Explore London with 5 Best Guided Walks

There are plenty of options for exploring London such as by Tube, bus or the Big Bus. However, many people prefer to take a walking tour as it has a knowledgeable guide who offers all relevant information regarding the various attractions that are part of the tour. Obviously, such tours cannot be very extensive especially with regard to attractions that are far away from each other. As such, the organised walking tours concentrate on a bunch of attractions that are located close by and a suitable walking route can be worked out to cover all of them. You can find both mainstream and independent tour operators that offer different types of walking tours ranging from foodie tours to musical jaunts.

Historical Hampstead

If you wish to explore the lives and works of some of the leading intellectuals of the past one or two centuries such as John Keats, Sigmund Freud, George Orwell or Piet Mondrian, an ideal way would be to go on a Hampstead: Making a Modern World walking tour being offered by Art History UK. The tour is led by cultural historian Andy McKay, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and it involves Keats House, Constable House and Goldfinger’s House, only from outside. The tour will cost £30 per person and also offers drinks. The meeting point is Keats House and the duration of the tour is 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Music for Kings

This walk is organised by Context Travel and has duration of 3 hours and costs from £80 per person. It follows the path usually taken by composer George Frideric Handel who lived a greater part of his life in London in the 18^th century. The tour is led by music historian Ruth Shlovsky and involves Mayfair and Piccadilly and stops at some of the most historic theatres and concert halls of London and all those places such as churches and houses with which Handel was involved in. The route of the tour will take you to Handel’s home, Burlington House, St George Hanover Square and Theatre Royal Haymarket, the debut venue of the Messiah. A lot of information will be provided by the guide regarding the complex relationship of Handel with his patrons and also regarding the differences between opera and oratories, anthems and organ concertos. You will also get an insight into how Handel composed different works at different stages of his life.

People visiting London need to stay at a place that will make it easy for them to visit the various attractions of the city as also other places of interest. Hotels near Paddington are the best option for the visitors as they are located in a strategic place of London and also close to Paddington station.

In the Public Eye Walk

A new walk, ‘In the Public Eye’ has been launched by SideStory which is a new website that arranges bookings for London walks that are guided by insiders and creative professionals, including a Sotheby’s lecturer and the interiors editor-at-large at Wallpaper magazine. This walk is led by artist and University of the Arts London lecturer Grace Adam. By taking this walking tour you will be able to explore the city’s public art, starting at the British Museum then on to Trafalgar Square for a stop at Hans Haacke’s ‘Gift Horse’ perched on the Fourth Plinth before walking down to Piccadilly for a visit to the Royal Academy’s courtyard installations, ending at St James’s. It costs £89 per person.

Guests staying at Shaftesbury Premier London Paddington Hotel get to stay in a luxurious accommodation with all types of facilities and are also located close to most attractions of the city and to Paddington station.

London End-to-End

This walking tour is a four-day London end-to-end walk by the Thames led by Sophie Campbell, The Telegraph’s heritage columnist and a qualified Blue Badge guide. The tour starts from Hampton Court Palace and follows the course of the river until the Thames Barrier in Woolwich. The highlights of the tour include Strawberry Hill House, built in the 1740s by Horace Walpole, son of Robert Walpole, England’s first prime minister; Kew Palace, where George III spent summers with his wife and 15 children; Kelmscott House, residence of social philosopher William Morris for the last 18 years of his life; Painted Hall; and Brunel Museum. The tour costs from £899 per person including accommodation and evening meals with wine.  

Walk Eat Talk Eat: Borough Market and Beyond

Walk Eat Talk Eat, the Borough Tour takes in Borough Market and Maltby Street Market and passes landmark buildings such as the Cheesegrater, the Gherkin and the Walkie Talkie. It goes past shops that locals love, a gin distillery and a local pub. You may also get to sample a mini English breakfast at St Katherine’s dock or enjoy scotch eggs and buttermilk waffles at Maltby Street Market, or even have baked Camembert and local beer in a traditional pub. To top it all, you can relish a palate-cleansing gelato. The cost of this tour is from £72 per person including all meals. The meeting point is Tower Hill tube and the duration is 3.5 hours.