• Old Hampstead Village 

• The London Tour Westminster & the West End
• The Old Jewish Quarter "a shtetl called Whitechapel"
• Subterranean London What You're Overlooking
• The Famous Square Mile 2,000 Years of History
• Greenwich "The Perfect London Walk"
• From the Repertory The 1045 am Tour du Jour!
• Brunel's Thames Tunnel Mayflower, Riverside Village...
• The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour
  
• The Tower of London Tour
  

• Old Highgate Village "a place apart"

• Westminster at War
• Shakespeare's and Dickens' London – the Old City
• The Unknown East End
  
• The Street Art Walk – Bombing with Banksy & Co.
  
• Little Venice
  
• Ancient London
  
• The Harry Potter Film Locations Tour

• From the Repertory The 2.30 pm Tour du Jour
• Old Westminster  1,000 Years of History

• Soho Unzipped 
• Haunted London
• Jack the Ripper Tour 

• Thames Mudlarking, Behind the Termini Walks, etc.
  
  Ok, now scroll down for full details of each of Sunday's London Walks...

9 am on selected* Sundays
from Paddington Railway Station

 

The Cotswolds are achingly beautiful. The Cotswolds are the fresh green lap of this fair isle. The Cotswolds are thatched roofs and honey-coloured stone and cottages wreathed in honeysuckle. The Cotswolds are kissing-gates and stone bridges and old mills and millponds. The Cotswolds are storybook villages and matchless flower gardens. The Cotswolds are rural England at its best. Now who's for a photo-essay? Guided by Richard.

Here's another taster. It's a lovingly shot little film of day, destination, and guide (ah, Richard, cynosure of guides, golden of voice, red of cap, pink of courtesy! Not to mention platinum of well-connected, etc. etc.).

*Bears repeating: in our Summer 2013 programme we go to the Cotswolds on the following Sundays: June 2, June 16, June 30, July 14, July 28, August 11 & August 25

10 am on Sundays
from HampsteadTube
(Hampstead Tube is on the Edgware branch of the Northern Line)

This is a great walk. They just don't come any better than this. Our setting is London's most picturesque neighbourhood – a perfectly preserved Georgian village crowning the top of a handsome hill and garnished with the capital's most elegant old world promenade, a medley of cobble-stone lanes, pretty cottages, surprising turnings, and unsurpassed views. As for our cast of characters...well it's every bit as beguiling as our setting, ranging from the highwayman Dick Turpin to the painter Constable to the poet Keats; from Freud and D.H. Lawrence to Sting and Boy George; from Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Dench and Emma Thompson to Rex Harrison, Peter O'Toole, Alan Bates, Liam Gallagher and Jeremy Irons. And for good measure, there's London's most villagey atmosphere, white swans on a lake, and magnificent Hampstead Heath. Herewith endeth our say. Here's a deal of corroboration from The Times – in short, "don't just take it from us".  And as for Apres Walk...

 

More (in the words of the guide)...

   And if you're up for a listen, here's the opening of the Old Hampstead Village chapter in our book, London Walks London Stories. A chapter inspired, it should go without saying, by this walk. Here it is...

The Old Hampstead Village Walk takes place
every Sunday at 10 am
and every Wednesday at 2 pm.
And it also takes place every Saturday night at 7 pm as a pub walk.

Meet your guide just outside the exit of HampsteadTube.

The "Late-comers' Catch-Up Stop – for the Sunday morning Hampstead Walk – is "the viewing platform". From it we can see right across the Thames River Valley. London panoramas don't come any better – the whole city is spread out before us. To get to "the viewing platform" come out of the tube, cross Heath Street so you're standing directly underneath the clock tower, turn right and head up Heath Street. About 40 yards up Heath Street you'll come to some steps. They'll be on your left. The steps take you up to a narrow, twisty little lane. Follow that lane all the way up. At the top end of the lane there's another set of steps. Go up those steps and hey presto you've reached "the viewing platform". That's where we go to start the Sunday morning walk and we're there for a good few minutes. And from there we make our way along to the Holly Bush pub – it's at the opposite end of the little street from the "viewing platform". 

