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Travel story · London

Chaplin's London

From Kennington's backstreets to the West End's bright marquees, trace Charlie Chaplin's London — where a hungry childhood forged the comic genius the whole world came to love.

Chaplin's London
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Day 1: Kennington roots

Chaplin grew up in bitter poverty in Kennington. Walk the streets that shaped his work, and visit the Charlie Chaplin section at the Museum of the Moving Image.

Vintage 90s London Fog Coogi Style 3D Knit Sweater XL USA Made Geometric
Vintage 90s London Fog Coogi Style 3D Knit Sweater XL USA Made Geometric

Day 2: The music halls

The music halls of Lambeth and the West End were his first schools. Seek out the remnants of that world in the theatres around Leicester Square.

Gap Press Vol 76 2007-2008 AW Paris London Vintage Fashion Runway Magazine
Gap Press Vol 76 2007-2008 AW Paris London Vintage Fashion Runway Magazine

Day 3: The tramp's finale

Finish with a silent-film screening or a walk along the South Bank, where the river is still the same as in his films.

Penneys Spring Summer 1966 Catalog Mary Quant Fashion Vintage Clothing London
Penneys Spring Summer 1966 Catalog Mary Quant Fashion Vintage Clothing London

Along the way

  1. 01

    Kennington

  2. 02

    Museum of the Moving Image

  3. 03

    Leicester Square

  4. 04

    The Savoy

  5. 05

    South Bank

  6. 06

    Lambeth