ARCHITECTURE, BUSINESS,
LEGAL, MEDICAL, POLITICS & PUBLISHING
ARCHITECTURE:
£12 PER PERSON
A huge selection of routes and areas are available to cover a variety of different architectural styles: Victorian, Georgian, Art Deco, Modern and Post Modern to show you the famous – and hidden- architectural wonders in London. From: Dalston to Docklands: Wren to Rogers: Hawksmoor to Holden: Spitalfields to the Shard, our guides will show you the highlights of the area, exploring how London’s architecture has attracted some of the world’s leading designers, and helped to define, and design the capital, as one of the most exciting cities on the planet.
FINANCIAL LONDON:
£12 per person
Lloyds of London, The Bank of England, The Stock Exchange, all well- known London financial institutions that help cement London’s reputation as one of the financial capitals of the world, but how did it earn this position? The City of London is the oldest part of the Capital, but also the most aggressively modern part. Learn how Stock was first traded, money first printed, and how tiny coffee houses of the 18th century grew to become the financial institutions of today. Gaze at the most modern architecture in London as you walk its oldest streets, and marvel at this glorious contradiction.
MEDICAL LONDON:
£12 per person
This tour looks at the history of medicine in London. The walk covers the diseases, treatments and cures that have coloured London’s history. For nearly 2000 years, London has been a centre of commerce, and with the burgeoning population has come an ever- growing list of diseases. Learn about the Great Plague, the Black Death, body snatchers and butchery, and the advances in medical science that have helped London become one of the centres of medical learning in the world.
LEGAL LONDON:
£12 per person
London’s hallowed Inns of Court, home of the legal profession since the 14th century. The habitat of the wigged and gowned barrister is a warren of cloisters, courtyards and passageways. Set in some of the Capital’s prettiest gardens, the Inns seem more like some ancient university in Oxford than central London. On this tour, your guide will explain why barristers wear wigs and gowns, show you where they are made, and explain the ancient rituals behind this ancient profession. Explore the tranquil courtyards & gardens of Gray’s Inn, Lincoln’s Inn and the Temple. We end at The Royal Courts of Justice where you can sit in on a case (when open).
FLEET STREET:
£12 per person
In its day Fleet Street was the most famous, or infamous, street in the world. The name was synonymous with the cut throat world of newspapers and journalism. The first publisher moved in in the 16th century, and this was the home of British national newspapers until the 1980’s. Even though the last major British news office, Reuters, left in 2005, the term Fleet Street is still used to represent the British national press. See where Britain’s first daily newspaper was published, and learn about the coffee shops and ale houses where business was discussed and deals were made. This is the world of Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Pepys. As well as the infamous Sweeney Todd! Now the home of bankers and barristers, Fleet Street has changed with the times.
KINGS, QUEENS, POMP, POLITICS & POWER:
£12 PER PERSON
Explore London’s seat of power, both Royal and Governmental on this tour. Highlights include: Westminster Abbey, the place where monarchs are crowned and buried: The Houses of Parliament,: Downing Street, the home and office of the Prime Minister: The Supreme Court: The Cabinet War Rooms, the wartime bunker where Churchill planned his wartime strategies and frozen in time since it was closed in 1945 and Buckingham Palace, the London home of the Queen. This tour spans over 1000 years of history of the most important movers and shakers that have shaped Great Britain today.
THE TEA & COFFEE WALKING TOUR:
£12 per person
Think London is awash with coffee shops? Well, you may be right, but this isn’t a new phenomenon; it has been the same for the past 300 years! This walk traces the history of the tea and coffee trade in London; a time when coffee shops were the centre of life, the place to debate business, get reliable shipping news and exchange stocks & shares. They were the banks, insurance brokers, journalists, and exchanges of their day. Lloyds of London started out in 1689 in a coffee house. London’s Stock Exchange, the Tatler and The Spectator also started out in salesrooms attached to coffeehouses. The walk also explores the history of the nation’s favourite cuppa; Tea. Learn how this most refined of beverages was fought over in the most competitively fought tea clipper ship races to get to London fastest. This walk explores the history of our favourite drink, and how mighty empires were built on it. Not bad for a cuppa!
LONDON’S THEATRELAND:
£12 per person
“All the world’s a stage” with this tour! As well as exploring some of London’s most famous, and loved, grand theatres in Piccadilly, Shaftesbury Avenue, & Soho, this tour also includes the hidden backstreets and alleyways, so like the stage, this tour is a mixture of charm and spectacle. On the tour you will hear some of the greatest names from the London stage: Garrick, Sheridan, Olivier, as well as Andrew Lloyd Webber! See who played what and where. Historical information, theatrical anecdotes & gossip are combined to make this a real showstopper of a tour. (Backstage tours can also be arranged afterwards at a range of different theatres so groups can visit the costume department, see the dressing rooms, and explore hair & make up).
