Battle of the rivers: Thames Path v Lea Valley Walk
You already know which river's going to win this. Both are impressive waterways, both have lengthy paths and both are brimming with birdlife, but only one is known across the world. The Lea Valley Path very much holds its own, not least because being navigable it has a proper towpath so you can walk alongside the water's edge almost all the way. It evolves along its length from marshy silence to tidal creek and it hits the heights of the Olympic Park along the way. But the Lea also slums it in places and in the Lower Lea Valley briefly fades out because nobody's ever been able to sort access, so it can't really hold a candle to the river it flows into. The Thames Path winds past grand houses and World Heritage Sites, flips from royal meanders to desolate estuary and literally divides the capital in two. It has to be our first winner. Winner: Thames Path
Battle of the greens: Green Chain Walk v Green Link Walk
This is also a battle of the ages, with the Green Link Walk not yet one month old and the Green Chain Walk having been waymarked as long ago as 1977. What's different about the Green Chain is that it's not one walk, it's 15 segments which join to make a network of paths across southeast London. These are parts of Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley you might never think to visit, and yet they contain glorious woodland, parks and alleyways which the Green Chain helps bring to focus. Some might say it's too diffuse, so less satisfying and much harder to complete, but that's also its strength. I wandered through Oxleas Wood yesterday unworried by maps, simply following the signs on the little brown posts but still sure I'd make it out safely to the other side. The Green Link Walk is less comprehensive, less diverse and (as we've seen) far less green, so cannot be our winner here. Winner: Green Chain Walk
Battle of the orbitals: Capital Ring v London Loop
But this one's tougher to call. Both are classic circuits, both are carefully constructed and both have tempted thousands of Londoners out into the wilds. The Capital Ring's the accessible one, approximately straddling the border between inner and outer London, with fifteen very different sections to follow. The London Loop is more of a peripheral trek, on a dozen occasions stepping beyond the Greater London boundary, but also a more sensory rural experience that's likely to get your boots muddy. One has Richmond Park, Horsenden Hill and the Parkland Walk, the other Riddlesdown, Bushy Park and the Havering redwoods. Both are well known, both are well signed and both deliver a real sense of satisfaction on completion. How do you pick between the two?
I thought I'd pick the Capital Ring, given it's the only one I've chosen to walk in full twice. I like the fact that whoever devised it had multiple paths through the urban environment to choose from rather than a few sparse rural footpaths, so could come up with a really good route. It's also easier to walk spontaneously, or in winter, without wishing you'd have worn something much more sensible. But the London Loop perhaps has greater merits, being a truly eye-opening tour of the outer suburbs and the fields beyond I might otherwise never have thought to explore. It also has the best section of any Walk London walk, namely Hamsey Green to Coulsdon South, and threads through multiple very different environments. I was still torn.
I turned to data. The Inner London Ramblers annual report reveals that 230,000 people have downloaded its guidance for walking the Capital Ring and only 120,000 that for the London Loop. The Green Chain is way behind with 15,000 downloads, which just goes to show how far ahead these two great circuits are. But maybe this wasn't the best way to judge things either so instead I crowdsourced on Twitter, setting up a poll asking people to select the best London walk. I left it running for 10 hours and it turned out that the result was remarkably close, as if the general public couldn't choose between these circuits either. But in the end the London Loop scored five more votes than the Capital Ring, so on that flimsy evidence I'm calling this battle for the outer orbital. Winner: London Loop
Battle of the jubilees: Jubilee Walkway v Jubilee Greenway
That's 1977 versus 2012, or Silver versus Diamond if you weren't sure. The Jubilee Walkway is totally tourist friendly, tracing five separate short loops around central London past utterly iconic sites. If you've never thought to walk it that may be because it feels overfamiliar or because it's mostly unpublicised, but it's none the worse for that. The Jubilee Greenway loops out much further because it had to be exactly 60km long, and because 2012 was the year of the London Olympics it also links all the major Games venues. But it also feels like it was concocted on the cheap, piggybacking multiple existing sections of the Capital Ring and Thames Path plus the whole of the Regent's Canal. Of the eight I'd say the JG probably earns the wooden spoon for being the least relevant and the most overlooked, so it can't win here. Winner: Jubilee Walkway
Semi-final 1: Thames Path v Green Chain
Well that's easy. My apologies to the Green Chain, which is excellent, but the Thames Path is plainly the superior experience. Winner: Thames Path
Semi-final 2: London Loop v Jubilee Walkway
Well that's even easier. The Jubilee Walkway might have Big Ben and the Tower of London but the London Loop beats it by a country mile. Winner: London Loop
Final: Thames Path v London Loop
But this is a much closer contest. A stately promenade alongside England's longest river or a 150 mile circuit exploring the diversity of the Green Belt. Do you want hills, fields and variety or the elegance of waterside living? Do you need regular pubs or are you happier near horses? Do you prefer your mud underfoot or revealed at high tide? Do you mind starting in Erith? ... although that's actually both of them so not a helpful divide. One thing the Thames Path definitely has on its side is that it exists on both sides of the river from Kingston to Canning Town so you can walk it twice. And one thing the London Loop definitely has on its side is that it allows you to get totally away from it all amidst nature and much cleaner air. You could argue for both to be the winner here.
So once again I turned to Twitter, indeed exactly the same poll I mentioned earlier. I'd actually offered three options - Capital Ring, London Loop and Thames Path - and the Thames Path comfortably smashed it.
Very roughly it won two-thirds of the public vote and the other two merely shared the rest. There's no guarantee that all these voters had walked the choice they voted for, but I dare say it's a good bet that they had at some time walked beside the Thames in London because pretty much everyone's done that. Not all the way past Barnes and Kew, perhaps, nor way out east to Crossness, but the river is its own best advert and the Thames Path is a proper string of pearls. And so we've finally confirmed the name of the greatest walk in the Walk London portfolio, because a World Cup knockout never lies. Winner: Thames Path
