London Walks, Part 2
Emily spent a substantial amount of time in London in 2025. I had asked her to be a guest blogger and share some of her favourite walks. This post from last year covers the first three walks. Below, she shares 3 more. Thanks to Emily for being a contributor!
London Walk #4: The Inns of Court
Quick pre-clarification note: As I learned walking around this area, in Britain, “solicitor” and “barrister” are two different kinds of legal experts. A solicitor is trained in law, gives legal advice and counsel, and is allowed to be present in courtrooms. However, a solicitor is NOT the one doing the talking in courtroom settings. A “barrister” is a legal professional who does the actual, spoken part of defending and prosecution in court. In the U.S., it seems that these two roles are combined in the form of a “lawyer.” (I suppose “legal consultant” is the closest thing the U.S. has to a solicitor; IDK, I studied music, not law.) There’s talk in Britain about combining solicitor and barrister roles. But the law students I spoke to, most of whom I was asking for directions, didn’t seem to think that change was likely or would happen soon.
Okay, on to the actual post ...
Being in London for several months really let me get some good exploring in. I got to see a lot of places and neighborhoods that I’d never seen before. Places I probably wouldn’t get to see on shorter trips! Hampstead Heath was my favorite, and I’d already explored Southwark many times before. But my second favorite within the bounds of central London (or within zones 1 and 2 if you think in Tube terms like I do) would have to be the Inns of Court.
Now, the Inns of Court seem to be a pretty well-kept secret, even among Londoners. Turns out, that’s for a simple reason. “The Inns of Court” refers to an area of London with a bunch of law schools! They also house offices, libraries, churches, dining areas, gardens, and other resources for practicing legal professionals. So, for most hours of the day, this section of London is not open to the public or is tricky to navigate through. But at lunchtime during the week, the Inns and their gardens open for a couple of hours each day. From around 12 to 2 p.m., ordinary folks can go and enjoy what I think is one of London’s hidden gems.
The Inns of Court are an odd mixture of famous and unknown. Mentioning the area got me blank stares, but talking about one of the specific Inns usually got some version of “Oh, yeah! That’s where [insert famous historical connection here]. I’ve never been over there, though.”
Today, there are four Inns that are still active: Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln’s, and Gray’s. Official records of barristers training at these Inns date back to the 15th century. They may have been operating as legal centers as early as 1292! The roots of the “temple” Inns are even older, with the land originally being owned by the Knights Templar in the 12th century. A few of the buildings in the area also date back to the Tudor period, making them rare. Most Tudor-era buildings didn’t survive the Great Fire of London in 1666.
So, this part of London has been around a long time. And there are a lot of well-known names, societies, and pieces of media connected to the Inns of Court. They are a playground for literature nerds, like myself, especially. For example, fans of The Da Vinci Code might remember that Temple Church plays a big role in that story. Well, it’s here, right between Inner and Middle Temple Inns!
Yes, it is actually round, and yes, there are actually stone statues of sleeping knights on the floor. It’s a fascinating and stunning building, and well worth the small entry fee. Before I left, I picked up a very interesting book written by the Master of the Temple talking about the connections with the book/film, and the real history (and myths) Dan Brown used in his story.
Two of the Inns, Middle Temple and Gray’s, have important connections to Shakespeare. One of his first plays, A Comedy of Errors, debuted at Gray’s Inn Hall, likely because his patron the Earl of Southampton was a member of it. Middle Temple Gardens are where Shakespeare sets the beginning of the Wars of the Roses (Henry VI, Part 1). Middle Temple Hall is also where Twelfth Night, my favorite Shakespeare comedy, debuted for an audience of barristers in early 1602.
The Hall is still standing and in excellent condition today. Though I didn’t get to go in, the doorman talked with me for a while about the hall and its history. I hope to one day follow up on his hottest tip: you can book a space at the lunches served in Middle Temple Hall!
