A Da Vinci Code Tour

A Da Vinci Code Tour

Although the real meaning behind Leonardo Da Vinci's art is ultimately unknowable, the real-life places in which Dan Brown set his best-selling suspense novel, The Da Vinci Code, are known throughout the world, and the book has inspired travelers to visit them. All the London sights in the book are in a compact area east and south of Trafalgar Square and are accessible by bus or the Tube. In the order the sights appear in The Da Vinci Code -- with one exception, King's College -- you can easily walk this 2-mi route.

Langdon, Neveu, and Teabing's whirlwind of events begins in Paris, but midway through -- realizing that the clue to the cryptex might not be in France but in England -- the three board Teabing's private plane for London. Once on the ground, the threesome, hastily interpreting their latest cryptex clue, make a mad dash down Fleet Street to a Knights of the Templar fortress. To launch your own tour, take the Tube to St. Paul's station and head west on Ludgate Hill to Fleet Street, continuing until you get to Temple, where you'll see the Temple Bar Memorial, a young bronze griffin. Opposite the statue is an elaborate stone arch through which you pass into Middle Temple Lane, which runs south all the way to the Thames. Temple Church (Inner Temple La. off Fleet St., Bloomsbury. Tube: Temple) will be on your left as you head toward the river. After you've explored the church, reverse course to the statue and continue west.

Along the Strand you'll pass by King's College London (The Strand, St. James's. Tube: Temple) where, in the book, a portion of the second cryptex's message, "In London lies a knight a Pope interred," finds new meaning for Langdon with the aid of a helpful King's College librarian's computer.

After exploring the campus, continue west on the Strand to Trafalgar Square. Just south of the square on Whitehall is the Horse Guards Parade, which edges St. James's Park (Middle Temple La., St. James's. Tube: St. James's Park, Westminster). A character besotted with the Holy Grail has followed the trio to London, planning to usurp control of the secrets Langdon and Neveu continue to discover. Before he makes his move, though, he slips into St. James's Park to deal with an accomplice who has misbehaved.

Continue south to Westminster Abbey (South side of Parliament Sq., Westminster. Tube: Westminster), the final scene of the trio's escapades in London. As Langdon and Neveu scour the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton for a final clue that will crack open the second cryptex, they receive a message from a rival character to meet in Westminster's Chapter House. In the ensuing struggle, they vanquish their nemesis. Sir Isaac Newton's grave and tomb are near the choir screen, at the north entrance to the choir.

An alternative to walking is to take Bus 11, which travels along Ludgate and Fleet Street to Trafalgar Square and Westminster. Note that Opus Dei's London office, which is mentioned in the book but is not open to the public, is more than 3 mi west of Westminster Abbey, just north (on Orme Court off Bayswater Road) of the northwest corner of Kensington Gardens. For full tours in the book's other key locales -- Paris, Rome, and Scotland -- pick up a copy of Fodor's Guide to the Da Vinci Code.