L4 - Westminster Riverside Circular Route - Across Four Bridges (6.3 km)
- philip carey
- Aug 16, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Dec 22, 2024
Start at Westminster Station
Finish at Westminster Station on Parliament Street
THE EXPERIENCE
A full riverside experience that passes many of London’s major historic and iconic sights with spectacular riverside and cityscape views, as well as places to relax and find nourishment for the mind and body.
Great for history, iconic sights, fantastic river views, entertainment venues, hotels, gardens and open spaces, crowds, bridges, markets, galleries, music, and places to eat and drink along the way on the South Bank.
MUST SEE PLACES
What to See List
1. The Houses of Parliament
2. Views from Westminster Bridge
3. Westminster Abbey
4. Views from Lambeth Palace
5. Lambeth Palace
6. County Hall & Attractions
7. The London Eye
8. Views from Jubilee Bridge
9. Royal Festival Hall
10. The National Theatre
11. Views from Waterloo Bridge
12. Cleopatra's Needle
13. Whitehall Court & Gardens
14. Victoria Embankment Views
PLACES TO EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY
Areas to Eat, Drink and Be Merry List
1. In and Around County Hall
2. In and Around the Royal Festival Hall
3. Southbank Centre Food Market
4. Behind County Hall
5. In and Around Waterloo Station
6. Around Villiers Street
7. The north end of Whitehall by Trafalgar Square
8. Around Leicester Square
9. Around St Martin’s Lane
10. Along Victoria Street
Overview of the Area
There is plenty to do in the area - but not very much in terms of food and drink. – and unlike the other areas in central London, Westminster is busier during the day and quieter at night.
This can come as a bit of a surprise given that this part of Westminster has many of London's Iconic sights (Big Ben HOP, the River Thames, Westminster Abbey, and Whitehall)
Even around the main attractions on the south side of the river – like the London Eye, the London Dungeons, and Sea life -the F&D places are hidden away on the back streets.
However, there are quite a few around the area – it’s just that these tend to be on the extremes, as I have highlighted on the map of the sightseeing Photoruns.
The three areas are:-
Waterloo and the South Bank – which covers the main attractions on the south side of the river between Westminster Bridge and Waterloo Station.
Around the Centre of London – which covers the attractions and places to eat and drink around the start of the route
Westminster St James to Victoria – which covers the main iconic sightseeing areas to the north side of the Thames and the best places to eat and drink going west from Westminster Abbey towards Victoria Station.
They are all quite different and individual in terms of the area and things you can do and see, but they all have great bars, pubs, places to eat and fine hotels. – You need to know where to look. This is why each of these areas has an early morning explorer run highlighting the key locations so you can do a ‘Reccy’ of the area before deciding what to do and finding time to ‘eat, drink and be merry.
Links to nearby Eat, Drink and Be Merry Routes.
Waterloo and the South Bank – which covers the main attractions on the south side of the river between Westminster Bridge and Waterloo Station.
Around the Centre of London – which covers the attractions and places to eat and drink around Charing Cross
https://www.photoruns.com/post/centre-of-london-sightseeing-eat-drink-and-be-merry-photorun
Westminster St James to Victoria – which covers the main iconic sightseeing areas to the north side of the Thames and the best places to eat and drink going west from Westminster Abbey towards Victoria Station
BEST TIME
Morning - The best time to do this route is on weekends in the early morning when it is quiet and free from crowds and heavy traffic.
Day - Trafalgar Square, the South Bank, Westminster Bridge, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament are the busiest places during the day.
Evenings - The South Bank is busy, but most other areas are quiet.
