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If you’ve already joined us on a tour and are too cold to keep exploring, (we get it, it’s freezing), why not hide out at one of our brilliant museums for the day? These are just our favourites, but there are many more free museums if you’re stuck for a wintery day out, and that doesn’t include galleries and libraries!
IT’S CHRISTMASSSSSS!
Happy December 1st! We couldn’t not share our favourite “Christmas Tree” this season. partnered with to create the most magical, festive reading nook imaginable.
Books and train stations transport you to other places, so whilst you’re waiting for your train why not be transported by one of the famous voices reading a penguin classic within the tree. How magical is that!?
We love the Traffic Light (Christmas) Tree in Poplar so much we had to share it again. Do we think it will be this snowy in the coming weeks?
When it was installed in the late nineties, the plan was for the lights to change to reflect the peaks and troughs of the Stock Exchange. Sadly this was too complicated in practise.
Although it has been confusing drivers for decades, the intersection it lives on is routinely voted Britain’s favourite roundabout.
Brilliant 📸 by .maddison
It’s beginning to look a lot like… 🎄
It’s nearly that time of year again! Want to celebrate with us? Hit the link in our bio and join us on a Christmas tour like no other, full of festive cheer and maybe a mulled wine or 2
Tired Of Traditional Tours? Book A Free* To Join Walking Tour With An Expert Guide, For A Priceless Experience On A Budget That Suits You. Tours To Suit All Tastes & Budgets. Winner Of The Trip Advisor Travellers' Choice Awards 2022. Book Now! See The "Real" London With Our Quality Tours Ran By Passionate Locals. Our Free* Tours Run On A Tips Only System So It Fits All Budgets.
If you're around Trafalgar Square, we fully recommend heading down to the 4th Plinth to see the newest installation, 'Antelope' by
The 14th commission since 1998, Antelope draws inspiration from the photograph of pastor, educator and pan-Africanist John Chilembwe and European missionary John Chorley. The photo, taken in 1914 in Nyasaland, (now Malawi), depicts both men stood in front of Chilembwe's new Baptist church. Chilembwe wears a hat, defying colonial rules which forbade Africans from wearing hats in front of white people.
John Chilembwe led an uprising against colonial rule, the mistreatment of refugees and the forced conscription for WWI. He was killed by colonial police in 1915.
'Antelope' will be on display atop the 4th plinth until September 2024.
Beautiful shots by 📷
We love the juxtaposition of 'The End' by against the traditional backdrop of Trafalgar Square.
Arriving in the square last year, the piece depicts a hopeful, dystopian future disappearing before our eyes, with the cream melting away and being made unappealing by the fly, all under the watchful gaze of a drone.
Though the idea was conceived in 2016, it feels pretty apt that it's here now, after the year we've just had!
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One of Landseer's Lions at the base of Trafalgar Square, watching the world go by.
Although the four lions are posed the same, seated with their paws forward, and their tails curling by their side, they are not identical. Each has a distinctive face and mane.
Their creator, Sir Edward Landseer, was an experienced painter of animals, but had no sculpting experience when he took the job. Not wanting to rush, he took more than a decade to complete the work.
A beautiful, sunny day on last weekends Royal Westminster tour ☀️ We're going to ignore this week's forecast and pretend it's all sunshine until September 🙄
Even though we've loved showing Londoners around over the last month, we're very excited for tourists to join us from Monday, whether they're from elsewhere in the UK or around the world, we can't wait to show you around!
If you're interested in joining us on a tour, click the link in our bio to reserve your spot today because we're filling up fast! All our tours are free and you have the option to pay the guide what you think they're worth, making them accesible to everyone and pretty good value for money, if we do say so ourselves 🇬🇧
Since the 19th century, the City of London's boundary has been marked by thirteen of these fearsome dragons, each holding the City's coat of arms aloft and bearing their teeth, ready to pounce at anyone who dares enter.
There is a fourteenth one, a replica built at Lake Havasu City is Arizona, where Old London Bridge was reconstructed in the 1970s.
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Originally known as the Millenium Wheel, the world's most recognisable ferris wheel opened on 31 December 1999.
In 2005 the South Bank Centre raised the rental price of the land, and the owners were forced to search for investors, who could stick their name on the attraction. This has lead to a series of name changes over the last 15 years, most notably the EDF Energy London Eye, Coca-Cola London Eye and the lastminute.com London Eye which it is still known as today!
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A couple of Egyptian Geese waiting for Tower Bridge to open.
They were first introduced to England in the 17th Century, as a must have accessory for every stately home of the era, but they soon escaped their captors and established colonies along the Thames.
Although they have struggled to adapt to the cold winters here, they keep themselves safe at night by sleeping in trees.
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Roupell Street has survived fire, the Blitz, and the unstoppable march towards gentrification, to become one of the few streets left in London that leave you feeling like you have gone back in time.
It's Victorian aesthetic has not gone unnoticed, as it is now a prime filming location, featured in Call the Midwife, Dr Who and Mr Selfridge.
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The Jamaica Wine House, known affectionately to locals as The Jampot.
It was built on the site of London's first coffee house, opened in 1652 by a Dalmatian named Pasqua Rosee, who had been the first to bring coffee onto these fair shores. When Jamaica fell to the English in 1655, merchants began to meet in his coffee house to discuss the many ways they could make a vast fortune from the sugar in the new colony.
Despite this rather sinister history, it is a beautiful pub, and well worth a visit when it reopens in May.
