Lincoln Free Walking Tour

23/01/2025

The view along East Bight towards the beautiful central tower of Lincoln Cathedral 😍

East Bight follows the line of the original Roman city walls of Lindum Colonia and later the Medieval walls of Lincoln's cathedral close. It is one of many historic and picturesque streets in the city that we wander along on our award winning walking tours!

Fancy joining us this weekend for a wander and to find out more? We have our free city tour on Saturday morning at 10am, as well as our free Roman Lincoln walking tour on Sunday at 10am. Book your spot via our website (link in our bio)...

23/01/2025

Steep Hill and Michaelgate in Lincoln over the years.

The area was first used by the residents of Lincoln when the city was called Lindum Colonia, and the Romans decided to expand the settlement down the hill. Excavations have shown that the hill used to be lined with steps during that time.

Today, the street is famous for its vintage boutiques and tea rooms. It was voted 'Britain's Great Street' in 2012 by the Academy of Urbanism.

The steep cobbled street has a 16.12º gradient, and is the fourth steepest street in England.

21/01/2025

Any locals remember this scene?

This is the front of Lincoln's St Marks Railway Station in 1985. This was one of two railway stations in the city of Lincoln at the time alongside Lincoln Central Railway Station and was closed not long after this image was taken.

But why did Lincoln have two railway stations at all? This was the result of rival railway companies competing for dominance in the 19th Century. St Marks Railway Station was actually the first station in the city, opened in 1846 by the Midland Railway Company. This was followed by Lincoln Central in 1848 by rival company the Great Northern Railway. They both served different lines, however were only located 250 metres apart!

Today what remains of this beautiful Classical portico has become part of a great place to meet with friends and family offering a variety food, drink and entertainment under one roof!

If you want to find out more about Lincoln's rival railway companies and Lincoln's prowess and heritage during the 19th and 20th Century, you can join us for our next Industry & Innovation Walking Tour on Sunday 2nd February. Book your place for free via our website (link in our bio)...

20/01/2025

A big welcome to all our new followers across social media recently 👋

If you've only just joined us and are planning your visit to Lincoln to come along on one of our award winning tours, you'll find plenty of dates across a variety of different tours through February and March. As well as our original free walking tour of the city, we host dedicated Roman Lincoln, Industry & Innovation and Historic Pubs walking tours 👍

Also for the first time ever, we will be running regular weekday tours on a Thursday morning for those of you that visit us during the week!

Finally watch this space over the next few weeks, we will be revealing plans for a completely new tour in April. Very exciting 👀

As always, book spots on our tours via our website (link in our bio)...

19/01/2025

This may be the beginnings of a regular tour feature... dog of the week 🐕😍

We love dogs here at Lincoln Free Walking Tour and love it when people bring their furry friends on a tour with them!

This is Monty, he joined our guides Matt and Marisa for a guided tour around Lincoln yesterday. Despite the cold, Monty very much enjoyed the tour, his favourite bit was of course the story of Snips the dog 👍

To quote our guide Matt 'he's a very good boy' 💛

More amazing pooches next week...

18/01/2025

Well it was a chilly January morning, but you guys came out in force today 💛

Thank you to everyone that joined our guides Matt and Marisa for our free tour of fascinating Lincoln! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and remember to show your support for our guides by sharing your experience and leave a review via TripAdvisor, Google or Facebook 👍

We will be back again tomorrow morning from 10am. You can join our guide Hannah by booking your free spot via our website (link in our bio)...

17/01/2025

This is very sad news from one of the local breweries we like to champion on our pub tours 😞

IMPORTANT FAB NEWS
We would like to make everyone aware that we will be stopping production at the brewery at the end of March 2025. This does not effect FAB Bars Limited which will continue to operate as normal.

We have built up a great team here in Lincoln, and are very proud to have been such an integral part of the local hospitality and small business sector in this wonderful county of Lincolnshire. Our partnerships with various local businesses and venues have brought us a lot of pleasure, as has welcoming many of you to the brewery on our popular tours .

