Unusual Walks
“London Walks makes the new familiar and the familiar new.”
So every London Walk – by definition – is “unusual.”
But what we mean here by the term “unusual” is walks that aren’t immediately obvious. For the most part they fall into two categories.
1. Walks – like Brook Green: The Secret Side of Hammersmith – that go off the beaten path, that explore an unfamiliar, largely unregarded part of London – a part of London it wouldn’t have occurred to you to visit. A part of London you perhaps haven’t even heard of.
2. Walks – like T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land Tour – that follow a rarefied thread. A thread you hadn’t noticed – or didn’t know was there – through an otherwise well-known part of London.
And don’t be under any misapprehensions – these are not “junior varsity” walks. Every one of them is A-List* – they’re just A-Listers that are less well known. See, by way of example, the review, below, of Rick Jones’ Wasteland Tour.
*Jessica’s February 2022 review of The Waste Land Tour: “In 20 years of London Walks, I think this is the best one I have ever been on. Rick is simply marvellous. I studied the Waste Land extensively at university but I never understood it the way I did after this tour. The stops are thoughtfully chosen to illustrate certain passages and Rick peppers in sprinklings of music and literature and history – he also sings beautifully and tells stories beautifully – it gives the Waste Land a new depth and humour. He recites long passages of the poem so that you can hear the music in them and speaks in the voices of the characters – all at once you recognize them as people, the kind of people who weave in and out of the streets all around you. It’s a beautiful homage to the City, to London, to Eliot, and to thousands of years of history that swirl around in the Waste Land. (But to be clear, even if you don’t care about this poem, this is still a WONDERFUL walk – the poem just serves as the anchor and you bob in and out of the poem and the history).”
The City Churches Tour
Friday, 01 December 2023 @ 10.30 am (This walk goes every Friday)
"Fan vaulting, Bow bells, a Mediterranean courtyard, a sermon timer and a mighty organ beneath Christopher Wren's most beautiful dome"
Harry Potter Film Locations in the City
Saturday, 02 December 2023 @ 11 am (Click here for more dates)
"And now, Harry, let us pursue that flighty temptress, adventure"
The London of Oscar Wilde Tour
Saturday, 02 December 2023 @ 11 am (Click here for more dates)
The Oscar of our literary walks. "I can resist everything except temptation" Oscar Wilde.
The Krays In London Walking Tour
Sunday, 03 December 2023 @ 10.45 am (Click here for more dates)
The East End Gangland & The Dark Side Of The Swinging 60s
Slow-Speed Trail of High-Speed Rail
Sunday, 03 December 2023 @ 10.45 am
Whoa! Wow! Peekaboo HS2 & Javelin
The East India Company – Guided by a Distinguished Diplomat
Sunday, 03 December 2023 @ 10.45 am (Click here for more dates)
"London Walks puts you into the hands of an expert on the particular area and topic of a tour" The New York Times
The Street Art Tour
Sunday, 03 December 2023 @ 11 am (Click here for more dates)
"a corkscrew of a route that pops cork after cork of east London's vibrant, heady, dynamic street art scene"
The Huguenot Silk Weavers of Spitalfields – Riches to Rags
Sunday, 03 December 2023 @ 2.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
Explores Spitalfields, chronicles the lives and times of the Huguenot silk weavers...
Grosvenor Canal & Battersea Power Station
Sunday, 03 December 2023 @ 2.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
Combines the hidden byways of London's least known, most secret canal and the Thames' mightiest cathedral. What's not to like?
The Nell Gwyn Special
Monday, 04 December 2023 @ 6 pm (Click here for more dates)
"the first great comedienne..."
The Lure of the Underground
Tuesday, 05 December 2023 @ 10.45 am (This walk goes every Tuesday)
"subterranean London" "there's a whole other world down there" "London created the Underground and the Underground created London"
Undiscovered London, Butlers Wharf and Shad Thames
Wednesday, 06 December 2023 @ 10.45 am (This walk goes every Wednesday)
Four words* that make my blood race: “hasn’t yet been discovered.” *Right up there with hidden places, hidden history
Christopher Wren 300th Anniversary
Wednesday, 06 December 2023 @ 11 am (Click here for more dates)
A celebration of the works of Sir Christopher Wren 1632-1723
T. S. Eliot – The Waste Land Tour
Wednesday, 06 December 2023 @ 11.30 am (This walk goes every Wednesday)
"in 20 years of London Walks this is the best one I've ever been on"
The Tate Modern Highlights Tour
Wednesday, 06 December 2023 @ 2.30 pm (This walk goes every Wednesday)
Guided by arts critic Rick Jones, Secretary of the Critics Circle
Medical Tour: All Around the University – Firsts & Inventions in the History of Medicine
Thursday, 07 December 2023 @ 2.30 pm (This walk goes every Thursday)
Just a little prick… from Edward Jenner to AstraZeneca
The Christmas Tree(s) Walk
Thursday, 07 December 2023 @ 5.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
London adazzle – its most glorious constellation of Christmas trees...
