London Walks
 

I received a brochure from the tourist board about "The Original London Walks". Are these any good, or are they a waste of my time and money?

Thanks

They are terrific and very cheap. There are so many different options and the guides are knowledgable and friendly. My only warning is that some are incredibly popular (Jack the Ripper) and you'll find yourself with a couple hundred other walkers. I think that might not be worth the time. But for the most part, they are small and great.

I don't know how valuable your time is, but for me they have been a valuable resource on many visits to London. I have done at least 20 walks with them since the first in 1993.

I agree with Grasshopper (no surprise). Our Jack the Ripper was not pleasant as we were in a huge group -- Donald's group was already set -- and we were bored by our guide who knew little and just kept repeating over and over too softly for most of us to hear.
On the other hand we did a "mysterious East End" walk with "the Donald" on a Sunday afternoon and it was great.

There are also "self-guided audio tours" you can load into your CD player.

<b>http://www.nostalgic-images.co.uk/Application/Products/Historic-walks/historic-walks-1GB.asp</b>

Just a note on the Ripper walks: Everyone wants to go with Donald. We accidently got &quot;hijacked&quot; by a guy who turned out to be fantastic. And his group had only about 12 people. Later I was trying to read about this guide on the London Walks website and read their warning. The official London Walks guides always leave at a specific time. Never go with a guide who's not wearing the identifying badge. It turns out &quot;Tony&quot; was one of those. And he was fantastic! We kriscrossed a couple of huge groups and I wondered who they were and was glad I wasn't in those.

So if you happen to run across Tony, a Beefeater by day, who wants you to leave with him about 15 minutes early, you might take a chance. At the end of the walk he asks you to pay what you think his walk was worth. We also got to break in a pub, which the big groups can't do, due to sheer size.

I LOVED the London Walk we took. Of course it was the Jack the Ripper walk. I'd recommend them in a heartbeat, if only for the fact that you're taken through the back streets you normally wouldn't venture to on your own.

I wouldn't hesitate to take another tour with them next year when we go back.

I'll add my endorsement too. We went on about 5 of them in June &amp; liked them all. The Christopher Wren walk was especially nice because it was a little more &quot;serious&quot; than the others. Often the guides get a little too caught up telling jokes, and we prefer just the facts. One guide for Westminster was a little hard to understand, so we didn't enjoy that walk as much as others. The one that starts with a boat trip down the Thames, was good for the boat trip, but the remaining walk was just OK. We liked the Belgravia walk conducted by the ex-zookeeper, and the Inns of Court. The guide on the Mayfair walk told too many jokes, but the walk was interesting.

Stu Dudley

London Walks are about thest thing london has to offer. the guides are excellent, knowledgeable and friendly. We have done almsot all of the ones that they offer in the winter and will take more when we are there in a couple of weeks. There are so many types of walks that it would be impossible not to find something that will interest everyone!!!

Definitely not a waste of time and money. They are great introductions to London. Their Explorer Days are also very good. I've done around 4 dozen of their walks. The pub walks are a lot of fun. As noted, the Jack the Ripper walks are very popular. Some of my favorite walks include Eccentric London, Secret London, Wren's Churches, Westminister Abbey and the Beatles' walks. I enjoy using self-guided walking books as well, but I still prefer London walks.

They are very good, and entertaining. We took the Jack the R walk--and it was quite a crowd.

We took two less popular walks, the Bloomsbury Literary Walk and the Lambeth Walk, that were fabulous. But I don't know if they have these any longer.

The Lambeth Walk was especially interesting as the guide (a stage actor) had grown up there through WWII and the 50's. He had so many interesting anecdotes.

I'll add my endorsement. We've taken the obligatory &quot;Ripper&quot; walk, the Greenwich walk and a Ghosts, Gaslights and Pubs walk (can't remember if this is the exact name). They were all very informative and entertaining. We also purchased from a bookstore a Beatles walk that we did on our own, which was lots of fun trying to find all the sites.

My only caveat about London Walks is that the pace can be a bit brisk for someone who has any walking difficulty. My faithful traveling companion and I can stroll for hours through London's streets and parks -- and usually do -- but we often found ourselves breathless trying to keep up with some of their guides.

The 'original' London Walks is just one of a plethora of such guided thematic walks, often led by erudite locals. There is nothing magic about London Walks as far as i can see - such a walk is great no matter which of many established companies run them. That they have paid the London Tourist Board to send out their info doesn't make them any better than others. Take any that's convenient to you. Your hotel WILL have in the free brochure racks several different company offerings. Not to say that London Walks isn't good, just that they're one of many.

