My husband and almost 8 daughter and I will be spending 5 days in London this summer and I am interested in taking some of the Orginal London Walks does anyone have suggestions of which ones are the most interesting? Everything I read seems to indicate their Jack the Ripper walk is one of their best. My daughter loves ghost stories but I was wondering if this walk was inappropriate for her age.

It probably is inappropriate; Rumbelow can be pretty graphic and detailed as to how these women died - and there are no ghost stories. <BR> <BR>Graham's "Ghosts of the West End" and "Ghosts of the Old City" by Angela would, I think, be better.

A thing to remember about walks - you don't always end up where you started, we didn't know that and had some frantic times trying to reunite parts of a group. Can ask ahead of time if will return or not, make sure you know where you are and how to get back to hotel before you let guide disappear.

My wife and I have taken sevelar of the Original London Walks (including Mr. Rumbelow's Jack the Ripper) and they have all been excellent. The Ripper walk is great but it is a bit graphic (we are talking about the murder of prostitutes). Go to thier web site and pick out those that sound interesting to you and your family, you will not be diappointed. <BR> <BR>Happy travels!!!

As I just posted under another thread, we preferred the pub walks, because they incorporated history with refreshments. Obviously, beer is not in the best interest of your daughter, but my point is that some of the walks are a little long. We liked the fact that the pub walks stopped for a time so we could relax a little along the way. By the way, the pub walks are not all about pubs and beer. That is, more or less, where they stop. The actual tour goes into all sorts of info. <BR>

Hi, <BR> <BR>This may sound boring, but believe me it is not. <BR> <BR>4 years ago I selected the walk called "Parliament, Politics, and Power" - mainly cuz I had JUST missed out on my first choice and that was the next one starting, that I could get to in time. (I missed a tube connection for the first one) <BR> <BR>WOW was it interesting. The guide just made it all come alive. Lots of stories of intrigue and scandal too, as well as the historical aspects of the Kings, etc. then again it would seem that royalty has its shares of intrigue and scandals. <BR> <BR>plus, I met a person who, by this chance meeting during the tour, became a very close friend of mine. If it weren't for the Tube door which wouldn't open, I would not have met William. More reasons to keep going back to London! <BR> <BR>and how has the Tube changed your life? <BR> <BR>;-)

I am also a big fan of London Walks--their guides are great--I have taken the Jack the Ripper tour and would caution that there is a lot of talk of the victims' occupation--prostitution--and the descriptions of the crimes are pretty graphic. So you'll need to decide if that is appropriate. <BR> <BR>I took the Westminster tour and found it fascinating, but it probably wouldn't interest your daughter. I am sure you can find something she'd like. <BR> <BR>You have probably already heard this, but I am sure your daughter would like Windsor Castle--esp. Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret's dollhouse; it is an easy train ride up there and the town itself is lovely. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps. <BR> <BR>Have a great time, <BR> <BR>Mary

Thanks for the tips. I think we will skip the Jack the Ripper walk it's a little to early to try to explain about <BR>prostitutes and murderers. I have looked at their web site and they certainly have many walks to choose from. I'm thinking about the British Museum walk and Ghosts of the East End. <BR>Has anyone been on either of thoses or would like to recommend another?

If you have not already done so, may I also recommend that you buy a book of walking tours of London. You might especially enjoy those that involve London's parks. We enjoyed Holland Park (which has peacocks, rabbits, lovely flowers, and Japanese garden), Regent Park, and St. James Park (pelicans!). Also for a rainy day, you might consider visiting the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood - a wonderful collection of toys, dolls, and large dollhouses. By the way, we took the London Walks Camden (sp?) tour which I don't think would particularly interest an 8 year old.

Candace, The British Museum walk is a good one. The guide is knowledgable, knows his way around the museum to avoid the worst of the crowds and you see enough of the highlites to feel that you have at least scratched the surface of the place. The guide has a bit of a snooty, arrogant attitude, which my partner found off-putting, but which did not bother me. (Just to say that if this is going to be your first walk, don't generalize from this guy what other leaders are like.) <BR> <BR>The only ghost walks I have taken are the two I mentioned above. The advantage of the west end walk is that, if your daughter gets tired and you want to leave the walk early, you will always be close to a tube and there will be lots of people around. That may be less true in the east end.

My teenage daughter and I took one of the Beatles walks and really enjoyed it. I don't know if your daugher likes the Beatles--my kids started loving their movies and music when they were really little--but if she does, this might be fun. We took the "In My Life" walk, which takes you to various residences and ends up at Abbey Road. Oh yes, it also shows you the railroad station from A Hard Day's Night and a site from Help! The other one, "Magical Mystery Tour," goes to the site of the rooftop concert and other less residential places. Also ends up at Abbey Road. <BR> <BR>One caution: for the walk we were on anyway, it was a LOT of walking! We walked for over two hours with no break, and went from there to the British Museum, where we stumbled from mummy to mummy to Rosetta Stone. We were exhausted. <BR> <BR>I don't know if all the walks are so vigorous. <BR> <BR>I hope you all enjoy your trip. What a wonderful opportunity for your daughter. <BR> <BR>