Follow London's blue plaques on foot
A friend has invited you to do this with them.
London's blue plaques scheme, begun in 1866 and thought to be the oldest of its kind in the world, marks the buildings where notable people lived and worked. English Heritage now runs it, and its searchable list of more than 1,000 plaques turns any borough into a walking route.
GentleFreeAn afternoonOutdoorsAlone or with othersLondon
How to start
- Open the English Heritage Find a Plaque search and filter by London borough or by category.
- Plot six to ten plaques within one borough on a map and join them into a loop.
- Walk the route and read up on one person you had never heard of when you get home.
Where to go
We opened this link on 8 October 2026 and found it to be what we say. Dates, places and prices are on the official page, where they stay up to date.
Plan this
Pick a day, or a month, and we will set out how to get ready, step by step, with a date and a reason for each. Projects run over months and stall without a rhythm, so the plan sets milestones you can see.
Read next
Dave Bell rowed from Peru to Kenya and did not set foot on land for 327 days
How a former Royal Marine from Bere Regis rowed more than 15,000 nautical miles alone, from South America to Africa, without a support boat or a single stop. What the row involved, and how to get from your first rowing stroke to a long, steady session of your own.
Joanne Currie and Sue Smith raced across the Atlantic to a piper's welcome in Oban
Two Scottish crew in the 2025-26 Clipper Race sailed the 3,115 nautical miles from Washington DC to Oban on 70ft racing yachts. How a race crewed by non-professionals trains its sailors, what the work on board asks of your body, and the routes into crewing in the UK and US, from a club taster to a five-day live-aboard course.
More like this
Gentle · District of Columbia
Visit every Smithsonian museum in Washington
Gentle
Take a sleeper train journey
Gentle
Drive a National Scenic Byway end to end
Gentle
Visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site you have never seen