British Museum to Covent Garden, London: free self-guided walking tour
Quick answer. A free self-guided walking tour from the British Museum to Covent Garden in London: 3 stops, about 2.3 km, about 30 minutes of walking plus about 20 minutes of listening. 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.
- Stops:
- 3
- Distance:
- about 2.3 km
- Walking:
- about 30 min
- Listening:
- about 20 min
British Museum to Covent Garden, London: how long does the walk take?
About 50 minutes in all: about 30 minutes on foot over about 2.3 km, plus about 20 minutes of audio at the 3 stops. Time inside the sites is extra.
British Museum to Covent Garden, London: in what order should you visit the stops?
Follow the stops in this order: British Museum, Soho, and Covent Garden. The longest stretch between two stops is about 1.2 km, about 16 min on foot.
Route and map
Navigate with Google Maps, listen with Mappu: the stories keep playing while you follow the route.
Opens Google Maps with walking directions through every stop.
Stop 1
The Rosetta Stone came into British hands after the French surrender of Egypt in 1801 and has been in the museum ever since.
about 7 min of audio
Next stop: Soho · about 1.2 km, about 16 min on foot
Stop 2
In 1997 the artist Rick Buckley secretly fixed plaster casts of his own nose to Soho’s buildings, a silent protest against surveillance cameras.
about 7 min of audio
Next stop: Covent Garden · about 1.1 km, about 15 min on foot
Stop 3
Told to build a church little better than a barn, Inigo Jones promised the Earl of Bedford the finest barn in Europe.
about 7 min of audio
The stop stories are AI-generated audio guides and can contain mistakes. Check opening hours and tickets on the official sites.
How does this self-guided walking tour work?
The audio guides on this page stay free: open any stop to listen in your browser.
Walk Mode uses your location to narrate places as you walk. It opens in the Mappu app at the first stop, British Museum. Your first walk is free for three stops with a free Mappu account.
Walk Mode: 2 hours for 50 credits (€4.99 Starter pack)
Self-guided audio walk. No guide accompanies you. Not affiliated with the sites.
Before you go
- Check opening hours, tickets and access on each site’s official page before you go.
- Distances and times are estimates: the walking route between stops, from OpenStreetMap, at 4.5 km/h. Your route on the street may differ.
More walking tours in London
Borough Market to Tower Bridge, London
3 stops · about 1.9 km · about 25 min on foot · about 20 min of audioBorough Market → Tower of London → Tower BridgeSee the routeBuckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square, London
3 stops · about 2.5 km · about 35 min on foot · about 20 min of audioBuckingham Palace → Westminster Abbey → Trafalgar SquareSee the route
Plan more days in London
These day-by-day Mappu itineraries include London. The day links open the days that visit stops on this walk.
Route checked by Mappu on October 21, 2026. Stop descriptions come from each place’s published Mappu audio guide. Mappu is a Fenutech product.