The Famous Square Mile
Monument Underground station, London (Fish Street Hill exit)
Guided by Ann or Citlalli or Delianne or Fiona or Jack or Simon or Tom
Adult: £20 · Students & Seniors: £15 · Children: £5
Walk Times
| Day | Walk Type | Start Time | End Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Weekly | 10.30 am | 12.30 pm | Winter Summer | Reserve Online |
| Thursday | Weekly | 11 am | 1 pm | Winter Summer | Reserve Online |
HEAR TOM MBE HERE
Here’s barrister and superstar guide Tom Hooper MBE talking about this walk. This is Part I of a two-part interview in which Tom enlightens and entertains us about what this walk covers, what you get, where it goes, etc.
Short read: 2,000 Years of History (brought to you by brilliant guides*)
A dream team of nonpareil guides
Long read: The great classic London Walk, the London Walk of Walks! It explores the very heart of the City – the most historic part of the capital. Threading his way through an intricate network of narrow alleys and cobblestone lanes, Simon chronicles the 2,000 years of London’s rich and tumultuous history. And illustrates it by drawing upon everything from street names to ancient customs to the frozen music of London’s great buildings, among which are the ruins of the Roman Temple of Mithras, the Bank of England, the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House, and ancient Guildhall. Guided by Tom MBE, Fiona or Simon.
*”If this were a golf tournament every name on the Leader Board would be a London Walks guide”
FAMOUS SQUARE MILE TOUR PRACTICALS
The meeting point is just outside the Fish Street Hill exit of Monument Tube. N.B. the walk ends at Guildhall, nearest tube is Bank and it is a short walk to St. Paul’s.
LONDON WALKS SOUPÇON
The gold stored at the Bank of England cannot be stacked more than 5 feet high and has to be continuously moved around. Why? Because the London clay does not provide a solid enough foundation. Gold is so dense and thus heavy, it would start to sack the foundation of the vaults. In Manhattan, in contrast, the vaults are laid right on top of schist bedrock which is very strong. There is virtually is no limit to how high the stacks can be. (Perhaps just as well because there is more gold in the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank in Manhattan than there is in Fort Knox. More than 36 countries store their gold there – more than 1/4 of the world’s gold is in those vaults. And well might you ask – how much is in the Bank of England?)
LONDON WALKS REVIEWS
“London’s best city tours” The Telegraph
“Even jaded Londoners find these London Walks a source of astonishing gems of information about the city in which they live.” Daily Mail, Top London Treats
“London Walks was the first – and is the best – of the walking tour firms” Fodor’s Great Britain
“The Famous Square Mile with guide Simon this morning was excellent. I didn’t want it to end even though it had begun raining. The wealth of knowledge of Simon and his exuberant passion for the history of this famous city was reflected in how he brought it to life for our group. I’ve been on numerous of the London Walks and all are the highest calibre. Take as many of these walks as you can!!” P. Fuselli Banff, Canada Feb. 2020
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make one of the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, public Famous Square Mile walks do think about booking one as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Famous Square Mile 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 Peter or Niamh 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, thoughtful and unusual 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.
Deborah Masters –
Loved Anne. Fantastic tour. Next time in London I want to go on Anne’s cat tour of London! Nice group. Easy pace. A well researched, expertly planned tour.
Sherry Marcus –
Ann was amazing. She took us around the city from Roman times to modern. I will look at the city with new eyes thanks to Ann’s tour
Denis G –
Despite having lived and worked in London for 25 yrs, I learned more in just over two hours while walking with Ann than I would ever have discovered on my own. Ann presented the “Square Mile” in a new light and opened our eyes to its incredible history. This walk was one of the best on the calendar.
Susan Sommerfeld –
Ann was a fun guide. We loved the walk.
Stuart –
Solid, well-paced walk, hitting all the high-notes with a smattering of Well-I-Never-Knew-That’s thrown in for good measure. Thanks, Fiona!
Beryl & Gary –
We had a most enjoyable walk with Ann yesterday. Having lived in and around London all our lives, we still learned a lot from Ann that we did not know. She took us to hidden places that we had never before visited and told us many things about the City and it’s inhabitants in a humorous, informative and entertaining way. Many thanks.
David Mears –
We spent a lovely Sunday morning walking the square mile with our guide Ann. She was very informative and took us to both the oldest and newest parts of the City with added extra stories and details. Although it was a cold day, the time flew by. We would definitely recommend the tour and want to thank Ann personally.
Veronica –
Fiona guided us through a walk around the Square Mile of the City. She was both engaging, informed and did a superb job of bringing the history of this fascinating part of London to life. We live in London, will definitely be back for further walks and would highly recommend Fiona.
True Stewart –
The walk was booked for my mum and her friend for her 80th birthday (she knows how to celebrate in style!). They had a marvellous time and could not recommend it highly enough!. Jack was very knowledgeable and entertaining and they really enjoyed seeing unknown parts of the city and hearing all about the fascinating history. Thank you Jack. They had a great time!
Fiona –
We enjoyed this walk on Thursday morning. We were very lucky to be the only two on the tour and Ann was the perfect guide. It was particularly interesting hearing about the large amount of churches in the area and we enjoyed going down all the small back streets. Favourite sections were Leadenhall Market and The Ned. So much history in such a small area. We learnt lots! Thank you Ann.