Walking with Shakespeare – a performance, an invocation, a time machine
Barbican Tube Stop
Guided by Rick Jones
Adult: £20 · Students & Seniors: £15 · Children: £5
Walk Times
| Day | Walk Type | Start Time | End Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | Weekly | 11.30 am | 1.30 pm | Winter Summer | Reserve Online |
N.B. this walk will not take place on the following dates:
27-06-2026 08-08-2026
Shakespeare’s London still exists.
In hidden lanes and ancient churchyards.
In the shadow of the Barbican.
Across the river to the Globe.
And on this extraordinary walk, with songs, stories and live lute music, Rick Jones brings it thrillingly to life.
Step out of modern London and into Shakespeare’s world.
Guided by distinguished arts critic, Shakespeare scholar and lutenist Rick Jones, this remarkable walk follows Shakespeare through the streets he knew, from the City to the Globe. Along the way Rick conjures up the world of actors, taverns, playhouses, rivals, friends and forgotten corners that shaped the greatest playwright in the English language.
This is no ordinary Shakespeare tour. With music, quotations, drama, performance and the “lascivious pleasing of the lute”, Shakespeare’s London rises again around you.
Along the route we encounter Shakespeare not as a marble monument but as a working Londoner: actor, playwright, businessman, colleague, brother. And all around us modern London slowly gives way to the city he would have known.
“You haven’t walked Shakespeare’s London until you’ve walked this tour.”
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on”
Shakespeare’s London was noisy with music. Songs drifted from taverns and theatres. Ballads filled the streets. And on this walk the sounds of Shakespeare’s London return as well.
Across the river lay the playhouses: thrilling, dangerous, crowded, alive.
Stratford bred him. London gave him a stage, literally and figuratively, for his fortune.
And let us not forget the supporting cast. Rick tells the story of Shakespeare’s younger brother and boy actor, Edmond, his milkmaid Elizabeth Newcomen, his saddler John Bingham, his butcher Robert Harvard and his fellow actors John Heminge and Henry Condell, to whom we owe the survival of the plays themselves.
Not marble monuments, but actors, apprentices, milkmaids, musicians and friends.
Make no mistake, Shakespeare still inhabits this city.
SHAKESPEARE’S LONDON? IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING
Want more walks like this? Check out our other literary tours of London.
Nuala Attwood –
Memorable, unique and wonderful experience. Thank you so much Rick; an outstanding guide and highly recommended
Christoph Karner –
Rick played the lute beautifully. It goes without saying that the other parts of this Shakespeare walk were also extremely interesting and informative.
Jeff Murray & Vigdis Jacobsen –
Rick Jones’s Shakespeare tour was marvelous. He was a font of knowledge and engaged us right away. The lute performance was memorable (now we know how “Hey nonny nonny” should be sung in his plays!). Rick was especially good at putting the Bard in context with his contemporaries, and especially moving in reciting his most memorable lines. We highly recommend London Walks and his tour in particular!
Jill A. –
April 13 tour with Rick playing, reciting verse, and providing the historical backdrop was the perfect way to explore Shakespeare in London. Very memorable and one of my favorite London Walks tours.
Humberto Martins –
Amazing tour, Rick’s knowledge made me feel glad for choosing the Shakespeare walk tour. Highly recommended.
Maya and Ofer –
Rick was very intresting and entertaining. His Lute playing was great and his knowledge in history and literature was vast. Higly recomended.
Gary Johnston –
Rick’s TS Eliot The Wasteland tour is excellent both in literary terms. (Rick has a vast knowledge of the poem) and the historic and other references in the poem which are brought to life through Rick’s passionate and engaging delivery. Thoroughly recommend this tour to anyone interested in TS Eliot and in the history of aspects of London
Steve Nicholson –
An absolutely great walk! From the moment Rick set the scene with beautiful lute playing outside Southwark Cathedral my partner and I were hooked. Rick has an engaging personality and a wealth of knowledge regarding Shakespeare’s life and career which he transmits with genuine enthusiasm and a real love of the subject. The walk is well paced, taking in sites on both sides of the Thames and is quite lengthy, being over two hours, but this includes an entertaining half hour of Rick’s lute playing and renditions of 16th Century songs. Rick also clearly explains Shakespeare’s position amongst other great names in Literature of the time as well as emphasising how close we were to losing half of his entire output forever. I would recommend this walk to anyone, irrespective of how familiar they are with the Bard, without hesitation.
Nadeem Khan –
The first 20 minutes in the Harvard Chapel (Southwark Cathedral) were enchanting…the walk, simply wonderful if you love the Bard. Rick Jones is a veritable, ambulatory ‘tour de force.’ A Man for All Seasons!
Garry King –
We were delighted by Rick’s ability to convey Shakespearian London in a very knowledgeable and entertaining manner. We loved Rick’s Lute playing in the chapel, an amazing experience. We have already recommended this walk to family and friends.