The index · every route, walked or not

Everything, in the order I trust it.

Walked routes first, then the ones I have put together. The five facts on every line are the same five you get on the route page, in the same order.

Walked, and I would send you.

Putney for River Air and a Proper Music Pub

A Thames walk, a proper pub pause and an unfussy Italian dinner before a real music room – if the listing earns it.

Putney Bridge · three to five hours · gentle · under £30 · toilets at the station and the pub

Walked twice, most recently in March, both times in bad weather. The whole route, hour by hour.

Hampstead When You Want to Pretend You Left London

Start by the Heath, take the ponds seriously, then climb to Kenwood before tiny cafés and a properly useful pub finish.

Hampstead Heath · four to five hours · a proper walk · under £30 · toilets at the pub

Walked end to end in August, from the Overground rather than the Tube. The whole route, hour by hour.

Put together from places I know.

Order and timings are my guess. No photographs, because I have not stood there with this route in mind.

Bloomsbury After Rain

Squares, books and somewhere warm: an indoor-outdoor route for days that should not be written off.

Russell Square · two to four hours · flat · under £30 · toilets at the museums

Never done in one afternoon. What I think it is.

Rotherhithe for River Air and Old Dock Melancholy

Warehouses, water and an old-room finish for a quieter stretch of the Thames.

Canada Water · 3–4 hours · gentle · under £30

What I think it is.

Crystal Palace, Slightly Up a Hill and Away

Views, eccentric park details and a pub finish that earns itself.

Crystal Palace · 3–4 hours · a proper walk · under £30

What I think it is.

Stoke Newington for Books, Graves and a Decent Pint

A gentle north London route with quiet pauses and somewhere warm at the end.

Stoke Newington rail or 73 bus · 2–4 hours · gentle · under £30

What I think it is.

Walthamstow, Market First, Village Later

Start with noise and food, then let the afternoon become smaller and more local.

Walthamstow Central · 3–4 hours · gentle · under £30

What I think it is.

Woolwich for the Barrier, Big Sky and Strange Edges

An industrial river walk for when a proper urban hike sounds restorative.

Woolwich · Half day · a proper walk · free-ish

What I think it is.

Clerkenwell for an Old-City Evening Without West End Fuss

Short streets, old rooms and enough food to make the evening feel considered.

Farringdon · 2–4 hours · flat · £30–£70

What I think it is.

King’s Cross for Water, Graves and a Properly Low-Stakes Pint

A canal-side start, a quiet churchyard and an easy pub finish for two people who do not need a big plan.

King’s Cross St Pancras · 2–3 hours · gentle · under £30

What I think it is.

Harringay Green Lanes for the Grill and the Gin Palace

A Victorian pub, Turkish grills and a long, lively street that still behaves like a neighbourhood.

Harringay Green Lanes · 2–4 hours · gentle · under £30

What I think it is.

Brixton, Market First, Windmill Later

A district walk for grazing, local pubs and an unknown band worth taking a chance on.

Brixton Underground · 3–4 hours · a proper walk · under £30 plus ticket

What I think it is.

Kentish Town, Assembled from the Shortlist

Two backstreet pubs and a small music room, wired into one easy north London evening.

Kentish Town · 2–4 hours · gentle · under £30 plus ticket

What I think it is.

Deptford, the Unpolished High Street

A market-day walk for street voltage, an old churchyard and a Caribbean finish under the arches.

Deptford rail · 2–4 hours · gentle · under £30

What I think it is.

Little Venice to Kensal Green, the Home Stretch

Painted boats, a quieter canal towpath and a cemetery finish that is deliberately more local than central.

Warwick Avenue · 3–4 hours · a proper walk · £30–£70

What I think it is.

Kew Without the Gardens, Then Old Chiswick

A village green, Thames pubs, free historic grounds and Thai dinner in a properly old local.

Kew Gardens (Mildmay line from Willesden Junction) · 4–5 hours · a proper walk · £30–£70

What I think it is.

Marlow to Hambleden, Then the Long Way Home

A train-out Thames walk for river meadows, two locks, a proper village pub and the satisfying simplicity of walking back the way you came.

Marlow rail station · 5–6 hours plus train travel · a proper walk · train fare + pub lunch

What I think it is.

Chesham to Rickmansworth, Following the Chalk Water

A full Met-line day for a rare clear river, valley villages and one proper pub pause before the long ride home.

Chesham Underground station · 5–6 hours plus Tube travel · a proper walk · Tube fare + pub lunch

What I think it is.

Box Hill, Three Ridges and the Pub at the Bottom

A direct train from Waterloo for chalk climbs, long views and a route that earns one last drink near the platform.

Box Hill & Westhumble rail station · 5–6 hours plus train travel · a proper walk · train fare + final pub stop

What I think it is.

Shoeburyness to Old Leigh, Following the Tide Line

An end-of-the-railway walk: garrison walls first, then a long flat coast and one old fishing-town finish.

Shoeburyness rail station · 5–6 hours plus train travel · a proper walk · train fare + a pub finish

What I think it is.

Theydon Bois to Chingford, the Forest Without a Viewpoint

A long Epping Forest crossing for oak, heath, damp ground and a day that has no need to become a pub crawl.

Theydon Bois Underground station · 5–6 hours plus travel · a proper walk · Tube fare + packed food

What I think it is.

Ruislip to Harefield, the Metropolitan Line Goes Off-Grid

A gentle edge-of-London day for a reservoir, old woods, café coffee and a quiet village finish.

Ruislip Underground station · 5–6 hours plus Tube travel · a proper walk · Tube fare + café stop

What I think it is.

Lea Marshes to Tottenham Hale, Reservoirs and the Quiet Infrastructure

Start at the marshes, not a station: river paths, football fields, reservoirs and one useful café inside the city’s water system.

Lea Marshes, Lea Bridge Road / Lee Valley Ice Centre · 4½–5½ hours · a proper walk · free + optional café

What I think it is.

Harold Wood to Rainham, the Elizabeth Line Finds a River Valley

A direct train from Stratford, then Pages Wood, the Ingrebourne and the outer-London fields that do not feel quite suburban.

Harold Wood rail station · 5–6 hours plus travel · a proper walk · rail fare + packed food

What I think it is.

Three words for effort, used the same way on every route: flat, gentle, a proper walk. They are defined in Terms used here.