Another crazy idea to cross off the list? It certainly was, and we took the opportunity last Wednesday and headed into London. It was a sunny day but cool; perfect for covering 15 miles along the city’s streets. We set off intent on visiting each street of the famous Monopoly board game, and photographing our evidence at every step of the way.
View Monopoly walk in a larger map
There they are: the 22 streets on the London Monopoly Board, along with the 4 stations that make up this most famous of board games. A glance at the map reveals two outlying points; Old Kent Road, the token entry from south London, and Marylebone Station, in the north west and a good distance away from the other streets on the board.
Fenchurch St Station
We started at Old Kent Road, and the approach to it from Elephant and Castle betrayed its designation as a brown square; down at heel and surrounded by boarded up post-war housing projects, it’s a far cry from the places we’d later be seeing.
From here it was over Tower Bridge, and a couple of short hops to Fenchurch Street and eastwards to Whitechapel. From Liverpool Street there is a long sweep of around 5 miles around the periphery of central London, heading to King’s Cross and then along Euston Road, eventually reaching Marylebone Station.
The most famous platform at Kings Cross
Having completed the outliers, we headed for Marble Arch and then down Park Lane before entering Mayfair between the exclusive motor car showrooms.
From this point the streets come thick and fast, and we clocked the remaining 18 or so streets in little over an hour. Our final stop was Fleet Street, and we arrived here just under six hours after our arrival in south London.
As for the other squares? For the prison we chose the Tower of London, while for Go To Jail we witnessed an arrest taking place on the Strand.
Chance? That was easy, with so many bookmaker shops to choose from. While Community Chest was a bit trickier. See which of these two best represent it…
COMMUNITY chest?
Community CHEST
We found an electric company on Fleet Street and the offices of the water works on Pentonville Road. And as for Free Parking? That might be the hardest thing to spot in London, but we did find Aldi’s in Old Kent Road offering free parking for their shoppers.
The humble Vine Street
The biggest surprise? Vine Street. It’s a tiny dead end behind Piccadilly, and is hard to imagine why the maker of the Monopoly board chose this inconsequential street to sit on a world famous board.
While not the most picturesque walk on offer in London, it certainly covers a diverse mix of neighbourhoods and shows many faces of our capital city. At 15 miles it’s not a good choice for a casual stroll, although can easily be broken into two or three separate walks for those with the time to do it. The great news is that there are plenty of places to stop for food and drink along the way. In fact, while we took the option of walking the route and photographing each stop, the more common way of ‘doing the Monopoly board’ is by using the squares as a route for a massive pub crawl.
You can see photos of every square on the Monopoly board here.
You should check out Brainrotting’s video where he does the monopoly tour!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZsMh35TsUM
It is quite odd that Vine street is so small! But maybe is has a lot of history behind it or something?
What a fantastic idea and cool thing to do!
Kathryn @Travelfusion
Inspired idea Andy! Whenever I go to London I always go to places such as Covent Garden or Camden but the idea of seeing the different faces of London really appeals – it’s such a diverse and fascinating city and I feel really lucky to live near enough to go there regularly.
Ros
What a great idea! Did you find that the Monopoly value of the streets roughly correlated with reality?
Anne
Wow, that sounds like so much fun! All the pictures were great too!
Thanks to all for the comments. Well worth doing, and as well as ticking off a list of well-known streets and stations it gives an insight into some of London’s lesser known and less glamorous areas.
Oh wow you walk all the way?? You go Andy!!
that’s so awesome. So many ideas you gave me! Hehe
Monopoly is not much a big game here so I don’t know all the places but it certainly interesting. I learn so much about England from you.
lol, interesting way to do a tour of London, never considered it myself, and assumed Vine Street would be a bit more significant than mentioned!
Pat
Anne, you’re right, the square do have a resemblance with the reality. Park Lane and Mayfair are indeed the richest neighbourhoods, while the two brown squares are far more modest areas. Of course, the board was designed some years ago and areas that were rough are now coming up, and vice versa. But yes, it’s pretty much a fair reflection.
