Everyone does the same London day. Big Ben, a photo, Buckingham Palace, another photo, then a flat white somewhere overpriced near Trafalgar Square. Nothing wrong with that walk, I’ve done it plenty of times myself. But London’s best bits aren’t on the postcard route at all. They’re tucked down alleys with no signage, behind unmarked doors, in courtyards you’d walk straight past if you weren’t looking for them.
This one strings together the lanes and passages I keep sending people back to, the ones that make you stop mid-sentence because you genuinely didn’t expect a Georgian terrace, a hidden pub, or a candy-coloured courtyard to be sitting right there off a main road. You’ll start out east near Hatton Garden and the old legal quarter, drift down through Bloomsbury and Covent Garden’s back streets, duck through Soho, and finish in a proper hidden Mayfair square that most tourists never find. It’s about 4.5km, easy walking throughout, and honestly one of my favourite ways to spend a slower London day.
Doing this solo or with a guide both work fine. I’d happily do this route with just a phone and a coffee, but if you’d rather have someone fill in the history as you go, there’s a decent range of London walking tours and hidden gems experiences on GetYourGuide, and Viator has a good spread of small-group options too. Flying in for this one? Sort your airport transfer ahead of time so you’re not fighting the Piccadilly line with a suitcase on day one.
Note: FREE Google Map Lower Down the Article.
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London Hidden Lanes Walking Tour: Quick Facts at a Glance
- Start point: Ye Olde Mitre, Ely Court off Hatton Garden (5 minutes from Chancery Lane or Farringdon tube)
- End point: Shepherd Market, Mayfair (5 minutes from Green Park tube)
- Distance: About 4.5km (2.8 miles), more if the alleys pull you off course
- Walking time: 4 to 6 hours with proper stops for food and browsing
- Best for: Repeat visitors, photographers, anyone who's already done the big-ticket London day
- Best time to go: Weekday mornings for the quietest lanes, Saturday for Neal's Yard and Seven Dials at their liveliest
- Difficulty: Easy. Flat throughout, mostly pedestrianised, no hills to speak of
- Main sights: Ye Olde Mitre, Hatton Garden, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Sicilian Avenue, Neal's Yard, Seven Dials, Cecil Court, Goodwin's Court, Chinatown, Kingly Court, Burlington Arcade, Shepherd Market
- Food/drink stop: Neal's Yard for coffee, Kingly Court for a proper lunch
- Map style: Free Google Map, pinned further down this article
London Hidden Lanes Walking Tour
Quick word before you set off. This route zig-zags a bit by design, because the whole point is the detour, not the straight line. Give yourself the full day if you can. It’s not a long walk in distance, but it’s the kind where you keep stopping every few minutes, which is exactly how it should go.
Stop 1: Ye Olde Mitre & Hatton Garden
Start here. No distance to cover, this is where the day begins. Suggested time to spend: 30 to 40 minutes.
Starting out east means you sweep west all day without ever doubling back, and Ye Olde Mitre is the perfect opener for a hidden-lanes walk. It’s a tiny pub tucked down Ely Court, an alley so narrow you’ll walk past the entrance twice before you spot it. Inside there’s supposedly an old cherry tree stump built into the wall, marking the boundary of what was once the Bishop of Ely’s London garden, complete with a strange legal quirk where the land technically belonged to Cambridgeshire, not London, for centuries. Right around the corner is Hatton Garden, the city’s diamond and jewellery quarter, worth a slow wander even if you’re not ring shopping.
One thing to plan around: the pub doesn’t open until late morning. If you’re an early starter chasing quiet lanes, soak up Ely Court and Hatton Garden now and save the actual pint for another day. If a proper old-school pint is the goal, kick the walk off around when it opens instead. Either way, the alley alone is worth the detour in.
Things to do:
- Find the entrance to Ely Court, tucked between 8 and 9 Hatton Garden
- Duck into Ye Olde Mitre if it’s open and look for the cherry tree stump
- Wander Hatton Garden, the city’s diamond and jewellery quarter
- Take in the low beams and no-music, no-fuss feel if you do get inside
Good to know: Ye Olde Mitre closes on Sundays and opens late morning the rest of the week. If you want a pint at the start, time your kick-off for when it opens. If you’re going early for empty streets, just enjoy the alley and press on.
Where to Stay in London
Stop 2: Lincoln's Inn Fields & Sicilian Avenue
About 800m from Stop 1, roughly a 10-minute walk. Suggested time to spend: 30 to 40 minutes.