Jack the Ripper’s Whitechapel Tour (Small group tour)
Thursday, 07 December 2023 @ 7 pm (Click here for more dates)
Horses Past, Horses Present – Horse Power in London Society
Saturday, 09 December 2023 @ 10.45 am
"reveals the vast importance of horses in asserting the position of those in power"
Charming Chiswick
Sunday, 10 December 2023 @ 10.45 am (Click here for more dates)
Old, picturesque, storied, full of character, riverine, tucked away on its isthmus, sitting pretty – that’s Chiswick.
Cat Tails – A Feline Take on London History
Thursday, 14 December 2023 @ 10.45 am (Click here for more dates)
"a walk which combines places, people and the cats who lived there"
A Charles Dickens Christmas Virtual Tour – his life, his work & his London
Friday, 15 December 2023 @ 7.30 pm
Weaves an exploration of Victorian London with Dickens's London Life and writing...
Roman London – A Literary & Archaeological Walk
Saturday, 16 December 2023 @ 11.30 am (Click here for more dates)
Our Guides are Publius Ovidius Naso and Marcus Valerius Martialis, who will be helped by Kevin Flude, former Museum of London Archaeologist, Museum Curator and Lecturer.
The Hampstead Spies – the KGB in NW3
Sunday, 17 December 2023 @ 10.30 am (Click here for more dates)
Guided by former ITN Editor Stewart Purvis CBE. "You got Stewart Purvis to guide Hampstead Spies? That's like getting Dan Rather to guide Dealey Plaza"
The Regent's Canal - King's Cross, Granary Square, St. Pancras
Sunday, 17 December 2023 @ 2.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
"unseen, untrodden, unexplored, unknown London beckons"
The Sherlock Holmes Christmas Walk
Tuesday, 19 December 2023 @ 2.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
We follow the crisscrossing paths of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson as they solve their only original Christmas-time case, and Arthur Conan Doyle as he reaches a crisis in his professional life.
The London Winter Solstice Virtual Tour
Friday, 22 December 2023 @ 7.30 pm
we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2024
The Christmas Lights Pub Walk
Saturday, 23 December 2023 @ 6 pm
Christmas with Jane Austen Virtual London Tour
Saturday, 23 December 2023 @ 7.30 pm
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Jane Austen devotee must be in want of this virtual tour"
Mrs Dalloway's London – the 100th Anniversary
Tuesday, 26 December 2023 @ 10.45 am
We walk with Mrs Dalloway. Walk her London. See it with her eyes.
Belgravia Pub Walk
Saturday, 30 December 2023 @ 6 pm
"best medley of lost lanes and hidden passageways in all of London"
Hampstead New Year's Eve Walk - See the Fireworks from the Roof of London
Sunday, 31 December 2023 @ 9 pm
Watch the Fireworks from the Roof of London. Auld lang syne in auld Hampstead.
Ring in the New Year Virtual Tour
Monday, 01 January 2024 @ 7 pm
How London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years – and some crystal ball action for 2024
Lawyer-guided Legal London – Inns of Court Exclusive
Friday, 05 January 2024 @ 10 am (Click here for more dates)
Tom's a barrister, Joanne's a criminal defence lawyer. Small group guaranteed.
Foodies' London – Pie Crust to Upper Crust
Saturday, 06 January 2024 @ 10.45 am
"People who love to eat are always the best people" Julia Child
London In The Swinging 60s
Sunday, 14 January 2024 @ 2 pm (Click here for more dates)
Sex, drugs, politics & fashion. "A real storyteller who has you spellbound right from the start" Tripadvisor Sept 2022
William Morris & Friends
Sunday, 14 January 2024 @ 2 pm
"special not least because we'll be walking along one of the loveliest stretches of the Thames"
Sherlock Holmes in the City
Sunday, 21 January 2024 @ 2.30 pm
We go on the trail in the Square Mile, seeing a surprising amount that Holmes and Watson would still recognise.
