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London walking tours, free and self-guided

3 free walks through London that you take on your own, whenever you like. Each has a route map, its stops in walking order and a free audio guide at every stop that you play in your browser.

Self-guidedNo guide meets you: you follow the map and listen on your phone. Looking for a free walking tour with a live guide, the kind you pay for with a tip? The guided tours are further down this page.

See the guided tours

Is there a free walking tour in London?

Quick answer. Yes, of two kinds. Mappu has 3 free self-guided walks in London: you walk the route on your own and play a free audio guide at every stop, with no booking and no tip. The free walking tours that tour companies run in London have a live guide, leave at set times and usually ask for a tip at the end; you book those with the company.

Self-guided walks in London

Route map: Borough Market to Tower Bridge, London3 numbered stops in walking order. Stop 1: Borough Market; Stop 2: Tower of London; Stop 3: Tower Bridge.Stop 1: Borough Market1Stop 2: Tower of London2Stop 3: Tower Bridge3
3 numbered stops in walking order.

Borough Market to Tower Bridge, London

3 stops · about 1.9 km · about 25 min on foot · about 20 min of audio

Start at Borough Market, where food has been traded near the south end of London Bridge since at least 1014, under a portico that began life as the Floral Hall of the Royal Opera House. Cross the river to the Tower of London, whose White Tower was begun in the 1070s, and finish on Tower Bridge, the bascule bridge Sir Horace Jones designed in Victorian Gothic to match the Tower. Entry to the Tower is ticketed.

The stops and their free audio guides

  1. Borough Marketfree audio guide, about 7 min
  2. Tower of Londonfree audio guide, about 7 min
  3. Tower Bridgefree audio guide, about 7 min
See the walk
Route map: Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square, London3 numbered stops in walking order. Stop 1: Buckingham Palace; Stop 2: Westminster Abbey; Stop 3: Trafalgar Square.Stop 1: Buckingham Palace1Stop 2: Westminster Abbey2Stop 3: Trafalgar Square3
3 numbered stops in walking order.

Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square, London

3 stops · about 2.5 km · about 35 min on foot · about 20 min of audio

Start at Buckingham Palace, a red-brick house built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 before George III bought it in 1761, and walk to Westminster Abbey, where every coronation has taken place since William the Conqueror in 1066. Finish in Trafalgar Square, completed in 1844, beneath Nelson’s Column and its four bronze lions. Entry to the Abbey is ticketed.

The stops and their free audio guides

  1. Buckingham Palacefree audio guide, about 7 min
  2. Westminster Abbeyfree audio guide, about 7 min
  3. Trafalgar Squarefree audio guide, about 7 min
See the walk
Route map: British Museum to Covent Garden, London3 numbered stops in walking order. Stop 1: British Museum; Stop 2: Soho; Stop 3: Covent Garden.Stop 1: British Museum1Stop 2: Soho2Stop 3: Covent Garden3
3 numbered stops in walking order.

British Museum to Covent Garden, London

3 stops · about 2.3 km · about 30 min on foot · about 20 min of audio

Start at the British Museum, whose building, fronted by Robert Smirke’s Ionic portico, was completed in 1857. Walk into Soho, whose name is believed to come from a hunting cry, to Broadwick Street, where Doctor John Snow had the handle of a water pump removed to stop the cholera outbreak of 1854. Finish in Covent Garden, the monks’ convent garden that Inigo Jones turned into London’s first planned square.

The stops and their free audio guides

  1. British Museumfree audio guide, about 7 min
  2. Sohofree audio guide, about 7 min
  3. Covent Gardenfree audio guide, about 7 min
See the walk

Prefer a live guide?

Guided walking tours in London leave from a meeting point at set times with a local guide. Some are free and run on tips, others have a fixed price. Mappu does not run them: the partner below lists them, so you can compare and book.

Self-guided walk or guided free tour?

A Mappu walk is free and on your own time: start when you like, stop for a coffee, skip a stop, and listen to each place’s story in your browser. In the Mappu app, Walk Mode narrates each place as you walk: at the walk, your first two stories are free with a free Mappu account, and after that Walk Mode uses credits.

A guided tour gives you a person to ask and a group to walk with, at the tour’s time and pace. On a free tour that runs on tips, you pay what you think it was worth at the end.

More for your visit to London