Hi everyone, I've just stumbled upon this forum and have already found a lot of useful information. I will be in London for 4 days at the end of December, and I would very much like to take in as much as I can when I'm there. Therefore, I would really appreciate if someone could point me to the right direction for getting quality tours at a reasonable prices. The london walking tour has been mentioned a lot. Should I take as many tours from them as I can? Also, I went to their website and they they mention a lot of great places they go to, but do they go into detail when the give the tours or is it just a superficial glance at sites to take pictures, that I could do myself? I recently went to Rome and was lead by some truly amazing tour guides which greatly added to my experience, and so I was hoping to do the same for London. Also any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I took the Big Bus tour (actually for 2 days) around London - it's hop on/off and gives a great overview - 3 routes. I've also taken the London walks tour to Windsor/Eton (1 full day) and the detail was there. I did take the Jack the Ripper tour but during the day (I'll bet it's better at night) and the group was awfully large so difficult to hear. However, London Walks gives lots of detail.

For just a 4 day stay, I'd recommend the Big Bus tour (good for 24 hrs) but starts around 8:00 and ends at 6:00. Then you might select a London Walks tour or two and from there you will probably want to do your own thing. You could look at Rick Steves' London guidebook for walks on your own. If you look up Ben Haines (just put his name in the text search), Ben gives great info. Also, put "London" in the text search and you will be overwhelmed with info

You probably need to pinpoint the places you really want to see so you don't backtrack and waste time.

LondonWalks tours are not superficial. Good info led by intelligent guides. But, as much as I like LondonWalks, taking too many would be overkill. The major museums have their own guided tours, and they are usually very good.

You can also try www.evanevans.co.uk

I'll be in London at the end of December as well. I agree with Elainee about London Walks. They're not superficial, but they're not what I would call in-depth tours either. After all, they're only two hours long. I usually take one or two per trip, and in at least one case, Southbank, I went back and re-did the entire tour on my own, mainly because I expected to get into some of the buildings, i.e. the Globe Theatre, and did not.

Although I'm not above taking bus tours in other cities, I've never done the Big Bus. The regular busses and the tube are so easy to use, that I prefer to get a London Transport pass and get around on my own.

Now I have a question of my own, I've sifted through previous threads and have not found a direct answer. Does anyone know of a tour that focuses specifically on contemporary architecture, ie. Norman Foster's City Hall, the "erotic gherkin," etc.?

The Big Bus is great, it lets you get off and on and they are frequent. There is a great site www.londontown.com which gives you all kinds of information, and maps it out for you. It has the capability to list every restaurant (and what they serve), store (and what they sell), entertainment etc. around a specific site. Good luck and have a great time.

My notes on self-guided walk routes are at http://victorianresearch.org/haineswalks.html

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Just got back from London where we did 2 ondon Walks this past weekend. The first, Old Westminister, was very worthwhile and interesting. David, our guide, was funny and articulate, a born ham. We really enjoyed seeing "the political salons" in the backstreets and having the architectural details pointed out.
The second, "Jack the Ripper", was barely tolerable (we both thought of just walking away!). It was superficial - even got basic facts of the cases wrong (Husband was reading the new Patricia Cornwell book, I found inconsistencies with our guide book). I was hoping for more info on London at the time, the atmosphere created by the crimes, the police work, but all we got were synposos of the murders. We were probably less interested in Jack the Ripper than we realized!

So - I guess it depends on what interests you and most definitely on your guide! I'd recommend David!

PS - our guide for Jack the Ripper wasn't listed as a guide for that tour - maybe it is just luck of the draw?

Hi everybody, thanks for all your posts, I am truly grateful. For those of you that have taken the London walk tours. What do you think of the following tours?
1. British Museum Tour
2. Westminster and the West End (do they acutally go into the buildings?)
3. St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower of London
4. Shakespeare's London
5. Old Westminster.

Also, I hear a lot of negatives about the Jack the Ripper walk, but besides that is there anything I shouldn't miss that I haven't listed. I know I'm being a pain in the neck but I feel like i'm there for a very short period of time and want to be as efficient as possible. Thus far for 4 days I think i'm gonna do 1 tour on 3 days and 2 tours on one day, so I don't think that would be overkill as they are only 2 hours and I would have a considerable amount of free time. I know i'm being a pain in the neck for asking so much, but if makes anyone feel better I truly do appreciate it and will post a full report when I get back. Thank you again.

How many Fodorites will be in London at the end of December? I'll be there for only three short days, 20, 21 and 22. How about a Fodorite cocktail hour?

Sad to hear this about the JACK THE RIPPER Tours. I took one about 5 yrs ago and it was great fun. We walked up and down those dark streets and our guide gave us all the gruesome details and then we ended up at the Ten Bells which is interesting all by itself One of the places is now a parking garage and was well lit, still as we stood there and listed to our guide the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I must have been lucky to get a good guide!
But then I'm fascinated by JtheR..whoever he was. I intend to read the new Cornwell book...saw her interviewed and she made sense then.

LEANNAT, There are so many people that want to do the London Walks Jack the Ripper Tour, that it has become a cash cow. It is conducted 363 days a year, somedays with hundreds of people.

Keith

HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE!! On one tour??? YUK!! We had about 15 that nite and just crowded together....to keep safe I think!!! Sorry to hear about this...and glad I did it all then!! BTW...picked up the Cornwell book today!!

Wow, at 5 pounds per head it would be a cash cow.

Hi - in response to your request for information on specific London Walks - I've taken the British Museum and Westminster area tours.

The British Museum tour was great since it placed a lot of emphasis on the Rosetta Stone and Elgin Marbles - the two things I was most interested in at the museum. The guide explained every panel of the Marbles. We were supposed to see other things as well during the 2-hour time but after 1.5 hours there was a fire alarm at the museum and we all had to evacuate.

The Westminster area walk was my least favorite of the 4 I took (Pub Walk and Christopher Wren walk - highly recommend both of these). We didn't go into any buildings on the Westminster area tour.

In addition to London Walks, I would recommend the Verger's tour of Westminster Abbey - check the Abbey web site for tour times. You might have to book ahead (the day before would be ok to book).

You can also tour Buckingham Palace if the Queen is not in residence. You need to book this ahead and pick up tickets at the will call window just before your tour.

Have a great time in London.

Thank you so much for your input. I will look into all the suggestions made.

The London Walk to Westminster and the West End , http://london.walks.com/, stays outside buildings, and I tjink others do, too. The reason is that these are mostly working buildings: Parliament meets in the Palace of Westminster (and they worry about security), boys of a great school are at their desks in Westminster School, and so on. Individuals can get into places that will not accept group tours, and I could design you a self-guided walk of Westminster and the West End, with entry to such buildings as Parliament and the inner courts of the Abbey precincts, if you ask me, and say how long you want to be walking.

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