A walk along the South Bank

Start at Tower Hill underground station (1) and follow the signs past the Tower of London (2) over Tower Bridge (3). Heading west from Tower Bridge, you immediately pass the glass, near-spherical, City Hall (4), the headquarters of London's regional assembly, a radically-designed glass fronted and rounded building. Continuing along the river on The Queen's Walk you pass the historic HMS Belfast (5) in the river, a Royal Navy battleship that served in the Second World War, and which is now open to the public. After passing HMS Belfast head away from the river through Hay's Galleria (6), a shopping arcade, which is dominated by a vast, vaguely-boat-shaped statue, onto Tooley Street.

On Tooley Street, turn right, and you will pass the London Dungeon (7) on the other side of the road, which brings to life the gorier elements of London's past, with faithful recreations of disaster, disease, and torture. Stay on Tooley Street, bearing right just after London Bridge Hospital (8). You will walk through an arch under London Bridge. Immediately on your right after the bridge is Southwark Cathedral (9). Off the traditional tourist path, it has been the site of worship since the year 852. Literally in the shadow of London Bridge, the Cathedral is a shelter from the noise of the city.

After passing the cathedral, you may want to turn left to go on a detour through Borough Market (10), a food market (open on Friday afternoons and Saturdays) and the Old Operating Theatre Museum (11), a relic of the days before antiseptic surgery, bizarrely situated in the roof space of old St. Thomas Church along with the herb store originally used by the hospital's apothecary.
After passing the cathedral, bear right to see The Golden Hinde (12), a scale replica of Sir Francis Drake's galleon, berthed in St Mary Overie Dock beside the river. Continuing west along Clink Street, parallel with the river, you will pass the remains of Winchester Palace, the former home of the Bishops of Winchester.

At the end of Clink Street, you will pass under the Cannon Street rail bridge and walk past Vinopolis (13), an exhibition of wines from around the world. Turn right to join the river again, and pass The Anchor pub (14), a pleasant place to have a drink on a summer evening. Continue further along the river and, after passing under Southwark Bridge, you will soon reach the Globe Theatre (15) and enjoy the view from Sir Christopher Wren's house across the Thames past the Millennium bridge towards St Paul's Cathedral (16).

The footbridge itself is just beside Tate Modern (17), an enormous art gallery converted from the former Bankside Power Station. The gallery collects contemporary and modern art from around the world, arranged thematically. The most stunning aspect of the building is the enormous Turbine Hall, which plays host to a single piece of work commissioned for the space each year.
Continuing alongside the river, you pass under the Blackfriars Rail Bridge. If you look toward the river just after the bridge, you'll see the columns of the original rail bridge, which was demolished because it was too weak to support modern trains. Continue along the river, passing under the bridge.

A little further along the river, you'll pass the OXO Tower (18), notable for the stained glass windows bearing the letters "OXO" - installed by the manufacturers of OXO stock cubes, which features a restaurant on the top floor, though you can go up the tower and have access to a separate balcony for free to enjoy views of the surrounding South London area and the Embankment.  

Continuing along the river, you'll pass Gabriel's Wharf (19), an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants. The next building along the river is the London Studios, where numerous ITV television shows are recorded. Just after this is the UK headquarters of IBM and the National Theatre (20). The area in front of the theatre is often used for free entertainment in the summer.
Just after the National Theatre, you walk under Waterloo Bridge. During the day, second hand booksellers set up tables under the bridge to sell their wares.
The next building along the South Bank is the Royal Festival Hall (21), a venue for (predominantly classical) music events. In the summer, free performances often take place on the balcony overlooking the Thames.

Just after the Royal Festival Hall is the Hungerford rail bridge, which is flanked by two footbridges, the Golden Jubilee Bridges, generally known to locals by the name of the older bridge that they replaced - the Hungerford footbridges. Continuing the walk west alongside the river, you'll pass Jubilee Gardens, which is very popular for picnics during the summer.

At the western end of the gardens is the London Eye (22), an enormous, 135-metre (440 feet) high observation wheel with 32 exterior glass-walled capsules. It offers incomparable views over central London and up to 25 miles away on a good day. County Hall on Belvedere Road, the former home of the Greater London Council, lies just beside the London Eye too - and is home to Dali Universe (an exhibition of works by artist Salvador Dali) and the Sea Life London Aquarium, which is one of the largest aquariums in Europe, it boasts a collection of 350 species of fish.  

Just after County Hall is Westminster Bridge. To continue alongside the river, take the tunnel underneath the bridge. Before you do, though, go up the steps onto the bridge. One interesting thing to look for is the statue of a lion beside County Hall on the south side of the bridge - this statue is one of the few remaining examples of Coade stone, a ceramic substance developed by a Victorian female scientist, Eleanor Coade. It originally stood outside the entrance to the Lion Brewery, alongside a larger lion, which now stands at Twickenham Rugby Club.

Returning to the walk along the river, on the west side of Westminster Bridge, you'll see a brilliant view of the Palace of Westminster (23), also known as the Houses of Parliament, on the other side of the river.
As you continue along this last leg of the South Bank walk, you'll see the character of the river bank change considerably. Far fewer tourists walk along this section, and the raised benches offer a nice place to sit and relax while looking out over the river. Either walk back to Waterloo, cross Westminster Bridge to Westminster tube or carry on to Vauxhall tube – it all depends on your feet!

The bridge between St Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern gallery is officially called the Millennium Bridge. It was designed as the first pedestrian crossing over the Thames to be built for over 100 years and a major project to  mark the year 2000. Unfortunately the Queen was forced to 'open' the bridge before it was completed and it opened to the public months late in June 2000.

About 80,000 people crossed on the first day, and it became clear that something was wrong: the bridge was moving up to 70mm (3") from side to side as people staggered across. The 'wobbly' bridge became an attraction in its own right, before being closed after two days to cure the "synchronous lateral excitation". It was not until 2002 that the bridge re-opened to the public.