Stretch your legs with our walking map for a fiver

If you missed out on a free copy of our new walking map, we’re pleased to announce that our second edition Central London Footways walking map is now available to purchase for £5 online and in-store at Stanfords, Covent Garden.

When we launched Central London Footways back in 2020, we weren’t expecting just how rapidly it would sell out. Fast forward another two years and we’ve been thrilled to see even greater demand for the second edition of our walking map – the first map for our city that prioritises walking as a form of transport.

Since it was released on 23 May, thousands of Londoners and visitors have made a dash to stations to pick up one of 10k free copies; a sign of the city’s appetite to rekindle its love of walking. 

Will Norman speaking at our map’s launch at St Mary Le Strand in May.

Launching the new map, the Mayor of London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman said, “walking isn’t just great fun, it is amazingly good for you, it’s good for society and it’s good for the city. This is why the Mayor has put walking at the heart of his transport strategy.” 

With this Transport Strategy setting an ambitious target for 80 percent of all journeys to be made with walking, cycling and public transport, we need more initiatives that get our city excited about active travel. “Having these maps, and having people feed into them … helps us improve the transport system not only now but also in the longer term,” said Norman.  

The more people who enjoy getting around central London on foot, the more support we can build for improvements to pedestrian infrastructure. Campaigning for these improvements is a key part of the Footways project and essential to make the city safe, open and enjoyable to all Londoners.

Note - we use the term ‘walking’ as a catch-all for all uses of the footway - that’s feet, wheelchairs, mobility scooters and kids on bikes. Our network favours step-free access and uses crossings on main roads. Where steps have sneaked in, we’ve marked these on our map. 

A new look

The second edition of the map includes a wider network of quiet and enjoyable streets. Designed by our friends at Applied, the map is easier to read and features new tools to demonstrate how quick and easy it is to walk between mainline stations and key destinations. 

Map users can also scan a QR code on their phones to pull up a digital copy of the map, or sample routes with interesting facts about the hidden features that can be discovered along the way. Check out a sample route from Waterloo to the British Museum here.

If you were unable to get to a station to pick up a free copy, we’re pleased to announce that our second edition of the Central London Footways walking map is now available to purchase for £5 online and in Stanfords’ Covent Garden store. 

We think getting around central London for a one-off payment of £5 is an unmissable  bargain:  it costs £7.70 to buy a daily Travelcard for central London, and you won’t get to keep a beautiful printed map to help you change a lifetime of travel habits.

So why not walk to Stanfords to get your hands on a copy? The world-famous map retailer is a quick walk from Covent Garden, Leicester Square or Charing Cross underground stations, and only 20 minutes from Waterloo or 30 minutes from King’s Cross as part of a longer walk through London’s historic centre. Check out our feature-filled route from King’s Cross to Covent Garden here. 

If you’re a bookseller in London interested in stocking the Central London Footways map, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us an email at hello@footways.london