Finally, Lincoln’s Inn has a wonderful chapel. There is a tradition that, when a barrister trained or working there dies, the bell rings. This tradition inspired a famous set of poetic lines. Alone in that chapel, I read the lines from my guidebook, listening to the magnificent acoustics: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent…and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
The Inns of Court just by themselves are pretty tangled in British history. But so are a lot of the people who passed through them. A few famous folks in legal/political careers who trained at various Inns include: Sir Thomas More (beheaded by Henry VIII for criticizing his divorce and the Church of England), Mahatma Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, and 1990s Prime Minister Tony Blair.
For several centuries, though, it was also “trendy” to get legal training as a sort of insurance policy career. That means that the Inns of Court have a LOT of famous artsy types who trained at them. Just a smattering include: Renaissance poet/composer John Donne (the “no man is an island” guy), Charles Dickens (who was a clerk at Gray’s for a bit), Bram Stoker (Dracula), Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island, Jekyll and Hyde), and possibly even Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales).
The British justice system definitely rules this neck of the woods. Besides the Inns of Court themselves, several famous law-related things are close by. The cathedral-like Royal Courts of Justice tower over the Strand.
I also got an extra dose of “legal vibes” on the specific day I did the first half of this walk. I just so happened to visit on the day that the barristers got their appointments to the King’s Council! This is the highest rank of practicing barrister one can earn in the U.K., so there was a lot of excitement in the air. All the new appointees were walking around in their robes and wigs, carrying their appointment letters and getting photos taken with their families. A few of them kindly stopped and explained to me what was going on, so it was fun to be a small part of such a special day. It felt a lot like graduations I’ve attended. (One new barrister also gave me directions; it’s very easy to get lost in the Inns!)
One of the other great points about the Inns is their natural beauty. Each Inn has a park or garden attached to it, usually with plenty of benches and grassy spots to sit and enjoy. I was lucky I visited in the springtime, as there were plenty of stunning flowers to add to the visual feast.
I think every Inn’s attached “nature place” has a special aspect to it. Inner Temple Gardens are surprisingly quiet, given that they are just a stone’s throw from the Thames.
Middle Temple Gardens are famous for their roses, and they’re a bit raised, so they give the best view of the river close by. (They’re also right up against Middle Temple Hall, which is just as pretty from behind.) Gray’s Inn Gardens have the most benches and seemed to be the most popular lunch spot.
And Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London’s largest square and said to be an inspiration for Central Park, has the softest and prettiest green grass. On a nice spring day in London, I don’t think there’s many better spots to bring a Tesco Meal Deal and enjoy the sunshine. Or get a “99 flake” ice cream!
The Inns of Court may not be well known among Londoners, but they are little spots of paradise in the city that deserve more hype. And if – as is very likely – you happen to get lost, just ask someone for directions. Most of the things I learned about the Inns of Court, I learned from the students, barristers, legal assistants, and keepers of the buildings and grounds I asked for help. Don’t worry about the Busy Law People being grouchy and in a hurry, either. When you visit the Inns, they’ll probably be on lunch break. :)
London Walk #5: Soho
By now, you can probably tell that I spent most of my free time wandering around London while I was living there. I found lots of new favorite places and areas, and rediscovered old ones. I’ve already talked about my favorite (Southwark/Bankside, previous blog post) and second favorite (the Inns of Court) areas in central London. This post covers my third favorite, one I got a chance to know better this year: Soho.
I first visited parts of Soho back in 2009, on our first trip to England. I have always liked it, as there are some pretty important connections with British and American rock music there. But for many years, I’ve had trouble explaining to people why exactly I like Soho so much. On the face of it, it’s a pretty normal area of London. Fun and interesting, and with deep history, but two things there. 1) That describes pretty much all of London, so Soho isn’t “special” in that sense. And 2) The history isn’t super visible. Soho isn’t like, say, Westminster/Whitehall, where the historic and important things dominate everything. So, whenever people have asked me “Why Soho?”, usually I’ve just shrugged and said something along the lines of, “I don’t know, good vibes, I guess.”
Until this trip! I visited Soho and the areas immediately around it several times. There is a walk dedicated to this neighborhood in London’s Hidden Walks, Vol. 1, and other parts of London I love are close by. After spending some time around Soho and some thinking, I think I’ve got an answer why I like it. I can narrow my liking of Soho down to four major areas.
