Things to Do in London
• Enjoy citywide views from a climate-controlled glass pod featuring LED lighting and a rotation system that ensures a smooth ride in any weather.
• From Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament, this ride delivers all the postcard-worthy London views you could ask for—no zoom lens required.
• Take your visit up a notch and pick from a range of upgrades in the next step, like fast-track entry, curated beverages, and more.
City of London Tour: From Sugar and Slaves to Tea and Opium.
Welcome, I'm Justin. But some friendly advice! If you just want to take pretty pictures to put on social media (and don't really like walking much), I am the wrong tour guide for you! My tours attract people who like ideas, history and books. If that is not what interests you, book another tour 🙂
I have 6 walking tours on GuruWalk: 1) The City), 2) Soho, 3) Covent Garden, 4) the South Bank, 5) Mayfair & St James & 6) ArtLand, which together have over 2,700 reviews averaging 5 stars (the highest on GuruWalk in London).
City of London is my flagship tour.
This tour takes you through the "City of London", which is not the same thing as London!
The "City", as it's known to locals, is many things. Nowadays, we know the "City" as the central business district, with its many iconic skyscrapers, towering over ancient churches (providing the chance to take some stunning photos). It's also, however, the "old town", built within the footprint of the Roman city of Londinium.
The "City" also has its own police force, ancient laws and unique government and once financed the largest Empire the world has ever seen, spanning a quarter of the globe.
From being a European backwater in the 1500s, London became the largest city in the world in the 1800s, the centre of immense power and wealth.
I'll tell the story of London's rise by walking with you along the English capital's oldest streets, many of which date back 2000 years.
The triumph of London is also often a tale of "dirty money", from the Bishop of Winchester's brothels; sugar and the slave trade; and the East India Company's rape of a subcontinent and hooking of China on opium. Come with me to learn all about London's secrets
Highlights of the tour include:
- The Monument: Centre of the Great Fire of London.
- The Gilt of Cain: The City of London's first open recognition of the contribution of slavery to their wealth.
- The Modern City: the Gherkin, Cheese Grater, Scalpel and Walkie Talkie. Where the City stands in the world today.
- The Golden Triangle:The tiny alleys that housed the coffee shops of the 17th & 18th centuries frequented by stock market speculators and fraudsters but which also gave birth to modern capitalism.
- The Bank of England and the Royal Exchange: Financiers of sugar and the slave trade.
- Leadenhall Market: Stunning Victorian marketplace used as a set in a Harry Potter movie.
The tour will end a short walk from the Monument Tube Station where the tour started. I do have a card reader so can can take credit/debit cards for tips.
• Get up close with the UK's largest living coral reef at the vibrant Coral Kingdom and catch sight of the colorful clownfish and the royal Blue Tang.
• Meet the fascinating inhabitants of the glacial regions, including Gentoo penguins and polar bears, at the unique Polar Adventure.
• Enjoy a premium experience by upgrading for a VR experience, any time entry tickets, or go all out with a Deluxe Package.
Hello and welcome to my London tour. I'm Jill inviting you to join me for a lovely stroll from Victoria station, past Buckingham palace, through St. James and to Westminster and the houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey . We'll encounter the history and highlights of the area, including part of the Changing of the Guard ceremony if you join me for my 11 o clock tour on Monday, Wednesday or Friday. I have lived in London for twenty years and led my tours for five of those. I've worked in many of the buildings we'll see along the way and gathered lots of stories and tales from the history of the city.
We'll meet at the Ferdinand Foch horse statue opposite the Shakespeare pub at Victoria Station.
During the tour, we'll pass the Royal Mews and Buckingham Palace, make our way down the Mall encountering other lovely habitats and hidey holes of the Royal Family and their ancestors.
Passing St. James Park down the Mall, we'll then make our way down historic Whitehall experiencing all things parliamentary, police-like, and political party-ish.
We'll finally arrive at the Houses of Parliament to say hello to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. I love to make sure my walkers get the most out of their visit so please come with lots of questions so we can make your tour your own.
• Explore the White Tower, the oldest part of the Tower, and Tower Green, the execution site of royals, to learn stories of kings, prisoners, and executions.
• Meet the Yeomen Warders (Beefeaters), spot the famous ravens, and uncover tales of ghosts and royal intrigue.
• Upgrade your tour for tailored insights and a chance to ask questions on a Beefeater tour or English tour, or relax on a Thames River cruise.
Would you like to see the city with a native English-speaking tour guide who has had the honor of being a full-time tour guide in multiple European cities since 2014? Then read on. 👇
Through years of experience, I have learned that these tours are most enjoyable for you if I hone it down to just the most exciting stops and the most interesting stories.
Alfred Hitchcock once said "the length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder," and I think that applies doubly so to a tour. You're on holiday, I appreciate that. You want to see the main sites, take the best photos, maybe laugh a little, and then head off on to the next adventure.
With that in mind, I keep the tour to an entertaining one hour and fifty minutes. During that time we will see the main sites, allowing you to take photos of:
- Buckingham Palace
- Houses of Parliament
- "Big Ben"
- Westminster Abbey
- Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column
- Horse Guards Parade
- Wellington Arch
- St Martin's In The Field
- National Gallery
- Apsley House
- RAF Bomber Command Memorial
- The Commonwealth Gates
- St James' Palace
- The Mall and Pall Mall
- Crimean War/Nightingale Memorial
- Waterloo Place
- 10 Downing Street
- Churchill War Rooms
- On Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday the 11am tour will see and hear the army band march by us for the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Unless it is cancelled due to rain.