Head southwest and you’ll hit Lincoln’s Inn Fields, one of London’s largest garden squares and the heart of the old legal quarter, with wonky Georgian buildings on every side and barristers cutting across it with armfuls of case files. From there it’s a short stroll up to Sicilian Avenue, a pedestrianised Edwardian shopping parade tucked just off Southampton Row that most people walking the main road have no idea is even there. Colonnaded entrances on both ends, a row of independent cafes and shops down the middle, and this odd, slightly theatrical feel like you’ve wandered onto a film set. It went up in the Edwardian era, modelled loosely on Italian arcades, which explains the name and absolutely nothing else about why it’s sitting in the middle of Bloomsbury.
This is your coffee stop. Grab one from a bar on Sicilian Avenue before you drop down into Covent Garden, because prices only climb the closer you get to the crowds.
Things to do:
- Walk through Lincoln’s Inn Fields and take in the Georgian architecture
- Stroll the full colonnaded stretch of Sicilian Avenue, both directions
- Grab a coffee from one of the independent cafes lining the avenue
- Look up at the terracotta detailing, easy to miss if you’re not looking for it
Tinker’s Tip: Get to Sicilian Avenue before 9am if you can. It’s almost empty first thing, and that’s the version worth seeing. By lunchtime it’s still lovely, just a lot busier.
Stop 3: Neal's Yard
About 850m from Stop 2, roughly an 11-minute walk. Suggested time to spend: 30 to 45 minutes.
Neal’s Yard is the one everyone’s seen on Instagram without knowing its name, a tiny courtyard off Shorts Gardens painted in every colour going, hanging plants, painted clock faces, window boxes overflowing everywhere. It started life as a fairly grim industrial yard and got reinvented in the seventies and eighties into the health food and wellness hub it’s known for today, Neal’s Yard Remedies among the businesses that grew out of it.
It gets busy, there’s no getting around that, but it’s still worth the squeeze. Grab lunch from one of the small cafes ringing the courtyard, or just stand there for a minute taking in how much colour someone managed to cram into such a small space.
Things to do:
- Photograph the painted building facades, morning light is best for this
- Grab lunch or a smoothie from one of the courtyard cafes
- Pop into Neal’s Yard Remedies if natural skincare is your thing
- Sit for a few minutes rather than rushing straight through
Fact: Neal’s Yard takes its name from Thomas Neale, a 17th-century property developer who also laid out Seven Dials, your next stop, just a couple of minutes away.
Stop 4: Seven Dials & Monmouth Street
About 600m from Stop 4, roughly an 8-minute walk. Suggested time to spend: 25 to 35 minutes.
Two lanes, both worth it, both easy to miss. Cecil Court is a pedestrianised Victorian alley lined with antiquarian bookshops, rare maps, first editions, the sort of place that smells like old paper the second you step in. It’s said to be one of the inspirations behind Diagon Alley, and fact or rumour, it’s a lovely wander even if books aren’t usually your thing.
Goodwin’s Court, just around the corner, is the one that genuinely stops people in their tracks. A narrow, curved passage lined with bow-fronted 18th-century shopfronts and old gas lamps, barely wide enough for two people to pass. It looks exactly like a Dickens illustration come to life, and it’s been used in a fair few film shoots because of it.
Things to do:
- Browse the antiquarian bookshops on Cecil Court, even a quick look is worth it
- Walk the full length of Goodwin’s Court slowly, it’s short but atmospheric
- Look for the old gas lamp fittings along the passage walls
Watch out: Goodwin’s Court is genuinely easy to walk straight past, the entrance is unmarked and barely wider than a doorway. Look for it between numbers 55 and 56 St Martin’s Lane, roughly opposite the church.
Stop 5: Cecil Court & Goodwin's Court
About 600m from Stop 4, roughly an 8-minute walk. Suggested time to spend: 25 to 35 minutes.
Two lanes, both worth it, both easy to miss. Cecil Court is a pedestrianised Victorian alley lined with antiquarian bookshops, rare maps, first editions, the sort of place that smells like old paper the second you step in. It’s said to be one of the inspirations behind Diagon Alley, and fact or rumour, it’s a lovely wander even if books aren’t usually your thing.
Goodwin’s Court, just around the corner, is the one that genuinely stops people in their tracks. A narrow, curved passage lined with bow-fronted 18th-century shopfronts and old gas lamps, barely wide enough for two people to pass. It looks exactly like a Dickens illustration come to life, and it’s been used in a fair few film shoots because of it.