1. Logistics. This is a bit of a nerd rant here, but I will never stop insisting that London’s public transit system is a manmade wonder of the world. London is crawling with public transit options: classic red double-decker buses, rentable bikes and scooters, river taxis, trams and cable cars, and (most famously) trains.
The four train “families” alone – the Underground or “Tube,” the Overground, the Docklands Light Rail (DLR), and the swanky new Elizabeth line both above and below ground – will get you anywhere you need to go in London. As an American, someone not accustomed to public transit on this scale, London’s transit system makes my jaw drop every time I consult a Tube map. Shoutout to the people who make it all possible; Transport for London, you’re awesome!
Anyway, Soho is really well serviced by public transit. Multiple Tube lines reach it, as well as dozens of red buses. The Elizabeth line has some pretty big stations around here too, namely Tottenham Court Road. It’s very, very easy to get to Soho and to get out of it, which is not always the case with parts of London that are further afield. Hampstead, for example, is only reachable from Stratford via bus or the Overground, if you want to take a train. (Just be prepared to take the stairway to heaven if you use Tottenham Court Road to get to Soho! The TCR stations are pretty deep underground, so the escalator is one of the longest I’ve ever seen.)
I also find Soho easy to walk around and navigate. Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how old London is. But then, you’re wandering around someplace like the City of London area. When you see ruins of the old city wall, dating from ancient Roman times, you remember…and so do your feet.
Certain parts of London have rough terrain to walk on and twisting, mazelike streets that are easy to get lost in. While it can be fun getting lost, sometimes you don’t want to, especially when rain is coming down literally sideways. Soho is compact, a little “newer” by comparison, and the terrain isn’t terribly hard on your feet. It’s a good place to go when you want to see London, but your feet and brain need a break.
2. Diversity and multicultural roots. I don’t think it’s new information, but London is a really diverse and multicultural city. It always has been. In some parts of the city, you just notice it a little more than in other parts. For example, I like Hackney and Whitechapel mainly because that multicultural nature is very easy to see and experience. (I’ll be talking more about Whitechapel and the neighboring Spitalfields in my final entry.)
Soho is another one of those places. Historically speaking, many groups of immigrants settled here and left their influence behind. French Huguenots were the first in the 1680s, and there is still an excellent French patisserie here in Soho.
Greek Street is a nod to a wave of Greek immigrants to Soho during the same time period. Refugees of political and religious conflict came to Soho from Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe through the centuries. People from all over the world have found a safe home in Soho. While I wouldn’t say that their influence is still visible in the way it is in other areas, you can get a feel for it.
There is one exception to that: Chinatown. London’s Chinatown is in Gerrard Street, just a little past Soho’s southern boundary street (Shaftesbury Avenue). I have always loved Chinese food, so a visit to Chinatown was top of my bucket list for this visit.
I was lucky enough to be in London during Lunar New Year! I will never forget turning the corner to Gerrard Street and being greeted by a sea of red paper lanterns, strung between the buildings, dancing in a winter wind. I also had some truly amazing roast duck to celebrate. While I do think the sense of cultural connection and pride is there all year, being there at a time when it was extra visible was really special.
Soho is diverse in another sense too. It has strong historic links to London’s LGBTQIA+ community and history. Oscar Wilde and his sometime partner Lord Alfred Douglas enjoyed dining at Kettner’s restaurant in this area. Nowadays, Old Compton Street is a center for gay bars and other gathering spots. The Admiral Duncan pub on this street serves as a memorial to queer folks killed in the 1999 London Nail Bombings, which targeted them (as well as black and Bengali communities). The Rainbow Monument in the heart of Soho Square is a nod to that sense of history and pride, in all its meanings.
3. Artistic heritage and connections. I’ve mentioned a couple of times that Soho has strong connections to the arts. For example, Shaftesbury Avenue is a key area of London’s theatre district. Carnaby Street, the city’s historical fashion center, is a short walk from the neighborhood. Another shopping and fashionable area, Oxford Street, is Soho’s northern boundary street. Soho plays an important role in A Tale of Two Cities, in London’s 1960s comedy movement, and in Bill Bryson’s Notes From a Small Island. Karl Marx briefly lived in Soho, creating some of his works there, as did many other writers. Even the tile work at Tottenham Court Road Station, where my walk began, was stunning (artist: Eduardo Paolozzi).
