10 weeks of great storytelling. London by tube lines. From the West End to the farthest reaches of the underground network. Discover London as you have never seen it before.
Hear Hear. Here’s Fiona’s merely brilliant introduction (audio only, we turned this excerpt into a podcast) to the series.
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“The guides really know their stuff and bring the story to life brilliantly, with unexpected twists and turns along the way”
Tamzin C, Tripadvisor March 2021
The London Underground is the oldest underground railway in the world.
It touches the lives of every Londoner, citizen and denizen alike. It gets us there; it gives us an alibi when we’re late. It makes us contemplate a work of art every day of our lives when we study Harry Beck’s schematic tube map to plan our journey.
We use it to get to our working week and our Sunday rest. We London Walks guides meet our London Walkers at its stations…
But how many of those 272 stations have you visited? How many of them are merely names as you flash from A to Z on your London adventures? What lies above and beyond?
This NEW 10-part virtual tour series from The Story of London team aims to mend the gaps in your London knowledge.
Season membership for the Sunday evening series is £47.50 (so just £4.75 per tour – great value). Each tour is recorded and available to watch until the end of Dec 2021.
Starting on 10th October 2021 over 10 weeks each virtual tour will go out live at 7 pm (London time) on Sunday evenings and we will visit…
The Tours
The Metropolitan Line
The story starts here, historically (in 1863) and alphabetically – from Aldgate to Amersham.
We’ll ride the rails, over the hills, across the moors and through the woods, all the way out to Zone 9, the end of the line, in leafy Buckinghamshire.
The only line to give its name, not just to a suburb – Metro Land, but to a whole systems of transport all round the world – the Metro. Betjeman found a Wurlitzer organ in a suburban house, what will we find?
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“The guides worked wonderfully as a team and made us feel looked after – our mini holiday trip!”
wtc Tripadvisor March 2021
The District Line
Boasting more stations than any other underground line (60 in total) the green of the District Line burgeons forth with terminals branching out as far as Upminster in the East to Ealing Broadway in the West.
It also serves some of London’s most verdant open spaces from the World Heritage Site and Botanical wonderland of Kew Gardens to the manicured lawn tennis courts of Wimbledon… not forgetting the ghosts of bygone villages at Turnham Green, Parsons Green and good old Stepney Green.
To rise above all that at Earl’s Court station, the busy hub of the District Line, we have the very first moving escalator on the underground system opened in 1911.
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“Amazingly informative and entertaining”
Lindsay, Tripadvisor May 2021
The Circle Line
A virtual tour of the Circle Line…
Is it really a circle, though? Isn’t it more a lasso? Or a bottle?
Whatever the geometry, we’ll round-up, rope-in and decant the treasures of the yellow line (and what lies above) from museums to true crime.
All of London’s contrasts and nuances can be found along our 23-mile route. Grenfell Tower and Kensington Palace sit cheek-by-jowl in the west… while over in the east we have the Brutalist Barbican and the Tower of London.
It may be the shallowest of lines, but we’ll be digging into the hidden depths of London’s story every step of the way.
The Northern Line
A guided tour of North AND South London? On the same tour?
They said it couldn’t be done.
Yet in the blink of an eye we’ll Zoom from Morden to High Barnet… and many points in between.
In the time it takes just to travel between the extremities of the Northern Line in real life, on the rails between the London Boroughs of Merton & Barnet, we’ll cover everything from the deepest station to the longest tunnel… and we’ll see what’s above our heads concerning all manner of topics from comedy to football and more.
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“Outstanding… presented in an engaging and informative way with plenty of anecdotes, maps, photos and video clips to enhance the experience”
Glamourjet, Tripadvisor March 2021
Central Line
When the ‘tuppenny tube’ opened in 1900, the underground system changed forever. For just two pence, passengers were whisked from Shepherds’s Bush to Bank. In state of the art carriages pulled by the brand new electric locomotive. Cutting a dash east to west across the city, the Central line flourished. A proper ‘tube’ service in tunnels deep underground.
Today the line stretches from Ruislip and Ealing in the west to the delights of the Essex countryside. 49 stations and over 40 miles of track. From the grandeur of Holland Park to the architectural wonder of Gants Hill station. This episode takes you from one Westfield shopping centre to the other, links two Olympic Parks, 100 years apart and covers the highs and lows of the Underground’s most central of lines.
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“Thank you for three absolutely wonderful series. You are quite a team. I appreciate your magical weaving of such a great story with your expertise and sense of drama. Such a treat!”
Frances – Reviewed via Ko-fi
The Bakerloo Line
More info to come….
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“Thank you for a great virtual walk series they have been a joy to watch.”
Lara – Reviewed via Ko-fi
The Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly Line – international visitors’ introduction to the joy and convenience of the London Underground.
Opened in 1906 as the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, it was extended to Heathrow Airport in 1977 (the ribbon cut by Her Majesty as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations) making London the very first city in the world to have an underground railway link to an airport.
The Piccadilly line is perfect for sightseeing with instant access to Harrods in Knightsbridge, the museums of South Kensington, Hyde Park and all the West End theatres from Leicester Square to Holborn.
It even has a ghost, a tall shadowy spectre in Homburg Hat believed to belong to a murdered actor who often boards the first carriage of a departing train at Covent Garden!
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“Kept me entertained throughout the lockdowns”
Lindsay, Tripadvisor May 2021
The Victoria Line
Where will she take us?
