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Free booking and cancellationFree payment tour, no set price, booking and cancellation are free
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Accepts electronic paymentThis tour allows payment by electronic means or credit card
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Want something a little deeper than the London popular culture tours? I'm a former teacher, economist, analyst and a lover of history, books and ideas. If you just want to take photos to put on social media, have little interest in history and don’t really like walking, then PLEASE BOOK A DIFFERENT TOUR!!! If you are intellectually curious and like to think, then let me take you through the streets of London, from the City (the old Roman town of Londinium), to Southwark on the south bank of the River Thames and then to Covent Garden, Soho, Mayfair & St James’s (6 different walks in total). I'll explain how London came from being a European backwater in the 1500s to the largest city in the world in the 1800s. Today, London surpasses New York in diversity and has become a playground for the rich. From clean money to dirty money, I'll tell you the back story behind London's rise, not just the official version! The good, the bad and the ugly: you'll hear about it all.
City of London Tour: From Sugar and Slaves to Tea and Opium.
Welcome, I'm Justin. But some friendly advice! If you just want to take pretty pictures to put on social media (and don't really like walking much), I am the wrong tour guide for you! My tours attract people who like ideas, history and books. If that is not what interests you, book another tour :)
I have 6 walking tours on GuruWalk: 1) The City), 2) Soho, 3) Covent Garden, 4) the South Bank, 5) Mayfair & St James & 6) ArtLand, which together have around 1,500 reviews averaging 5 stars (the highest on GuruWalk in London).
City of London is my flagship tour.
This tour takes you through the "City of London", which is not the same thing as London!
The "City", as it's known to locals, is many things. Nowadays, we know the "City" as the central business district, with its many iconic skyscrapers, towering over ancient churches (providing the chance to take some stunning photos). It's also, however, the "old town", built within the footprint of the Roman city of Londinium.
The "City" also has its own police force, ancient laws and unique government and once financed the largest Empire the world has ever seen, spanning a quarter of the globe.
From being a European backwater in the 1500s, London became the largest city in the world in the 1800s, the centre of immense power and wealth.
I'll tell the story of London's rise by walking with you along the English capital's oldest streets, many of which date back 2000 years.
The triumph of London is also often a tale of "dirty money", from the Bishop of Winchester's brothels; sugar and the slave trade; and the East India Company's rape of a subcontinent and hooking of China on opium. Come with me to learn all about London's secrets
Highlights of the tour include:
The tour will end a short walk from the Monument Tube Station where the tour started. I do have a card reader so can can take credit/debit cards for tips.
I will be at the front of the Monument to the Great Fire of London wearing a black hat and carrying a yellow umbrella.
Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke's monument that marks the Great Fire of London
London's iconic new skyscrapers: the Walkie Talkie, Cheese Grater & the Gherkin: Centre of the modern financial City
Spectacular Victorian meat market, now a restaurant and bar hub. Film set for "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone"
London's first coffee house and meeting place of investors in the Jamaican sugar plantations and slave trade
Financial centre of London in the 1800s
Keeper of the national debt from the late 1600s; ensured England and then Britain never defaulted on its debt
Centre of the medieval Jewish community
Political epicentre of the City of London
London's original Oxford Street
Church with connections to England's first colony in the Americas
The old Roman road with the best view of St Paul's Cathedral
Michael Bloomberg's European HQ with Roman roots
Fabulous Wren church with fantastic scale model of the original London Bridge
Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end of the tour the amount that he or she considers appropriate (these usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).