"A Walk along the South Bank - In Black & White..." London Travelogue by M0B1US

Situated in her heart, the River Thames is London's major defining feature - neatly bisecting the capital in two...

It is along the waters of the River Thames that some of London's most recognisable landmarks are situated and the southbank in particular between County Hall (Opposite the Houses of Parliament) and Tower Bridge, is home to a veritable panoply of famous attractions!

If you only have a day or two, I really would recommend doing this walk as it has a little bit of everything that makes London great!

If at any point the walking gets too much, the RV1 bus route runs from Covent Garden to the Tower of London, parallel along most of the length of this walk.

The London Eye in Glorious Monochrome...

How you get here is up to you, by walking, bus, tube, rail, taxi or river boat - it won't take you long!

On the Southbank between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge are County Hall, which houses the London Aquarium, the new and extremely impressive Saatchi Gallery, Dali Exhibition and Namco Station, as well as a number of cafes and restaurants and stunning views of the Houses of Parliament.

Right next to County Hall is London's most conspicuous attraction - the London Eye.

The damage it does to your wallet is also highly conspicuous at a whopping £11!!! The views are awesome, particularly at night when I went up for free with my company!

The brand new Hungerford Footbridge is now open and looking good!

Gabriel's Wharf

Next on the list are the buildings of London's premier arts centre, the Royal Festival Hall, the Hayward Gallery, the Purcell Room and the National Film Theatre. Nestled between them underneath Waterloo Bridge is the Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI). A short detour south along Waterloo road will bring you to the Waterloo IMAX cinema in the Waterloo Bullring. A detour north across the bridge will take to a favourite watering hole of mine, the TS Queen Mary moored adjacent. Somerset House and the Courtauld Gallery are also by the bridge and visible from the south bank.

Just around from here on the waterfront is Gabriel's Wharf, a collection of cafes, restaurants and boutique shops. I definitely recommend the Gourmet Pizza Co., with their excellent recipe concoctions! Also, if you're just looking for a beer or two, why not try Studio 6, one of my old work haunts from over a decade ago...

Tate Modern from the Millenium Bridge

From Gabriel's Wharf, you walk past the old Oxo Tower which is home to Terrence Conran's Oxo Tower Restaurant and Bar and the far cheaper but still excellent Brasserie with stunning views. If you're on a budget, you can come up just for drinks and still claim those views for yourself - especially at sunset... There are also a couple of decent riverside pubs either side of walking underneath Blackfriars Bridge, though they are housed in 70's concrete buildings.

Next you will see the impressive bulk of the Tate Modern, which is free to enter. This is London's Modern Art Gallery and as such the art is distinctly hit and miss - however the old Bankside power station it is housed in is a truly fabulous space, so if the art leaves you cold, the building certainly won't!

St Pauls on the Millenium Bridge

Outside the front of Tate Modern is the infamous Millenium Bridge - AKA 'The Wobbly Bridge'...

As a tribute to great British engineering it took an extra couple of years to open after being due to open for the Millenium - I think they should have kept it the way it was, as it was structurally safe and would have been fun!

It is an excellent link between the south bank and Tate Modern, and St Pauls Cathedral and offers some great linear views of each.

I would recommend a detour to St Pauls from here as the walk is fantastic and is only about 10+ mins to the Cathedral.

Shakespeare's Globe

Right next to the Tate Modern is Shakespeare's Globe.

After many years of wrangling, Sam Wanamaker finally was able to build a copy of Shakespeare's Globe on the original site using original building techniques and materials. Critics said he would never succeed, but in the end it was 'to be'...

It is a wonderfully atmospheric space to watch Shakespeare's plays in an authentic setting with an authentic troupe of actors as they're all male in keeping with the Elizabethan and Jacobean times! I remember watching Anthony & Cleopatra, and there is a scene where the big burly Cleopatra takes Anthony in a fireman's lift and runs off the stage with him... ;-)

The Famous Anchor Pub

A scant few hundred yards past the Globe is one of London's most characterful riverside pubs, The Anchor.

The inside is a wonderful rabbit warren of small bars and seating and dining areas, with a roaring fire during cold days this really is a cosy spot to recharge and relax. It also has a nice beer garden and a large outdoor seating area overlooking the Thames.

Some of you might recognise that it was used as the final location of Mission Impossible where Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames enjoy a drink at the end of the movie...

Literally around the corner behind the pub is the excellent Vinopolis, situated in old cellars under the railway line it charts the history of wine from its beginnings in Georgia to the present day. part of the ticket offers free tastings and there is a nice brasserie attached.

End of the road - HMS Belfast & Tower Bridge

Again next to Vinopolis is the old Clink Jail museum near the site of the original 'Clink' and advertised by the gibbet hanging high above the cobble-stoned street. A few short steps further lie the ruins of Winchester Palace with its particularly impressive rose window of the Great Hall still standing.

Another excellent riverside pub, the Old Thameside, is just up on the left and next to a life sized replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, the Golden Hinde.

A few streets back are Southwark Cathedral and the fabulous Borough Market (See my travelogue). Make sure you come on a Friday or Saturday.

Directly under London Bridge in cellars built deep into the foundations is the Mug House, a Dickensian pub complete with pewter mugs and sawdust on the floor, there are a number of other attractions including the London Dungeon, Winston Churchill's Britain at War Experience, the old Hays Galleria wharf building which now houses boutique shops and pubs and cafes, the WWII Destroyer HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge.

From here you can continue onwards towards the shops and restaurants of Shad Thames and the Design Museum, or cross the road to the Tower of London...

Alternatively, crossing Tower Bridge takes you neatly on to the Tower of London and St Katherines Dock.

Have fun, and remember to tell 'em I sent you! :-)