London Off the Beaten Path Tips by leffe3

You can hardly say that walking in the City of London (East) was off the beaten track, but take a walk on a Saturday and, other than a couple of key points, you'll hardly come across anybody the whole day (disadvantage is that virtually everything is closed).
Start at the Tower of London and head west towards Fenchurch St Railway Station, Threadneedle St and Bank of England, the Guildhall, Mansion House tube station, Monument and back to the Tower. This is the oldest part of the city of London (although not much of that remains) and as well as key buildings such as the Bank, Guildhall, Mansion House etc you'll see Monument and the place where the Fire of London started in 1666 (needless to say nothing left of it!), churches galore, old pubs and restaurants, 18th century merchant houses among city skyscrapers as well as Richard Roger's Lloyds Building - the first post-modernist building in London and which caused enormous controversy on completion (its brilliant - but you cannot really understand why it was so controversial - its quite tame by todays standards)

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In the middle of walking through the City of London (East) - see 'take a walk' on the off the beaten track recomemndation, came across this almost by accident. St-Dunstans-in-the-East was a church built by Christopher Wren (St Pauls cathedral) but virtually destroyde in the 2nd World War. Only the tower remained standing (which is today used as a chapel). The remainder was converted into a glorious little garden. Almost completely overgrown with ivy its nevertheless a fabulous little spot, hardly used at weekends (few residential buildings in the area) and a great place to sit and relax.
Not worth making a major effort to get to, if you are near Monument and need to just escape for 30 minutes or so, this is it.

How to get there? Go past Monument (towards the east and the Tower) and turn left into Pudding Lane (where the fire started). Right into St Georges Lane, cross Botolph Lane into Botolph Alley to St Mary's church (another Wren Church). Go through passage to the right of the church, then turn right and then left. St Dunstans at the end of this cobbled street.
Sounds complex, but it isn't!

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The Old Dr Butler's Head is one of many surviving pubs from the Fire you find dotted round this part of London. This one has been here since 1616. Its extraordinary - filled at lunch time and early evening by Financial whizz-kids etc, closed at weekends. Dark, low ceilinged, dark wood, you can feel the age of the place....

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Other Contact: Mason's Ave, EC1

Considering it skirts, to the north and east, Regents Park and goes on to Camden Lock, the path alongisde the canal is remarkably quiet. You can also take a long boat from Warwick Avenue/Little Venice area to Camden Lock Market (or vice versa)

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A classic example of British style Palladian architecture of the 18th century, designed by the third Earl of Burlington (1694-1753), basd on his 'Grand Tours' to Italy (and in particular, Villa Capra La Rotonda near Vicenza).

Gardens, paintings, furniture all of the time are to be found at Chiswick House which is now managed by English Heritage.

Opening times:
1 April - 31 Oct: Wed-Sun (plus Bank Holidays) 10am-5pm (until 2pm on Sat)

Admission Costs:
GBP4.00 (adults), 3.00 (concessions), 2.00 (kids), 10.00 (family)

Chiswick Train Station 0.5 miles/Turnham Green Tube 0.75 miles
Bus Number 190 (Hammersmith-Richmond) or E3 (Greenford to Chiswick)

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It's amazing that considering its closeness to central London (30 minutes by train) and its history (claimed burial spot for King Harold following his defeat at the Battle of Hastings in 1066) Waltham Abbey is so off the beaten track for tourists.

There's been a church here since the 11the century and the reign of King Canute, but Harold's supposed burial spot made it a central location, more so after the murder of Archishop of Canterbury, Thomas a Beckett in 1170, when the Pope ordered King Henry II to found three new monastic houses for penance in the part he played. Henry selected the expansion of Waltham Abbey as one of the three. Minor additions in the next 350 years, Waltham Abbey became of further historical significance as the last Abbey to be dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540. Many of the Abbey buildings were demolished - the present day church escaping as it belonged to the parish rather than the monastery. Other than a new tower built in the reign of May I from materials from the demolished buildings, the Abbey today is from the 12th century (other than an 1800s internal makeover).

Open 7 days a week (10am-4pm during the winter, 10am-7pm in the summer)

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Website: www.walthamabbeychurch.co.uk