Things to Do in London

City of London Tour: From Sugar and Slaves to Tea and Opium.

Welcome, I'm Justin. But some friendly advice! If you just want to take pretty pictures to put on social media (and don't really like walking much), I am the wrong tour guide for you! My tours attract people who like ideas, history and books. If that is not what interests you, book another tour 🙂

I have 6 walking tours on GuruWalk: 1) The City), 2) Soho, 3) Covent Garden, 4) the South Bank, 5) Mayfair & St James & 6) ArtLand, which together have over 2,800 reviews averaging 5 stars (the highest on GuruWalk in London).

City of London is my flagship tour.

This tour takes you through the "City of London", which is not the same thing as London!

The "City", as it's known to locals, is many things. Nowadays, we know the "City" as the central business district, with its many iconic skyscrapers, towering over ancient churches (providing the chance to take some stunning photos). It's also, however, the "old town", built within the footprint of the Roman city of Londinium.

The "City" also has its own police force, ancient laws and unique government and once financed the largest Empire the world has ever seen, spanning a quarter of the globe.

From being a European backwater in the 1500s, London became the largest city in the world in the 1800s, the centre of immense power and wealth.
 
I'll tell the story of London's rise by walking with you along the English capital's oldest streets, many of which date back 2000 years.

The triumph of London is also often a tale of "dirty money", from the Bishop of Winchester's brothels; sugar and the slave trade; and the East India Company's rape of a subcontinent and hooking of China on opium. Come with me to learn all about London's secrets

Highlights of the tour include: 

• The Monument: Centre of the Great Fire of London.
• The Gilt of Cain: The City of London's first open recognition of the contribution of slavery to their wealth.
• The Modern City: the Gherkin, Cheese Grater, Scalpel and Walkie Talkie.  Where the City stands in the world today. 
• The Golden Triangle:The tiny alleys that housed the coffee shops of the 17th & 18th centuries frequented by stock market speculators and fraudsters but which also gave birth to modern capitalism.
• The Bank of England and the Royal Exchange: Financiers of sugar and the slave trade.
• Leadenhall Market: Stunning Victorian marketplace used as a set in a Harry Potter movie.

The tour will end a short walk from the Monument Tube Station where the tour started. I do have a card reader so can can take credit/debit cards for tips. 

Welcome! My ‘London Essentials’ tour will cover the key sites within the historic royal quarter. Beginning at Wellington Arch marking the triumph of the Duke of Wellington against Napoleon, it ends at Westminster Abbey, the Royal Church of Coronation. On route, we will explore such highlights as Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace, Admiralty Arch, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, The Horse Guards Parade, Downing Street and The Houses of Parliament.
 
I combine personal experience with informed historical perspectives so I can share the distinctive character of each site with peculiar details, fun facts, and local tales. My particular focus is the incredible history of the monarchy. As we walk, I will be sure to convey its far-reaching impact on the city, both politically and architecturally. 

Would you like to see the city with a native English-speaking tour guide who has had the honor of being a full-time tour guide in multiple European cities since 2014? Then read on. 👇

Through years of experience, I have learned that these tours are most enjoyable for you if I hone it down to just the most exciting stops and the most interesting stories.

Alfred Hitchcock once said "the length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder," and I think that applies doubly so to a tour. You're on holiday, I appreciate that. You want to see the main sites, take the best photos, maybe laugh a little, and then head off on to the next adventure.

With that in mind, I keep the tour to an entertaining one hour and fifty minutes. During that time we will see the main sites, allowing you to take photos of:

• Buckingham Palace
• Houses of Parliament
• "Big Ben"
• Westminster Abbey
• Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column
• Horse Guards Parade
• Wellington Arch 
• St Martin's In The Field
• National Gallery
• Apsley House
• RAF Bomber Command Memorial
• The Commonwealth Gates
• St James' Palace
• The Mall and Pall Mall
• Crimean War/Nightingale Memorial
• Waterloo Place
• 10 Downing Street
• Churchill War Rooms
  
  
• On Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday the 11am tour will see and hear the army band march by us for the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Unless it is cancelled due to rain.

More important than the sites themselves are the stories. Little insightful or interesting anecdotes; what the little horse steps are at Waterloo Place, why Constitution Hill is called that when we don't... um.. have one, tales from the Battle of Britain, the Gunpowder Plot, what the Queen did when she woke up to find a drunken man had climbed the walls of Buckingham Palace and broken into her bedroom at 7am, etc, etc.

Having done these tours for the better part of a decade, I can usually field any history question you may have about the nation or the city, and can also offer suggestions of the best places in the city for gin, pretentious coffee (my vice), or the most memorable dining experiences with something unique to them.
I hope to see you soon,
Theo

With your ticket to the King's Gallery of Buckingham Palace, you'll see lots of art and valuable pieces from the Royal Collection.

Get ready for an unforgettable Christmas Tour of London, an experience that will completely immerse you in the festive atmosphere as you explore the city’s most illuminated areas!

Our journey begins at Waterloo Place, where we will be greeted by the iconic St James’s Christmas tree. On this two-hour festive walk, we will pass through the vibrant heart of London, heading towards its most elegant district, Mayfair.

We’ll admire London’s most spectacular Christmas lights, letting ourselves be enchanted by the magic that envelops the city at this time of year. We’ll end this free tour in the beautiful Oxford Street, creating unforgettable memories of a magical Christmas in the British capital.

After the tour, if you wish, you can visit Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, and Covent Garden on your own, with its wonderful Christmas markets and trees, to finish off your festive evening in style.

