Walk the London Wall: route guide

The route loops around the old City of London, following the line of the Roman and medieval wall as closely as the modern street plan allows. It starts near the Barbican, where the earliest Roman fort stood, and runs counter-clockwise past the surviving gate sites to the Tower of London in the south-east corner.

Use the map above as a rough shape, not a turn-by-turn guide. Street names change, and several wall sections sit inside buildings or below ground. The Museum of London's older Londinium map overlay is a useful cross-check if you want to see the Roman city under the current streets.

The walk divides naturally into three parts: the northern wall around the Barbican and Moorgate, the western and southern gates through Ludgate and Newgate, and the riverside stretch to Tower Hill. You can do any one section in under an hour.

The northern section has the best surviving masonry. Sections near the Barbican were uncovered by wartime bombing and later rebuilding, and you can see Roman stonework at street level. The western gates are mostly names now, but the churches around them still carry the wall in their titles: St Martin-within-Ludgate sits inside the line, St Botolph-without-Aldgate outside it.

The southern stretch follows the river wall, added around 280 AD against Saxon raids. Most of it is gone, but the watergate names survive: Queenhithe, Dowgate, Billingsgate. The Tower of London anchors the south-east corner and has its own watergate.

This is a City of London walk, so the main variable is not weather but foot traffic and opening hours. Weekday mornings are quietest. Weekends are busier around the Barbican and Tower Hill, and the City is quieter overall on Saturdays and Sundays, though some churches and indoor sites close.

April to October gives you the daylight to finish comfortably after work or an afternoon start. In winter, start before 14:00 so you are not walking the last stretch in the dark. Rain is rarely heavy enough to cancel the walk; the route is all paved and you are never far from a café or pub.

Check opening times for any indoor stop you want to enter, especially churches and the Tower of London. Many City churches close on weekends or keep limited hours.

The walk is short enough that you do not need to stay on the route. Most visitors base themselves in the City, Shoreditch, Clerkenwell or Southwark, all within a short Tube or bus ride of Barbican or Tower Hill.

Staying near Barbican or Moorgate puts you at the start. Staying near Tower Hill or London Bridge puts you at the end, which suits an evening at the Tower or along the South Bank. Shoreditch and Clerkenwell are cheaper and have more evening food and drink than the City, which empties after office hours.

Book early for weekday nights in the City; business hotels fill up and prices rise. Weekend rates in the City are often lower than midweek.

Wear shoes you can walk 8 km in on hard pavement. The route is flat but there is no shade on the riverside stretch, so bring water in summer and a light rain jacket year-round. A phone with offline maps is enough; the route is well signposted in places but not continuously.

The walk is free. The only costs are transport to the start, any indoor entry such as the Tower of London, and food or drink along the way. Carry a contactless card or phone for the Tube; London buses no longer take cash.

If you want a guided version, the Museum of London's older London Wall Walk panels are still visible in places, though the official route differs from this one. Check current panel locations before relying on them.