I see how much it is, and where to meet. But when do you pay? When you arrive for the tour? Before that time? Thanks for the help. Any advice about the Ripper tour would be great too. What to bring, etc.<BR><BR>Thanks!

Payment is usually taken as the group gathers, before the walk begins. I recall arriving about 15 minutes before the stated hour of departure. If you are referring to the tour led by Donald Rumbelow for Original London Walks, you can expect a sizable crowd. When I was there, several hundred people were in attendance. So Donald brought along his wife Molly to help siphon off some of those who had shown up. The crowd is not a significant problem since Donald stands on a chair and speaks quite clearly. My advice is to enjoy the tour and dress comfortably for whenever you will be there.

You pay for the tours when you meet up with the guide. The Jack the Ripper tour was great and very informative. My husband and I did the tour when we were there in February. We had Molly as our tour guide. It was great!! <BR><BR>We also did the "Along the Thames Pub Walk" which was also excellent. Our guide David was very funny and told us a lot about the history along the Thames River and we got to visit a few pubs along the way. It was funny too because he is actually an American who married and moved to London with his wife. The walk is great and I would highly recommend it!<BR><BR>As far as stuff to bring, I would just dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes. And make sure you eat dinner before you go on either tour because there are not a lot of places along the way.

Hi, <BR><BR>I was in London last week and went on 4 of the Original London Walks while I was there. They were all wonderful!!! A great way to see the sights and gain some insight into the history of what you are seeing.<BR><BR>The guides were easy to find. Always right outside the underground station holding up original walks brochures. They collect the money as you arrive. <BR><BR>The Jack the Ripper Walk was excellent. They divided us up into 2 groups of 40/50 people each. I had no problem hearing everything that the guide said. <BR><BR>I went on the London Panorama walk with Gillian (approx. 20 people) which was also great (covering everything from the Tower Bridge to Westminster Abbey). The only issue was that we had no commentary while on the canal boat (we had split up thinking that the boat driver would give a commentary - Gillian found out too late that he decided not to do it because there were not enough people on board and he only does it when he thinks the tips will be worth his while, it's not mandatory. If she had known, she would have done the commentary). <BR><BR>I joined the along the Thames Pub Walk with Richard. This was fun (more historical than a drinking walk - we hit just 3 pubs). Richard was quite animated. The group was smaller - 15 or so people.<BR><BR>My favorite walk was the Old Hamstead Village walk (25 people). This was by far the best of the 4. We got a historic overview of the city while walking up many of the cobblestone streets and viewing the homes of some famous actors and artists and we visited the Hamstead Heath.

We met up at the Tower Hill Underground upper level about half hour prior and paid Mr. Rumbelow (FRIDAY Jack the Ripper Walk). There is going to be other Tour Guides promoting their walks, I can only (highly) recommend Mr. Rumbelow's. His wife Molly usually asks for people to go with her about 10 minutes departure before Mr. Rumbelow. Some people go with her, most people have heard of him and rather stay and wait for his walk. It is quite amazing how his voice carries on even with big crowds.

Echoing the previous posts, Donald Rumbelow's walk is great, as are all the "London Walks" which I have taken. I have been to London 4 times in the past 3 years, so I've taken a lot of the walks. I travel solo alot, and have met some nice people of these walks. By the way, has anyone done any of the similarl "Paris Walks"? I was there last October and didn't, as there was so much else to do. I'm going again in a couple of weeks, and just wondered.<BR>Maybe I'll post this question separately.