Wandering through the wheat near Debden
With very few exceptions I enjoyed every tubewalk I did. London is such a varied place that even the much-maligned suburbs make for an enjoyable jaunt, but the following ten walks really stuck in my mind as great walks in their own right.
- Debden to Epping – Central Line
An easy contender for my favourite tubewalk of all, as from start to finish it's a classic countryside walk through rolling farmland, pretty villages and ancient woodland... and all of this in zone 6, too. - Wimbledon to Edgware Road – District Line
There were two themes to this walk when I did it: the first was money, and lots of it; and the second was sun, and lots of it. Both of them are quite exhausting when stretched out along an entire 12.5-mile walk, but wow, the photographs really came out well. - Hammersmith to Baker Street – Hammersmith & City Line
The architecture throughout the whole walk is stunning, the history is palpable, and it's a great example of the rich and the not-so-rich rubbing shoulders in the characteristic way that defines London's suburbs. - Canada Water to North Greenwich – Jubilee Line
As it follows the Thames so closely, this section is fairly unique among tubewalks, and even though it's the second longest tubewalk in my entire route, the scenery is so breathtaking that the miles just fly by. - Chorleywood to Chesham – Metropolitan Line
It's bizarre to think that this idyllic part of the home counties is served by the London Underground, but there you go: it is. And even in the driving rain, it's a charming place to explore, a whole world away from the other end of the line, back in the heart of London. - Heathrow Airport – Piccadilly Line
Now this really is a tubewalk with a difference... the difference being that all three Heathrow Tube stations are on private property, so you can't actually walk to them unless you get permission from the airport owners, BAA. It's worth all the paperwork, though. - Bounds Green to Cockfosters – Piccadilly Line
This part of the line is where Charles Holden perfected his 1930s modernist take on station design, and all the stations (with the possible exception of Cockfosters itself) blew me away; I snapped more photos of the stations than the countryside, and quite right too. - Waterloo to Bank – Waterloo & City Line
The journey by Tube might be short and sweet, but it's a quite a lot slower by foot, as there's so much to see. Locally known as 'the Drain', the Waterloo & City line is a lot more pleasurable to walk along than its nickname might imply... - Hammersmith to King's Cross – Piccadilly Line
I really enjoyed this walk, even though a number of lines cross the city in similar fashion, because the weather made it such a pleasure. London in the sun is a beautiful city, it really is. - Becontree to Upminster – District Line
This is a great part of the world to explore on foot, especially when the sun is out, because this is zone 5 and 6, and it feels like it. The Metropolitan line equivalent is the stretch from Harrow to Moor Park, and for walking, the two ends of the capital compare favourably... but this one wins because it was my first visit, and the sense of discovery was deeply satisfying.