HampsteadTube is on
theNorthern Line

Guided on Sunday by David
Guided on Wednesdays by Richard III or Peter G.
Guided on Saturday evenings by Richard III or Peter G.

Splinter-sharp Guides & Gripping History

10.15 am on Sundays
from Tower HillTube

This walk traces the history of London's Jewish community in the East End. It's a story that embraces the poverty of the pogrom refugees and the glittering success of the Rothschilds; the eloquence of the 19th-century Prime Minister Disraeli and the spiel of the Petticoat Lane stallholder; the poetry of Isaac Rosenberg and the poetry-in-motion of Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters. Set amid the alleys and back streets of colourful Spitalfields and Whitechapel, it's a tale of synagogues (go on, click me) and sweatshops, Sephardim and soup kitchens. And on this day of all days the past isn't dead; it isn't even past...because the famous old Petticoat Lane street market will be going full tilt and we'll show you the best of it. After we've visted the historic Bevis Marks synagogue!* And on that note, it's time for a joke. And here's The Jewish Chronicle's bang-up-to-date review of the walk. Guided by Judy or Shaughan.

Update: we've made a nifty little film of the walk. A click here brings it to your screen!

The Old Jewish Quarter Walk takes place
every Sunday at 10.15 am
every Wednesday at 10.45 am
and every Friday at 10.45 am

Meet outside the exit of Tower HillTube.

 

Tower HillTube is on

theCircle & District Lines

N.B. Whenever possible we visit the wonderful old Bevis Marks Synagogue, for which there's a small entrance fee.

Guided on Sundays by Judy or Shaughan
Guided on Wednesdays by Steve
Guided on Fridays by Harry or Steve

---

10.30 am on Sundays
from WestminsterTube, exit 4
 
Whoa! Here it is. The all-in-one London Walk. It's the Grand Tour. The London equivalent of the Yellow Brick road. So it's hey ho and off we go – off to see all the classic sights in Westminster and the West End. Tick "em off: the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. James's Palace, the quintessential Royal Park, classy St. James's, the Mall, Trafalgar Square, Admiralty Arch, Birdcage Walk, Queen Anne's Gate, you name it. They're all here – all the London pearls. And here's the clincher – Tom and Andy R. have strung them together with quaint little back streets and passageways that give you the real essence of London. And, yes, the walk is timed so we take in the Changing of the Guard (when it's on).

This Is London – The Flash Bang Highlights Tour!
takes place every Sunday morning at 10.30 am

Meet Tom or Andy R. just outside
exit 4 of  WestminsterTube.

WestminsterTube is on
theCircle, District & Jubilee Lines  

Guided by  Tom or Andy R.

10.30 am on Sundays

from MonumentTube

This is the great classic London Walk, the London Walk of London Walks! It explores the very heart of the City – the most historic part of the capital. Threading his way through an intricate network of narrow alleys and cobble-stone lanes, Graham chronicles the 2,000 years of London's rich and tumultuous history. And illustrates it by drawing upon everything from street names to ancient customs to the frozen music of London's great buildings, among which are the ruins of the Roman Temple of Mithras, the Bank of England, the Lord Mayor's Mansion House, and ancient Guildhall. (The walk includes, whenever possible, a visit inside Guildhall!)

The Famous Square Mile walk takes place

every Sunday at 10.30 am

Meet Graham just outside the main exit –
the Fish Street Hill exit – of MonumentTube.

MonumentTube is on
the Circle & District Lines

Guided on Sundays by Graham
Guided on Thursdays by Tom, Judy or Fiona

10.45 am   The walk in this time slot changes weekly.
For the particulars of the 10.45 am Tour du Jour
on any given Sunday see the following table. 