Our association with the RAF has also been a real highlight. Producing a specific beer for the outgoing AWACS squadron at RAF Waddington was an honour, as was our association with the IBCC, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at Coningsby, a number of the front line squadrons at Coningsby and of course the Lancaster Just Jane at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre. We have made great friends along the way, and for that we will be forever grateful. Market Rasen Race Course also deserves a special mention, and we will miss the camaraderie and buzz of being a major event sponsor on race days there.

All told, the business has produced well in excess of 1 million pints of beer (!) - brewed, packaged and delivered to a diverse and loyal customer base in casks, kegs and bottles. We are thrilled to have won awards both regionally and nationally, and to have been so well supported by the local community.

As you can imagine, this has been a very hard decision to take. Many factors go into a decision of this magnitude, and there is no denying that the economic environment for small businesses has become increasingly challenging. But that only tells part of the story - more simply put, and after 9 years in the brewing business, the time has come for John to pursue a different opportunity and direction.

But it's not all bad news! Until the end of March you can still buy our beers and we will still be delivering , we will continue to do our brewery tours and the most wonderful gift from the community would be to continue to support the brewery till then.

So finally - to everyone that has enjoyed our beers over the years - a massive THANK YOU and to our team, suppliers and friends of the business - we couldn't have done it without you.
John and the team at FAB

17/01/2025

Lincoln Cathedral being a little bit shy up there at the top of the hill hiding in amongst the morning fog 😍

If you join us for a tour this weekend we will get up close and personal with our stunning cathedral as well as the impressive Lincoln Castle you can also see on the hillside! We are hosting free walking tours on Saturday and Sunday from 10am beginning in historic Castle Square 👍

Book online for free via our website (link in our bio)...

16/01/2025

Did you know that we partner with local businesses to try and help our visitors to make the most of their time in Lincoln?

This is the pub on the Brayford Pool in Lincoln, one of our great partners. They serve award winning food as well as a fantastic selection of drinks including local real ales and craft beer. They are also one of several local pubs that feature on our Historic Pubs walking tour 👍

Our partnerships means we can offer visitors on our walking tours discount to certain pubs, bars, eateries and attractions as a thank you for coming along. These partnerships are built off the back of genuine recommendations by our guides and are places you'd also find us 😊

So why not join us on a tour this weekend and get access to exclusive discounts as a reward? Free tours this Saturday and Sunday from 10am, visit our website to book...

15/01/2025

We all sat down last night to discuss plans for 2025 💛

Lots of exciting ideas discussed including new tours, partnerships, special events and additions to our existing schedule. It was also great to enjoy a rare opportunity for all our guides to get together and socialise. Look out for updates in the coming months for what we have planned, we can't wait to share plans with you!

Also thank you as ever to the for hosting us. It is always lovely to visit 👍

14/01/2025

Greestone Stairs, Lincoln 🇬🇧

Photo by instagram.com/capturedbymatt_h

12/01/2025

Hidden under Lincoln's City Hall lies one of several Roman architectural remains that we are lucky enough to still have today that links the city to it's historic origins as Lindum Colonia 💛

These remains form part of what would have once been the West Gate into the lower city. This would have been sat along the western wall of the city that extended up what is now Motherby Hill to the north and Lucy Tower Street to the south up to the Brayford Pool. It is likely to have been used until at least the 11th Century.

When the gate was excavated in the 1970s, it highlighted how in the 3rd and 4th Century defensive structures such as this in Lindum Colonia were reinforced for protection. With an ornate cornice stone being found built into the gate which would have originally formed part of a temple or similar structure. This stone now resides and is on show in the reception entrance of Lincoln's City Hall, above where it was found 👍

As part of our schedule of walking tours of the city, we run a regular Roman Lincoln walking tour on Sundays throughout the year. This tour stitches together all the Roman remains in the city and tells the story of the Roman of Lindum Colonia. The next Roman tour is on Sunday 26th January and you can book onto this tour for free by following the link in our bio...

