Enjoy a walk from our Strand campus along Waterloo bridge finishing south of the River Thames at our Waterloo campus. 

This will last approximately 32 minutes.

Start at Strand main reception. Turn left out of the Strand Campus entrance, and next to King’s College is the Courtauld Institute of Art. The Courtauld Institute is also part of the University of London. The Institute houses the Courtauld Gallery, which displays Impressionist works from Van Gogh to Monet, as well as drawings and prints by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, and cultures by Edgar Degas and Auguste Rodin.

Turn right out of the Courtauld Gallery and you will find yourself in Somerset House. Somerset House was built as a Tudor Palace for the Duke of Somerset, Lord Edward Seymore, in 1547. It was rebuilt in 1775 to house public offices. Today the East Wing contains The Dickson Poon School of Law. The Edmond J Safra Foundation Court now is used for a variety of events and exhibitions are staged in Somerset House itself.

Exiting Somerset House courtyard, walk through the archway on the left, through the corridor, turn left, and you’ll find yourself at the start of Waterloo Bridge. Looking to the East, the view encompasses the buildings of the Strand Campus, as well as St Paul’s Cathedral, the Gherkin, the Shard and the OXO Tower, among others. To the West, you can see the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall and many more major buildings.

Crossing Waterloo Bridge to the South, on the left hand side, there is a staircase which leads you down from the bridge to the Southbank of the Thames. The British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank, which incorporates the BFI Reuben Library, the IMAX, as well as the Riverfront bar and café.

Next to the BFI is the National Theatre, which has been housed on the Southbank, since 1976. The National Theatre has three theatres on the Southbank, and the National Theatre Company has produced over 700 plays since it began in 1963.

Turning up the side of Waterloo Bridge, following the road, brings you to the Waterloo Bridge Wing, Franklin Wilkins Building and opposite the James Clerk Maxwell Building of Waterloo Campus.