Things to do:
- Browse the antiquarian bookshops on Cecil Court, even a quick look is worth it
- Walk the full length of Goodwin’s Court slowly, it’s short but atmospheric
- Look for the old gas lamp fittings along the passage walls
Watch out: Goodwin’s Court is genuinely easy to walk straight past, the entrance is unmarked and barely wider than a doorway. Look for it between numbers 55 and 56 St Martin’s Lane, roughly opposite the church.
Stop 6: Chinatown & Kingly Court
About 500m from Stop 5, roughly a 7-minute walk. Suggested time to spend: 45 minutes to an hour, longer if lunch happens here.
Cut through Chinatown on the way into Soho, the pagoda gate on Wardour Street and the lantern-strung lanes are worth a slow wander even if you’re not stopping to eat. Then push on to Kingly Court, a three-storey courtyard tucked just off Carnaby Street packed with independent restaurants stacked around a central open space. It’s easy to walk past Carnaby Street entirely without knowing Kingly Court exists behind it, which is exactly why it earns a spot on this route.
This is probably your best lunch stop of the whole day. Every level has a different mix of cuisines, and there’s almost always outdoor seating if the weather’s playing along.
Things to do:
- Walk under the pagoda gate into Chinatown and wander the lantern-lit lanes
- Grab dim sum or a bakery stop in Chinatown if you’re hungry already
- Head into Kingly Court and pick a spot for lunch, all three floors are worth a look first
- Duck onto Carnaby Street afterward for the shopfronts, even if shopping isn’t the point
Must do: Eat lunch at Kingly Court, don’t just walk through it. It’s the one stop on this route built specifically for sitting down and taking your time, and the food quality across the board is genuinely solid.
Related Read: If hidden alleys and secret courtyards are your thing, my Harry Potter walking tour of London covers a different set of tucked-away film locations across the city, well worth doing on a separate day.
Stop 7: Burlington Arcade & Piccadilly Arcade
About 700m from Stop 6, roughly a 9-minute walk. Suggested time to spend: 20 to 30 minutes.
Two Regency-era covered shopping arcades sitting almost next to each other, and both feel like a different century entirely. Burlington Arcade, dating back to the early 19th century, is the grander of the two, all glass roof, gold shopfronts, and top hats worn by the uniformed beadles who still patrol it enforcing old rules against running, whistling, or opening umbrellas indoors, a genuinely bizarre holdover from when the arcade doubled as a private street. Piccadilly Arcade, just across the road, is smaller and quieter but every bit as handsome.
Neither is a browsing arcade in the bargain sense, the shops here are proper luxury, jewellery, tailoring, cashmere. But walking through costs nothing, and the architecture alone earns the detour.
Things to do:
- Walk the full length of Burlington Arcade and look up at the glass roof
- Spot a beadle and ask about the no-whistling rule, they love explaining it
- Cross over to Piccadilly Arcade for a quieter, less crowded version of the same thing
Timing tip: Both arcades close in the evening, usually around 6pm on weekdays and earlier on Sundays. If you’re running late in the day, move this stop up rather than leaving it until last.
Stop 8: Shepherd Market (Finish)
About 600m from Stop 7, roughly an 8-minute walk. Suggested time to spend: 45 minutes to an hour.
Shepherd Market is the finish line, and it might be the best kept secret on the whole route. A tiny cluster of narrow streets and a small square tucked into the middle of Mayfair, all low buildings, independent pubs, and pavement tables, feeling more like a village square than anything you’d expect to find a five-minute walk from Piccadilly. It takes its name from an 18th-century May Fair that used to be held on the site, rowdy enough that it eventually got shut down for being a bit too much of a public nuisance for its increasingly posh neighbours.
End the day here with a drink outside one of the pubs. It’s quiet, it’s pretty, and after a day of ducking down alleys, it’s a genuinely nice place to just sit for a while before heading to Green Park tube.
Things to do:
- Wander the full loop of the market’s narrow streets
- Grab a drink at one of the outdoor pub tables in the square
- Look out for the blue plaques, a few notable former residents are marked around the area
- Walk the short stretch down to Green Park to finish and catch the tube home
Reality check: By this point you’ve covered a fair bit of ground even though the total distance sounds modest. If your feet are done, this is a perfectly good place to call it and finish with a drink rather than pushing on to anywhere else.
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Where To Stay For This London Walking Tour
This route runs through four or five different neighbourhoods, so where you base yourself changes the feel of the trip more than the walking itself. All of the areas below sit within easy reach of the route, so it’s really about the vibe you want each morning.
Related Read: New to the city and still working out the basics? My first-time guide to London covers where to stay, how the tube works, and what’s actually worth your time on a first visit.
