Walking in Islington

This page has:

  • information about the benefits of walking
  • websites and apps to support your walking
  • walking maps for different parts of Islington
  • walking in parks
  • walking groups
  • maps of local history and cultural routes in Islington
  • walks through and near Islington

Benefits of walking

There are many benefits of walking. It is good for your health, increases happiness and wellbeing, is a form of travel, helps the environment and is an opportunity to get to know places better and meet new people. It is simple and cheap to do.

Websites and apps to support your walking

Active 10 tracks your walking and shows you when to increase your pace to benefit your health.The app is designed to quickly and simply help you do more brisk walking in bursts of ten minutes, known as Active 10s. It tracks all your walking and rewards your progress.

Citymapper is a London journey planner app.

Footways is a network of quiet and interesting streets for walking in central London.

Go Jauntly is an app with walking trails.

Transport for London has information on how to get around London by foot, route journeys, including time that it will take to walk, and suggested walking routes and places to see and visit. They also have maps showing how many steps or minutes it takes to walk between tube stations and information on journeys that are quicker if walked. 

Walking maps for different parts of Islington

South Islington

  • Map one is of King’s Cross and the area around it. Everything on the map is 20-30 minutes’ walk or less; everything within five to ten minutes is highlighted 
  • Map two should be used in conjunction with map one. It highlights key points of interest in the area surrounding King’s Cross and how to get to them
  • A map of South Islington that shows points of interest in the area
  • A map from Bevin Court to Farringdon Road

Central Islington

  • A map of Angel and Upper Street that highlights services, shopping, entertainment and dining opportunities
  • A map of Caledonian Road and the surrounding area
  • A map from the Packington Estate to the Angel
  • A map from Dover Court to Highbury & Islington

North Islington

  • A map of the Nag’s Head area that highlights services, shopping, entertainment and dining opportunities
  • A map of the Finsbury Park area that highlights services, shopping, entertainment and dining opportunities
  • A map of the Archway area that highlights services, shopping, entertainment and dining opportunities

All of Islington

Find the parks and open spaces in Islington and key facilities.

Find green travel options in Islington, including what is within a 10 minute walk of some points of interest

There are 51 wayfinding boards across Islington with easy to read maps. The maps have been specially designed for pedestrians using 3D mapping to make it easy to find local businesses and attractions and so people can enjoy walking around the borough.

Footways is a network of quiet and interesting streets linking key destinations for everyday walking in central London.

There is a draft network for the whole of Islington and Hackney.

Walking in parks

Four Islington parks have marked routes for walking, running and walk-parkruns:

Walking and parkrun, walk-parkrun groups

The map shows where walking groups and all sport and physical activity is on offer in Islington. 

Islington Parks
Islington Parks offer a number of guided walks:

Organisations in Islington that offer running, parkruns and walk-parkruns:

Healthy Generations

Healthy Generations offers walks in Islington and London parks. For more information, see the leaflet to the right Healthy Generations Walks

Hornsey Lane Estate Community Association offers walks on:

For both walks registration is required beforehand: contact Susan Aykroyd, walkleader@hlcea.org.uk, 07985 156876. 

Islington Guided Walks
Guided walks of hidden and historic Islington. Islington Guided Walks is a trading name for the Clerkenwell and Islington Guides’ Association.

Walk for adults with a learning disability
A regular walk for adults with a learning disability. Organised by Mencap, for more information, contact Jonathan; jonathan.quarterman@mencap.org.uk

Izzwalkz
Izzwalkz, part of Healthy Minds, Health Bods, has teamed up with Highbury Grange Medical Practice to provide a weekly health walk in Clissold Park. Meet every Thursday at 11am outside Highbury Grange Medical Practice, 1-5 Highbury Grange, N5 2QB.  

St Luke's Community Centre has a walking group.

Silver Strollers offers free, historical walks in Islington for senior citizens. For more information, see the leaflet to the right, Silver Strollers

Hampstead Ramblers Group
The group organises walks ranging from less than four to more than 16 miles, taking place throughout London and the South-East. They aim to have at least one walk each weekend and also organise a few mid-week day and evening walks and the occasional weekend break or longer holiday.  
 
Lansdown's London
A range of guided, mostly paid for, walks in Islington and neighbouring boroughs. 

Maps of local history and cultural routes in Islington 

You can see many historical, cultural and architectural highlights of Islington with these 1.3-4 mile (2,500-7,500 steps / 25-75 minutes) self-guided walking tours around different areas of the borough. There is also a cycling tour of the borough.

There is a map that shows these tours. It links to the map for each tour and also links to Google maps so you can follow each walk on your smartphone. 
 