DATE	WALK	TUBE STOP
May 12	Alfred Hitchcock's London  More than 39 Steps!	HolbornTube
May 12	St. Albans  The Great Escape!	West HampsteadTube
May 19	Frozen Music  The City of London Architecture Walk	Tower HillTube
May 26	Political London Guided by a House of Commons "Insider"!	St. James' ParkTube  Broadway/Westminster Abbey exit
June 2	Old Brixton  Market & Memorials, Music & Murals	BrixtonTube
June 9	Scandalous St. John's Wood  Village & Villas, Courtesans & Cricket, Artists & Actors	St. John's WoodTube
June 9	St. Albans The Great Escape!	West HampsteadTube
June 16	The Shock of the Old!  500 Years of West End Architecture	Green ParkTube north exit
June 23	Roaming Roaming Roaming Down by the Merry River  A London Far Removed in Time	MonumentTube Fish Street Hill
June 30	Bethnal Green  The "Lost Village" in London's Backyard	Bethnal GreenTube Museum of Childhood exit
July 7	West Hampstead Village  The Other Hampstead	West HampsteadTube
July 14	The Lost World of the River Fleet	BlackfriarsTube
July 14	Old Shoreditch & Hoxton Cinderella Village, Home of Cool	Old StreetTube exit 3
July 21	All Change at St. Pancras	King's CrossTube Euston Road north exit
July 28	Revolting London Rivers, Reds & Revolution	AngelTube
Aug. 4	Londinium, Lundenwic, Lundonburgh On the Archaeology Trail from the City to Westminster Archaeologist-guided!	BlackfriarsTube
Aug. 11	Eastward Ho to Walthamstow! I spy with my little eye a secret village...	Walthamstow CentralTube bus station
Aug. 18	On the Trail of the Spies  The Bomb, Traitors, MI6 & Poisoned Embrellas	EmbankmentTube
Aug. 25	London on Film From James Bond to Bridget Jones	BankTube exit 3, by the Wellington statue
Sept. 1	The Great Melting Pot  Immigrants' London	Liverpool StreetTube Bishopsgate exit
Sept. 8	St. Albans  The Great Escape	West HampsteadTube
Sept. 15	"Bond, James Bond"  The London of 007 & Ian Fleming	Marble ArchTube exit 2 (the Park Lane exit)
Sept. 22	Alfred Hitchcock's London  More than 39 Steps!	HolbornTube
Sept. 22	The Blessing of the Horses* Tyburnia, Bayswater, Equestrian London  *Our daftest, wackiest, wonderfulest ceremony – only in England!	Lancaster GateTube
Sept. 29	Hampstead Garden Suburb Arts & Crafts Utopia Guided by "the world's greatest guide"	Golders GreenTube
Oct. 6	The Poetry-in-Performance Walk Shakespeare to Wordsworth Guided by "The Voice" - Lance himself!	EmbankmentTube
Oct. 13	All Change at St. Pancras	King's CrossTube Euston Road north exit
Oct. 20	In Winston Churchill's Footsteps London's Finest Hour	EmbankmentTube
Oct. 27	On the Trail of the Spies The Bomb, Traitors, MI6 & Poisoned Umbrellas	EmbankmentTube

10.30 am on Sundays
from Tower HillTube

Here's why. 1) Greenwich is its own universe. It's past-preserved – past perfection preserved. We walk into a trompe-l'oeil picture – a Canaletto scene of order and majesty.  2) The walk decodes Greenwich. Decodes it by directing your gaze – and your feet – to tiny particulars you'd otherwise miss. A horse's tail, a secret hand, the world's most expensive apology, its first shop, its most preposterous saint, a crushed king, a tell-tale furrow in the terrain, a save-you-a-tenner secret place to bestride both hemispheres, the "x" factor which graces works of genius.  3) The walk is the overture to the most sensational day out in London. Lunch at a riverside pub. The beer Nelson's old salts drank. His bullet-holed Trafalgar uniform. The flea market. The Observatory. The world's finest painted interior (yes, better than the Sistine Chapel). Cream tea. The unique trifecta: you can walk under the Thames, sail across it, fly* over it. 4) We begin with the best boat ride in London. And get you a big discount. Guided by Chris or Ann  *That's right, the Cable Car, the gondola in the sky.

