Giselle

I took the London Walk to Cambridge with Simon last April and that may have been my absolute favorite. I also liked 'The Westminster Knowbody Knows' with Angela in Winter '02. Another favorite on that trip was 'Old Kensington' with David.

What have been some of your favorite walks with this company as well as favorite guides, as I imagine some here have taken the two hour walks or exploreer days outside London? www.walks.com

About pub walks: I took one once and there was something like 6 other people on the walk. It was great fun. We had Nick as a guide. The next night, a Friday, there must have been 50 for a West End pub walk. I didn't go in the pubs, finally gave up and ended up sharing a drink elsewhere with another tourist.

I'd hestitate to go on another pub walk because it is wierd to pile into a pub with a horde of tourists. Still, the guiding is usually interesting (if the group is not huge). We are going again in late November, over American Thanksgiving, so maybe there are less walkers then. Has anyone gone on a pub or evening walk they enjoyed?

Also, has anyone been on one of the Beatle ones? My husband wants to go on one of those. Not sure if 'In My Life' or 'Magical Mystery Tour' would be best. We are thinking of taking the British Museum one. I think some guiding in there would be informative and fun.

Thanks in advance to any replies.

Merseyheart

Giselle, oh, yes, do take the Beatles walks. I recommend the "Magical Mystery Tour". I've done that one,and plan to do "In My Life" on my upcoming trip.

Both tours end at Abbey Road. Take a black felt-tip pen to sign the wall. Many people do. You can learn more about Richard's tours at http://www.beatlesinlondon.com

David_Perry

Haven't been on a London Walk yet, but I hope to when we visit next year. The ones that interest me are the "Inns of Cour" walk, the Mayfair walk, and the one that goes to Clerkenwell - I forget the title of the walk, however. I like the idea that these walks take you off the beaten track a little and show you areas of London that many people don't see - how many visitors to London even know the Inns of Court exist?

q8traveller

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

I didn't know about these walks. These are great way to see London. I have already shortlisted Beatles and Camden Town walks.

Once again, fodor's and fodorites win the day!

gopack

Giselle,

We took the Thames Pub Walk in July of this year (2006). It starts at 7. It was a weeknight and there were about 15 people on the tour. Isabella was our guide. We really liked it. The only bad thing was she talked so much that it lasted a full 3 hours!! So make sure you eat dinner before you go. We were starving afterward.

We learned a lot of history and heard a lot of stories. We stopped at 3 pubs along the way. The first one was right on the river - a modern pub where an old one used to be. Second one is also along the river bank. Older- nice pub. The very last stop is the oldest pub in London and we ran out of time to go in. It is tucked behind buildings in a busy part of town. You go thru a lot of back alleyways etc. along the way. Very good tour. Lots of fun.

Ginny

tcreath

We will be in London again in November and are planning on taking the Jack the Ripper walk.

Tracy

gforaker

I've taken the Jack the Ripper tour twice with student groups we have escorted and both were better than expected. Everyone enjoyed them. The guide told me it is his favorite tour to give. It gives them a chance to really ham it up.

travelinsue

We are leaving for England next week and are planning on going on the "THE LONDON WALK - Westminster & the West End"

Has anyone been on this walk? It looks like it will be very informative and a good overview of London.

SB_Travlr

We did the Hampstead pub walk a few years back, really enjoyed it. Even though I grew up in London, guide Emily took us to places I had never heard of. (But we were hungry afterwards, as another poster mentioned -- you're not in any of the pubs long enough to eat supper. Luckily, we found a nice bistro in Hampstead and had a very enjoyable late meal.)

Bree

One of the best London Walks I've ever been on was Christopher Wren's London, but when I went to the website just now to verify that I had the name right, I discovered that it isn't listed in the current catalog. I hope it has only been dropped temporarily, because I would highly recommend it if it returns to the repertoire. It was led by Hilary.

I also enjoyed the Old Kensington walk, led by David (which has already been mentioned, and which I discovered as a result of a recommendation on another Fodor's thread), the Old Hampstead Village walk (led by Emily), and the Inns of Court walk (so long ago, I can't remember who led it).

On the other hand, I was disappointed in the Old Highgate Village walk. And I had mixed feelings about the Blitz walk: it was a fairly new walk when I took it, and I got the feeling that the guide (Helena) was still feeling her way, in terms of how much of the history she could assume people on the walk already knew, and how much she had to explain. She had also gone to a lot of trouble to bring along newspaper and magazine cuttings, and old photographs showing the area we walked through as it looked during the blitz, but there were so many people on the walk it was hard to get close enough to see what she was holding up. But some of those bumps may have been smoothed out by now, so if you're interested in the subject, it would probably be worth trying the walk.

richardp

Hi - I'm Richard, the Beatles guide. I'm glad those that have been on my tours enjoyed them.
To answer the question to which is best - well, they are very different tours so if you can do both its worthwhile - but if you can only do one I guess I would say the Magical Mystery Tour, as it goes to 3 Savile Row, where the rooftop concert took place.

Richard Porter http://www.beatlesinlondon.com

crazy4Hawaii

ttt

Has anyone taken the Secrets of Westminster Abbey tour? Undecided about whether to take this or the verger tour.

I'm staying on the beaten track this time because it's my first trip to London so there's a lot of must-sees on my list!

Bazonia

The only one I took was the secrets of Westminster Abbey and I can highly recommend it. The guide was fascinating and I learned a lot even though I had been there before with my trusty Michelin Guide.
Unfortunately, there were references to the Dan Brown book which shall remain nameless, but that was kept to a minimum.

stella_p

bookmarking

murphy89

Personally, I enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes London Walk and the Jack the Ripper one was interesting too.

I wish I'd had time for more - a reasonably priced, interesting way to learn about some of the many facets of the city.

Cheers,

Murphy

Maudie

Thanks for bringing this thread back to life, I would never have known about the walks if not.

Has anyone done the Historic Greenwich Tour? We would like to see the area but would we get more out of using the "Walk" or just wandering around ourselves?

Also interested in The Explorer Days, we are thinking of Oxford, it sounds lovely. Would like to see the countryside, thatched cottages with stunning gardens, maybe a drink at a riverside pub - would this be what I am looking for? Any suggestions would be great.
Many thanks.

Carrybean

Some don't care for the Jack the Ripper tour but I took it on a drizzly evening & did enjoy it even though most of the sites are nothing like what they were originally. The leader was fabulous.

I'll have to look into some more tours this June since my niece will be visiting London for the first time with me.

crazy4Hawaii

Maudie -
I'm thinking of the Oxford Cotswolds trip myself. My only concern is that it would not allow enough time to really enjoy Oxford and provide only a fleeting "from the bus" look at the Cotswolds. Anybody have thoughts on this tour?

carolyn

Maudie, the guides are usually quite good and will give you information you may not have on your own, at least unless you do some intensive research. You could do the londonwalk and then stay in the area for further exploring.

luvtotravel

I took four walks in 2005 and enjoyed Old Hampstead and Little Venice walks the most, both with Emily. My friend took the full day one to Bath and enjoyed it.