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“I’ve lived in London for most of my life and have learned so much over the 2 series”
Tamzin C, Tripadvisor March 2021
The Jubilee Line
The Jubilee arrived in two halves. Slightly too late for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, and in the nick of time to celebrate the new millennium. Cobbled together from bits of the Metropolitan and little length of tunnel in 1979, it finally founds its way East with the regeneration of the docks. Stylish new cathedrals of the Underground matching the shiny towers of steel and glass reaching for the skies.
There’s a lost Georgian mansion where a fortune was made and lost, a chalet where they used to collect the road tolls and the inconspicuous building that saved countless lives by by shortening WW2.
We’ll feast in the larder of London, cross the Greenwich Meridian and turn North to support the Thames Ironwork FC in their swanky new stadium.
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“The advantage of the virtual tours? We had dinner round the table while taking part, and the guides took us all over London with lots of wonderful videos, images, facts and fancies!”
wtc Tripadvisor March 2021
Meet The Guides
Connie R in Connecticut –
The Story of London guides are the best! I have learned so much about this amazing city, the history, the characters, the landscape; and I can hardly wait to make my next trip ‘across the pond.’ It has been one of the best ensemble efforts I have ever seen, the way the guides cheer each other’s talks and support each other’s efforts. All of them are knowledgeable, witty, and wonderful. It has been pure pleasure to follow all their series. Thank you for making my pandemic life a little brighter every week!
carolyn edwards –
Underground Overground
This has been a fascinating series of talks so informative but more importantly has opened up areas and place I want to get off the train and explore.
Hats off to London Walks who have now set up a series of virtual tours apart from this one all of which have been excellent and the guides so amusing knowledgeable.
London Walks have certainly risen to the Covid restrictions to keep us all entertained and informed.
They have
Sharon Michalove –
What a wonderful journey via the Underground. I learned new things about lines I’m familiar with and was introduced to lines I’ve never taken. All the guides are a joy to travel with. I can’t wait to start new journeys with all of them.
Victoria –
Underground Overground has been an incredible series of virtual tours, taking us all over the tube network – in and out of stations. Curated by five incredibly talented guides, it has been fascinating to see well known stops and views and those lesser known views from the suburbs to the City. Clever links were everywhere; each week was a different line, presented by a different guide. Think you know London? This proves that you’ve barely scratched the surface.
At the time of writing, I’m awaiting the link to sign up for the next series. These are seriously good guides sharing fascinating stories of our great capital. Whether you’re a Londoner, Brit or from further afield, you learn so much from the comfort of your own home.
Pamela Fuselli –
Fan-freakin-tastic! Underground Overground was just the most recent in a series of tours of the greatest city in the world – London. The depth and richness of the information makes the time fly and leaves you wanting more. All of the guides are experts in their own right, but as a team they raised the bar even higher. I looked forward to each Sunday evening when they would take me to familiar and unfamiliar places in London, sharing knowledge and intriguing tidbits adding their personal flare to engage all of us along for the ride. I can’t wait to get back to London in person. Regardless of being there in person, I would sign up for these magical virtual tours. Thank you so much!
Chris Foster –
“Underground Overground” was one of a whole series of rich Sunday evening presentations which I have had the pleasure of attending. Each one of them had me on the edge of my seat, being transformed into a whole new world. The presenters, all expert, established and entertaining tour guides, were so good that I felt like they were performing just for me, and indeed, every Sunday night was a real live performance from them. Such a shame that I could only award five stars, as they were all worth at least ten stars.
Colin & Jo Edwards –
Our virtual Sunday evening London walk has been the highlight of our week since March. We have enjoyed four series so far, with Underground Overground being the most recent. The five outstanding guides divided the lines between them, taking us along a line a week (apart from one week when the Waterloo & City was squashed in alongside the Hammersmith & City.) Each “walk” doesn’t cover every station along the line; that would mean we’d only have 66 seconds at each of the District Line’s stations – not enough time to cover anywhere properly. Instead, that week’s guide picks a few stations along their line and we linger at each one for a while. Imagine getting off the Underground at a station and being taken for a walk around the area above ground. We see some lovely architecture; are given a flavour of the area’s history; learn some quirky facts; see some blue plaques and hear about famous residents. There are even a couple of ghost stories – oh, and restaurant recommendations. What we’re told is not always pleasant: we hear about poverty and oppression as well as the great and the good.
As I type this, we’re waiting to sign up for the fifth series of talks and will also sign up for any more after that. When there are no more new series, we will start at the beginning again. I have no qualms about paying to attend the same tour twice – they are excellent value and are absolutely fascinating. It’s highly unlikely the guides COULD deliver exactly the same talk twice: they know so much that the difficulty is keeping to time. The best thing about these walks/talks, though, is the guides’ delivery and wit. Fiona’s jokes are drier than a London Dry Gin and Adam’s clever seque in an earlier series from the Z of the A-Z back to the beginning of the A deserved a standing ovation.
We’ve had some walks on a Sunday night,
Without leaving our chairs, so that’s all right.
From Baker Street to Waterloo
We’ve learnt some how and why and who.
Our camera’s off so they don’t see
That we’re sat here, having tea.
Russell’s off at such a lick.
Fiona’s puns, though, are just as quick.
Karen’s thorough, without a doubt
And Simon’s such fun when we go out.
Adam always links the beginning and end.
Yes, London Walks have been such a friend.
Peter Hugh McDade –
This has been an absolute treat on Sunday evenings – lively and fascinating!
Mary and Roy –
Gosh! Where do I start? This series is 💯 amazing and we are going to be so sorry when it ends. As Londoners born and bred you have brought memories and shown us so many places we want to investigate. You guides work so hard in putting these walks together and work so well together. Really looking forward to getting back to the ‘real walks’ but until then these Virtuals are really hitting the spot.