Greenwich – The Perfect London Walk takes place
every Sunday at 10.30 am

Meet Chris or Ann just outside the exit of
Tower HillTube

Tower HillTube is on
the Circle & District Lines

 Guided on Sundays by Chris or Ann

11 am on Sundays
from Tottenham Court RoadTube
(Meet Richard P. just outside exit 3, by the Dominion Theatre)

Guided by "the pied piper of Beatlemania", this is a chance to Imagine Beatlemania and the Swinging 60s. It's a Magical Mystery Tour of the Beatles' London haunts: their Apple offices, where they played the famous rooftop session Paul McCartney's headquarters; and the world famous Abbey Road Studios and the Abbey Road crosswalk. So let me introduce you to the one and only Richard P., who recaptures the era when London was the cultural capital of the world and the "Fab Four" were its rulers. Here's a "grab" from the walk. And if you want to know something about the area where you'll be meeting Richard, well, simply click on me!

And make no mistake, Abbey Road is very special – it's no surprise that it's Britain's most popular "unofficial" tourist destination.

The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour takes place
every Sunday at 11 am
every Wednesday at 2 pm
and every Thursday at 11 am

Meet Richard P. just outside exit 3 – the Dominion Theatre exit – of Tottenham Court RoadTube.

Tottenham Court RoadTube is on
theCentral & Northern Lines  

N.B. We make a short tube journey to Abbey Road, so getting "a ticket to ride" – i.e., a 2-Zone Travel Card is a good idea.

Guided by Richard P

from St. Paul'sTube exit 2

London was to Shakespeare and Dickens what Paris was to Balzac. It held them in its thrall, was both their canvas and their inspiration, their workshop and their raw material. They in turn made it their own, imaginatively colonising it. And, like "special correspondents for posterity", bequeathed it to us. Today, despite the ravages of time, riot, bombing, and especially fire, traces of their London – shipwrecks from the past – still abound in the City. Everything from superb half-timbered Elizabethan dwellings to the magnificent early 16th-century gatehouse where Shakespeare went with his plays to the offices of the Elizabethan Master of the Revels. (Intermezzo called for here.) And from London's grandest Tudor manor house to crooked little alleys which fed the fires of Dickens's "hallucinating genius".

And if you'd like to read a bit more about this one – here's some press coverage of this walk. First, a recent piece in The Guardian by the distinguished critic and scholar, John Sutherland. Here's what he says (and to accompany it, there's some further "particulars" about the walk – and some very fine old imagery!). Or there's this from the Observer. Taking the Observer guy's "vote of confidence" as a jumping off point, here's the start of a little "photo essay" for this walk. Update: this one just keeps attracting a lot of press attention. Here's a recent piece from the Times.

Shakespeare's and Dickens's London – the Old City
takes place every Sunday afternoon at 2 pm
and every Wednesday morning at 11 am

Guided on Sundays by David  ("none better" The Observer)
Guided on Wednesdays by Andy or Corinna

2 pm on Sundays from
Warwick AvenueTube

If you fancy something completely different, this is the walk for you. Little Venice is the prettiest and most romantic spot in town. A unique combination of white stucco, greenery, and water, it boasts the finest early Victorian domestic architecture in London; a Who's Who of famous residents (Robert Browning, Edward Fox, Joan Collins, Annie Lennox, and Sigmund Freud to name but a few); and a jewel of a "village" street. And that's not to mention its canals. One of them - Regent's Canal - is known as the "loveliest inland waterway in England". Part of the walk is along the canal towpath - which to this day is studded with fragments of evidence that bring the Age of Canals to life. And afterwards you can have tea - or a bite to eat - at a stylish canal-side café. And why not lend an ear? Which is by way of saying, here's a bit of audio from this walk. It's Shaughan in all his full-throated - let alone multi-charactered - glory!

