For those unable to visit, we made a virtual walk around the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs! Complete with labels for the sculptures, and a fake soundtrack (it was windy in th...

John Stow, an historian and antiquarian, is best known for his ‘Survey of London, originally printed in 1598, during the reign of Elizabeth I. 

Stow’s Survey of London is a chorographical study, it maps Tudor London with words. Anybody looking at any of London's history is bound to have come across this at some point or another.

It’s a critical source for knowing what life was like in Tudor London, a city which mostly disappeared during the great fire of London in 1666. Further damage was...

I don't know about you, but I am creating a looong list of things I want to do in London post lockdown. I am absolutely delighted to have been invited on Curious Pavel's Travel Podcast where we talked about the less obvious things to do in Covent Garden such as stuffing your face at Mariage Frere or exploring new food fashions at Seven Dials Market. 

Have a listen here and add your recommendations in the comments below!

If you’ve ever had lunch in one of the excellent restaurants or the interesting street food stalls in Exmouth Market, you might wonder how the street got its name. After all, the Islington street is a lot nearer Sadler’s Wells Theatre than it is the little Devon seaside town of Exmouth. The answer involves a daring raid to rescue 3,000 people from slavery in 1816.

Viscount Exmouth was born as Edward Pellew in 1757 and he joined the Royal Navy at the age of 13. Due to his bravery fighting ...

Written and directed by Paul King (Mighty Boosh), this family adventure features the vocal talents of Ben Whishaw (Skyfall and Spectre) as the eponymous bear.

Arriving in London to search of a new home, the talking bear finds that London is very different from what he had imagined. He is at Paddington Station with only a few marmalade-sandwich-loving pigeons to keep him company. Paddington is spotted by Mr Brown as the family return to London after visiting the Victorian Wool Experience. It is...

The little Old St Pancras church lies to the north of Kings Cross station. Lovely though the church may be it seems an unlikely location for a royal wedding, and indeed it is, but in 1826 a royal wedding of sorts took place there – between Louisa Constance Bouchier Smith and Charles Edward Stuart, Count Roehenstart – pretender to the British throne.

The last of the Stuart monarchs, Queen Anne, died childless in 1714, and the 1701 Act of Settlement prevented Catholics from the throne. This ...

In these strange times we have more time to look more closely at some of the familiar spots in our own locality. So, I had time to stop and study this over-the-top shop frontage in the historic market place of Kingston-upon-Thames – normally full of shoppers but it was very quiet as most shops were still closed. 

At first sight this Grade II listed building might be thought to be Medieval or Tudor but the two dates 1909 and 1929 give away the fact that it is just over 100 years old and built...

Up a narrow 52-step spiral staircase and in the attic of the early eighteenth-century church of the old St Thomas' Hospital is the oldest surviving surgical theatre in Europe. Predating anaesthetics and antiseptics, this atmospheric museum offers a unique insight into the history of medicine and surgery. The original timber framed Herb Garret was once used to dry and store herbs for patients' medicines and in 1822 an operating theatre was included. The Old Operating Theatre Museum has a sp...

Why is storytelling important? “It's the foundation of how we understand the world. When we're looking back on our own life, we make narratives about the people who we know and about ourselves and think about your life. You've always got the kind of grandparents who read out the same old stories again and again, and that's how you understand your own life. So our whole life and our whole thought is all structured around stories and a city like London is basically, you may say it's built br...

In the most South-Western corner of Greater London is the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. Many people think of this area as just the suburbs, but there is a lot of historic interest here.

This shouldn’t really be too surprising. It is one of only three Royal boroughs in London – the other two being Kensington and Chelsea, and Greenwich. Just think of the name – it means King’s manor/estate. It was first mentioned in royal records in 838. In the tenth century it was the place of ...

The Great fire of London destroyed four fifths of the city. The monument on fifth street Hill is a memorial to the great fire, and those who rebuilt the city without rock and roll.

The monument is the tallest isolated stone column in the world. It took six years to build to the difficulty of getting a sufficient quantity of Portland stone or the required dimensions. This caused the King to issue a proclamation on the 4th of May, 1669 for bidding any person to transport stone from the Arla Port...

The Crown Jewels reside under armed guard in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. 

Over 30 million people have seen them in their present setting at the Tower. They are possibly the most visited objects in Britain, perhaps the world.

