London Bridges Walk; a how-to guide

by Jan 31, 2022 | First published in 2018Adventure, Mini Adventures

London is my favourite place and some of my most loved views come from the bridges that cross the Thames. So I decided to set myself a challenge which I called the London Bridges Walk – to try and hike across all of the bridges in the capital in one day. Could I do it?

I didn’t know if it was possible but purposefully set out with no plan because sometimes that’s how the best adventures come about.

What I ended up with was the perfect London hiking challenge!

This blog acts as a London Bridges Walk self-guide. I’ve laid out all the logistics, put together a route and shared my top tips to make it easy for anyone wanting to give it a go.

London bridges Walk

 

Before we start….

If you are new to this blog, I’m Bex Band – a full-time UK adventurer and founder of the women’s adventure community, Love Her Wild. I’m on a mission to make getting outdoors and going on adventures as easy as possible. You can read more about me here.

If you have any questions, please do use the comments box below. And for ongoing adventure tips and inspiration make sure you follow me on Facebook and Instagram. I’d appreciate it 🙂

London Bridges Challenge; the rules

I must hike across all of the pedestrian bridges that cross the Thames river in London, starting in Hampton Court and finishing at Tower Bridge.

There are 33 London Thames Bridges in total. 7 of them are railway only meaning that 26 are accessible to pedestrians.

Here are the bridges in order (bold are railway access only)

  1. Hampton Court Bridge
  2. Kingston Bridge
  3. Kingston Railway Bridge
  4. Teddington Lock Footbridges
  5. Richmond Bridge
  6. Richmond Railway Bridge
  7. Twickenham Bridge
  8. Richmond Lock and Footbridge
  9. Kew Bridge
  10. Kew Railway Bridge
  11. Chiswick Bridge
  12. Barnes Railway Bridge
  13. Hammersmith Bridge
  14. Putney Bridge
  15. Fulham Railway Bridge
  16. Wandsworth Bridge
  17. Battersea Railway Bridge
  18. Battersea Bridge
  19. Albert Bridge
  20. Chelsea Bridge
  21. Grosvenor Bridge
  22. Vauxhall Bridge
  23. Lambeth Bridge
  24. Westminster Bridge
  25. Hungerford Bridge & Golden Jubilee Bridge
  26. Waterloo Bridge
  27. Blackfriars Bridge
  28. Blackfriars Railway Bridge
  29. Millennium Bridge
  30. Southwark Bridge
  31. Cannon Street Railway Bridge
  32. London Bridge
  33. Tower Bridge

It took me a day to cross them all – just shy of 10 hours. A total of 7 and a half hours of walking and 2 and a half hours resting.

I finished the challenge having clocked up 30.1 miles exactly!

Don’t worry if this distance is too much…..you can easily do a shorter version (taking in the last most exciting central London bridges). More on that below.

London bridges challenge
London bridge Walk

London Bridges walk logistics

Logistically this is a really easy challenge to do. I did it by myself and used Google maps to get me between bridges. Most of the time you can easily follow the Thames via riverside footpaths and don’t need a map (especially as you reach more central London).

The sections where the bridges are far apart I took the most direct route, usually via a road or residential street.

Start and finish

The challenge starts at Hampton Court Station which is right next to your first bridge.

You can get to Hampton Court Station easily on the overground from Waterloo (changing at Surbiton) and Oyster cards are accepted.

The walk ends at Tower Bridge where you can easily get to the Tower Hill Tube Station (on the Circle and District line)

Breaks

There wasn’t as many cafes or pubs on the route as I was expecting. Putney makes a great place for a stop without having to detour (this was around the halfway mark, 15 miles). Here you can find some riverside pubs and a Wetherspoons if you need a cheap meal for a pick-up!

I also had a long break in Vauxhall where there is a convenient Pret and also at the National Theatre which has plenty of comfy seating for a break and a coffee shop.

There was no shortage of benches along the way for a quick stop although my walk was on an especially frosty day so I kept these short.

Accommodation

If you need somewhere to stay in London before or after this challenge I can recommend Park Villa, a clean and quiet hostel that is conveniently located for this walk. They offer both shared and private rooms.

Best route for the London Bridges walk

You will see from my map below that when I crossed Albert Bridge I doubled back on myself. I did this for a number of reasons. It meant that I could walk through Battersea park (which is a nice walk) and could also avoid having to walk the detour around Battersea Power station in Vauxhall.

It also meant that when I finished the challenge I would be on the ‘right side’ of Tower Bridge so I could jump on the Tube at Tower Hill.

You could double back on any bridge before Battersea but Albert is a nice one!

How tough is it?

This was a long day walking 30 miles predominantly on concrete paths. The stairs up and down the bridges were always a welcome break!

