Old Westminster Walking Tour
St James' Park Tube the Broadway/Westminster Abbey exit opposite the Conrad Hotel
Guided by Ann or David or David M. or David T. or Isobel or Jack or Karen or Oliver or Shaughan or Simon
Adult: £20 · Students & Seniors: £15 · Children: £5
Walk Times
| Day | Walk Type | Start Time | End Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Weekly | 2 pm | 4 pm | Winter Summer | Reserve Online |
| Thursday | Weekly | 2 pm | 4 pm | Winter Summer | Reserve Online |
| Saturday | Weekly | 11 am | 1 pm | Winter Summer | Reserve Online |
N.B. The meeting point is at the Exit of the Tube station opposite the Conrad Hotel (here’s Conrad Confidential, a tasty podcast about the Conrad – yet another reason for going on this walk)
The seminal London Walk. Miss it and you’ve missed London (NB this walk is all outside – it does not go inside any buildings).
Long read: 1,000 Years of History…
Old Westminster is London at its grandest: the place where kings and queens are crowned, where they lived, and often were buried.
It’s the forge of the national destiny, the place where the heart of the Empire beat, the Mecca of politicians throughout the ages. The past here is cast in stone and we take it all in on our Old Westminster walk.
Home to Westminster Abbey that’s witnessed over a 1,000 years of royal coronations, weddings and funerals. Royal parks including Green Park and St James’s Park. It’s home to the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street. And of course, the centre of Royal London, Buckingham Palace where you get to see the Changing of the Guard and Horse Guards Parade.
Take our guided walking tour to uncover remarkable London history – military battles, royal secrets, power struggles and more.
What are some historical landmarks in Old Westminster?
How about these world famous London locations for starters?
- Ancient Westminster Hall
- The Jewel Tower
- Westminster Abbey
- Churchill War Rooms
- Whitehall
- Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster)
- The River Thames.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING
Don’t just take it from us…
And to see it with a great guide (Karen, for example, winner of the Guide of the Year Award, Travel & Leisure’s “World’s Greatest Guide,” Presenter of Discovery TV’s London Next Stop) is to have that past suddenly rise to the surface, like seeing a photographic print come up in a darkroom. You can hear Karen here – it’s a recent interview.
It doesn’t get any better than this. And you don’t get this on other London walking tours! Embarras de richesse, we’ll also explore the private face of Westminster – the London equivalent of Georgetown.
Unlike the tourist hordes who never find them, we get to see the hidden and ever so picturesque Georgian back streets where all the political salons are! We end very near the Cabinet War Rooms, the fortified bunker that housed Winston Churchill’s centre of operations during the war. N.B. So, yes, the walk ends very near Parliament Square, just a stone’s throw from Westminster Tube. Want a preview of the walk? Click here to watch the video.
OLD WESTMINSTER – THE PRACTICALS
Old Westminster takes place Tuesday at 2 pm, Thursday at 2 pm, and Saturday at 11 am.
The meeting point is just outside St James’ Park tube Station, the Broadway/Westminster Abbey exit opposite the Conrad Hotel. Please note it is St James’s Park underground station, not Westminster station.
The Tuesday at 2 pm walk is guided by actor Oliver (the David Niven of London Walks) or Guide of the Year Award-winning Judy or Isobel (Isobel’s another award-winning Blue Badge guide). It’s Shaughan or David at the helm on the Thursdays at 2 pm walk. The Saturdays at 11 am walk is guided by Karen, recently crowned by Travel & Leisure as “the world’s greatest guide. You can hear Karen here, in this recent interview.
How long does the Old Westminster walking tour typically last?
Our walks last two hours – and we pack an awful lot into that time.
THE WEATHER – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
“In four decades of guiding I’ve never once taken an umbrella;* it doesn’t rain on my walks” – David, the Seigneur of this favoured realm [London Walks].
London Weather Facts: Jerusalem, Gibraltar, Rome, Rhodes, etc. all get more rainfall than London. Precipitation-wise, London is one of the driest cities on earth.