It’s such a unique working collection of royal regalia with some still being used by The Queen for important national ceremonies, such as the State Opening of Parliament. Others are only used at a monarch’s coronation. 

Since 1066, coronation ceremonies have ...

Situated 11 miles down river along the Thames Path from London Bridge is a Victorian building 

containing the world’s largest rotative steam engines. Crossness Pumping Station, built between 1859 and 1865,  is the end point on the south bank of the river of Joseph Bazalgette’s sewer system.

There were four engines built by James Watt & Co. named Albert Edward, Alexandra, Prince Consort and Victoria, named after the leading members of the royal family, which lifted the raw, untreated waste a...

Last week Cubitts Opticians celebrated the opening of their new City of London store with a private tour of the local area for their staff. 

Private tours in the evening add a wonderful sense of drama to the events. Part of the Roman London wall route originally taken by the northern wall is commemorated, although now only loosely followed, by the road also named London Wall. With the store having a London Wall address I would have been remiss to not have mentioned it. 

This alignment, however,...

It's cheese lover's day!

To celebrate, I’ve rounded up my favourite cheesemongers, street food stalls and cheese boards. 

My Best Cheese Shops in London

Paxton & Whitfield

Having started as a cheese stall in London's Aldwych market in 1742, the now partnership of Paxton & Whitfield is my go-to place for cheese. Jermyn Street’s branch of Paxton & Whitfield is one of London’s most iconic shops. 

It’s beloved of both the royal family and well-heeled Londoners. As well as the usua...

Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas seems a lifetime ago, doesn't it? How are your new year resolutions coming along? Have you been to the gym? Have you refrained from the alcohol? Don't worry, I don't tell anyone if you haven't!

Whatever resolutions you break, the one to keep, is getting out in London with your phone, having a wander and taking some great photos. Luckily, we've got just the walks for you!

From our first Southbank photowalk that we introduced last year, we've now add...

It is said that it is bad luck to leave your Christmas decorations up past Twelfth Night. But when is Twelfth Night?

One of the biggest surprises for those on my Victorian Christmas Walk is that at the beginning of the 19th century Christmas was hardly celebrated. It’s hard to imagine that many businesses did not even consider it a holiday and for most it was simply yet another working day. Instead Twelfth Night was the big event in the calendar associated with parties and drinking....

Cartwright Gardens is a graceful crescent of brick buildings with stuccoed ground floors. The first floors facing the street have finely wrought iron balconies and the top, fourth floor is marked off from the lower levels by a heavy white lintel. Otherwise, the facades are plain with recessed sash windows picked out in white.

The effect is of restrained classical elegance. It lies just south of Euston Road in Bloomsbury, and features in our King’s Cross Walk. The buildings a...

Halfway through December and the days are short and the nights are long. Perfect! For photography in London, we now get the best of both worlds, the light and the dark, without staying up really late!

Our smartphone photo walk along Southbank the other day showed what a great time if year this really is. Starting the tour at 3pm, we got some lovely photos of the area and the river and bridges. Then, as we stood photographing the view across the Thames towards St Paul's Cathedral, the ...

Learn how to take great photos with your smartphone with professional photographer Alastair Hilton.

During the photo walk, Alastair will set photography challenges, nurture your photographic eye and help you develop a better understanding of what makes a great photo. 

At the end of the 2 hour tour you will have gained a collection of photos you will feel proud of and having gained insight as to how to improve your smartphone photography. 

Our smartphone photo walks are external focu...

How to access Panoramic camera setting on your smartphone (Android or iPhone):

Press the camera icon on your phone. Next to the "shutter release button" (the white circle you press to take a photo) will be a list of options, including Square, Pano or Panorama, portrait, time lapse etc. Press the Pano/panorama option. Two parallel lines and an arrow will appear in the centre of the screen. 

Turn your phone horizontally. Stand the aisle of a church (for instance) and point the camera le...

Capturing ultra-wide  or ultra-high panoramas is a great technique to mix up your photography skill-set and create larger-than-life work that captures landscapes and architectural features in a unique way.

You may think you’d need specialised equipment to shoot a panorama, but but fear not. The widespread usage of smartphones means many of us have a really good panorama camera in our pockets, with us at all times, and many don’t
even know it!

The built-in software is designe...

Looking for a fun way to keep the kids entertained this half term? 