But the artistic connection that stands out most to me, unsurprisingly, is music. Musicians seem to have gravitated toward this area of London for three centuries. I’ll start with the earliest example: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Around the age of 10, Mozart spent about 15 months in London with his family, performing for the royal court. They stayed in a house on Frith Street in Soho.
Amusingly, the modern-day Ronnie Scott’s jazz club is just down the same street! (More on Ronnie Scott’s in a bit.) Richard Wagner also spent some time living in Soho during the 1830s.
Soho was a favorite hangout for major rock stars in the 1950s and 1960s. The 2i’s coffee shop, marked by a green plaque today, was where several early British rock and roll stars first performed. The Rolling Stones first performed with their 1960s regular lineup in Soho, in the Flamingo Jazz Club. That same building later became home to the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, where Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townsend were regulars. Ronnie Scott’s is still one of the world’s major jazz clubs; if you’re “someone” in the jazz world, or aspire to be, you play there. (While I didn’t get a chance to go to a show, the doorman I asked for directions kindly let me peek in, and it’s a very pretty club.) It was also where the Who’s concept album Tommy debuted in 1969. Paul McCartney seems to have hung around Soho a lot, meeting Linda Eastman at the Bag O’Nails, attending his colleagues’ shows, and even opening MPL Communications’ main office on Soho Square. And, speaking of the Beatles, Soho is also home to Trident Studios, where they recorded “Hey Jude” and a good chunk of the White Album.
It’s these parts of Soho that I remembered. Back in 2009, we took a Beatles-themed tour around London, because of course we did. A large part of that tour took us to these sites in Soho. These places and people were already hugely important to me then, as enamored as I was of all 1960s rock music (the Beatles above everyone else). But it might’ve been even more special walking past them again now, as an adult, having made that music my life’s work and loving it as much as ever. It was almost like I was thirteen again, seeing and understanding these places with a whole different perspective. Here are some photos from our 2009 trip:
How could I not love a part of London that’s so important to my own roots?
4. Mix of the historic and the everyday. So, I’ve banged on about Soho’s historic connections quite a lot. There’s a long list. As many as I’ve gone into here, even more major things happened in Soho. Just one example: this neighborhood was where the Victorian doctor John Snow proved that cholera is linked to contaminated water. That research, done on the ground in Soho, helped end London’s problems with cholera epidemics and has saved a lot of lives. I haven’t even touched on all the organizations, efforts, and individuals who congregated in Soho over the centuries to help society’s most vulnerable people. Soho has a long history of poverty and homelessness, but also a LOT of folks who have helped their communities stabilize and grow past them. (I’m happy to report that now, Soho seems to be doing well in this regard, based on what I saw.)
Modern-day celebrities can still be spotted in Soho too. Case in point: during one of my other visits to this part of London, King Charles III and Queen Camilla came by to do a food handout. Since I happened to be in the neighborhood, I followed the police vehicles and ended up in the front of the small crowd by the red carpet for the royals. Yes, folks, that is correct: completely randomly, I found myself watching the King of England walk right past me. And that happened, not at Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London, but in Soho.
But for all that, Soho is surprisingly…normal. Most of the establishments here are bars, restaurants, cafes, and small shops, not museums or palaces. If you visit early in the day, like I did, it’s mostly populated by window cleaners, truck drivers, delivery people, and so on. There’s also not a lot of tourists, and if there are, they’re just passing through or coming (like I was) to see specific things in Soho. Again, it’s not like Westminster or Greenwich, where the fame of the place outweighs the everyday. They are equally visible.
So I suppose that if I had to narrow down why I like Soho into a small version, this is what I’d say. To me, Soho is a fascinating mix of opposites. Poverty and fame, corruption and pleasure, arts and business. It’s a place where outcasts of all kinds – immigrants, queer folks, artists, the poor and homeless, the sick, political exiles, etc. – have found a place to land throughout history. In a place like that, the ordinary and the extraordinary live side by side. They talk to each other, perhaps more directly than they could in any other sort of place.