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The Shot Tower in Crane Park is the only surviving part of Hounslow's Gunpowder Mills, first established in the reign of Henry VIII.
Predictably, it's history is blighted by regular and calamitous explosions, with the biggest one, back in the 18th century, being felt as far away as Reading.
The Mills' licence to manufacture gunpowder was withdrawn in the 1920s, and the site was converted into Crane Park.
Want to join us one of our free tours? Find all the details via the link in our bio.
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In 1901, the world's first bodybuilding competition was held at the Royal Albert Hall.
60 competitors, wearing black tights and leopard skins, flexed and strained, hoping to get their hands on the 1,000 guineas prize money. Bizarely, the judge for the evening was noneother than the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
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Pink skies over London.
Did you know that while the Shard was under construction, a fox, nicknamed Romeo, was found living on the 72nd floor, living off scraps left behind by workmen.
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One of the most impressive things in the British Museum is the glass roof in the Great Court, which was only added in the year 2000.
It's made up of more than 3000 individual pieces of glass and held together with 4 miles of steel. That's enough glass for 500 greenhouses!
The Great Court is the largest covered square in Europe, at 2 acres, and in the centre is the museum's famous reading room, used by many of the world's great thinkers, including Charles Darwin, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur conan Doyle and was even where Karl Marx wrote the majority of Das Kapital.
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We are excited to announce that our Free Tours will be beginning again from tomorrow, Covid compliant of course.
Our list of tours has expanded to include:
- Royal Westminster
- Historic City of London
- Soho: S*x, Drugs and Rock & Roll
- Harry Potter
- Street Art in Shoreditch
- Ghosts, Ghouls and Ghastly Murders
- Jack the Ripper
- James Bond and the History of Espionage
- Sherlock Holmes and the Art of Deductions
And as tourism picks up, we will be looking to introduce even more, with tours on the Second World War, Black History and LGBTQ+ History ready for the Summer
To book a spot on any or just find out more information please follow the link in our bio or visit www.londonwithalocal.com.
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Hampton Pool is South West London's best kept secret.
Situated a stone's throw from Bushy Park this heated open-air lido is famous for its 'Moonlight Dips', with visitors able to enjoy the water till midnight.
Booking is available now on their website, although spaces are few and far between at the moment.
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At 250 years old, Simpsons Tavern is London's oldest chop house, located in the fantastic labyrinthine network of alleyways off Cornhill.
It was a favourite of Charles Dickens and is a living reminder of English cuisine before the arrival of Italian Coffee shops and Bangladeshi Curry Houses. They offer a daily roast, as well as a handful of English classics, but regardless of what you order, you will always be offered a sausage on the side.
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Happy Easter everyone! We seem to have gotten good weather for a Bank Holiday for once! Or is it too early to say that and we've jinxed it?
We're heading for a spring stroll in the beautiful with some friends and a puppy, where will you be exploring this weekend?
Lovely 📸 by
Gabriel's Wharf is one of our favourite spots along the South Bank, a colourful riverside marketplace full of trendy independent shops and mouthwatering food.
Definitely worth a visit if you've never stumbled across it before.
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One of our favourite pieces of street art is this fantastic portrait of The Bard created by just around the corner from .
Its only when you get up close that you realise that is comprised of thousands of individual sprays of colour.
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Michelin House in Chelsea was originally opened as the headquarters for the Michelin Tyre company in 1911, but to us it looks far grander than a tyre depot!
It's now home to and the wonderful, 2 Michelin 🌟, Bibendum Restaurant by .
Fun fact, Bibendum is not only the name of the restaurant, but is also the name of the Michelin Man himself, though he prefers Bib for short.
Great shot by
20 Fenchurch Street, (or as its more commonly known, "The Walkie Talkie") raised a few eyebrows when it was built in 2014. It was awarded the Curbuncle Cup, the prize for the worst new building in the UK, with the Chairman of the jury commenting, "it is a challenge finding anyone who has something positive to say about this building".
Beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder though, and over time it has become just another beloved oddity on London's skyline and the views from the Sky Garden have won over even its most ardent detractors.
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Tucked away behind Covent Garden Market, the Lamb and Flag is a delightful old pub, as quintessentially British as you can hope to find.
Once a writing spot for Charles Dickens, it was briefly known as the 'Bucket of Blood' due to the brutal bare knuckle prize-fights that took place outside, which would stain the cobbles down to the main road scarlet.
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| Monday | 10:00 - 20:00 |
| Tuesday | 10:00 - 20:00 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 - 20:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 - 20:00 |
| Friday | 10:00 - 20:00 |
| Saturday | 10:00 - 20:00 |
| Sunday | 10:00 - 20:00 |
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London isn’t always 100MPH Why not join us on a tour to discover our favourite peaceful spots? #london #explorelondon #londonhiddengems #staycation
A beautiful, sunny day on last weekends Royal Westminster tour ☀️ We're going to ignore this week's forecast and pretend it's all sunshine until September 🙄 Even though we've loved showing Londoners around over the last month, we're very excited for tourists to join us from Monday, whether they're from elsewhere in the UK or around the world, we can't wait to show you around! If you're interested in joining us on a tour, click the link in our bio to reserve your spot today because we're filling up fast! All our tours are free and you have the option to pay the guide what you think they're worth, making them accesible to everyone and pretty good value for money, if we do say so ourselves 🇬🇧
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