We have half-price tickets for our half-term London walks to keep the kids busy and entertained. Half price tickets available for half term week Monday 21  - Saturday 26 October 2019

Adult tickets £6 & Kids £4 + booking fee

All our mid-week half term walk start at 1pm and at a tube station.

Monday 21 October, 1pm Wonders of Whitehall

Explore the historical district of Whitehall see the iconic Houses of Parliament and Wes...

There is one question whilst doing my Christmas Carol Tour which I always get asked: who is your favourite Ebenezer Scrooge?

Hmmm….who do I think plays ‘a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping….old sinner’ the best? 

It’s fair to say there is plenty of choice:

• 1910 Marc McDermott - A Christmas Carol (silent film)
• 1938 Reginald Owen - A Christmas Carol
• 1951 Alastair Sim - Scrooge (UK) & A Christmas Carol (USA)
• 1962 Mister Magoo - Mister Magoo’s Christmas
• 1970 Albert Finney - Sc...

The Floating Gardens of Westminster coincide with the Chelsea Flower Show between 23rd – 27th May 2017. A cool and contemporary cruise collides with a quintessentially British garden, offering tourists and Londoners alike the best floating garden party in the city.

The fresh, flower-clad vessel will see a City Cruises sightseeing boat transformed into a fragrant paradise. Hundreds of thousands of fresh roses will adorn the ship'...

A girly catch-up was well overdue. Since we couldn’t decide between cake and cocktails we decided to head somewhere in Central London that offered both. Having been to the Quarter Bar & Lounge at London Bridge Hotel for cocktails before I was aching to try their afternoon tea. 

We had a booth reserved which gave the feeling of privacy. Champagne or a sparkling cocktail can replace the usual tea offering for an additional £10. We chose the regular afternoon tea and had a co...

This Easter, escape to the tropical butterfly house and see the crawling caterpillar transform into the beautiful butterfly at the all-time favourite National History Museum.

Sensational Butterflies returns for its ninth year in 2017 and remains a spring and summer favourite for schools, families and anyone seeking solace from the busy London streets.

Running from the 31 March – 17 September you can see so many butterflies and learn about their lives in the specially constructed tropical en...

International Women's Day is a day where people come together to help forge a better working world, a more gender inclusive world. This year's International Women's Day is #BeBoldForChange

By definition bold means (of a person, action, or idea) showing a willingness to take risks; confident and courageous. Bold, taking risks, confident and courageous aren't words often associate with women, not in a positive light. But why?

Women such as Anne Askew, Edith Cavell and Fanny Burney are all wom...

1. Superheroes never give up
2. They get the job done
3. They are the best at what they do because they believe in themselves and focus on their strengths
4. Superheroes have a clear, defined purpose
5. They don’t seek glory, they focus on the bigger picture
6. Superheroes help each other
7. They work well on their own but are even better when they work with others eg The Avengers
8. A superhero’s real strength comes not fr...

The wizarding world of Harry Potter has so many levels, from the books, films, Warner Brother and Universal studios, a stage play and also walking tours in London. 

Shrunken heads in Harry Potter
Shrunken heads are a lively addition to the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban but they don’t appear in the Harry Potter books or any other of the films. I want to share with you my findings on shrunken heads not only in the Harry Potter films but also where to see them in London.

Heads...

I do Harry Potter walks in London. The best bit about doing my tours are the amazing people that come on them. 

My Harry Potter walks attract both adults and children, some with a general interest in Harry Potter and some which are true Potterheads - the eclectic mix of people make each walk truly unique. 

Here are five fab questions I have been asked on my Harry Potter's London walk:

Question 1: What is the name of the Defence Against the Dark Arts in Harry Potter and the Philosophe...

350 years ago the Great Fire of London tore through the medieval streets of London, destroying 80% of the city in four days. 373 acres of the City - from the Tower in the East to Fleet Street and Fetter Lane in the West - and burning around 13,200 houses, 84 churches and 44 company halls.

Learn more about this major event, how the royals and the regulars dealt with this disaster as well as other historical events on our Heretics and Horrors walking tour.

The British tradition of Mothering Sunday is rather muddled. Mothering Sunday has been celebrated in the UK on the fourth Sunday in Lent since at least the C16th. 