Cue Shaughan, who guides the walk: "Walking this one is always a revelation - behind the elegant facade is the other story; the maids, butlers, cooks & grooms - the downstairs-backstairs people who made it work. I talk about the rise, decline and resurgence of wealth in the area - these days there are quite enough "Celebs" to turn Maida Vale into "Media Vale". I drop more mames on this one than you can fit in your basket.  And running through this stucco wedding cake - the artery that supplied goods from the Heart of England to its Brain - The Grand Union Canal. Look at London from both sides for an afternoon, and finish with chocolate cake and a boat ride."

The Little Venice Walk takes place
 every Sunday at 2 pm
every Wednesday at 11 am
and every Saturday at 2 pm

Meet Shaughan just outside the exit of Warwick AvenueTube.

Little VeniceTube is on
theBakerloo Line  

Guided on Sundays by Shaughan
Guided on Wednesdays by Peter or Richard III
Guided on Saturdays by Shaughan

2 pm on Sundays
from Tower HillTube

This is a jolt of the pure stuff – the best sort of London Walks alchemy. The alchemy that results when you mix alleyways that tourists never find with London history that would do the Sorcerer's Apprentice proud. Here we're in an urban enchanted forest, a place where 13 knights performed three deeds of bravery – one above ground, one below ground, and one in the water. 

A place where there's a centuries-old peep hole – still there – to keep nuns safe from prying eyes. A place of a Maypole and 11,000 beheaded virgins and the most spectacular statue in London and a show-stopping garden with a fountain whose waters mimic the tail feathers of an ostrich. Let alone Bedlam, an outrageous prioress, Bluebell Girls, black magic, Geoffrey Chaucer and traitors' heads.  Go on, have a listen. Here's a "soundbite" from this walk. A piece of the "notoriety" in the subtitle! And look, if you've come this far, well, step this way: have a look.

The Ancient London Walk takes place
every Sunday at 2 pm

Meet Sue just outside the exit of
Tower HillTube

Tower HillTube is on
theCircle & District Lines 

Guided by Sue

2 pm on Sundays
from WhitechapelTube

The Unknown East End Walk takes place
every Sunday afternoon at 2 pm.

Meet Harry just outside WhitechapelTube.

WhitechapelTube is on
theDistrict Line

Guided by Harry

"Man hath no better thing under the sun
than to eat and to drink and to be merry."  The Bible

7 pm on Sundays
from Leicester SquareTube
(meet just outside exit 1, by Wyndham's Theatre) 

Okay, it's not as risque as it sounds. Though there's eertainly some very tasty historical naughtiness: Casanova cruised these parts, for example. And, yes, it is London's, er, hoary old red light district. What's really to the point is that colourful and cosmopolitan Soho is London's hottest - and coolest - social melting pot. It's a place of bewitching contrasts. Homely village and red-light district; workplace and playground; Chinatown and Theatreland; a paradise for gourmands and the haunt of artists, con-artists, artistes and artisans. Today it's a by-word for style; in the 60s it was the cradle of British pop music; a century ago it was the worst slum in town; earlier still, the hub of aristocratic life. There's no place like it. Anything else? Yes, this is a pub walk and food is available.

  Now for a scene setter, why not hear from a Soho guide himself. Here's Richard III on Soho. He sounds good. And it sounds interesting, fun, stimulating, convivial, tasty, and, well, if truth be told, a little bit saucy! 

                                                                     Photo by Jon Block

The Old Soho Pub Walk takes place
every Sunday evening at 7 pm.

Meet Richard III or Peter G. by Wyndham's Theatre, 
just outside Leicester SquareTube.

