19

Sometimes when gadding about in central London I am set back by a station closure or some other incident that requires me to find another station. In those cases I don't care if the station is on the same line (I can always connect to resume my journey), the paramount concern is walking time.

So what I am after is a guide to the London Tube that contains the average walking time from station to station.

While I am a London area resident the same issue confronts visitors; indeed, in the case of a visitor, their need is more acute because they have no clue about which tube stations are in the general area.

Question: how can I obtain a walking map of the London Tube system? While the immediate interest is London, I would love the same for other cities too (Birmingham, Edinburgh, and so on) if they exist.

Edit: Yes, I can use Google Maps to obtain the walking distance between two stations that are explicitly identified. But this drill must be conducted serially for each alternative. Also, given the situation, I would prefer hard copy because the net can be very slow in some places.

Improve this question
10
  • 4
    I assume you mean a paper map? Otherwise the answer is a smartphone and google maps!
    – AndyT
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 11:25
  • 4
    Does the TFL Walking times between tube stations map not cover exactly what you need? Or are you thinking about walking between lines not along them?
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 11:57
  • 1
    There's also Rod McLaren's 2003 Walklines map, which highlights whenever two stations not on the same lines are within 500m of each other, which should do you for most "oh, this line is closed, where's a nearby other one" case
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 12:03
  • 1
    @Gagravarr: That's a valid answer. Also, it makes me wonder where the map I posted as an answer really comes from.
    – MastaBaba
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 14:48
  • 1
    not really an answer but the Citymapper app is really exceptionally good for this sort of thing AND it tells you which carriage is optimal to use!
    – MD-Tech
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 16:52

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
11

Well, what a coincidence. This was in the news today.

Article

Creators' website

Creators' Twitter feed

Walk London map

Improve this answer
10
  • 2
    It irks me that it doesn't go far south enough to show Collier's wood...or even Kennington for that matter. And Wimbledon on the District line :/
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 13:05
  • 1
    I saw it in the news this week too, but weirdly on their site the date says Jan 15!
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 13:07
  • 8
    Unfortunately this only shows walking distances along the tube lines (as well as, for some ineffable reason, the long-closed Aldwych branch and some variant of the never-built Fleet Line). For example, the close proximity of Lancaster Gate on the Central Line to Paddington station is not shown -- or the fact that Regent's Park and Great Portland Street are practically next to each other.
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 13:17
  • 5
    This map is bizarre. There's even "Lord's" between Baker Street and Finchley Road, which hasn't existed since 1939...
    – Chris Down
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 17:09
  • 1
    The inclusion of the closed stations skews their results even if you're not going there; it suggests that it takes 13m (6+7) to walk from Tottenham Court Road to Holborn, for example, against TFL's 10m. Would really recommend accepting the other answer instead - this map is both confusing and inaccurate.
    – Andrew is gone
    Commented Nov 13, 2015 at 12:40
25

For a general offline case, get a paper street atlas of the city you're in, and learn what symbols to look for for their trains, metros/undergrounds, trams etc! For a general online case, much the same with google maps or similar. Maybe not apple maps, as covered humorously here

For London specifically, there are two maps that spring to mind. One has been in the news in the last few days, but actually builds upon a map that has been around for a little bit. There's an official TFL tube walking map, which shows the time to walk between stations along lines. It looks like this:

part of content.tfl.gov.uk/walking-tube-map.pdf

From your use case, that map might not always help. If one station is closed, it should be fine for walking to the next. If a line is closed, less so.

Dating from 2003, Rod Corp produced a map showing "walklines" between stations. This aims to show when two tube stations are within 500m of each other, and hence when it might be worth walking between them even though they're not joined on the map. Some, but not all of these are available as "outerchanges" (out-of-station interchanges). The 2003 map from Rob is available here on his site, and has the links marked like this:

Part of rodcorp.typepad.com/rodcorp/images/tube_walklines_final_lm.html

Otherwise, you'll need a Geographically Accurate tube map, eg the Official TFL London Connections geographic map, so you can see how stations really are located near to each other, eg:

Part of www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/224813/response/560395/attach/3/London%20Connections%20Map.pdf

Improve this answer
4
  • The walklines would be better if they indicated distance a bit better. Even "one dash every 50 meters of walking distance" or somesuch.
    – Yakk
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 19:14
  • I have a Geographically Accurate tube map on paper, small package when folded. I cary it with me whenever in central London. I got it from a vending machine in the underground station at a main line station, I think Liverpool street.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 19:16
  • The geographically accurate map is cool, but are you sure it is "Official TFL"? I cannot find it on TfL's own website.
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Commented Nov 14, 2015 at 12:07
  • @HenningMakholm It's an "internal use only" one, they don't publish it on their site, it's only public via FOI request
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Nov 14, 2015 at 14:45
5

Using TFL's Journey Planner you can select Public Transport, Cycling or Walking, input the origin and destination and find out a very accurate estimate of the time it takes to walk, cycle, etc. between stations. You can even select slow, average or fast walking options.

It's not exactly a map, because it would be impossible to make a printed map that showed the walking time between every station, but I personally think it's far better than a static map.

Just click on the Travel options & accessibility link underneath the to/from inputs.

enter image description here

Improve this answer
3

TFL now has greatly extended its walking coverage. The walking page links to four different version of the maps from the accepted answer above: Walking (steps / times) between Tube and Rail Stations (zones 1-3 / zones 1-2). And also it has Central London journeys that could be quicker to walk (these involve at least one station interchange):

Walking can be a quick and easy way to get around, particularly when travelling during the busiest times, which are 08:00-09:00 and 17:30-18:30 Monday to Friday. The table below shows some popular journeys within zones 1 and 2 that are quicker to walk

I never knew Great Portland Street and Regent’s Park are practically next to each other -- only two minutes or 200 steps.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .