The Famous Square Mile
Monument Underground station, London (Fish Street Hill exit)
Guided by Delianne or Fiona or Judy or Simon or Tom
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, Judy, 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.
The Drumms –
Simon was excellent. Great knowledge and humour. We absolutely loved his tour!
Catherine G –
Excellent walk! Really informative with such fascinating detail. Simon is a brilliant guide! Thanks for a lovely morning…
Andrew –
Absolutely excellent walk this morning around the City. Simon was an entertaining and knowledgeable guide who made 2h fly by. Highly recommended.
J. Gates –
We so enjoyed the square mile tour with Simon!!
RICHARD BRABROOK –
Fiona was brilliant. The right mix of interesting facts, humour and ability to answer any obscure question thrown at her. This was a great way to spend a couple of hours exploring a really interesting part of London. It is only with a guide that you get to understand the history of the places and buildings in this fascinating part of the city.
Sarah Boorman –
Went on the famous square mile walk. Very interesting and full of wide ranging information from all of history. Saw many famous landmarks and delved into hidden gems. St Dunstans was a fabulous pocket park. Our guide, Fiona, was excellent and my companion, who is from Australia, loved it all.
Nicola –
Great walk with Simon today following on from joining him on Saturday’s Westminster walk. An absolute font of knowledge of the area delivered in a very engaging manner to make it a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours on a beautiful Sunday morning. Will highly recommend to my Aussie friends travelling through London.
Alyssa Feik –
I loved learning more about this fascinating part of London. We wouldn’t have been able to find our way around these alleyways without a great guide. Simon was entertaining and friendly. We could tell he really wanted us to get a much out of our time as possible.
Laura –
Very entertaining and really fascinating historical facts about the London mile. The tour was animated and gave meaning to the architecture. A must do!
Claudia –
Fantastic way to spend a Sunday morning! We walked with Simon and were thoroughly entertained, educated and fascinated. Simon is incredibly engaging and we really didn’t want the walk to end! Have done a few of these London walks and I never fail to learn something, every time. Worth every penny and every minute spend doing these. I can’t recommend enough.