Leicester SquareTube is on
the Piccadilly & Northern Lines

Guided by Richard III or Peter G

7.30 pm every* night
from Tower HillTube

Please tread carefully and keep away from the shadows -
you are about to enter the abyss...

He came silently out of the midnight shadows of August 31, 1888. Watching. Stalking. Butchering raddled, drink-sodden East End prostitutes. Leaving a trail of blood that led...nowhere. Yes, something wicked this way walked, for this is the Ripper's slashing grounds. We evoke that autumn of gaslight and fog, of menacing shadows and stealthy footsteps as we inspect the murder sites, sift through the evidence - in all its gory detail - and get to grips, so to speak, with the main suspects. Afterward we can steady our nerves in "The Ten Bells", the pub where the victims - perhaps under the steely gaze of the Ripper himself - tried to forget the waking nightmare. More... And if you'd like a bang-up-to-date independent assessment of our Ripper walk - "an eerie experience" - here are some choice words from the Toronto Star.   Now, anyone for some audio? Want to hear the man who is "internationally recognised as the leading authority on Jack the Ripper" in action? I thought so. Click here. And here.  And for some stills of the walk and the neighbourhood, click here (Don's the chap wearing the fedora and red scarf and holding the clutch of London Walks leaflets).

And this is pretty neat: Adam's made a handy little video to help out anybody who's arrived late for the walk. It's called The Jack the Ripper Catch Up Film. If you arrive late and the walk's moved off, well, just get your cell phone out, bring up this page and click here and hey presto you'll be able to catch us up.

Last but not least, don't miss the WARNING! right at the end of this entry. It's important – so be sure to scroll down and get across it.

The Jack the Ripper Haunts Walk takes place
every single night* at 7.30 pm.

Meet the guide just outside the exit of
Tower HillTube.

N.B., there's also a Ripper walk every* Saturday afternoon at 3 pm
(in addition to the nightly 7.30 pm walk). 

Tower HillTube is on
the Circle & District Lines

*except December 24th & December 25th

Guided by Steve (on Saturdays)
Guided by Donald (on Sundays)
Guided by Molly (on Mondays and Tuesdays)
Guided by Steve (on Wednesdays)
Guided by Adam and Shaughan (on Thursdays)
Guided by Donald or Shaughan (on Fridays) 

Faces in the crowd. Faces that say it all. They're rapt. Only word for it. Now click here to see the full image. Yes, it's Don in action, as caught by a David Cook photo earlier this year.

N.B., Let's call a spade a spade. Going on Donald Rumbelow's walk is as close as you're going to get to nailing the Ripper. Donald is the author of the best-selling The Complete Jack the Ripper, the definitive book on the subject. He's been the chief consultant for every major television and film treatment of the Ripper for the last 20 years. In the words of The Jack to Ripper A to Z (the bible of Ripperology studies): "Donald Rumbelow is internationally recognised as the leading authority on the subject". The former Curator of the City of London Police Crime Museum and a two-time Chairman of the Crime Writers" Association, Donald is Britain's most distinguished crime historian. And I hasten add, he's not some dry-as-dust academic. He spent 25 years on the City of London Police Force - which in effect means you'll be taken over some of the most famous crime scenes in the world by a law enforcement professional...who just happens to be the world's leading expert on those particular crime scenes! Oh and I almost forgot – he's also a top-flight professionally qualified Blue Badge Guide!

But a word of warning: never part with your money or set off with anyone until you're absolutely certain you're with Donald or – if it's another night – one of his London Walks colleagues. Donald (and co.) will be holding up copies of the distinctive white London Walks leaflet. And remember, Donald and his colleagues never ever start the Jack the Ripper walk before 7.30pm. In short, don't let anyone pull a fast one on you. In the words of the Toronto Star: "rip-off tours...capitalize on his [Rumbelow's] popularity and try to confuse people who show up knowing that this is the place for Ripper Tours, but haven't got the details straight."