The City of London : - the ancient square mile at the heart of Greater London. Founded by the Romans, ravaged by fire, bombed in both world wars and home to the biggest financial markets. It is the only area in any capital city where leading architects build epic towers on a medieval street-plan – a maze of tiny alleys and lanes once known to kings and queens, to Shakespeare and Dickens, to heroes and traitors. The beating heart of Britain, the City of London is unique in the world.
The City of London is wreathed in mystery. A treasure trove of eye-catching clues still mark ancient walls or lie unexplained on modern buildings. Evidence, buried for centuries, has emerged from beneath the streets. These clues are glimpses of a lost world, shaped by Roman generals, royal tyrants, merchant adventurers and medieval executioners. Explore secret gardens and alleyways that were home to people a world away from us. Look beneath the sparkle of gleaming towers and see plain truths that architects would prefer you didn’t know. In a city of gilts, gold and guilds, we’ll show you all that glitters beneath the everyday face of the most powerful corner of the capital.
We are a mixed bunch of friendly guides with a wealth of experience between us.
We come from a variety of professional backgrounds and we each have local knowledge of the City of London. Some of us work here, others live here, all of us studied here. Accredited by the City of London Corporation and the UK’s Institute of Tourist Guiding, we are qualified City of London guides with interests spanning from Roman London to digital-age architecture; from Dickens to treason and from ancient pubs to rooftop gardens – via alleys, galleries and ghosts.
Our walks can be booked by groups of six or more, £12 per person – concessions available.
Contact us here
Click on one of our featured walks below, or go to the Walks page to see all walks. Or click here for short, one-hour, strolls. Here for longer walks. Or choose a theme: Ancient London, Architecture, Open Spaces, Churches, Bit of Everything.
Alternatively, we design tours for specific interest-groups or special occasions. Just let us know the kind of thing you’d like to see and we will do the rest. We’ll entertain you and your guests to an insider’s view of the City. Previous examples include American Connections, Literary London, Fire and Plague – family tour. We love London and we’re ready to help with suggestions.
Walk the Thames through the City of London
We start by looking at the scene of some of the bloodiest executions in English history on Tower Hill. We touch on London’s great maritime heritage as we pass the Customs House, Billingsgate and Queenhithe, London’s Saxon era harbour.
Criminals, traitors and heads on spikes
For traitors and criminals, life was nasty, brutish and short. Documentaries producer and author Dan P. will show you chilling execution sites, the secret spot where heretics were burned, the haunting shadow of Newgate and the last remaining place where severed heads were stuck on spikes.
What’s up in the City
They say always look up, yet most walks have an altitude problem. Not this one! Clocks and sundials, statues, weather-vanes and a hundred unique stories lurk high above pavement-level. Let your eyes do the walking on a safe, street-level tour offering a glimpse of the City as you’ve never seen it before.
Murder, Mayhem and Destruction in the City
Witness the darker side of the City’s history, from unsolved murders to riots and violent attempts to influence government. This walk is not for the faint-hearted. As it peels back the modern façade of the City, the trick is to keep your head whilst those around you are losing theirs!
A walk on the tiled side
Wandering through hidden gardens and open spaces, this walk discovers an array of evocative stories preserved on ceramic tiles, passes an ancient hospital still in use, takes in the cemetery raided by body-snatchers then slips into the back alleys of Blackfriars – once home to Shakespeare.
What the Romans did for us!
The City of London is where it all began. This walk starts at the beginning of London’s history, covering the arrival of the Romans 2,000 years ago. From Wren’s Monument commemorating the Fire to the monumental Guildhall, we visit London through the ages.