More important than the sites themselves are the stories. Little insightful or interesting anecdotes; what the little horse steps are at Waterloo Place, why Constitution Hill is called that when we don't... um.. have one, tales from the Battle of Britain, the Gunpowder Plot, what the Queen did when she woke up to find a drunken man had climbed the walls of Buckingham Palace and broken into her bedroom at 7am, etc, etc.
Having done these tours for the better part of a decade, I can usually field any history question you may have about the nation or the city, and can also offer suggestions of the best places in the city for gin, pretentious coffee (my vice), or the most memorable dining experiences with something unique to them.
I hope to see you soon,
Theo
Turn back the clock 2000 years and join us as we trace the journey of the City of London, from the arrival of Julius Caesar and its roots as a square mile trading village along the River Thames, all the way to becoming the financial capital of Europe, home to dozens of the quirkiest glass skyscrapers on Earth.
Along the way, you will hear stories of the Viking occupation, William the Conqueror's Norman Conquest, the construction of London's medieval fortress, the devastation of Great Fire, the destruction of the Blitz, captured perfectly by a bombed out church, and the resilience and bravery of the people who lived through it and so much more!
Nowhere else in London is the clash of ancient crumbling icons and trailblazing modern architecture so obvious, with huge skyscrapers and historic 12th century churches standing proudly, shoulder to shoulder.
How can one self-governing little square mile, with ancient laws created by its council and imposed by its police force, stand so separately from everything around it?
Tour Highlights include:
- The Tower of London
- Monument
- London's Roman Wall
- The Blitz
- St Paul's Cathedral
- Tower Bridge
- Mansion House
- The Bank of England
- The Royal Exchange
- A walk along the River Thames
The tour finishes at St Paul's Cathedral.
Please note, groups larger than 6 and any educational groups will need to get in touch to arrange a private tour, as they will not be able to join the public tour
Street Art has been described as the most important artistic movement of the 21st Century, but it actually dates back to thousands of years ago. If you're a lover of art and culture then, yes, go to the National Gallery, go to the Tate Modern, and see the masterpieces created by the most famous artists over the last 400 years, but then join us on a Street Art tour and see what is happening at the grassroots level today. The work is beautiful, ever-changing and thought provoking.
But Street Art is not just pretty pictures, it is challenging and political and tells the story of the struggles of the working classes in Britain over the last hundred years.
You'll step back in time, and see how immigration into Brick Lane and the surrounding area has transformed Shoreditch from the poorest part of London, home to Jack the Ripper’s victims, to becoming one of the must see boroughs of the capital, home to pop up bars and shops, and more vintage clothes stores than you’ll believe.
Tour Highlights include:
- Street Art (Obviously!)
- A mix of spray paint, sculptures, stickers and stencils
- Banksy
- Mr Cenz
- Zabo
- Dreph
- Fanakapan
- Otto Schade
- Roa
- Shepherd Fairey
- Dale Grimshaw
- History of Brick Lane
- Spitalfields Market
- Old Truman Brewery
- Battle of Cable Street
- Gentrification of Shoreditch
The tour finishes at Truman Brewery, not far from Shoreditch High Street Station.
Please note, groups larger than 6 and any educational groups will need to get in touch to arrange a private tour, as they will not be able to join the public tour
This is a tour of the mysteries and secrets of the British Museum.
We will travel to Egypt, Mesopotamia, the ancient Greek world, pre-Columbian Mexico, Easter Island and other places on planet Earth.
In the fifteen months that I have been working at the museum, I have gradually learned about the numerous mysteries and secrets that many of the museum's thousands of objects hold.
On many occasions they are not what they seem to be and they offer us a fascinating vision of ancient civilizations, which have left us an extraordinary legacy of which, many times, we are not aware.
It will be a two-hour tour and I hope you find it enjoyable, sometimes fun and always interesting.
Thank you and see you soon,
Miguel
• With departures every 15 minutes, operating throughout the day, plan your travel flexibly and easily, even if your flight gets delayed.
• Take advantage of free WiFi, handy USB plug-ins, and room for bulky luggage and even bikes, so you can ride comfortably while staying connected.
• Enjoy flexibility with round-trip tickets valid for an entire month from your chosen date, giving you ample time to complete your trip at your own pace.
• At Liverpool Street, Tottenham Hale, or Stratford Station, major rail lines are easily accessible, with multiple restaurants and shopping areas nearby.
Retrace the steps of the world's most infamous, unidentified serial killer, as we take you back to the Autumn of Terror 1888.
In just 3 months, under the cover of darkness, Jack the Ripper brutally murdered 5 innocent Women on the streets of Whitechapel and then vanished, never to appear again.
Come with us as we ponder some of the most compelling theories as to his identity and motives, hear about the vicious murders he committed and learn the tragic life stories of the poor women he preyed upon.
Along the way, we will visit, the Prostitute's Church, Mitre Square, Frying Pan Alley, Spitalfield's Market & The 10 Bells Pub.
The tour finishes at Spitalfields Market, not far from Liverpool Street Station.
Please note, groups larger than 6 and any educational groups will need to get in touch to arrange a private tour, as they will not be able to join the public tour
