How I Got Started
Book walks with me for unique view of London's central neighbourhoods
Contact me on the booking form or at barbara.londontours@gmail.com
I am keen to show you the London you might never have seen,historical and cultural walking or virtual tours particularly of Royal, Tudor, Restoration, Regency and 19th Century Westminster, together with tours of key central areas and other neighbourhoods within Westminster and elsewhere, such as Soho and Covent Garden, Marylebone and Belgravia.
A qualified town planner with an Urban Design certificate, with considerable experience in housing and regeneration planning in London,and as a professional Tour Guide, since 2020, through the University of Westminster Guide Lecturers Association I can show you London in quite a unique way telling the planning, social
history and architecture stories of London and its neighbourhoods.
I also run walks with a music theme (particularly classical) and about the entertainment industry.
My groups are small and friendly and I can design them also to suit your specific needs.
I was particularly pleased with the following comment which I received:
I really enjoyed your talks and will look with new eyes at parts of London I’ve always taken for granted’ (JM)
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And here is a comment from my Christopher Wren Walk in Westminster
A Legacy in a Lifetime
'this walk is cleverly designed designed to tell a coherant historical story.Barbara tells it with great enthusiasm ' providing a fascinating mix of facts and captivating social history.
Definitely to be recommended (SF)
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Below you will see scheduled walks, which are added as the walks are published, there is a link there to book but I can also organise a private walk for you for any of the walks shown or indeed for other topics, about London, of your choosing.
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Private Walks with Barbara
Marvellous Marylebone
Marylebone used to be a remote village, with the Tyburn gallows at its farthest reaches (now Marble Arch). In the 18th century rich landowners planned out the fine neighbourhood we can see today, for the wealthy who wanted a fashionable London address. By the 19th century, however, it still had some of the worst London slums but had become the home also of some of the greatest reformers living or working in its midst, and by the 20th century the home to some of the nation's greatest institutions
£15 Per Family
£10 Per Person
Belgravia: A Tale of Two Cities -
See the contrast between neighbourhoods, Belgravia and Soho Explore the Belgravia neighbourhood of white terraces and garden squares created by the famous Grovesnor family helped by their builder Thomas Cubitt. Learn about what they were trying to achieve and see if think it works as a place to live.
Hear about some of the many famous people who have lived here. Has anyone seen the TV series Belgravia ?
This is a stand alone tour but if you do not know London well it is good to do it alongside the Soho tour. Walking tour only - 90 minutes.
£10 Per Person
£15 Per Family
Settling in Soho:A Tale of Two Cities -
A tour exploring the extremes of London - this (second) tour explores Soho - another village which began as a fashionable suburb, became the home to many famous European exiles in the 18th and 19th century and developed into, as it is today, one of the entertainment and restaurant capitals of Europe. A great example of the flux of a big city. This is a stand alone tour but if you do not know London well it is good to do it alongside the Belgravia tour, to see the huge variety and contrasts.
A walking tour, usually when it is quiet, on a Sunday morning 90 minutes.
£10 Per Person
£15 Per Family
The Garden Village of Pimlico
An insightful walking tour of the Pimlico neighbourhood to explore how it has been shaped by some of the important and influential planning, housing and design ideas of the 18th to the 21st century.
You will be taken through the famous early 19th century master builder Mr Cubitt’s district where you will get under the skin of this neighbourhood, where Londoner’s really live, away from the hustle and bustle, and yet only a stone’s throw from the country’s political centre,
Apart from Thomas Cubitt’s squares and terraces you will be introduced to some architecturally iconic schemes of the 20th century.
Either a virtual tour of 1hour or a walking tour of 90 minutes.
to explore in detail with us on this fascinating talk.
For those who want to delve deeper there is also a Part 2 of this tour which looks more at the lives people led over time.
£15 Per Family
£10 Per Person
-Christopher Wren in Westminster :A Legacy in a Lifetime
We have just past the 300th anniversary of the death of the great thinker, inventor and architect Christopher Wren, who died 300 years ago in 1723
Only three Wren Churches were built in Westminster but there is a surprising amount of other Wren work in Westminster, not always very obvious but never the less of interest, especially as Wren was in a position of power and influence as the King’s chief architect for many years at a time of great political and religious turmoil.
This walk seeks to give a nuanced take on Wren which takes you beyond a tour of churches and delves into his character, what inspired him and how he was affected by the times he lived in.
£10 Per Person
Pictures from my walks and talks
