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Start the New Year With a London walk

Friday, January 1st, 2010

Happy New Year. Why not blow away the cobwebs by taking one of many London walks that will show you the hidden places of this magical City?

A good starting point for this London Walking Tour is Temple Underground Station.

Turn right out of the station and then swing left along the Victoria Embankment. Having crossed over Temple Place pause to admire the ferocious silver dragon that stands on a plinth by the road. He is the guardian of the City of London and marks the boundary where the City of Westminster ends and the City of London begins.

Continue past him and go left through the first gate you encounter.

The arch ahead might look familiar if you’ve seen the new Sherlock Holmes movie as it features in the film.

Keep going up the incline of Middle Temple Lane and pause in the courtyard on the left. To your left is Middle Temple Dining hall which dates from the 1570’s.  A little further along go right through the arch and enter Pump Court. High up on he wall on the left is a sun dial that dates from the 1680’s and on which you will read the motto “shadows we are and like shadows depart.”

Keep ahead through the cloisters and on your left is one of London’s true treasures Temple Church which was built by the Knights Templar in 1185. It features in the film and the book of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.

Go clockwise round the church and when on its other side cross to the railings where, on the ground, you will find the tomb gravestone of author Oliver Goldsmith.

Backtrack and, at the end of this first walk, go right and out through the fate onto Fleet Street.

Take a stroll along Fleet Street looking our for the magnificent clock on St Dunstan’s In The West, which dates from 1683 and where two giants still chime the hour.

If you keep going all the way along Fleet Street and then over and up Ludgate Hill you will come to St Paul’s Cathedral.

On just a short walk you will have seen much, explored some lovely old parts of London and ended at one of her iconic sights and sites.

These are the sort of things that our London walks make possible. If you would like a print off free tour of London then why not enjoy our Harry Potter London Tour simply send an email request to

harry-potter-pdf@discovery-walks.com

and our automated dispatch will send it to you by return.

More London Freebies - Walks and Things

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

In addition to our free London walks we like to keep you updated on all the wonderful things to do in London that are absolutely free of charge.

Each week we scout the streets to come up with a handful of locations that you can reach by doing your own London walks and which won’t cost you a penny to experience and dsicover.

Why not take a London walk along Strand and Fleet Street?

Now at first glance you might think these are just busy London thoroughfares with not a great deal worth delaying your journey over.

But you would be wrong. On Strand, for example,  you will find the Royal Courts of justice a magnificent Gothic revival pile that bears a striking resemblence to a Cathedral.

It is in fact the law Courts and you can go inside its hallowed interior and sit in on the trials taking place in the various courts. Criminal Appeal cases and Civil Cases are the order of the day. Be warned that they don’t allow cameras inside the building so don’t try to smuggle one in. But of you can bear to leave the camera behind then you can spend as much or as little time inside the cases as you please.

A little further along is the entrance to the Temple and just inside its gate is the Temple Church, built by the Knights Templar in 1185. In recent years this has achieved fame beyond its historic connotations as it was featured in the books and the film of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.

Walk then to the end of Fleet Street and step inside St Bride’s Church. This pretty Wren church was bombed in the Second World War and those bombs uncovered layers of buildings on the site going right back Roman times 2,000 years ago.

Going down in to the crypt you will find a fascinating display of old relics, stone walls and Roman tiles.

So for just a 10 minute walk along a London street you will find three things to do  that can keep you occupied for hours and you won’t have spent a pennny (on admissions that is - there are toilets for the other kind of spending a penny outside the Royal Courts!)

You might like to end your stroll by treating yourself to lunch at a true Fleet Street Survivor ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. This atmospheric old pub was a favourite with Charles Dickens and Dr. Johnson and it has changed little since it was rebuilt in 1667 after the previous pub was burnt down in the Great Fire of London. The food is not exactly a health kick ( steaks, Steak and Kidney pies being the order of the day) but then you can set off on another of your London walks and walk off your lunchtime excesses.

Cheers!