Walk around means to walk about a place (a city, a park, a museum) or to go round something to avoid it. In the first meaning, it is a walk with no fixed route, often while looking at things: walk around the old town. In the second, it is about an obstacle: walk around a puddle. In British English, people often say walk round.
Want to use walk around in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
walk around + place (the city, a museum); walk around + obstacle; BrE also walk round
- After the conference, we walked around the city centre and found a nice café.
- There was a huge puddle by the door, so we had to walk around it.
- I love walking around new neighbourhoods without a map.
What changed
First versionOn our first day in Lisbon, we walked along the old town for hours.
RevisionOn our first day in Lisbon, we walked around the old town for hours.
Along may seem right because you walk along a street. But along means following something long and narrow: a street, a river, a shore. In a city, a park or a museum people walk in different directions, and that needs around.
Go for a walk means to go out for a walk: Let's go for a walk after dinner. Walk around says where exactly people walk, and the place usually comes after it: We walked around the market for an hour.
Your turn
We had two free hours before lunch, so we ___ the museum and looked at the paintings.
Show the answer
walked around — A museum is made up of rooms that you walk through in different directions, so walked around. Along is used with something long, for example along the river, and a museum is not that kind of place.
Describe a place where you like to walk. Name it and say what you usually do there.
On Sunday mornings I like to walk around Gorky Park and watch people skating or playing chess.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.