Dickens described it as the place of “smoke and song”, little has changed. We call it London's home of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll. Soho is where you go for a good night out. It's where you go to let your hair down and be a little bit naughty. 

In its long and varied history, Soho has seen it all; secret meetings of the Communist Party (under Karl Marx himself), virtuoso performance by an 8 year old Mozart, the home of the world's most famous lover, Casanova, a cholera outbreak that threatened to end life in London, and of course, it's had more than its fair share of alcohol induced scandal.

See where the Beatles played their first and last gig in London, and where Beatlemania was born. Join us as we visit some of the top music venues from the 1960s that helped to launch the careers of The Who, The Rolling Stones, and many more. We will saunter into what is left of the old red light district and take a stroll down the one and only Carnaby Street, the hub of swinging 60's fashion and the birthplace of the miniskirt. 

This tiny district has left an indelible mark on pop culture and has risen from being a seedy dangerous realm thirty years ago to becoming one of the most famous and fashionable parts of the capital today.

Tour Highlights include:​

• The London Palladium
• Leicester Square
• Carnaby Street
• Liberty​​
• The Beatles
• Jimi Hendrix's last gig
• The Cholera Outbreak
• The Old Red Light District

Please note, groups larger than 6 and any educational groups will need to get in touch to arrange a private tour, as they will not be able to join the public tour

 When you are tired of London, you are tired of life’ the old saying goes. From the home of the British Royal Family to the packed pubs; from the heart of British politics, to the theatrical West End; from invading Romans to conquering Kings, London has it all.

On the Welcome to London tour, join us to see the city as it’s meant to be seen. Starting by the ‘mother of all Parliaments’ in Westminster, we’ll take you to the most iconic and beautiful sites you need to visit in London. We might even end near a pub, in true London fashion.

We’ll talk about why Big Ben isn’t called Big Ben, see the Abbey that has witnessed over a 1,000 years of royal coronations, walk through the royal parks of Buckingham Palace, discuss great military battles both old and new, and get under the skin of modern London at Covent Garden. 

The Welcome to London tour is the perfect introduction to one of the greatest cities in the world. We’ll fuse history with tips and recommendations, and set you up for your London experience. From Winston Churchill to the Suffragettes to Queen Elizabeth II to James Bond, London has a fantastic story to tell.

Some of the sites we will see on the tour include:

• Big Ben and Westminster Abbey
• Buckingham Palace and St. James’ Park
• Trafalgar Square
• Pubs and Theatreland
• Covent Garden

Old Money, New Money, Dirty Money in Mayfair & St James Tour: London's Super Wealthy (Not Suitable for Children)


Welcome! I’m Justin. This one of the newest of the 6 tours I lead in London, which together have gathered over 2,800 reviews averaging 5 stars (the highest on GuruWalk).

The Mayfair & St James district of London boasts the highest concentration of billionaires in Europe. Some got their money honestly, some not!

Traditionally, this part of London was home to royals and aristocrats along with the nouveau riche of Empire (the sugar-and-slave plantation owners of the West Indies and senior East India Company employees, rich from looting India and China).

Today, the old British elites are being sidelined by a tsunami of new money arriving from all over the world as London becomes the second-home capital of the world's mega wealthy.

While Britain has lost an empire, it has instead found a new role as butler and fixer to anyone who will pay. In the process, dictators, tyrants, oligarchs, plutocrats and kleptocrats have been welcomed with open arms into the UK's capital city.

But some friendly advice! If you just want to just take pretty pictures to put on social media and have no interest in history (and don't really like walking much), I am the wrong tour guide for you! My tours attract people who like ideas, history and books. If that is not what interests you, book another tour 🙂 

You do get a chance to take some great photos, but also I hope you get to "think" a little about what this area of London represents as well! 

Also, this walking tour is not suitable for children unless they are older teens interested in history, politics, economics or international affairs. 

Still reading? OK, this is the tour's heart. 

I'll navigate you through the natural habitat of many of the richest people on the planet, centring on St James's and Mayfair. 

You will get to see the traditional "old money" haunts, but I'll also point out the $200 million homes and $30k-a-month apartment complexes and private members clubs beloved by the "new money" (often dirty money). And you'll see the places this new global mega elite go to shop, eat and play.

You'll also learn how the web of hedge funds, private equity companies and family offices based in this area put both clean and dirty money to work around the world: tax free of course!

Highlights of the tour include: 

• Saville Row: Famed for its tailors, who make high-end suits for the world's wealthy.
• St James Street: Street hosting old money, new money and dirty money clubs along with a Russian oligarch's trophy building frozen by the UK government after Putin's invasion of Ukraine. 
• Burlington Arcade: Central London's longest and most beautiful shopping arcade dating back to 1819. 
• Pall Mall: The heart of London's "old money" club land, where royalty, aristocrats, politicians and civil servants mix.   
• St James Square: One of the capital's most exclusive squares. Home to the East India Club, the private members only London Library and famous think tank Chatham House.
• St James Palace: The oldest royal palace in London: the venue where the King greets new ambassadors when they arrive in London. 
• Marlborough House: Commonwealth Headquarters. HQ of ex and current British colonies club, the latter group of which have turned themselves into the world's largest dirty money laundering network.
• Berry Brothers: London's most exclusive and oldest wine merchant, which also hosts a hidden alley and pocket square.
• Piccadilly Arcade: A beautiful arcade of shops fronted by fashion icon Beau Brummell. 

The tour will end a short walk from Piccadilly Circus underground stations. Note I do have a card reader so can take tips by credit or debit card.