There’s many parts of London like that. But to me, the mingling of ordinary and extraordinary feels more natural in Soho than anywhere else. And I like it.
London Walk #6: Spitalfields/Whitechapel
The final London walk I would recommend is, I think, less familiar to people: Spitalfields and Whitechapel in East London. I’ll go ahead and get the more obvious part out of the way first. If you’ve heard of Whitechapel before, you’re probably thinking of Jack the Ripper. He terrorized both modern-day Spitalfields and Whitechapel during the summer and fall of 1888. He had five confirmed victims, all female prostitutes (part- and full-time), all living in poverty around the area: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. The exact identity of Jack the Ripper is still unknown today. I’ll circle back to this horrific aspect of Spitalfields/Whitechapel’s history in a bit, as it left me with some of my most powerful impressions of the place.
It might sound a little strange for me to say this, with the context in mind. But Spitalfields/Whitechapel is actually one of my favorite parts of London! It reminds me of Soho in a lot of ways, with a character and warmth to it that kept me coming back. There is a lot more to this area than just Jack the Ripper. So I hope that I can bring some of those parts to light, for folks who have only ever known it (as I once did) for its darkness.
First, Spitalfields/Whitechapel is very walkable and pretty well connected. Street signage is good and nothing is super far from each other. The Overground has multiple stops in the area, and the Elizabeth line services Whitechapel. There are a lot of very distinctive landmarks. For example, the famous “Gherkin” building is in this area.
There are also several examples of street art – including the adorable one below – and, on Brick Lane, old factory smokestacks. Like the Shard in Southwark, these points of reference are really helpful in getting around, for both tourists and locals. Spitalfields/Whitechapel feels a lot like Soho, but with fewer tourists, probably because it’s in East London as opposed to central London.
Second, some of the best food I had on this trip was in this area. East London is famous for its links, both historical and current, to immigrant communities and generations that followed them. It’s incredibly easy to find amazing food from all over the world in neighborhoods around East London. On a previous trip, I had phenomenal Turkish food and African snacks in Hackney to the northeast. Spitalfields was home to large Jewish communities for a very long time, and you can still find mind-blowing traditional bagels at a shop on Brick Lane.
Finally, Whitechapel is a hotspot for Indian and Bangladeshi communities…and for their food, one of my favorite cuisines. Whitechapel’s Indian food left me with some of the strongest taste memories I have. Blazing hot vindaloo (a tomato-based cousin of curry), smooth and cooling mango lassi (a yogurt drink similar to a smoothie), a paper bag of flavor-bomb pakora (vegetable fritters) I munched on while the call to prayer echoed down Whitechapel High Street. If you can’t go to India for Indian food, go to Whitechapel.
Third, in my opinion, Spitalfields and Whitechapel hold the record for the friendliest folks in London. The vendors of the well-known Spitalfields Market asked me insightful questions about Sicily and the U.S., and shared their knowledge of local history. A businessman near the Gherkin gave me directions, and took a few minutes out of his day to recommend a couple of local restaurants and pubs. In Brick Lane, the Indian restaurant owner saw how spicy my vindaloo was and gave me my mango lassi for free, just to help me cool off.
Spitalfields/Whitechapel also has some fun street names. “And to think that I saw it on…”
And I can tell you it wasn’t just on the sunny days, either! Everyone I came across in Spitalfields/Whitechapel had a kind word or a smile for me, even when it was raining and gray. People really make a place what it is. The people of Spitalfields and Whitechapel make both places feel as warm and welcoming as a pub soup and a hot fire in January.
I’ll end this entry where I began: with Jack the Ripper and, more importantly, his victims. It’s not surprising that he targeted the people he did, in the area he did. Victorian society was not kind to the poor. Poverty was considered by many to be a personal, moral failing, not a result of broader socioeconomic issues. East London was one of the city’s more poverty-stricken zones during that time.