You want a European city that does get (just slightly) less rain than London, Sevilla’s your ciudad. The line on Sevilla and rain is: “rainfall in Sevilla isn’t abundant and it’s concentrated;” by the same token the line on London and the wet stuff should be “rainfall in London isn’t abundant and it isn’t concentrated.”
Bottom line: Don’t let the rain bogeyman call the shots. Send him packing. He’s all hat and no cattle, as they say in Texas.
Ok, we get the occasional mizzle but it’s easily seen off. A brolly – which I (David) refuse to carry – does the trick every time. And as long as you’re at it, always allow for the lost in translation factor: on the other side of the Atlantic the word ‘rain’ = rain; over here the word ‘rain’ = damp; or a mizzle.**
For a deep draught of the subject, try this richly satisfying (and eye-opening) podcast – https://www.walks.com/podcast/london-weather/
Cue tag team London Walks moment: “I divorced weather forecasts five years ago. It’s like being unchained from a lunatic. You might as well look at a horoscope as pay any heed to UK weather forecasts” (London Walks guide, Adam, Visit England Superstar Finalist 2022).
*Historically, the British public regarded the idea of not getting soaked when it’s pissing it down as ‘too French’, with accounts saying we called people a ‘mincing Frenchman’ if they were caught using an umbrella.
**A mizzle does not pleasure and pain make, let alone a downpour [‘pleasure and pain’ is Cockney rhyming slang for ‘rain’]
LONDON WALKS REVIEWS
“Best Tourism Experience in London” Gold Medal Winner, Visit London
“The best walks are conducted by London Walks” Toronto Globe & Mail
“The best walking tours are organized by London Walks” USA Today
“London Walks was acknowledged as the premier walking tour company in the entire world“ American Tour Guides Convention
“The original and best – there are several companies offering walking tours of London but London Walks (London’s oldest) is easily the pick of the bunch” London, Cadogan Guide
Want to find out more about wonderful Westminster? Check out our other Westminster tours.
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make one of the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, Old Westminster Walking Tour it can always be booked as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Old Westminster Walking Tour walk – 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 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 fab gift – be it a birthday or anniversary or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.
If they’re fascinated by City of London architecture, Covent Garden beyond the shopping, or the stories behind that vacant plinth beside Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square (oh we can do niche!) – book a private walking tour to delve deep into the stories you long to hear.
Dan and Rebecca (from Philadelphia) –
Not exactly what I expected, but better! David M. took us for this tour today and it was fantastic. We did see the Houses of Parliament, the outside of the Abbey from a couple of angles, etc., but we spent lots of time in quiet, beautiful spots tucked out of the way in Westminster learning about the city as a whole and episodes and characters from its history. David was knowledgeable, friendly, and energetic. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Anne Marie –
I did this walk with David M. on Oct 30th. As always with London Walks, I learned a lot, saw many new places (new to me) and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. I highly recommend London Walks.
Frances Pickersgill –
Our guide turned out to be Richard III! We thought the 15th century king’s remains were disinterred in a Leicester car park but here he was, giving us the inside story of Westminster. One of several guides called Richard, our Richard III took us from the history of the Houses of Parliament and why the monarch is barred from the House of Commons to the madly impressive design of Westminster Abbey and the beautiful architecture of the Georgian ‘backstreets’. Gaslights, taper snuffers, gargoyles, the segregated floors of grand houses – quotidian history that we never knew or noticed. Famous faces around the Parliament buildings reminded us that history is still being made here. A great few hours – fascinating, amusing and a potted history lesson thrown in. Thank you Richard
Nancy –
I chose this walk because it covered an area rich with history, and even history in the making! Ann (no “e”) was our delightful guide who took us into the heart of Westminster, right down to the toes of little know places that filled in the lesser known interests and history of people, places, and more. From parliamentary “procedures” for illness of the elected, to aristocrats and celebrities living in the oh so interesting housing near the parliamentary buildings and church/abbey, she covered it all, even the public school in the midst of it all. Thank you Ann for bring history to life for me.
Kim Bachmann –
Thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Westminster. Richard (III) was an informative and very funny guide. Looking forward to more walks!