The Regent's Canal: King's Cross-Granary Square-Camden
Sunday, 21 January 2024 @ 2.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
The London of a couple of centuries ago. A London of tunnels and bridges and narrowboats and locks.
Foodies' London - The West End
Saturday, 27 January 2024 @ 10.45 am
"the King's nickname was Tumtum, he had a 47" waist, and every night a cold roast chicken was placed beside his bedside..."
London's Spymasters
Saturday, 27 January 2024 @ 2.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
"a murky world marked by treason and treachery, betrayal and murder"
Islington Between the Wars
Sunday, 28 January 2024 @ 2.30 pm
This unusual, highly original walk – indeed, it's sui generis...
How the West End Was Won
Saturday, 03 February 2024 @ 2.30 pm
How a capital city emerged fit to rule the greatest empire the world had ever known...
The Regent's Canal – Mile End to Limehouse
Sunday, 04 February 2024 @ 2.30 pm
"from the Age of Canals to cutting edge, 21-st century London"
CHARLES DICKENS’ LONDON: LOST AND FOUND: a London Walks virtual tour
Sunday, 11 February 2024 @ 7 pm
"Dickens' London was a place of the mind, but it was also a real place. Much of what we take today to be the marvelous imaginings of a visionary novelist turn out on inspection to be the reportage of a great observer"
Foodies London in the City – Biscuits & Banquets
Saturday, 17 February 2024 @ 10.45 am
"People who love to eat are always the best people" Julia Child
The Power of the Thames – Battersea to Westminster
Saturday, 17 February 2024 @ 2.30 pm
"with a space-age American embassy tucked in behind it"
Sherlock Holmes - Virtual Tour
Sunday, 18 February 2024 @ 7 pm
'The Game's Afoot!' Follow the fascinating adventures of Holmes and Watson (and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) around London's West End. Guided by Richard IV
Brook Green – the Secret Side of Hammersmith
Sunday, 25 February 2024 @ 10.45 am
the fun, the delight of getting to know a London neighbourhood that's a complete revelation
London, A Heart of Stone
Sunday, 25 February 2024 @ 2.30 pm
"a feast of stunning art and architecture"
Limehouse - Thames - Docklands
Sunday, 17 March 2024 @ 2.30 pm
"part gentrified, part solidly working class"
Chaucer's Medieval London
Sunday, 07 April 2024 @ 11.30 am (Click here for more dates)
Your boon companions on this tour of London in the Middle Ages are a Museum of London archaeologist and the greatest medieval poet of them all.
London on Film Part 1: Frozen in Time in the Square Mile
Sunday, 21 April 2024 @ 7 pm
The old City of London has been a haven for moviemakers for over a century, and here are some of the glorious highlights. Guided by Richard IV
The Music Of Royal London
Sunday, 28 April 2024 @ 10.45 am (Click here for more dates)
Scandal! Adultery! Big Bangs! Our royal story is an opera in itself. Guided by Adam.
Fables, Fashions & Feasts
Sunday, 28 April 2024 @ 2.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
"200 years in 2 hours"
The Regent's Canal – River Tyburn to Little Venice
Sunday, 05 May 2024 @ 2.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
"we step into a different world here, a different world bouquet’d with incidental delights – 'The Upside Down House', for example..."
Rock'n'Roll London Explorer Day – Barnes, Twickenham & Richmond
Friday, 24 May 2024 @ 9.30 am (Click here for more dates)
A full day Rock'n'Roll exploration of historic southwest London - guided by Adam.
David Bowie in 1960s London
Saturday, 25 May 2024 @ 10.45 am (Click here for more dates)
Before Ziggy… Before the Thin White Duke… A walking tour of Bowie's Soho 1963-71. Guided by Adam
Elizabethan Clerkenwell
Sunday, 26 May 2024 @ 2.30 pm
Now a chic London neighbourhood but then 'a haunt of thieves and whores'
The Rolling Stones In 60s Soho
Saturday, 15 June 2024 @ 10.45 am (Click here for more dates)
Celebrating 60 years of the Rolling Stones. Guided by Adam
Highbury – Grand Houses & Grander Stadiums
Sunday, 30 June 2024 @ 2.30 pm (Click here for more dates)
History, architecture, films, the Gunners, a Ripper candidate and for good measure, a short nature walk
Ghosts of the Old City on Halloween
Sunday, 27 October 2024 @ 4 pm (Click here for more dates)
All the Ghosts come out for Halloween!
