London’s Secret Village

St. Paul's underground station, London (exit 2)

Guided by Aaron or Peter G. or Philip or Sue

Walk Times

Day	Walk Type	Start Time	End Time
Monday	Weekly	2.30 pm	4.30 pm	Winter Summer	Reserve Online

The ancient, hidden village of Clerkenwell clings to a hillside barely a stone’s throw away from St. Paul’s Cathedral. Its very name – the clerks’ or students’ spring – is redolent of antiquity. And this tiny hamlet serves up brimming draughts from the deep well of its history.

Mystery plays and plague pits; riots and rookeries; bodysnatching and bombing; jousting and jesters; bloodshed and burnings; monks, murder, and medicine: Clerkenwell has a tale or two to tell.

Tracing its narrow alleyways and ancient squares, we take in here a Norman church; there a magnificent Tudor gateway; round that corner venerable Charterhouse, London’s only surviving mediaeval monastic complex; let alone Hercule Poirot’s London flat and the trendiest house in town. Guided by Peter or Aaron or Philip

LONDON’S SECRET VILLAGE – THE PRACTICALS

London’s Secret Village takes place at 2.30 pm every Monday.

N.B. on Saturday, September 10th and Saturday, November 12th the Secret Village walk goes as a pub walk. Meeting time is 7.15 pm. The two Saturday evening pub walks are guided by Sue.

The meeting point is just outside exit 2 of St. Paul’s Tube. N.B. the walk ends at Farringdon Station (giving you the Circle and Metropolitan Lines on the Tube and a mainline RR station).  

LONDON WALKS REVIEWS

“London Walks was acknowledged as the premier walking tour company in the entire world”  Convention of American Tour Guides

“London’s best bargain….The highly respected London Walks organisation is famous for offering both general-interest walking tours of London as well as tours focused on specific neighbourhoods. The London’s Secret Village tour really reveals Clerkenwell’s character…it also covers many of the attractions featured in this article…[it is] one of the best deals in town.”  Vanessa Chiasson, TravelAwaits (Feb. 24, 2020)

“What a great company…this is the company to use if you want a walking tour.” Claire1017  Wake Forest, North Carolina

“London Walks was perfect for us. We did 2 of the walks–Jewish London on one day and London’s Secret Village on another. Both were led by Steve, a charming, knowledgeable and entertaining guide. He did a great job of connecting with each person on the tour, speaking loudly enough for all of us to hear and with enough vocal color to engage us all. We learned a lot about London, saw fascinating sights, and had a great time.” JCT  Annapolis, Maryland

“You haven’t seen London unless you do London Walks…Peter was my favourite guide”  Bunny7475  Montreal, Canada

LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS

If you can’t make the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, public Secret Village walk do think about booking one as a private tour. If you go private you can have  London’s Secret Village – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. And – always with private London Walks and tours – we go to great lengths to make sure the guide-walker(s) “fit” is well-nigh perfect. Ring Fiona or Noel 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.

GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS

A private London Walk makes a very special (and unusual) gift – be it a birthday or anniversary or get-to-know-your-new neighbourhood gift or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING

“If this were a golf tournament every name on the Leader Board would be a London Walks guide”

LONDON WALKS – STREETS AHEAD!

Don’t just take it from us.

MIND THE GAP

It’s not even close

THE FAMOUS WHITE LONDON WALKS LEAFLET

“Nah, don’t need it, got it all here,” you say. Er, roaming charges? Er, dead battery? Er, reading your phone in the bathtub and you drop it? [Smelling salts interval: sick as a parrot. ashen-faced.] Er, read the famous white leaflet in the bathtub and you drop it what do you do? Er, you dry it out. Anyway, maybe worth making a mental note that you can always pick up the famous white London Walks leaflet at the Cafe in the Crypt at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the old church in Trafalgar Square. They’re on the Information Table there, right by the box office. And indeed they also display them on the shop counter, right by the cash register. And it’s win-win because the Cafe in the Crypt is one of the town’s delights. Should be on everybody’s London itinerary.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]