Bloomsbury: Quieter, more residential, and right by the early stretch of the route. Good for first-timers who want somewhere calm to come back to, with the British Museum on your doorstep as a bonus.
Covent Garden: Sits almost dead centre of this walk, so you’d be starting and finishing your days a short stroll from most of it. Livelier, more tourist-heavy, but genuinely convenient.
Soho: For anyone who wants nightlife and doesn’t mind noise. Central, walkable to everything, and the food scene right outside your door is hard to beat.
Mayfair: The pricier option, but if you finish this route at Shepherd Market and want to just fall into bed a few minutes later, it’s hard to argue with the convenience.
Pit Stops & Side Detours
The core route already covers a lot, but if you’ve got extra time or fancy pulling this into a longer day, a few nearby spots are worth folding in. Keep them short additions rather than separate trips, they work best tacked onto the nearest stop.
- Postman’s Park (a short detour from the Lincoln’s Inn area): a small, quiet memorial garden with hand-painted tiles commemorating ordinary people who died saving others. Genuinely moving, and almost nobody’s there.
- Leadenhall Market (further east, needs its own short trip): a Victorian covered market with an ornate painted roof, worth it on a day you’re heading toward the City anyway.
- St Dunstan-in-the-East (also City of London): a bombed-out medieval church now left as a wild, climbing-plant-covered garden. One of the most atmospheric spots in the whole city.
- Handel & Hendrix House (near Burlington Arcade): two musicians, two eras, one shared Mayfair address. Worth ten minutes if you’re already walking past.
- St James’s Park (near the finish): if you’ve still got legs left after Shepherd Market, it’s a short walk down for a proper green space and pelican-spotting before heading home.
- Skip: trying to add Notting Hill or Camden onto this route in the same day. Both are brilliant, neither links up geographically, and cramming them in just turns a nice wander into a rushed one.
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Browse the shopLocal Eats Worth Chasing
London does variety better than almost anywhere, and this route happens to pass through some of the best pockets of it. A few things worth building your stops around.
- Coffee and pastries in Sicilian Avenue or Neal’s Yard: both have decent independent cafes, and starting the day slowly here beats grabbing a chain coffee on the go.
- Dim sum in Chinatown: Gerrard Street and the surrounding lanes are packed with options, and most do a solid weekday lunch deal.
- Whatever you fancy at Kingly Court: genuinely one of the better food courtyards in the city, with enough variety across three floors that everyone in a group can find something.
- A proper pub lunch at Ye Olde Mitre: simple pub food, but the setting does most of the work here.
- A pint outside in Shepherd Market: not exactly food, but ending the walk here with a drink and something small from one of the surrounding pubs is the right way to close the day.
Walking Tour Essentials
This route is easy going underfoot, but London still has a few quirks worth planning around. Sort these before you set off and the day runs a lot smoother.
- Comfortable shoes: mostly flat pavement, but you’ll be on your feet for hours and some of the alleys have old, slightly uneven cobbles.
- An Oyster card or contactless bank card: for the tube at either end, and useful if you decide to cut a section short and hop on the Underground instead of walking.
- Layers: London weather changes its mind constantly, even in summer. A light jacket that folds into a bag is never wasted.
- Cash for a couple of the smaller spots: most places take card now, but a few of the older pubs and market stalls still prefer cash for small amounts.
- Working data: you’ll want maps running for most of this, since half the point is finding entrances that aren’t obviously signposted. An Airalo eSIM is a fast way to sort that before you land.
- Travel insurance: worth having sorted before any trip, city break or otherwise. I’d sort travel insurance through VisitorsCoverage rather than assume nothing will go wrong.
- Flight delays happen: if your flight in or out gets disrupted, you might be owed compensation. CompensAIR handles the claim process without you having to fight an airline yourself.
- A hop-on option for tired legs: if you’d rather see the bigger landmarks from a seat after this walk, a Big Bus sightseeing tour covers the postcard sights you’ll have skipped on this route.
Holafly eSIM: If you’d rather not deal with a physical SIM at all, Holafly’s eSIM gets you connected before you even land. Use code THETRAVELTINKER for 5% off any eSIM, or 10% off Holafly plans for your first 12 months.
Related Read: Once you’ve done the hidden version, my main London walking tour covers the big-hitter sights this route deliberately skips, and the two make a brilliant back-to-back weekend.
For more ideas once you’ve finished here, my destination guides cover plenty of other UK city walks, and the travel planning resources page has the tools I actually use when putting these routes together.
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Nick Harvey
Hi, I am Nick! Thank you for reading! The Travel Tinker is a resource designed to help you navigate the beauty of travel! Tinkering your plans as you browse!
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