Cynthia Oleary –
We had the pleasure of going on this tour with Jack on Saturday Sept. 13. In spite of a huge demonstration taking place in this area, he knew where to take our little group to avoid the huge crowd and still impart lots of details about the people and history of this area. He was very informative and witty and the time passed by quickly. It was educational and enjoyable and we highly recommend this tour!
Rachel –
We recently joined a walking tour of Old Westminster and had a mixed experience overall. While the tour was enjoyable and our guide, David, was a standout — a fantastic storyteller and clearly passionate about history — the actual route and content of the tour didn’t quite match what was advertised on the website.
The promotional material featured images of Buckingham Palace and the Horse Guards, which gave us the impression that we’d be seeing some of the more iconic landmarks like St James’s Palace and Buckingham Palace. However, these weren’t included in the tour. Instead, we spent most of the time exploring the back streets of Westminster, hearing anecdotes and stories about lesser-known historical figures and places. Some of these stories were genuinely fascinating, but they weren’t what we expected when we booked.
We still found the experience enjoyable thanks to David’s engaging delivery, but it would have been helpful if the description had been clearer about what the tour actually covers. If you’re looking for a deep dive into the lesser-known corners of Westminster with a passionate guide, this tour might be for you. However, if you’re hoping to see the classic royal landmarks, you may want to double-check the route before booking.
Gina Jackson –
The Old Westminster walk led by Ann was wonderful. Ann was engaging and gave us lots of interesting information. London Walks never disappoints.
Jannika –
It was very interesting and funny to listen to the small and big facts about Westminster, Ann provided us with exactly the right amount of facts and infos to have a good time on the tour! We recommend it to everyone.
Call Me Disappointed –
We’re with you there, Spearszach. You can call us Disappointed, too. We don’t want anybody to be disappointed. We do our best to make sure they’re not. If there’s something we haven’t thought of – something we could have done to head off or forestall your disappointment – please let us know what that would have been. Constructive criticism is always welcome and hugely appreciated. Now as long as the two of us are trying to untangle this – and I hope maybe maybe clear things up a little bit, do a little bit of fence mending – here’s our side of the story, Spearszach. As you’ll readily agree, there are two sides to every story. First of all, in our defence: on http://www.walks.com when we describe the Old Westminster by Gaslight walk we do state clearly a visit to the Strangers’ Gallery in Parliament is possible “when Parliament is in session.” And nowhere in the description for the Old Westminster Walk do we say anything remotely along the lines of “this walk includes or ends with a visit to Parliament.” There’s no mention at all of anything like that. In fact, at the top of the description of the Old Westminster Walk, we state, in big red boldface letters, “(NB this walk is all outside it does not go inside any buildings).” It’s hard to understand why, if your “primary reason for taking the tour” was “to visit Parliament”, you didn’t get in touch with us beforehand to make sure that Parliament was in session. And for that matter, generally, if the tour itself was of little or no moment to you why not just skip it altogether and just go directly to the Strangers’ Gallery, having first ascertained whether in fact Parliament is in session on the date you’ve plumped for. That information is readily available. A further recommendation – useful for going forward – at the beginning of a London Walk, if something’s not to your taste, simply tell the guide, “oh, I think this isn’t right for me” and your money will be returned to you then and there. We bend over backwards trying to get it right for our customers and potential customers. But for it to work (particularly in instances like this) a teensy bit of initiative from those who are thinking of going on the walk is, I’m afraid, a sine qua non. Finally, what you call “trivia knowledge” can’t “be gleaned from any book.” You could maybe “glean” 60 percent of it from 20 or 30 different sources. The other 40 percent comes from private knowledge and experience. And that, in a nutshell, is why people go with London Walks. London Walks guides read hundreds of books on London so you don’t have to. Best regards, David, London Walks.
The primary reason for taking this tour was to visit Parliament. Guide waited until after everyone paid before announcing, oh, yeah, no one would be visiting as they were not in session. Understood but since the tour starts in the evening, the idea was to visit the inside of the Parliament building not just to hear some trivia knowledge that can be gleaned from any book. Ugh. Disappointing. Additionally the guide spent too much time giving gruesome facts on torture unsuitable for the children who were on the tour. I popped out halfway through it. Seems like a charming chap but the tour wasn’t worth what we paid for it.