PalQ, I can't say I've really heard of any other walk companies in London besides London Walks. Do you know of them and have you tried their offerings?

Can anyone explain the appeal of the Jack the R. tour? DH thinks it sounds grisly and I can see what he means. We don't watch &quot;America's Most Wanted,&quot; lol.

I think people like to be scared (or at least to think about scary things) because it imparts a sense of aliveness.

Xtreme sports - bungee, base jumping, snowboarding
Theme park rides - roller coasters that will dismember you
Sky diving - what can one say?
Friday the 13th Part XXVIII

No i don't know their names but i've seen various brochures for years - i've been going to London yearly since 1969 - look in TimeOut London, on sale in Border, Barnes and Noble in US and all over London. Again i'm not dissing Original London Walks. Yes i did take one other one several years ago but don't remember which. I'm not saying not to take Original walks but check your hotel brochure rack and take most convenient to your plans.

And the idea of having to call yourself the 'original' London walks implies that there are other non-original London walks?

Interresting, we did the Jack the Ripper tour too, and while it was crowded, it was very enjoyable. We also did 2 ghost walks, they were great.

I've taken many of the London Walks and have enjoyed them all, but Jack the Ripper the least, as there were too many people. I managed to get the &quot;Donald&quot; half of the grouping, and he was very good, but it would have been much better with a smaller group.
Artsfan, I guess the appeal of the Ripper walk is that the character (and they never found out exactly WHO he was) is so famous - and everyone loves a mystery!

i went on the ripper walk a few weeks ago.the turnout was large and the london walks divided it into three.you could go with either group you wished.i chose the guy who yelled the loudest.the tour was very entertaining and informative.we also came across another smaller group with a older man with a white beard (possibly the Tony mentioned by grasshopper?).

i highly recommend going on a guided walk.

PalQ

London Walks is the oldest walking company in London -starting in 1960. I don't have any problem with them sending their brochure out with the London Tourist Board. If I am sending for information for a trip, I would like to get as much as I can. Yes, the brochures are free in hotels and B&amp;B's in London. I've brought back several for my B&amp;B. The guides are very knowledgeable and I enjoy the stories I hear on these walks.

My sister and I went on the &quot;Spies and Spycatchers&quot; walk this past summer. We found it very educational and entertaining. Our guide was wonderful. I can't wait to go back to London and do more of these tours!

As others have said, these walks are fantastic...and Donald is a guide withuot peer.

However, I think the &quot;Jack the Ripper&quot; walk is no longer worth the price. When we first took it (more than 20 years ago), the group was small and - even more importantly - the ambiance was perfect.

Since then we've taken the same walk several times (once with my parents, once with my brother) and it's gotten worse and worse. When we went with my brother, they were filming Donald giving the walk for the Discovery Channel. There were over 100 people on the walk, and none of the intimacy of the original walk.

In addition, quite a few of the building and secluded courtyards and other &quot;atmospheric&quot; places where Jack the Ripper did his nefarious deeds have now been paved over or built into condiminiums. At one point on the last walk, we stood near a modern highrise and heard about the gloomy square that had once been there...ummm, a little underwhelming.

But we have loved every other Original London Walk that we've taken over the years...we try to do a minimum of 3-4 walks each time we're in London.

Their British Museum Walk (also with Donald on the day we took it) was excellent. 7 people in our group! My parents missed the meeting point and took the &quot;free&quot; British Museum tour instead. When we compared notes, they hadn't seen nearly as much as we had, didn't get the same depth of background, and they had nothing interesting to share that we hadn't seen or heard.

I also loved one of the walks (I can't remember the name) that went through some streets of the city and pointed out things like the Mews where Henry VII (or Elizbeth I??) kept horses; and the fanlights on houses around a square - they were used as identification (before house numbers), and people would draw a picture of their fanlight so friends could find the right house. Fascinating.

Another tour (maybe the same one) took us to a rooftop garden that I never would have found on my own.

The Ghost Tour with Graham was very dry. Graham is a retired banker and every single story or anecdote somehow relatd back to the Bank of England. That was years ago, and I'd guess he's no longer a guide.

I'm planning a return trip this summer and will be studying the Original London Walks website closely before I go.

You won't regret taking walks with these people.

Gayle

Yes, that's right. Our Jack the Ripper tour was divided into 3 groups also.

Well you all have certaintly piqued my interest. I am heading to London next month and I think I will do at least one of the tours. I have been to London a couple of times before and never did one. I have been unable to find a website only 3rd party ticketsellers so please advise me on how to reach them. Never was a Beatles fan but my husband and 22 yr old daughter love them so I think it would be fun to do that. Thanks!

