As the weather gets warmer, city folk naturally consider a walk in the country. But for country dwellers to make it to the town, not for the sales and a spot of retail therapy, not for the theatre or an exhibition but for a walk, well that is altogether rarer. But this walk is special enough to make it worth while for even the most rural rambler to get on a train and head for London and, if you are a Londoner, or a tourist visiting London, and haven’t done it already, well, promise yourself that you will before the month is out.

I am talking about the river walk along the South Bank roughly from Lambeth Bridge to the Isle of Dogs. The start and end points are flexible for it will depend on which train station is convenient for you. This stretch of the river boasts not one but five stations:

•  Victoria
• Vauxhall 
•  Waterloo 
•  Charing Cross 
•  Blackfriars 
•  London Bridge 
•  Cannon Street

I n this article I will describe the walk from Lambeth Bridge to Waterloo, next time the second leg to London Bridge, and finally the third to the Isle of Dogs. If you manage to do all three in one day you can certainly pat yourself on the back for dedication,  because there are distractions the whole way. The beauty of each of these walks is that you can keep going until you are tired or hungry in the knowledge that you are never more than 100 yards away from somewhere to eat or a form of transport, bus, tube, train or river bus to take you back to where you started.

Breakfast at the Regency Cafe

To get to Lambeth Bridge you can take the tube to Pimlico or, if you are arriving at Victoria, take the 507 bus the end of the Horseferry Road, so called because this used to be the only place where you could cross the Thames with a coach and six horses. You might want to start with a bit of culture, in which case there is Tate Britain. But if it is early on in the day it is worth stoking up with possibly the best breakfast in London at the Regency Café in Regency Street. This is a no frills place but you won’t get better bacon and eggs fresh bread with thick butter and huge mugs of tea, all for around £4.50.

If you’ve already breakfasted, cross Lambeth Bridge on foot. You immediately have the most wonderful views of Parliament on the North Bank and further along the South Bank the London Eye. It is highly likely that a passing tourist will ask you to take their photo, to prove that they have really been there. If you are that passing tourist, ask somebody to take yours - you know you want to; most people will oblige.

 Having crossed the bridge you are faced with your first temptation, particularly if you are up from the country – whether to make a brief detour to St Mary’s Church and the Museum of Garden History. A compromise is to look briefly in the church yard where you can see the grave of Captain Bligh, yes the Captain of the Bounty, who had the misfortune not to benefit from leadership training and who, as a result in film legend, had to face the mutinous Fletcher Christian in the form of Clark Gable. Whether or not you cross the road to the Church, make sure you look at the lamp standards, they have entwined dolphins at their base and they will punctuate your route all the way to the London Eye. At this point you also enjoy an amazing picture of The Houses of Parliament across the water. Look up at the top of Big Ben, if there is a light, most noticeable at dusk or after dark, it doesn’t mean that someone has forgotten to turn it off but that the House of Commons is sitting.

Fun of the fair in County Hall

The Thames always seems busy at this point and you can see barges, police boats and pleasure cruisers and reflect that this is the way some people work – must be better than being in an office every time. Keep going ; you pass in front of St Thomas’ Hospital and the opportunity to pop into the Florence Nightingale Museum until you come to County Hall which betrays its decorous exterior by having a fun fair in the basement.

I am talking the real thing – there is ten pin bowling and fruit machines and fiendish machines which wheedle 10 p out of you at every turn and there are dodgems - there really are. If the inner child is not tempted by this, well there is also the possibility of free concerts four times a day in the music café, or to pop into the Dali exhibition or the London Aquarium, or if hunger is overtaking you – all the noodles you can eat for £5.99.

Then you are on the London Eye, far bigger than you think possible if you see it from a distance. I am always fascinated by the little ladders that curve between the pods and wonder whether it would be possible to hang on as the wheel takes you on its half hour revolution. Lingering here is easy and there are frequent market stalls offering further enticements but the dedicated walker will keep going and head on towards the Heyward Gallery, the National Theatre the Royal Festival Hall, pausing maybe to look at the skateboarders, or if a more serious rest is needed at this point to take in a film at the National Film Theatre.

Head for Gordon's

On this walk you never need go hungry; indeed the problem is not take in more calories than you expend walking but should you feel a tad peckish as you head towards Charing Cross Bridge, why not cross over to the North side and have lunch at Gordon’s winebar. It is in Villiers Street next to Charing X station and strikingly dowdy from the outside. But the interior down some unpromising looking steps makes up for it all in atmosphere that seems unchanged since the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, pictures of which are still on the wall – the food is excellent as is the choice of wine. If the weather is warm enough you can sit at the tables along side the Embankment gardens, sip your wine, tuck into home made pie and salad, listen to the band and regain your strength for the next leg of the walk.