concert (where in the schedule, I am not sure....) at St. Martins in the Fields.

I am trying to restrict my museum viewing to just a few....Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, British Museum and London Museum. Also, Great Court of British Museum is open until 11 Thurs.-Sat, and I read that it is not too crowded then, so I will try to do the highlights Museum tour during the day and wander back for a little atmosphere some evening.

I know several museums are open Wed. night, but I have scheduled that day for Paris, as I am leaving on a Thursday and figure it won't matter that I get back late from Paris and am tired...I can sleep on the way home.

BenH has been wonderfully thorough, as always, but I just wonder if either Victoria Stn or Charing X have moved recently. You see, I'm not in London right now but it used to be my home and I can't see that it would take 2 hours to walk between those 2 places. The way I visualise it - you come out of Victoria Stn and turn right up Victoria St. Maybe 30 mins to walk to Parliament Sq. Then straight up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square (20 mins), and Charing X is just round the corner. Either my memory is starting to conk out or Ben is factoring in time to stop and look at stuff!

I think that all Mr. Haines' estimates for the longer distances need recalculation. For example, if it takes 3 hours to walk between Marble Arch and Somerset House at smroan's pace of 3 miles per hour, that implies the distance is 9 miles. I think it is more like 3 miles. Perhaps Mr. Haines inadvertently used a pace of one mile per hour.

smroan, if the concert you are planning to attend is mostly about the candlelight, with the music secondary, St Martin's in the Field is fine. If the music is primary, you may want to look at St. James Piccadilly concerts. Some of their evening concerts are candlelight, but the number of candles are minimal. But you are more likely to get a real orchestra than a pick-up band.