I hadn’t considered actually just walking it! My sister and I took on the Monopoly Pub Crawl when we were there five years ago (it is after all, one of the 101 things to do before you die). It was a bit epic though and we only made it to 13 of the places (it was interesting to find out that a lot of stations in London actually have pubs in them!). Luckily Mayfair was halfway along the way so we finished up there. I would like to go back and try again but honestly I don’t think I can manage that much drinking. We did cheat too and went to McDonalds for one of the stops. It was great fun though, and I have some absolutely hilarious photos of as, as our state slowly detriorated as we stacked up more pubs.
I think you chose the more sensible way to experience the Monopoly board. It was interesting to see some of the streets we missed. Also, walking it is a great way to do it, we caught trains in between. Thanks for the great post!
Thanks for sharing your experience Verity. It sounds like you had lots of fun doing it, no matter where you finished! I could certainly not manage to drink my way around the route in one day!
It was my understanding that you are supposed to have a drink at each stop. Then again that’s probably why I only made it about six stops…
i did this just today on my travels…I had the idea and found this blog which certainly made things easier for me. I used another vine street I found near fenchurch station and it was definitely a full day.
Haha, this was an awesome idea and great execution. Loved it. Now if I can only find some money for a plane ticket..LOL
Awesome blog!
how long did it take roughly and wheres the best place to start?
Around 5 hours of walking for us – I would aim to start at Old Kent Road. It’s out of the way from the others so makes a natural start/end. And it’s hardly the most glamorous place to enjoy that satisfying feeling of having finished.
This walk does not appear to have taken in Marlborough Street which is in Kensington but taken the much easier (but incorrect) option of Greta Marlborough Street.
However this was the inpiration for me to do the walk which I did recently. Many thanks. (Next walks planned are the oranges and lemons walk -St Clements Old Bailey etc, and walking the circle line)
Thank you John. I wondered if Great Marlborough Street was really the right one – all I can say is that extending the walk to Kensington would not have been welcome. Although if you are walking the Circle Line I shouldn’t complain about my route – sounds like you are doing some great walks – would love to hear about them.
Love this idea! Thought of doing it on very first trip to London many years ago but never had the time. Monopoly games with the family were such a big part of my childhood growing up in Sydney! Going to do this next time I’m in London. Thanks!
Thanks Lara – worth doing and a good chance to see London in a different light – with or without the pub stops!
Also a vine street in EC1. Much longer. If you are collecting trivia, I could not find a Street called “Mayfair”. “Bond Stree” now exists as a tube station or Old/New Bond Street. Marlbourgh Street is to be found as Great Marlbough Street.
Finaly , did any one else notice the T34 Russian Tank just off Old Kent Road?
Hi,
This is a brilliant idea!
I’m a beaver scout group leader and am looking for some fun/ different fund raising ideas and this would be a great one for my colony.
Is it possible to complete the circuit in under 6 hours with 20+ seven year olds do you think???? We will let you know. x
I doubt it, but I’ll happily be proved wrong
Thanks for the map. A few of us are heading out this afternoon to do the walk. Aiming for 6 hours
As above, we’re also going to be doing the Circle Line walk and we’ve done the 18 Bridges of London Walk (Tower Bridge to Hammersmith) which was 16miles
Not seen the Oranges and Lemons one but it’s an idea
Great idea. I suspect that Angel Islington is a little more gentrified than when the game was conceived.
I was just doing this walk today and found a Vine Street just a bit east of Fenchurch St station. It’s great fun trying to find everything, but it’s definitely a bit of a slog!
What a great idea. if you ever had the time/motivation to actually plot the line of the walk from one venue to another we’d be delighted if you did it on our site.
We can send you log in details to save you registering. Here’s a link to the Thames Path so you get the idea … http://www.walk4life.info/walk/thames-path-walk-section-3-north-bank
Hi
We tried to do it last Saturday, but sadly a number of roads were closed due to a march, so we’ll have to have another go. We had a great time and recommend the Boris Bikes if you don’t want to walk all the way.
Wow. This is exactly the kind of tour I wanted for my travels to Europe in the next year or so. I can’t wait! Saving is such a pain.
Been meaning to do this for years! One day I’ll get round to it.
I did get out at Warren Street on the tube just to do the maze, though.
Which maze is is this?
Hey,
Thanks for this, it’s great! Will definitely be giving it a go!
You might be interested in this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12008411
Apparently there was an important police station on Vine Street, hence, how it made its way onto the Monopoly board.