The 184 mile (300km) walkway begins in the Cotswolds and runs almost to the North Sea. Lonely Planet mainly focuses on the 29 mile stretch of the path from Kingston Upon Thames eastwards to Greenwich.
The guide book, 1,000 Ultimate Adventures, describes this section as “a London highlights reel, passing Kew Gardens, Battersea Park and power station, Westminister and Big Ben, the Millenium Eye, Shakespeare’s Globe and so on.
“Expect surprising contrasts – the leafy emptiness of the riverbank through Richmond and Kew against the chaos of the South Bank, where the entire world seems to come to meet”.
Westminster City Council’s deputy cabinet member for city management, transport and environment, councillor Frixos Tombolis was pleased with the recognition for the city.
“We are in complete agreement that London boasts an array of sights to rival any in the world. In Westminster we are fortunate to have many of them on our doorstep, and there is no better way to appreciate them than by passing them on foot,” said Tombolis.
“The Thames Path is soon to be joined by a host of new walking routes which we hope will encourage Londoners to make the most of their surroundings while getting from A to B.”
Other hikes included on the list include Arthur’s Seat, which overlooks Edinburgh – Lonely Planet’s book also rated Scotland one of the top destinations in the world for adventure travel junkies craving mountain exploration and trekking – and the Great Coastal Walk in Sydney, as well as the seawall in Vancouver.
