Hiring a private guide or joining a public walk is one of the best ways to see the capital, whether you’re a tourist or a Londoner. You might want an accredited Blue Badge guide for a private tour of the Tower of London or a guide who knows secret, quirky and hidden London inside out. These are my favourite London tour guides, from Blue Badge experts to everyday London gurus.
Why book London tour guides
A good guide turns a familiar street into a story. They know the shortcuts, the secret doors and the best place to stop for a drink afterwards, and they can show you London places you would walk past without noticing.
Meet my favourite London tour guides
Tours, prices and group sizes change often, so always check each guide’s website or Instagram page for what is running now.
Katie Wignall of Look Up London
Photo: Look Up London
I came across Katie back in 2017 when we were both Time Out community bloggers. She left her job at the National Theatre in 2013 to guide full time, trained as a Blue Badge guide and qualified in 2018 with “best overall presentations”. She has since written a book, Look Up London.
Katie specialises in walks for Londoners, helping them rediscover the city and encouraging them to look up as well as down. She also hosts private museum and gallery tours, sightseeing tours and treasure hunts, and her TripAdvisor ratings regularly place her among the top London guides.
Look out for: Bankside’s Behaving Badly, The City: Power and Sacrifice, Bermondsey: Off the Beaten Track, Quirky Bloomsbury, Sordid Soho, Southwark’s Saucy Secrets and The Spirit of Spitalfields.
A quirky London secret from Katie: “Too many to share! Come and see the Russian WWII tank in Bermondsey, the Roman ruins in a hairdresser’s basement, a pub with a famous stuffed parrot and where coffee was first sold in London.”
Book Katie: groups are small and she also runs private tours. See lookup.london or follow @look_uplondon on Instagram.
“The best tour of London I have ever been on. I have walked those streets hundreds of times, and yet discovered so many new things I had never noticed.” (Tripadvisor review)
Jack Chesher of Living London History
If you want to get down and dirty with ye olde London, Jack’s the man. As he explains on his tours, he likes to get under the skin of the city, and that’s exactly what you do on one of his quirky and informative walks. Originally from Bristol, Jack moved to London after completing his history degree and later completed the Open City Golden Key Academy guiding course. He has since written two books on London, including London: A Guide for Curious Wanderers.
Look out for: The Hidden Strand: Power Wealth and Empire, Covent Garden: Behind the Scenes, Lambeth’s Legendary Trailblazers and Westminster’s Backstreets: Saints and Scoundrels. His walks last about two hours, and he organises private tours for groups too. Gift vouchers make a brilliant present for a history lover.
Book Jack: visit livinglondonhistory.com or follow @livinglondonhistory on Instagram. His blog reveals some of London’s hidden treasures and curiosities.
“Jack has curated such a fascinating collection of history and fun facts and delivers them with such passion. Thoroughly recommend for tourists and locals alike.”
Minna Andersen
Originally from Finland, Minna Andersen gives her tours in perfect English and Finnish. She decided to take on the challenging Blue Badge guide course more than 30 years ago and is still loving and discovering the city she fell in love with all those years ago. Her knowledge of London history is nonpareil and delivered with infectious enthusiasm.
She specialises in Richmond, St James’s and Mayfair, Kensington, Notting Hill and Hampton Court.
Look out for: Royal London, Aristocratic London, 1000 years of the Tower of London and Southwark, Historic Richmond, Henrys and Georges in Hampton Court, Marble Hill House and Orleans House in Twickenham, and Queen Victoria’s Kensington and the birth of the museums (see my fun facts about Kensington Palace for a taster).
A quirky London fact from Minna: “Cleopatra’s Needle on the Embankment has a Victorian time capsule buried at its base. It includes that day’s newspapers, railway timetables, bibles in different languages, coins, razor blades and 12 photographs of the most beautiful women in England!”
Book Minna: her tours are private and for small groups, and she can put together a customised tour. Visit minnaslondon.com or follow @minnas.london on Instagram.
Sue Hillman of It’s Your London
It’s not every day your face ends up on the Piccadilly Circus billboard, but Sue’s did, as a thank-you for her volunteering. The depth and breadth of her knowledge about London always amazes me, and I’m proud to call her a friend. Her tours are all tailor-made and she is comfortable heading into most areas of London, although she tends to focus on central London. Much of her clientele comes from the USA, and she tours in English with some French and Spanish.
Look out for: her Walking Tour of the City (which includes the Tower of London), hopping in and out of black cabs, or a guided tour by boat or double-decker bus. Her Big Sights Tour is perfect for London newbies, while London aficionados might prefer her Hidden Gems tour.
A fun fact from Sue: “London black cab drivers must pass a fiendishly difficult test called The Knowledge. They know every road and landmark within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross, around 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks along 320 key routes, and it takes two to four years to learn. So next time you take a black cab, remember there’s a genius driving!”
Book Sue: she specialises in small private groups, from solo travellers to a family of six. Follow @sueinlondon on Instagram.
“Sue has an excellent feel for the big city and will customise your days based on your interests. Definitely book her.” (Anne and Chuck, USA)
Antony Robbins of Mr Londoner
Photo: Mr Londoner
Antony (aka Mr Londoner) is a born-and-bred London Blue Badge guide who loves working with adventurous guests who want to have fun and see the city through the eyes of a local. His favourite neighbourhoods include Shoreditch, Soho and Bankside. As a Blue Badge guide he is accredited to tour St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey, and he also works further afield at Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Canterbury.
I met him on one of his Bankside tours, on a wet and windy night when a post-tour pick-me-up was definitely required. You can read about it in my 15 reasons to visit Bankside. He creates bespoke tours to suit each client and specialises in the secret and the hidden, and he also leads bike tours.
Look out for: The Liberty of the Clink, London Icons, London at War, Hidden Secret Lost, Menswear and Making, Sex Death and Shopping, and Magical Mystery Tour.
Book Antony: find him on the Blue Badge guide register or follow @meetmrlondoner on Instagram.
How to choose between London tour guides
The gold standard in the UK is the Blue Badge, the qualification for fully accredited tourist guides. Only Blue Badge guides can lead you inside places like the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. You can search for a qualified guide on the Blue Badge guides register.
For a first visit, pick a guide who covers the big sights. If you know London well, choose a themed walk through a neighbourhood you thought you knew. Public walks are cheaper and sociable, while private tours can be tailored to your family, your interests and your pace.
Tips for booking London tour guides
- Book well ahead for weekends and school holidays, when the best guides fill up.
- Check the meeting point, the length of the walk and what happens if it rains.
- For children, ask whether the guide offers a family-friendly version.
- Look at recent reviews as well as the guide’s own website.
If you love London history, don’t miss my pick of the best London history books.