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London · Essentials

From Nelson to the royal balcony: picture-postcard London

If you only have one morning in London, this is the walk. From Trafalgar Square you head down Whitehall, the backbone of British power, to Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and finish by crossing a royal park to the gates of Buckingham Palace.

  • 6 stops
  • 2.6 km
  • 2 h
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
Elizabeth Tower, Big Ben, from Parliament Square

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Trafalgar SquareLondon's great square celebrates a naval battle fought off Cádiz and the admiral who died winning it.
  2. 2 Horse Guards and the Banqueting HouseMotionless horsemen on one side of the street and, on the other, the window Charles I stepped through to the scaffold.
  3. 3 Big Ben and the Palace of WestminsterA fire in 1834 gave London its most famous skyline, and the bell everyone calls Big Ben cracked within months.
  4. 4 Westminster AbbeyEnglish monarchs have been crowned here since 1066, and above its door stands an archbishop from El Salvador.
  5. 5 St James's ParkLondon's oldest royal park has had pelicans since 1664 and, from its bridge, the loveliest view of the palace.
  6. 6 Buckingham PalaceA duke's house turned into the world's most famous palace, with a balcony that has seen more than a century of history.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

From Nelson to the royal balcony: picture-postcard London

The icons, one after another

Nelson, Big Ben, the Abbey and Buckingham Palace without setting foot on the Tube.

Stories behind the postcard

A beheaded king, a fire that gave us today's Parliament and a bell that cracked soon after it first rang.

A green breather

St James's Park, with its pelicans and the best view of the palace.

Keep exploring

More routes in London

Back to London
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