Feeling Fat In London?

Instead of taking the tube (subway), why not just walk? And if you’re planning on eating 3,000 calories of scones and fish & chips, you’ll want to know how to burn off those calories. Now you can know how many steps it takes to walk between tube stations.

A new map of the London underground has a convoluted scheme to let you figure the number of calories you can burn by walking between tube stations instead of taking the tube itself. It does not tell you how long it will take, nor what the neighborhoods are like (we think most London areas are quite safe). And it certainly does not tell you the actual route between stations, as the London tube map is “representational” and not literally accurate.

The Business Traveller Magazine website has this to say about how to use the map:
“The map, compiled by volunteers on behalf of the insurance firm Pru Health, records the number of steps needed to walk between neighbouring tube stops. As example, 2,780 steps are needed to walk from London Victoria to Green Park. Research suggests that roughly three calories are burned for every 100 steps taken, meaning the walk will burn just over 80 calories.”

While it’s totally more gimmick than useful, London is a surprisingly walkable city.