Go to http://london.walks.com .

PalQ states, &quot;The 'original' London Walks is just one of a plethora of such guided thematic walks...&quot;. This was true five, ten years ago, but Original London Walks has driven them out of business. John Muffty shut down his company a couple of years. Others may still exist, but only doing pre-arranged tours for groups. The lack of competition is unfortunate, but good old Americam entrepreneurship has won the day.

We take at least one London Walk each visit - usually more than one. We have a Regency Walk and the Bloomsbury Walk scheduled for our upcoming trip. We may take an evening pub walk or two if our feet hold out.

The Ripper walk is interesting but extremely crowded. We took it several years ago and it was a moderately large crowd (non-Donald night in March) - maybe 40 people - and we enjoyed it. We took it again a few years later on a Donald night in June and there must have been 300 people there. They divided up into 3 more intimate groups of about 100. :) Not nearly as enjoyable as the first time we took the walk. And the proprieter of the Ten Bells Pub no longer allows the walk to stop there (you can understand why!) The walk ends near the pub and you can visit afterwards, but it is no longer a stop on the walk.

We love the London walks -- I grew up there, but it's different coming back as a tourist.

Last one we did was an evening pub walk round Hampstead, with a terrific guide named Emily. She took us to nooks and crannies (and pubs!) we never would have found on our own. It's one of the few good deals in London for those of us who are travelling on US dollars! ;)

I've enjoyed my London Walks over the years and recommend them.
I like that I don't have to make reservations and that I can just show up at whim.
All the walk's starting points can be reached by Tube; that's another advantage.
I've never been on a walk that had &gt;35 people in the group.
I know I wouldn't have enjoyed being part of a herd and I would have left had 100s of people showed up. I would have politely requested my &pound;5 , (although I just read that the prices have gone up to &pound; 5.50 this year) be refunded before the walk began. :-)

My favorite walks so far have been through the Inns of Court and to the Clerkenwell and Smithfield areas.

Judy, is the Inns of Court the same walk as Legal &amp; Illegal London? We did that one this fall and really enjoyed it.

carolyn

The Inns of the Court and Legal and Illegal London are one and the same. It's a great walk.

SB Trvlr

Emily is one of my favorite guides. I have gone on several walks with her. That's why I enjoy these walks - you discover little hidden corners of London you may not find on your own.

Has anyone done the Shakespeare Walk? I have it down for out trip next month but we have been to the Globe before and we will have taken two river cruises by then so I'm wondering if it's worthwhile?

tudorprincess

I did the Shakespeare walk 2 months ago and it is worth it. You don't go inside the Globe, but we did visit the site of the Rose Theatre plus go by several pubs and markets. I enjoyed the walk. If you get Shaughn as the guide you will get some nice Shakespearean speechs as well. On his pub walks he will sing a few songs.

One lonely voice of dissent...

I found them tiresome and boring. I went on two in the past couple years, thinking perhaps the first was an anomoly. I had read so many great things about them on this forum, I figured I should give them two tries. I didn't like either one.

You couldn't hear the guides well enough, their information was boring or too cute, I didn't learn what I was hoping to learn.

But, that's just me. I don't particularly like being led around. I don't like guided tours. But, I just wanted to give my opinion since I expected them to be great and was very disappointed.

Hi Carolyn.
Yes, as rj007 said, &quot; Legal &amp; Illegal London&quot; is the Inns of Court walk.
Another walk you might like on your next trip is &quot; London's Secret Village&quot; . (The brochure says this walk is on Mondays.)
The walk includes William Wallace's ( Braveheart) execution site and St. Bartholomew the Great Church , parts of which date to Norman times. I went back to the church on my own later in the week for services and have done so a couple more times.

Judy

As for Original London Walks being the only company of many left this is simply bunk - i didn't think that claim passed the smell teste - indeed the label 'original' implied that there were others and a quick Google search yielded dozens and dozens of London walks by a plethora of companies - just some sites:
London-ghost-walk.co.uk. the sites gave no indication of doing tours only for groups.
secretlondonwalks.co.uk
lonwalkdndirect.co.uk
goldentours.co.uk
stepping out
[email protected]
London Mystery Walks and a raft of more i only looked at one of ten pages!

I still have been unable to access a site for them. I tried www.london.walks.com . I have even tried many different combinations also using the co.uk ending. If someone can just send me a clickable link I would be very grateful. Don't understand what the problem is b/c usually I can find a site by going through back doors, if you know what i mean, but this one is elusive to me.