Start the tour

Self-guided free tour

The City and the Tower: Fire, money and ravens

Free · no booking Loop route

Duration
2 h 5 min approx.
Distance
4.7 km on foot
Stops
9 stops

A walk through the City, the oldest heart of London and today its financial district: St Paul's Cathedral, which survived the Blitz, the Bank of England, a Victorian market on top of the Roman forum and the skyscrapers with nicknames. You go as far as the Tower of London and its bridge, and come back by the Monument to the Great Fire of 1666, the blaze that shaped everything you will have seen. About two hours and roughly four and a half kilometres, not counting time inside buildings; entry to the cathedral, the Tower and the Monument is paid.

Start and end St Paul's Cathedral

Get there

The route

The 1 marks where the tour starts and ends.

The 9 stops

At each one, a story of about two minutes.

  1. 1

    St Paul's Cathedral Start

    190 m · 3 min on foot

  2. 2

    Paternoster Square and Temple Bar

    770 m · 11 min on foot

  3. 3

    Bank and the Royal Exchange

    450 m · 6 min on foot

  4. 4

    Leadenhall Market

    150 m · 2 min on foot

  5. 5

    Lloyd's building and the skyscrapers

    580 m · 8 min on foot

  6. 6

    All Hallows by the Tower

    180 m · 3 min on foot

  7. 7

    Tower of London

    350 m · 5 min on foot

  8. 8

    Tower Bridge

    800 m · 11 min on foot

  9. 9

    The Monument

    1.2 km · 17 min back to the start

  10. Back at St Paul's Cathedral

    The tour ends where it started.

How it works

  1. 1. Get to the start

    Head to the starting point and tap “Start the tour”.

  2. 2. Listen

    At each stop, tap “I'm here” and listen to the story.

  3. 3. Follow the map

    Follow the map to the next stop. No rush.

Before you set off

Bring headphones and a charged phone: audio and map use up battery.

  • It is a loop: you finish where you started.
  • Stop whenever you like. Your progress is saved on this phone.
  • The route and the texts load when you start, so it keeps working with patchy coverage.
  • The walk stays outdoors. The time does not include going inside the buildings.
  • Available in Spanish and English.
Photo credits
  • 1. St Paul's Cathedral: Mark Fosh · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 2. Paternoster Square and Temple Bar: gren · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • 3. Bank and the Royal Exchange: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 4. Leadenhall Market: Diliff · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 5. Lloyd's building and the skyscrapers: Stephen Richards · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 6. All Hallows by the Tower: Ethan Doyle White · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 7. Tower of London: Hilarmont · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons
  • 8. Tower Bridge: Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • 9. The Monument: Eluveitie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons