Westminster, England, United KingdomFor my last full day in London I planned to cycle thru Central London and experience it as a cyclist for the first time rather than the usual tube or buses and walking. I started with the bike rental station in Stratford.
I retraced the route from Stratford, past the Bow flyover, Mile End, Whitechapel, Aldgate. We drove this route or took the 25 bus many times growing up
My first biking trip last week when I arrived I went across Tower Bridge [see prior entries]. This time I was to continue straight towards the City
Once you go down Lower Thames St to Embankment there are separated bike lanes for cycling. This makes it much easier away from traffic along the waterfront.
Passing the London Eye, Cleopatra's Needle, and the Sphinx's I made my way to Big Ben and Westminster. This was tourist central and jam packed with people, made worse by construction barriers, so I wanted to get away
Heading down Whitehall I made my way to Trafalgar Square passing by Downing Street and the War Cabinet Rooms. It was actually easier to cycle on the street than to be on foot with the thick throngs of crowds and tourists
At Trafalgar Square there was construction again restricting access. I was trying to get now to Leicester Square and do a loop round.
Somehow I overshot and ended up on Oxford Street. I went along to Oxford Circus to come back down Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus. I do not like the new LED display boards they have replaced the old neon lights with.
I went down Haymarket to Trafalgar Square and now went thru Admiralty Arch down The Mall to Buckingham Palace. This was all decked out for the Coronation in two weeks time, but again was so crowded with tourists I made my way away.
Going past St James Park I made my way past the Wellington Arch into Hyde Park. Again I was separated from traffic. There were some people practicing horse riding.
At the western end of Hyde Park is Kensington Palace which I never knew about or visited growing up. It was only after the talk of Princess Diana taking residence that I know about it.
I then cut back across Hyde Park to Marble Arch on the north east corner at the end of Oxford Street. From here I went north to Marylebone
To get to Regents Park I had to go down Baker St and Sherlock Holme's house museum. In Regents Park is the Mosque which is the first Mosque I have recollection of going to as a small child
From here I now followed the canal all the way across to Camden. I had never been to Regents Park canal or Camden. The canals could have taken me all the way back to East London.
Camden was another crowded tourist hub and I now wanted to drop my bike back at a rental station and take the train home.
See also Vlog (16 mins) - https://youtu.be/gzBDq94k2wI
2025-05-22