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 |
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.
Eva C. –
Dear Fiona and the whole London walk team,
I just wanted to share with you how pleased I was with the wonderful Shakespeare Walk last Saturday. Rick was the best guide you can imagine – very generous with his deep knowledge and insights. On top of everything he played lute beautifully. A real pity that I was the only one on the tour. If only people know what they are missing.
I’ll send a photo from the tour – hope that could help attracting more walkers to the tour.
Kind regards
Eva
Linda Baker –
A most enjoyable walk and a great way to kick off the weekend. Guided by the knowledgeable and ever entertaining Rick Jones – plus lute! – we were transported back to Shakespeare’s London. In a city I’ve grown up in and thought I knew, there are still some amazing little corners to discover and learn about. This time, for me, it was Baynard castle. Who knew?! Google it! Or better still join the walk. You’ll be glad you did. I was! Thank you Rick and London Walks for another little gem.
Paul Goacher –
An excellent walk! From the start at Southwark Cathedral our guide Rick, introduced us to many interesting facts about Shakespeare and answered all our endless questions on the walk around The City of London. The walk was also fun on a wonderful sunny day. Well done Rick! We will have to try another of your tours soon.
Scott –
Who knew – a few strums on a lute (brilliantly played I might add!) combined with just a few utterances in Rick’s sonorous voice and are transformed into early Elizabethan England! As he whisks you through 16th century London, Rick brilliantly brings to life, not just Shakespeare himself, but through carefully curated pithy and engaging anecdotes, the economic, and social context of The Bard’s whole world. Unique and excellent, thank you Rick!
tony Carpenter –
One of the best tours we’ve been on , Rick is knowledgeable, witty and entertaining , with his lute playing he brings the Shakespearian City of Southwark and beyond to life , you haven’t walked Shakespeare’s London until you’ve walked this tour
Suraya –
Rick evokes a real Tudor atmosphere with his excellent lute playing and his extensive knowledge of Shakespeare helps to bring all of the locations visited to life. Many hidden gems to discover – don’t hesitate to go on this super tour.