Tours available upon request
We run a ton of private walks. If you to go on any of the walks below, it’s eezy peezy as well. Just give Fiona, Peter, Niamh or Mary a ring on 020 7624 3978 – or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up for you and make it happen.
Roman London
What did the Romans ever do for us? We know what guide Ian does for the Ukraine and earthquake crisis appeals – he donates his fee.
A Literary Odyssey – Ink & Inspiration in Mayfair & St James's
This walk has been specially created for the Mayfair Times Literary Festival. The charge for this walk is £20 (there are no concessions).
The Peasants' Revolt Anniversary – 'Summer of Blood'
follows the events of the Revolt as the Peasants move through London in June 1381
Mountain Building & Meteorites – the City a professional geologist sees
Rocks of Ages – Urban Geology in the City (guided by a professional geologist)
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall
an archaeologist-guided portrait of London in the early 16th-Century
Myths & Legends of London May Day Special Virtual Tour
"we look at evidence for 'Celtic' origins of London and how May Day was celebrated in London"
The Bridge to London
"most of what has passed has left plenty of traces"
Pioneering Paddington
"from the deep past to a vision of the future"
The Quack Doctor's Tour
"the general rule in medicine in Stuart England is ‘better out than in’"
The Rugby Tour – to Accompany the Six Nations Tournament
"with a fine disregard for the rules"
Pirates, Press-Gangs and Execution Dock
Discover the dark side of the empire...
The Decline and Fall of Roman London
What is the evidence? And can we trust it? Archaeologist-guided.
London Before London – Prehistoric London Virtual Tour
henges, barrows, hill forts, hut circles and genetic evidence
19th Century East End – Jews, Anarchists & Workers' Rights
...incendiary publications, industrial strife, revolutionary trade unions, soup kitchens, housing charities and shelters for the homeless.
Hampstead's Other Half
"more about those forgotten than those remembered"
The Grand Union Canal – Kensal Green to Alperton
"there are places along the towpath that are little changed"
Grand Surrey Canal – Rotherhithe, Russia Dock Woodland, Greenland Dock
We could be in 1620. Or May 28, 1940. Or June 6, 1944.
River Lee Navigation – Enfield to Ponders End
"the source and inspiration for one of the great classics of English literature"
The Lost Palace of Downing Street
Take a walk through the most magical corner of the kingdom. Guided by Dan Parry
The London Equinox and Solstice Walk
As the Sun and Moon move around our skies we look at how Londoners organised and celebrated their year throughout history. Guided by Kevin
St David's Day Welsh Walk – by the distinguished Welsh author Rick Jones
"where they sang, wrote poetry and played rugby"
International Women's Day Charity Walk
Trailblazers of the East End – Guided by Laura
The History & Archaeology of London Bridge
"London bridge is the key to much of the history of London"
How the British Fell in Love with Curry
"The national dish is no longer fish and chips, it's curry"
Charles Dickens Christmas Festival - Castle, Cathedral, Carols, Costumed Characters, Parade, Reindeer, Guaranteed Snow
The best Dickens Christmas Festival in the world!
Myths, Legends & Halloween Walk
The walk tells the story of London's myths , legends and the celtic origins of Halloween. Guided by Kevin
An American in London: Famous Visitors from Across the Pond
Guided by the author of The Lonely Planet Guide to London
Immigration and Food Walk
Almost a third of all Londoners are now foreign-born, representing 270 different nationalities and 300 languages. Guided by Steve F
Myths, Legends & Halloween Virtual Walk
“Tis the night—the night. Of the grave's delight"
Harlots & Bawds - the Georgian sex trade.
Alex takes a look at the world of the 18th Century sex and brothel trade.
