Walking In London -Travel Information on getting around London

Information Centres Guided Walks Your Safety Public toilets

The best way to see London is on foot.  However, the capital has a complicated street layout so a map is essential.  The 'Geographers' A-Z' and 'Collins' London Street Atlas' are now available in a range of sizes and are easy to use, take a look on Amazon.

Getting lost is a fairly frequent occurrence in the capital for everyone, residents and visitors, and Londoners are usually very helpful if you need to ask for directions.  British policemen are also well-known for their patience in dealing with confused or stranded visitors.

Signposts with brown information boards are all over the capital, indicating sights and points of interest to visitors.  In addition, look out for the "blue plaques" attached to many buildings.  These have the names and dates of the notable citizens who have lived there in the past             

Information Centres

The London Tourist Board runs several information centres which will provide a free map of Central London.  These can be found at Britain Visitor Centre, 1 Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Heathrow Airport, Liverpool Street Station, London Visitor Centre, Waterloo International Terminal, Southwark Information Centre, London Bridge, 6 Tooley Street, Victoria Station Forecourt.  There are also tourist information centres in Greenwich and beside St Paul's Cathedral.  

Guided Walks   

Most travel guides to London provide suggested walks around notable parts of the capital.  In addition, several companies, such as 'The Original London Walks' (Tel: 020 7624 3978) and 'City of London Walks' (Tel: 020 7813 3874), organise guided walks around London.  These reasonably priced walks take around 2 hours and are an excellent way to see the city   

Your Safety

Although violent crime is a relatively unusual in London, like all major cities it makes sense to on your guard at all times.   Pickpockets and thieves do target tourists so follow a few simple rules: 

1.  Keep your purse of sight, your handbag securely fastened and keep hold of it.  To be extra safe carry shoulder bags diagonally across your body, with the fastening facing inwards.

2.  Make sure your wallet is out of sight - never keep it in your back pocket. 

3.  Never carry valuables in a backpack. Pickpockets are adept at stealing from these using knives..

4.  Take care when using cashpoint machines and put your cash away discreetly.  Don't flash your money or creditcards around.  

5.  Do not draw attention to yourself by wearing expensive jewellery or wristwatches.  These can easily be snatched.

6.  Never keep all your valuables, passport, creditcards, money etc, together in one place.  If you lose one you will lose everything.

7.  When using public toilets never put your handbag on the ground by the door, there are usually hooks provided on doors to hang up your belongings.

8.  Do not leave your belongings unattended especially in cafés, fast-food restaurants, pubs, cinemas or crowds.  Never leave your wallet or purse on the counter of a shop or on the table of a restaurant while you check the bill.    

9.  Make sure you never leave any luggage unattended, particularly at a station or airport.  All unattended baggage will be considered to be a security risk and will be removed or destroyed on the spot.

Pedestrian Crossings

Once you have got used to the traffic driving on the left, London is a safe city to explore on foot.  When planning a walk try to avoid the rush hours between 08:00 - 09:30 and 16:30 - 18:30 when the pavements and streets are very congested.  Take care when crossing the road and remember that some streets are one-way only.  At crossings look for the markings painted on the street which tell you from which direction you can expect the traffic to come.  There are two types of pedestrian crossings in use in London.

Zebra crossings

London's striped 'zebra crossings' are also marked by flashing amber beacons.  Traffic should stop for pedestrians waiting at a zebra crossing but this is not always the case.  Take care when crossing and make sure the traffic on the farther carriageway has seen you and stopped before you start to walk across.

Push Button Crossings

Traffic will only stop at these crossings when instructed by the traffic lights.  If the traffic is flowing a 'red man' is displayed on the illuminated panel on the far side of the crossing.  Do not attempt to cross if the 'red man' is showing. 

When you wish to cross press the button on the push-button control found beside the crossing.  If it is unsafe to cross the control panel will indicate 'WAIT'.  After traffic has come to a halt the illuminated panel will now display a 'green man' and an electronic bleeping will sound to indicate that it is safe to cross.  After a short while the 'green man' will start to flash.  This indicates that the traffic is about to move again.  On newer push-button crossings all the commands are displayed on the control panels beside the crossing.

Public toilets

Public toilets are often hard to find in London.   Most of the old style supervised public conveniences have now been replaced by coin-operated 'Superloos'.  These self-cleaning toilets have user instructions printed on the outside.  Never let young children use these toilets on their own as they will find it almost impossible to operate the inner door handle on their own. 

Unlike many European cities, London's pubs and restaurants generally reserve their toilets for customers only.  However, all main-line railway stations, but not Underground stations, have supervised public toilets.  These usually charge a small fee.  In the main shopping areas most large department stores have free toilets for the use of customers.