Jane Austen’s London
Green Park underground station, London (Green Park exit, by the fountain)
Guided by Kevin
Adult: £20 · Students & Seniors: £15 · Children: £5
Walk Times
| Day | Walk Type | Start Time | End Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 April 2026 | Tour du Jour | 11 am | 1 pm | Winter | |
| 31 May 2026 | Tour du Jour | 2.30 pm | 4.30 pm | Summer | |
| 5 July 2026 | Tour du Jour | 2.30 pm | 4.30 pm | Summer | Reserve Online |
| 2 August 2026 | Tour du Jour | 2.30 pm | 4.30 pm | Summer | Reserve Online |
| 5 September 2026 | Tour du Jour | 2.30 pm | 4.30 pm | Summer | Reserve Online |
| 24 October 2026 | Tour du Jour | 2.30 pm | 4.30 pm | Summer | Reserve Online |
“But indeed I would rather have nothing but tea” Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
Short read: With sense, sensibility, pride but no prejudice we’re on the trail of the great novelist. Her time in London.
Long read: “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has no pleasure in a good walk, must be intolerably stupid.” Ok, it’s the teensiest of paraphrases – a one-word alteration – but it’s no less true for that bit of sub-editing. Says it all, really. Well, not quite all. Mustn’t forget “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Jane Austen devotee in possession of the good fortune of a couple of free hours today must be in want of this walk.” Or, “‘My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.’ ‘You are mistaken,’ said he gently, ‘that is not good company, that is the best.'” If you’re a Jane Austen buff you’ll have pleasure in a good walk and be clever and well informed. Welcome to the best company! (Your fellow walkers and indeed London Walks!)
Bonus read: Kevin – a distinguished, retired Museum of London Archaeologist and Curator – may work a classy old pub or two into the weave. Makes the walk that bit more social; give people a chance to compare notes re their “relationship” with the great novelist. Fun.
The what-the-guide-says read: People associate Jane Austen and her characters with a rural setting. But London is central to both Jane Austen’s real life and her literary life.
So, this tour will explore Jane’s connections with London and give the background to Sense and Sensibility, a good part of which is based in this very area. We begin with the place Jane’s coach would arrive from Hampshire, and then walk the streets haunted by Willougby; past shops visited by the Palmers, the Ferrars; visit the location of Jane Austen’s brother’s bank and see the publisher of Jane’s Books. The area around Old Bond Street was the home of the Regency elite and many buildings and a surprising number of the shops remain as they were in Jane Austen’s day.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING
JANE AUSTEN’S LONDON – MEETING POINT
The meeting point for the Jane Austen’s London Walk is just outside the Green Park exit of Green Park Tube station. Meet by the fountain (in the park itself).
LONDON WALKS REVIEWS
“Best Tourism Experience in London” Gold Medal Winner, Visit London
“The best walking tours are organized by London Walks” USA Today
“London Walks has many copycats, but it’s the best” Frommer’s London by Night
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, public Jane Austen’s London walk do think about booking one as a private tour. If you go private you can have Jane Austen’s London – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. Ring Fiona or Peter or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you. A private London Walk – they’re good value for an individual or couple and sensational value for a group – makes an ideal group or educational or birthday party or office (team-building) or club outing.
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GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS
A private London Walk makes a special, thoughtful, and unusual gift – be it a birthday or anniversary or graduation or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.
MIND THE GAP
Stacey Offer –
Dear Stacey,
Thanks for your note. It’ll go up at the weekend. I’m sure you’ll agree, there are two sides to every story so it will be accompanied by a London Walks response. Probably something along the following lines:
Dear Stacey,
Thank you for writing. And for submitting a review. We are sorry the walk was not to your taste.
In fairness, your review reflects approximately the first 35 minutes of a two-hour walk. You chose to leave at that point and Kevin immediately provided a full refund.
It may help to clarify that the walk is titled Jane Austen’s London, not simply Jane Austen or even Jane Austen in London.
We think it’s important that the walk delivers what the title promises. We don’t think it would be right to put a walk with that title into the straitjacket of exclusively Jane Austen biographical particulars. Our feeling is it’s our responsibility to deliver the London world Austen inhabited and wrote about, as well as the author herself. I’m repeating myself here but we think this is a critically important point: to confine the walk exclusively to Austen particulars would, in our view, misrepresent the scope promised by the title. In the opening section Kevin was therefore establishing the historical setting: Austen’s journeys to London, the transport and postal innovations that made those journeys possible, and the emergence of Mayfair as the milieu of many of her characters.
You also commented on the number of early stops. On that specific day Piccadilly was heavily congested, so Kevin quite properly used quieter Green Park positions where the group could hear comfortably. Guiding in central London sometimes requires that kind of on-the-ground adjustment.
As for the readings, as I am sure you know, Jane Austen is widely regarded as the finest stylist in English Literature. Every word is perfect. And perfectly positioned. Medium-length passages lose their effect if imperfectly quoted from memory. Because this walk runs relatively infrequently, we consider it better practice to read selected extracts accurately rather than risk paraphrase.
It is also worth noting that there is no such thing as a typical London Walks guide. Our guides are not stamped out by cookie cutter. Kevin had a distinguished career as a London Museum archaeologist and later museum curator and is the author of several books on London history for the general reader.
Kevin has nonetheless reflected on your comments and agrees some contextual material may be more effective if more widely distributed through the walk. Classic London Walks that – a walker makes a good point we’ll always take it on board and adjust things accordingly.
For what it’s worth, Jane Austen’s London is one of the rarer flowers in the London Walks garden and it has received a number of very favourable reviews from walkers who experienced the full walk.
We aim to be scrupulously fair to everyone concerned. In that same spirit, we believe reviews are most useful when based on the complete experience. In this case the review necessarily reflects only the opening portion of the walk.
Kind regards,
Peter
London Walks
http://www.walks.com
020 7624 3978
My review wouldn’t publish because the page didn’t lay out correctly… could you include it please
Jane Austen in London, Sunday special.
I don’t think one could call this a Jane Austen tour at all, it had a couple of facts, that were read from paperwork the guide was carrying,
and for the fan of Jane Austen, they know them already. The stops were so close to one another having absolutely no relevance to the subject.
I would say you would need a walk after this walk! Not a typical WALKS.COM guide.
Rosemary wayre –
Very interesting walk. Kevin was informative
about her friends and relations and the places they lived. Remember to ask for seniors rate.
Breck Jones –
Brilliant walk. Kevin is knowledgeable, articulate, and speaks clearly (though at times an amplified speaker would be helpful due to traffic noise). He was well versed not only with Jane Austen, but also with the relevant context of London history.
Elisabeth –
Jane Austen’s times and the characters in her books really came alive on this beautiful walk. Kevin expertly led the way through historic times as well as through the streets of an interesting area of London. A brilliant walk, highly recommended!
Janette –
Lots to enjoy on this walk even if you had never read a Jane Austen book (though I have). As much about the life and times of late Georgian/Regency London as there was about background knowledge that makes the novels more interesting. Would recommend.
Maggie Bolton –
Jane Austen walk today with Kevin was brilliant. Extremely knowledgeable and also entertaining, highly recommended.