11/01/2025

It was a frosty one this morning in Lincoln! But the sun soon came out and warmed things up a bit which was nice ☀️

This was Castle Square just before our walking tour this morning; you can see the morning sun warming up the stone of the castle. January is often a quieter time of year for walking tours, however some winter mornings are just made for a wander around the city 💛

Thanks to Chris and Mike for joining Brant this morning. He had a fantastic morning sharing his love of Lincoln and it's history 👍

Hannah is back with her first tour of the new year tomorrow morning from 10am. If you'd like to join her you can book your spot for free via the link in our bio...

10/01/2025

A wintry morning scene with the historic Crown Mill in the background ❄️

Crown Mill was built around 1845 and would have historically had sails to mill flour. Attached to the windmill is the steam corn mill building, with steam eventually eliminating the need for sails. Later in the 19th Century animal foodstuffs were produced in the building and it was also used as a water tower. The mill was converted in the 1990s into residential apartments, wonder what the view is like from the top of the mill?

The mill remains the second tallest mill in the county and is an important part of Lincoln's skyline in the lower city. Let us know if you have any memories of the mill?

And if you want to find out more about Lincoln's fascinating history, why not join us on a walking tour? Tours of the city every Saturday and Sunday. Book via our website 💛

09/01/2025

Join us this weekend for free walking tours of the city on Saturday and Sunday from 10am 💛

We'll take you through Lincoln's rich history from a Roman fortress to a wealthy Medieval city to an industrial powerhouse! Our guides will also show you what there is to see and signpost you to the best things to do ☺️

To book your place on one of this weekend's tours, follow the link in our bio and click 'book now' to join us...

08/01/2025

Lincolnshire is crammed full of aviation history and played a huge part in WWII and the history of the RAF for so many reasons!

In 1969, the film 'Battle of Britain' was released documenting the events of the Battle of Britain involving the RAF during WWII. To promote the film, the Odeon Cinema in Lincoln fixed a replica Hurricane used in filming to the roof of the cinema. What a sight that would have been 😮

Sadly, the Odeon Cinema is no longer used as a cinema, but is still open as a pub known as The Ritz. Its distinctive neon lights and art deco style are an important part of Lincoln's 20th Century heritage on the city's High Street.

The full size replica after many years resurfaced and has been restored and is now on show at the We'll Meet Again museum near Boston in the county.

07/01/2025

Lincoln's iconic 'wonky house' which dates back to the 16th Century 😍

Perched at the top of Michaelgate and Steep Hill this picturesque building along with the neighbouring Harlequin give this area a unique character. The building is currently undergoing restoration to bring it back to life and see it used as a unique holiday let. What a fantastic place to say this would be in the heart of Lincoln 💛

Thanks to for the hard work in bringing this building back to life and we hope that they are also able to bring the same lease of life to the neighbouring Harlequin building too 👍

05/01/2025

The Wig & Mitre pub in the historic heart of Lincoln, located just off Steep Hill. The pub occupies buildings which in part date back to the 14th Century, and has plenty of historic character inside and a warren of beautiful and cosy rooms to enjoy a beer or a meal. The pub serves local real ales and is one of Lincoln's historic pubs that feature on our Historic Pubs walking tour 🍻

Our pub walking tour features several of Lincoln's finest drinking establishments, and is an opportunity to try local real ales and craft beers alongside learning about the history of the city's watering holes. They take place once a month on a Saturday afternoon and are a fantastic way of exploring the city and meeting new people.

Tickets for the tour are £30 each and include a drink in each pub stop alongside some food to keep you going. Tickets are currently 10% off as part of our New Year discount which ends tomorrow, so don't delay, book today 👍

Follow the link in our bio...