St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul’s Cathedral

Central London

Route: St Paul’s Cathedral to Westminster Abbey

Area: Central London

Date of walk: 30th January 2014

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 4 miles

Ascent: 250 feet

We were staying in London for a couple of days and on the second day we decided to visit St Paul’s Cathedral and go for a walk along the embankment. We caught the bus to St Paul’s and paid the (rather steep) entry fee, though it’s a bargain in retrospect. We climbed up to the Whispering Gallery (257 steps), then to the Stone Gallery (376 steps) and finally to the Golden Gallery (528 steps)

The views are incredible though the journey is not for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia or vertigo – there’s a very narrow winding staircase to climb and there are big drops from the galleries

After admiring the views we walked across the Millenium Bridge to Borough Market, and then along the embankment to the National Theatre where the winning entries to the Landscape Photographer of the Year were being exhibited. There were some beautiful images on show, including several of the Lake District – one of these being the winner

We continued along the embankment as far as Westminster Abbey, which was closed to visitors at the time. No matter, as we’d had a great walk full of interest all the way

Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)

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