Can you walk everywhere in london




















Each emerged from the murk smiling widely before dashing behind a bush to strip bare. A little further brought me to some scrubby woodland by the North Circular where some tents were strewn amid bonfire barrels and the air screamed with rubber.

Finally, I reached Epping Forest with its great hallways of oak, hornbeam and holly. The components of a nice walk used to be obvious to me: fresh air, a body of water, woods, inclines, horizons. My Lea walk was materially different. The feeling has remained. Beyond its landmarks, London — vast, stinking, dancing, decaying, beautiful London — defies easy categorisation.

In Wanderlust , Rebecca Solnit extols the virtues of city walking. While the country version is accepted as unquestionably good for the soul, she says, there are reasons certain thinkers and poets preferred urban strolls. Kierkegaard, Rousseau, Ginsberg needed for inspiration a ready supply of new experiences and unmediated interactions.

Beyond the central tourist spots, though, there might be even more stimulation. In the sprawl, as the distinction between urban and rural blurs, clarity bends the knee to impression. While trying to cross any road in one of the most congested cities in Europe, the idea of London as a forest feels at best trite semantics, at worst plain misleading. But walk the Capital Ring, which threads through the untrendy outlands and hops from common to copse to river basin, and the idea gains currency.

Of course this is not the forest of naturalist homily, of campfires and marshmallows. Gangling trees fight developers in cracked pavements, sending scouts into every nook. Also, where I am in Indiana, there is no mass transit. We drive everywhere. Another user in the comments said walking was seen as so abnormal in many US states that if you do decide to travel by foot, police may stop you to ask if everything is okay. In , a study by Stanford University found that the average American walked approximately 4, steps a day, roughly 1, steps less than the average in the UK.

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Find one of the many canal routes for a different perspective on London. Walk the Regent's Canal from Camden Lock to King's Cross and see the man-made wonders of the locks used for raising and lowering boats along the way. As well as getting around easily, walking can be a great way to see the sights, either independently or as part of an organised tour.

Walking is a great alternative to using public transport, which helps to improve the air quality in London. You can also improve and maintain your overall health when walking. Increase your cardiovascular fitness by trying to hit 10, steps every day. This can make your bones stronger, reduce excess body fat and boost your endurance. Finding your way in London is easier with a pocket atlas, available from any good bookshop or Tourist Information Centre.

One of these will make London's complex street network much more navigable, such as a Collins Pocket Atlas which is available online. The TfL website features useful resources for walkers.

You can discover leisure routes across the capital, accessibility information and find out about special walking events. Remember that cars drive on the left in the UK, so be careful to look in the correct direction for oncoming traffic when crossing the road.



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