This walk is perfect for a Sunday afternoon. Columbia Road Flower Market is only open on a Sunday morning so you will need to start before lunch. You will walk through the empty city of London to end up near Charing Cross. Make sure you leave time to discover a new route as you will end up stumbling across hidden gems like I did.
Columbia Road Flower Market is such a fun place to be on a Sunday morning. It is fascinating to see all the different varieties of flowers and plants available with the quirky independent shops alongside. Come armed with a bag because you won’t be able to resist buying something! Columbia Road itself has an interesting history stemming from animals being led to slaughter.
Read more: History of Columbia Road
Getting to Columbia Road Flower Market
It is a little tricky to get to. I would use a navigation app to help you plan your journey from where you are.
Read more: Best apps to plan your journey in London
The nearest tube station is Hoxton a 10 minute walk away.
From London Bridge station, you can easily get a bus all the way up Liverpool Street and walk 5 minutes down Waterson Street.
Columbia Road to Brick Lane
Once you have explored all the market has to offer, head down Chambord Street which leads you through a housing estate via pathways to the top of Brick Lane in Shoreditch. This area also comes alive at the weekend with the shops and cafes welcoming vintage markets and street stalls.
If you haven’t eaten already, I would recommend picking up some street food from Brick Lane or from inside Upmarket. The food hall only opens on Saturday and Sundays and is a melting pot of street food: something for everyone! If you get there relatively early, say around 12pm, then you may be lucky to get a seat in the huge open room up the slope by the toilets. There is an eclectic mix of old armchairs to sit and eat your delicious food. First come, first served and you may need to be friendly to the others sitting around the tables.
Brick Lane is also host to many curry restaurants and Beigel Bake, the famous 24/7 Beigel bakery. You may need to queue outside the bakery, but it is worth it!
If you have time, then you could browse the markets and vintage stores. Some are in the basement of shops so just wander around having a look.
Spitalfields Market
Walk down Hanbury Street to your next stop; Spitalfields Market. This is a very large, undercover market host to food, home and fashion shops and stalls. There are so many market stalls that if you didn’t fill your bag up already, you have no chance here! I would recommend have dessert here, there is always a doughnut stall and fudge seller. So leave room after your lunch.
City of London
Once you have left the market, head towards Liverpool Street Station by walking down Brushfield Street. Cross over when you can by the station and turn right through the gardens of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate church. Suddenly you are in an idyllic, quiet, mini oasis of calm. Walking through, you will discover the beautiful Victorian bath house situated next to a modern office block. Only in London!
You will now be in the finance centre of London. As it is the weekend, nothing will be open. Even the shops and cafe’s close on a Sunday.
Walk down New Broad Street to Blomfield Street and turn left to find the ‘London Wall’. This road is where the original roman wall was built around Londinium. You will still find parts of the original wall still standing but not in this area unfortunately.
From here you will meander through empty streets and cobbled walkways heading west. First cross over to walk down Old Broad Street.
On your right, you will eventually see a tiny passageway called Pinner’s Passage. Walk through here onto Austin Friars. This turns into another passageway of the same name.
Bear left slightly onto Copthall Avenue and walk straight on through Copthall Buildings. Cross over Moorgate and walk through Great Bell Alley.
Cross over Coleman Street to carry on walking through Masons Avenue. Turn left on Basinghall Street then right into Guildhall Buildings
Guildhall Art Gallery
You will now find yourself in Guildhall Yard with Guildhall Art Gallery on your right. This is definitely worth time to visit. Not only are the paintings and artwork beautiful, but if you walk to the basement, you will find the hidden remains of a Roman amphitheatre. Having just studied The Romans with my class at school, I couldn’t believe that I didn’t know this existed. It is a fascinating story how the amphitheatre was discovered. The art gallery were digging foundations to extend the gallery when they discovered the missing London amphitheatre!
Read more: London amphitheatre
St Paul’s Cathedral
Exit Guildhall Yard onto Gresham Street and then turn left onto Milk Street. Walk all the way through to Cheapside. Turn right and follow the road until to see the Cathedral. You can walk through the gardens into the Churchyard outside. The Cathedral is closed to sightseeing on a Sunday but you could time your walk to stay for a service.
Read more: Service times at St. Paul’s Cathedral
Return to Central London
From the Churchyard, it is now an easy, straight line back to central London. You could decide to carry on walking, or pick up a bus all the way to Charing Cross. To walk, follow Ludgate Hill which turns into Fleet Street and continues onto the Strand all the way to Charing Cross.
You are walking through so much history here. Fleet Street is the original newspaper hot spot. As you walk along, don’t forget to look up at the architecture. You will pass the Royal Courts of Justice on your right as you head into the Strand. You will pass Somerset House and the Courtauld Gallery on your left. Somewhere to come and visit another day.
By now, I’m sure you will be in need of refreshment. I would thoroughly recommend One Aldwych for it’s afternoon tea. You will need to book in advance. Alternatively, you could have tea at The Savoy or head into Covent Garden for an amazing choice of cafe’s and restaurants.
Top Tips
- I have given you one route through the city but it is much more fun to wander down all the other alleys and passageways finding your own way.
- Download Google maps onto your phone so you can use the map offline. It won’t give you directions this way but you can use to find where you are if you go a little off track.
- A lot of places won’t be open on a Sunday but take note to visit them on another day.