1. Archway to Crouch Hill
Distance: 2.1 miles / 3.4km
Time: 40 minutes
Steps: 4,000
Highlights: A couple of miles taking in some of the historical and cultural sights between Highgate Hill and Crouch Hill
Follow the route on your smartphone

2. Archway to Whitehall Park
Distance: 2.1 miles / 3.4km
Time: 40 minutes
Steps: 4,000
Highlights: This is a hilly walk with the reward of pleasant, tree-lined good views and residential streets. If you take a bus to the top of Highgate Hill the rest of the trail is mostly downhill.
Follow the route on your smartphone

3. Tufnell Park and Nag's Head
Distance: 2.6 miles / 4.2km
Time: 50 minutes
Steps: 5,000
Highlights: In an area known for busy streets, here are two quieter routes down the hill from Tufnell Park
You can make it a loop to return on foot – or take the Number 4 bus back up to Tufnell Park Station.
Follow the route on your smartphone 

4. Highbury Corner to Finsbury Park
Distance: 2 miles / 3.2km
Time: 40 minutes
Steps: 4,000
Highlights: There is a rich variety of places for food shopping and eating at the top of the hill and on down into Highbury Vale and Blackstock Road.
Follow the route on your smartphone

5. Finsbury Park to Crouch Hill
Distance: 1.8 miles / 2.9km
Time: 35 minutes
Steps: 3,500
Highlights: The route climbs rather gently to the top of the hill; the W7 bus will also get you there and you can walk down.  Nearby streets have interesting features, and there is the green, wooded Parkland Walk away from traffic. 
Follow the route on your smartphone

6. Arsenal to Highbury
Distance: 1.6 miles / 2.6km
Time: 30 minutes
Steps: 3.000
Highlights: A short walk past the Emirates Stadium and a number of other sights in the area. 
Follow the route on your smartphone

7. Canonbury
Distance: 3 miles / 4.8km
Time: 1hr
Steps: 6,000
Highlights: The trail goes through two contrasting 19th century suburbs of Canonbury and Newington Green. The trail is fairly level, often following the route of the New River.
Follow the route on your smartphone

8. Mildmay
Distance: 2 miles / 3.2km
Time: 40 minutes
Steps: 4,000
Highlights: Jewish Burial Ground, Unitarian Chapel, Newington Green
Follow the route on your smartphone
 
9. Barnsbury
Distance: 2 miles / 3.2km
Time: 40 minutes
Steps: 4,000
Highlights: West Library Reading Room, Richmond Avenue Sphinxes, Islington Workhouse, The Gardens (Barnsbury Square)
Follow the route on your smartphone

10. Angel to Farringdon
Distance: 1.3 miles / 2.1km
Time: 25 minutes
Steps: 2,500
Highlights: Sadler’s Wells theatre, Exmouth Market, Clerkenwell Green.
Follow the route on your smartphone   

11. Angel to Essex Road
Distance: 3 8 miles / 6.1km
Time: 1hr15
Steps: 7,500
Highlights: A scenic, quieter route, away from Upper Street.  It passes a good number of handsome, pretty, plain and sometimes quirky buildings in this small corner of Islington.
Follow the route on your smartphone

12. EC1
Distance: 2.5 miles / 4km
Time: 50 minutes
Steps: 5,000
Highlights: St John's Gateway, The Clerks Well, Finsbury Health Centre, Metropolitan Water Board, Sadler's Wells Theatre
Follow the route on your smartphone

13. St John's Street
Distance: 1.5 miles / 2.5 km
Time: 30-40 minutes
Steps: 3,000
Highlights: Islington Museum, Hayward's Place, Cannon's Brewery, Mallory’s Buildings, St John’s Gate, Passing Alley, Smithfield Meat Market
Follow the route on your smartphone

14. Old Street to Angel
Distance: 1.5 miles / 2.5 km
Time: 30-40 minutes
Steps: 3,000
Highlights: Revealing some of the major changes in the area, passing by characterful churches, former cigarette factories, 19th century housing estates and Finsbury Council’s pioneering efforts to improve social housing in the 20th century.
Follow the route on your smartphone
 
15. Clerkenwell
Distance: 2 miles / 3.2km
Time: 40 minutes
Steps: 4,000
Highlights: the medieval priory of St John and its northern neighbour, the nunnery of St Mary; Farringdon Road, St John Street, which was once the ancient drovers' route down to Smithfield Market. 
Yellow numbers indicate what the highlights look like and blue dots indicate where they are located on the map.
Follow the route on your smartphone
 
Cycle tour of Islington
Distance: 7 miles / 11.3km
Time: 50 minutes
Highlights: Freightliners Farm, Pentonville Prison, the New River, Estorick Collection museum

Walks through and near Islington 

Capital Ring
This walk is made up of 15, easy-to-walk sections, covering 78 miles (126KM) of open space, nature reserves, Sites of Specific Scientific Interest and more in a loop around the capital. 
The Highgate to Stoke Newington section passes through Islington
Distance: 5 miles / 8 km
Time: 1hr35
Steps: 9,500
Highlights: Parkland Walk (London's longest nature reserve), FinsburyPark, Stoke Newington Reservoirs, Clissold Park and House, Abney Park Cemetery

Green Link
The Green Link opened in 2024. It is a 15-mile walk that goes through four boroughs, including Islington. It links almost 40 areas of green space and other walking routes.

Jubilee Greenway
This route was completed to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Games. It is 60km (37 miles) long - one km for each year of the Queen's reign and links together all the major Games sites.
The Camden Park to Victoria Park section passes through Islington
Distance: 4.7 miles / 7.6km
Time: 1h30
Steps: 9,000
Highlights: Camley Street Natural Park, London Canal, Museum, Broadway Market, Chapel Market, Victoria Park, Regents Canal.

London Audio tours
VoiceMap’s app for iPhone and Android devices has London audio stories to listen to while you walk. Each audio walk is created by a local storyteller.

Sport and physical activity has full information about all the sport and physical activity on offer in Islington.

If you have a question about the content on this page, contact John Thorne: john.thorne@islington.gov.uk; 020 7527 7096.

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  1. Healthy Generations Walks
  2. Silver Strollers