Slavery in the City
A story showing people at their worst and best, tells the horrors of the slave trade, the extreme cruelties and yet contains seeds of hope. Guided by Isobel
Saints, Sinners and Sisters
Tradeswomen, writers, lawyers, feminists, martyrs, muses and murderers: women’s stories aren’t always nice, nor are they niche. Guided by Isobel
Coronation Special: Royal Bastards, England's true life game of thrones
Ever since William the Conqueror (aka William the Bastard) hit the scene in 1066, legitimacy has been a life or death issue for the Royals. Guided by Ian
The Decline & Fall of Roman London – Archaeology Virtual Tour
"The first British Brexit?"
Chaucer's Medieval London
Your boon companions on this tour of London in the Middle Ages are a Museum of London archaeologist and the greatest medieval poet of them all... Guided by Kevin
Harlots – Covent Garden's sordid history (N.B. adults only)
"tiny gas-lit alleyways, unknown even to many Londoners..." N.B. Guide Ian donates all of his fee to the World Jewish Relief's Ukraine Crisis Appeal!
Saints Sinners Sisters
To mark International Women's Day
The Archaeology of London
This walk tells the epic tale of the uncovering of London's past by Archaeologists...
Great Balls of Fire
Temperatures of more than 1000° meant everything was consumed in the inferno...
The Weird & Wonderful Women of Marylebone
"Marylebone – a magnet for so many inspiring women"
The Regent's Canal – Mile End to Haggerston
"Welcome to an English rainforest of different types of trees and plants. Then a POW! of a contrast..."
Shakespeare in the City
"William the Conqueror!" N.B. Guide Ian donates 100 percent of his fee to the Horizon Scandal Fund! And London Walks donates 75 percent of its commission to the Fund.
The Arsenal Story
Walk the same streets as Colin Firth in Fever Pitch...
Mary Wollstonecraft & Mary Shelley in Somers Town
"a place of poverty and political exiles and refugees and revolutionaries"
Grand Surrey Canal, Royal Navy Victualling Yard, Greenland Dock
A get away from it all walk – down on that towpath it's 200 years ago.
MEDICAL SOUTHWARK
Doctor-guided.
London 1902-1916 – Seedbed of the Russian Revolution
St. Petersburg on Thames – the cradle of the Russian Revolution. Guided by a fetching young Russian historian.
When Horses Ran London
"how much horsepower each bus route needed – amazing eye-opener into a lost city"
Monarchs and Maladies
"their excesses, their maladies, their treatment, their cadres of medical attendants, their post-mortems..." Guided by a Physician
The Cotswolds
The achingly beautiful Cotswolds...
The Grand Union Canal – Little Venice & Paddington Green
"a secret corner of London closed to the public for 200 years"
The Devil's Acre
Phwoar! Wrong side of the Westminster tracks – crime, grime and where the bodies are buried
The Peasants' Revolt Anniversary Virtual Tour
"see the invisible and understand the inscrutable"
Regent's Canal – Islington to Mile End
Jollying our way along a handsome, tree-lined canal on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Perfect.
The Guy Fawkes Tour – Gunpowder, Treason & 5th of November Plot
"Guy Fawkes was hanged, cut down while still alive, castrated, disembowelled... onlookers were never able to forget that he was conscious throughout the process"
Eastcheap & the Tower – Reading the Stones (Urban Geology with UCL Geologist Dr Ruth Siddall)
Urban Geology < Fossils, Volcanoes, Seas, Asteroids and Time
London in Poetry
Free booklet of London poems. Double act. David guides. RSC actor Steve performs the poems.
Old Dulwich Village
Dulwich is a world – a hamlet – unto itself. There's no other place like it in London. Be sure to bring your camera.
Doctors' London – Guided by a Physician
Doctors' London – Pox & Plague, Leeches & Quacks. Guided by a Physician.
Classic London Mews & Hidden Passageways
Urban oases, havens of 19th-century tranquillity
Kew Gardens in Springtime!
Spring in Kew Gardens. Includes the newly opened, breathtakingly beautiful Temperate House.
The Knifeman Tour - Hunterian Museum
Follow Dr Barry Walsh in footsteps of the famous surgeon Dr John Hunter
Slavery & the City
"No country profited more from slavery and the slave trade..."
Docklands
"...the most extraordinary letter in London's alphabet"
Cholera & Casanova
"Sex and death, the two subjects everybody's interested in..." Guided by a Physician
Cambridge - "can such places be?"
"Miraculum orbis. Wonder of the world, annexe to heaven..."
Bohemian Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia: central London's best-kept secret