By mile 15 my feet were sore and my lower back hurting. This was a challenge for me…but I did complete it and with no training (I’d say I’m active but not especially fit).

The Thames really is a beautiful river with lots of parks along the way. I liked that when you reach central London it gets busy with tourists and street performers so there is plenty of distraction for the last push.

So yes, I’d say it’s tough!

If you are worried about completing the full distance, opt for the half day and start at vauxhall. This will still make the hike a challenging 15 miles and will include all the major central bridges. Really you could pick up the route from anywhere along the way – aiming for a distance that works for you.

Need some inspiration?

Check out Adam’s blog….he ran the route!

My good friends Seanna Fallon and Laura Try also did the London Bridge challenge and made this short film about their day. Check it out for some inspiration:

London Bridges walk map

Section 1: Hampton Court to Twickenham, 3 bridges

Map London Bridge Challenge

Section 2: Twickenham to Kew, 4 bridges

Map London Bridge Challenge

Section 3: Kew to Barnes, 3 bridges

Map London Bridge Challenge

Section 4: Barnes to Battersea, 6 bridges

Map London Bridge Challenge

Section 5: Battersea to City of London, 10 bridges

Are you going to take on the London Bridges Challenge?

Do let me know if you plan to give this London Bridges walk a go? I would love to hear how you get on – let me know in the comments box below.

If you want to spice up this challenge, how about doing it at night and seeing the city all lit up?

Or bringing the bridges walk to a different city?

If you found this blog helpful, please do follow my blog and adventures on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or you can subscribe to my YouTube channel. I give all my advice out for free on my website. If you want to say thanks, you can buy me a coffee!

Any women reading this? I set up Love Her WIld – a women’s adventure community….we organise exciting adventures all over the world for you to join. Find out more – check out our private Facebook page.

18 Comments

  1. Julia Fry

    Hi Bex, what a great challenge! I can imagine the sore feet and lower back ache. I did a similar thing on New Year’s Eve 2016 – I walked from Eastbourne to Brighton overnight. That was only 26 miles but it was very up and down. I admire your tenacity!

    Reply
    • Bex Band

      “only 26 miles”!!! That sounds epic and such a cool way to celebrate the new year. I like it!!
      Thank you Julia 🙂 x

      Reply
  2. onlyhannahcox

    I love absolutely everything about this. What a wonderful challenge and Ive already sent this to several friends as a suggestion for the next time I’m down in London. We need a hashtag #bexbandbridgechallenge !!

    Reply
    • Bex Band

      Amazing. I hope you do it too!! I’m also thinking of organising it again but doing it at night and will invite people to join me (I’d much prefer company next time!). I used #LondonBridgeChallenge ……no way I’m important enough to have my name in there 🙂 xx

      Reply
  3. Ola Walsh

    This is great! Thanks for the detailed rundown. Doing this walk over Christmas with the hubby and will # the hell out of it! x

    Reply
    • Bex Band

      Amazing!! Good luck….Christmas is a great time to do the walk as you’ll get to see all the lights!

      Reply
  4. Jonno

    Great post, what an achievement. We are hoping to do this in September so it’s so interesting to read about your experience and see the route you took. Such a great thing to do.

    Reply
    • Bex Band

      Thank you! And good luck with the challenge in September…it’s a good one 🙂

      Reply
  5. vanda03

    I hope to achieve this in 2021. Hopefully international travel will be up and running.

    Reply
    • Bex Band

      I hope so too!

      Reply
  6. Richa

    I just visited couple of bridges yesterday and planned to do a walk some and here I found your inspirational blog.
    Thanks a ton, this is really helpful. I m planning to do one soon.

    Reply
    • Bex Band

      That’s brilliant!! Good luck – I hope you enjoy the hike 🙂

      Reply
  7. Sheila Docker

    I’ve done organised London bridges walks a few times for a local charity about 10 years ago and keep saying I’d love to do them again.

    Thanks for sharing this. If you do another one, I’d love to tag along.

    Reply
    • Bex Band

      Thank you Sheila! Make sure you join the Love Her Wild community online – if I do it again that’s where I’ll invite others to join me.

      Reply
  8. Laila

    How inspiring! Thank you for sharing this. I’m planning a shorter walk, probably about 15 miles. But I cant decide from where to where! Any hints and tips?

    Reply
    • Bex Band

      From Putney to London Bridge will give you the most interesting hike! Good luck 🙂

      Reply
  9. Laura

    Hi Bex- we finished the London Bridges walk yesterday. Was an amazing way to be outside and socialising despite the rising covid levels in London, and beautiful crisp December weather meant we stopped in lots of pub gardens for a pint 🙂 thanks so much for the recommendation

    Reply
    • Bex Band

      Amazing!! Thank you for letting me know – sounds like you got the perfect balance of pubs/walking. Congratulations! 🙂

      Reply

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