In the early twentieth century Mothering Sunday underwent a revival thanks to Constance Penswick Smith (1878-1938). It was in 1913 where she was inspired after reading a newspaper report of Anna Jarvis’s campaign for Mother's Day in America.

What is the connection between Laetare Sunday and Mother's Day? 
Laetare Sunday g...

Victorian London was the largest city in the world for much of that time. London's population grew from about 1 million people in 1800, to about 6.7 million in 1900.  Many of the city’s residents lived in poverty.

Middle class England grew rapidly and the upper class, which was formerly purely hereditary, came to include the nouveau riche, who made fortunes from successful commercial enterprises.

However, a large proportion of Victorian society was still working class, and they remained disgr...

London has a lot of many wondrous things such as pubs and theatres but what London seems to have more of is ghosts.

We have some fab Halloween themed walks available 27th, 29th & 31st October. Join us on this night walk and hear tales which will give you a chilling thrill! 

Tues 27th Oct, 7pm Baker Street  - Haunted Marylebone & Mayfair Book now

Thurs 29th Oct 7pm Baker Street  - Haunted Marylebone & Mayfair Book now

Sat 31st Oct, 3pm London Bridge - City of London Dragons Book now

Sat 31st Oct, 7...

In Victorian literature London is often described as a labyrinth or a maze; once you enter it’s hard to get out. Even though we may look back at the Victorian era with fond sentimentality Victorian London was a dangerous place especially after dark, with highway men and other scoundrel’s waiting to pounce on anyone crossing their path. 

Our Victorian Covent Garden & Soho walk we delve into the world of Music Halls, the introduction of ice cream to the masses and the fortitude of V...

Bermondsey Street Market is back on Saturday 19th September. There's something wholesome about a village fete and something quite special in holding one in one the greatest cities in the world. Bermondsey has changed considerably since I first lived there when I first moved to London but the core village and community spirit is as strong as ever. 

We are proud to be providing 1hr walks as part of Bermondsey Street Festival, Saturday 19th September at 11.30am, 1pm, 2.30pm. Explore histo...

St John Street, Islington, was originally a lane linking the village of Islington to the City of London.

When you look up St John Street (as in the pic above) you can see a slight incline. That's been made up of gravels from the ice age. Underneath that is London clay. Where the gravel and London clay meet there is a line of fresh water springs. 

Those springs are still evident in place names such as Sadler's Wells and Clerk's Wells, more commonly known as Clerkenwell today.

The geology has had ...

Today is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Wellington Arch is an English Heritage property which has an interesting exhibition about the battle and reveals a few details which are missed from the English history class rooms.

Wellington Arch now sits at Hyde Park Corner, where Kensington Road meets Piccadilly near its junction with Park Lane, and where the Kensington Turnpike Trust had its tollgate. As a result, Hyde Park Corner became thought of unofficially as the new entrance...

Many of Dickens’ contemporary critics and reading public feared that novels could be too realistic, and that naïve readers (often female readers) wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between fiction and reality. Especially for a novel like Oliver Twist, which is about “dangerous” subjects like poverty, crime, and the relationship between the two.

"Please sir, I want some more"

London is repeatedly described as a labyrinth or a maze – once you get into it, it’s hard to get back o...

11th Jan, we experience London through the eyes of Oliver Twist. Join us: http://t.co/SRHeeYS77q@footprintsldn pic.twitter.com/MbQ8GHoVSQ

— London Guided Walks (@Guided_Walks) January 4, 2015

London has a lot of many wondrous things such as pubs and theatres. What London seems to have even more of is ghosts. 

There are a number of different types of paranormal activity:

Demonic hauntings - a haunting by a nonhuman entity. They often start off with subtle and relatively simple paranormal activity before quickly increasing to strong, potentially scary activity. Demonic hauntings can be very dramatic, yes, even violent.

Cold Spots – a small, defined area of intense cold, at least 10 d...

Where does the name Barnsbury come from?

The name ‘Barnsbury’ comes from the de Berners family, which owned the medieval manor that occupied the site until the early C16th. The Manor of Barnsbury (also called Bernersbury or Iseldon Berners) was held in 1086 by Hugh de Berners.

Who owned The Manor of Barnsbury?

The Berners family retained the manor until 1502 when it was sold to a Merchant, Thomas Fowler. He passed the manor on to his son Edmund (d 1560) who left it to his son Sir Thomas (d 1...