ROUTE OVERVIEW
This 6.4 Km visual riverside route takes you along London’s famous river Thames between Westminster Bridge and Waterloo Bridge, crossing the Golden Jubilee Bridge in the middle. The route starts on Westminster Bridge, looking at Big Ben, and then follows the Victoria Embankment, past the Ministry of Defence, Whitehall Gardens and White Hall Court before crossing the Golden Jubilee Bridge with its great views of the London Eye. It continues past the Royal Festival Hall and the National Theatre before crossing Waterloo Bridge. It then heads back towards Westminster via Victoria Embankment Gardens and Cleopatra’s Needle before crossing over the Golden Jubilee Bridge again with its views of the City of London. The next section takes you past the London Eye, County Hall and Westminster Bridge towards Westminster Station to start its final leg around the Houses of Parliament. This takes you along the side of the Houses of Parliament, into Victoria Tower Gardens, and then over Lambeth Bridge to Lambeth Palace. The route then follows the Albert Embankment, with its iconic view of the Houses of Parliament to St Thomas’s Hospital by Westminster Bridge. It then heads towards Big Ben before finishing at Westminster Station by Parliament Square.
Route at a Glance Video.
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DESCRIPTIVE PHOTO GALLERY
This gallery provides a descriptive and visual reference to many sights along this route. Use the Google Map above to find their location. Double-click to see its full size.
INTERESTING FACTS
Westminster Facts
The current City of Westminster was created in 1965. Before then, it was the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster, which had city status.
Westminster has more than 11,000 listed buildings of architectural and historic interest.
The City of London and the City of Westminster were separated until the 16th century when the fields between them began to be built.
The Waterloo and City Line is the only London tube line that does not serve a station in Westminster.
The population of Westminster is 219,396, according to the 2011 census, of which 49% are male and 51% female.
The last beer flood in Westminster was 200 years ago, in 1814 when a beer vat burst in Tottenham Court Road, and nine people drowned. More than 323,000 imperial gallons (1,470,000 L) of beer gushed into the streets.
There are 32 public lavatories in Westminster.
Films made in Westminster
• Da Vinci Code - Westminster Abbey.
• Die Another Day - Westminster Bridge.
• Skyfall - Parliament Square and Whitehall.
• Harry Potter - Charing Cross Road, Great Scotland Yard and Westminster Underground Station.
• Sherlock Holmes - Houses of Parliament.
• Big Ben - Thirty-Nine Steps.
• Kong (1961) - Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower, Houses of Parliament.
• Madness of King George - Palace of Westminster.
• Captain America - King Charles Street in Whitehall.
• V for Vendetta - Parliament Square.
• Closer – the National Portrait Gallery.
• Edge of Tomorrow - Trafalgar Square, with tanks.
• Spooks the Greater Good - Pall Mall's The Athenaeum Club, doubling for Whitehall.
• The Night Manager – Whitehall and Embankment.
The Houses of Parliament
Big Ben Tower slowed by 5 minutes in 1949 when a flock of starlings landed on the minute hand.
The Houses of Parliament have over two miles of passages, including a royal route from the Sovereign's entrance beneath the Victoria Tower to the Lords.
Parliament Square was made into Britain’s first roundabout in 1926 - although it is a square. By then, it had already existed for about 80 years.
The Houses of Parliament are officially known as the Palace of Westminster, the largest palace in the country.
The Houses of Parliament has eight bars and six restaurants — all subsidized and not open to the public. It also has 1,000 rooms, 100 staircases, 11 courtyards, a hair salon, and a rifle-shooting range.
Big Ben is the bell, not the clock tower.
The world's first traffic light was erected outside the Houses of Parliament in 1868. The following year, it blew up, injuring the policeman who was operating it.
When the Palace of Westminster was first built, it was situated by the river so a mob could not surround it.
VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE AREA
Click on the pictures below to go on a virtual tour of the sightseeing area.
London Eye and the South Bank - Virtual Tour
Around the Houses of Parliament - Virtual Tour
Use the routes to explore these locations by looking around in 360, taking in the sights and sounds, listening to an audio recording about the location and going on a virtual tour.
HISTORY VIDEO LIBRARY
This video gives you a short introduction to how the Central London Sightseeing area grew during the Tudors (1560) and the Victorians (1860)
Please note - These date from before 2018 and have been done in a variety of styles to determine which one works best. They all provide very useful information and we would welcome feedback to help create the new version
6:30 mins
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