Women who were poor, specifically, had an extra layer of prejudice to deal with. Prostitution to make ends meet was common, and for some, it was a last resort before workhouses. Victorian ideas around gender, sex, and sexuality would’ve added an extra level of “shamefulness” on top of the stigma already tied to poverty. I’m not even touching all the other issues, simply because we can’t be here all day, that affected the Ripper’s victims. (In brief, they came from fractured families, lived with alcoholism and drug abuse, suffered domestic violence, and went through separation and divorce, often some mixture of these things.)
All this adds up. Like I used to tell my students, the more facets of identity/life experience a person has that are outside what a society considers “normal,” the more likely it is they’ll be marginalized…and vulnerable. Because of the place and time they lived, the kind of person Jack the Ripper chose to kill were easy targets.
His “legacy” can definitely still be felt in Spitalfields/Whitechapel. But it’s in a way I didn’t expect. Those streets and buildings are remarkably well preserved, even by London standards, with multiple locations that have stood since the 1700s and 1800s. They look like it: narrow, twisting alleyways of brick and stone, the buildings huddled together like they’re trying to stay warm.
And here’s the real kicker: Jack the Ripper’s victims had documented links to places still standing. For example, Mary Jane Kelly was a regular at the Ten Bells Pub, and Annie Chapman was seen drinking there the night she was murdered.
It’s across from Christ Church Spitalfields, where locals gather on the pretty lawn and benches for lunch on sunny days. As I ate my own lunch, I couldn’t take my eyes off the Ten Bells. I couldn’t stop thinking of Annie and Mary Jane: They knew that pub. They saw this church; maybe they prayed here. They’d recognize all this, even now, even with cars and airplanes and smartphones. Maybe they sat and had their lunch here too, once.
I wasn’t the only person thinking of them. Looking around me, I noticed multiple people looking across the street too. Mostly women. Though I couldn’t make out much of the soft conversation – eavesdropping on British people is hard – I definitely heard Jack the Ripper spoken of. But I heard people saying the victims’ names more often than his. One young lady in a business suit finished her lunch and subtly crossed herself, facing not the church, but the pub. I overheard a few local tour guides while I was in the area as well, choosing to speak on the victims’ life stories. It seems that the people of Spitalfields/Whitechapel want to center them, as I have tried to do here. Remembrance of who those five women were and how they lived, rather than how they died, seems more important.
I have immense respect for that. The scars Jack the Ripper left behind still hang over Spitalfields and Whitechapel, in some ways. But just as strong, if not stronger, is the sense of interconnectedness and community that the people bring to it. It feels…defiant. Terror and (let’s be real here) evil once dominated those streets. Today, as far as I can tell, it is kindness that dominates.
It makes me think of the end of one of my favorite childhood movies, Fantasia (1940). Speaking about two dramatically different musical pieces, the narrator says this: “[During A Night on Bald Mountain], the creatures of evil gather to worship their master. Under his spell, they dance furiously, until the coming of dawn and the sounds of church bells send the infernal army slinking back into their abodes of darkness. And then we hear the Ave Maria, with its message of the triumph of hope and life over the powers of despair and death.”
I can’t think of anything that more perfectly describes the feeling of Spitalfields and Whitechapel.
Conclusion
Well, that’s a wrap for this London blog! Deciding on which specific walks from London’s Hidden Walks, Vol. 1 to discuss was SO HARD, y’all. Every single one, every area it covered, had something special about it. The friendly charm of Wapping in the Docklands, the physical challenge and Roman roots of the City of London (western side), the pretty squares and buildings of Mayfair, the many connections with classic rock music in Notting Hill, and more, made it difficult to pick the walks I wanted to deep-dive into. I enjoyed all the walks so much that before I left, I bought London’s Hidden Walks, Vol. 2! I thought of it as a kind of manifestation: a way of promising I’ll go back enough times to complete more walks.
But in the end, for this blog, I went with the places and experiences I still find myself daydreaming about. The parts of London I could go to again and again, and never get tired of them. Here’s to the next time I see them again, and find new parts of London to explore; I hope you will too!
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