At London Discovery Tours we offer a wide range of London walking tours based around ghost stories. As you creep and sneak around the deep dark alleyways of London, you will listen to spooky tales of the evil people and their ghastly spirits who walked these streets at one time, and perhaps still do. With nowhere to run, these really are London walks designed to give you the creeps.

Listen to tales of fictional characters such as Sweeney Todd, the murderous barber who sliced the throats of his wealthy customers, stole their money and then disposed of the bodies by making them into tasty pies with his partner in crime, Mrs Lovett.

Or perhaps dare to walk the London streets of the famous East End, where violent gangs and the evil Kray twins once ruled the streets and showed no mercy to anybody who got in their way. Whether they are based on fact or fiction, our scary London walking tours will really test your nerves, but in the most delightful and fascinating manner.

However, there is an upside to these dark and wintry nights. They offer the perfect atmosphere for a London Ghost Walk or a Jack the Ripper Tour.

As per our promise, our London walks have been taking place “whatever the weather,” or as we put it in the blurb “we go rain, shine, snow and especially in thick, thick fog.”

So our Jack the Ripper Tour has been out there seven nights a week and our London Ghost Walks have been taking place on Friday and Saturday nights.

These spooky walks make for a great way to see more of London and to get to the grips, so to speak, with the capital’s darker and more sinister history.

These type of walks are best done on cold, winter nights as 1)The streets of London are empty at the moment and 2)With the darkness all around you it really does make for a creepier, more nerve jangling experience.

This weekend we still have vacancies on our Saturday Night Ghost Walk, which is entitled The Alleyways and Shadows Old City Ghost Walk. It takes you into the warren of old alleys around the Bank of England taking in creepy church yards, creepier court yards and passageways that are simply cobwebbed by time.

So if you find yourself at a loose end in London on Saturday why not enjoy a Haunted London walk and discover the darker side of London’s past.

It’s now over a year since the Harry Potter London Tour went live on our website and its almost a year since we started offering it as a free down loadable pdf. It seems the format works perfectly and we’ve had lots of emails from people who have taken the tour thoroughly enjoyed it. Once Richard has finished writing his new book on haunted Britain we’ll be adding some more of these free London walks so watch our blog for information.

The deadline for Richard’s book is 8th March and he’s on target to finish it in time. It has some great locations in it and will feature some lovely colour photos of the various locations.

Once the book is out of the way Richard will get to work on writing up his new free Walks of London and then you’ll be able to enjoy a whole range of guided tours.

In the meantime, if you would like a copy of the Harry Potter London Walking Tour then please just email us at harry-potter-pdf@discovery-walks.com. It’s that simple. The whole thing is totally automated and once you hit send the full pdf will arrive in your mail box in a couple of minutes.

During this time, Mayfair also became an extremely popular area in terms of property and was a major residential hub for the rich and the ‘important.’ We all remember Mayfair from our Monopoly boards and the game truly reflects real life here in terms of the stature and value of the property.

At London Discovery Tours we have some fantastic village London walks to take you around such historic areas, and our Mayfair London walk will give you a true rich man’s walking tour which will impress and wow throughout.

As you embark on this London walk you will see some spectacular buildings which are also some of the most important and indulgent buildings within our capital city. The famous Dorchester hotel lies within Mayfair. It is known for its high calibre of celebrity guests and was considered a safe place to stay during the Second World War.

Other buildings which lie within Mayfair are arts-based such as the Royal Academy of Arts or political like the embassy building for the United States of America.

Mayfair has never lost its opulent appeal and holds a wealth which seems to be built into the walls. So show yourself the more affluent side of life with a London walk around this glorious location.

If you wrap up nice and warm then there is no reason why the cold should get to you and the streets of London are so so atmospheric on these cold winter nights.

We do suggest that those participating on the walks wear sensible shoes as the going can get a little muddy in some of the old churchyards we go in to.

But, the fact that the streets of London can be so deserted at the moment really does enhance their spook factor, so these dark winter nights really are the best time of the year to enjoy a spooky walk of London.

In addition we are still sending out large numbers of the free Harry Potter Tour PDF, which is a full day London sightseeing tour in its own right. You can get a copy of this tour (we’ve sent out almost 7,000 of them now) by sending an email to harry-potter-pdf@discovery-walks.com and the automated service will send it back by return. You then just print it off and go and do it in your own time and at your own pace. No having to be at an underground station to be crammed on with 50 or so other people. You’re in charge all the way round the route. And since it’s also a detailed London walks it’s got something for everybody.

Our other free London walks are going live this year, and have we got some great one’s for you. This part of the project has been a bit delayed by my having to get my book on haunted Britain written by March, so I’m a bit tied up at the moment. But, come Marc,h the stops will come out and you’re going to have some great free walks to enjoy and do.

Anyway till next time.

There is a connection between the R101 and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which is both intriguing and slightly spooky. Talking of Conan Doyle, the last stages of our Sherlock Holmes documentary are now in progress. We’ve interviewed some of the leading experts in Studies in Sherlock and have filmed in both London and Edinburgh and, to be honest, it’s looking really good, though we say so ourselves.

Our London Walking tours are still going strong and we’re pleased to report that all those who missed are Jack the Ripper Walk or our Haunted London walks due to the recent snows have now been switched to alternate dates and have had the opportunity to take the tour. So no-one lost out, in fact everybody gained. Not only did they get to benefit from our sensible policy of limiting the numbers on our Jack the Ripper Tours, but when the snow meant they couldn’t join us they weren’t out of pocket because the moment they called to say they couldn’t make it we happily moved them to another night.

So why not give our Jack the Ripper tour ago and see for yourself why time and again we are referred to as the best of the London walks?

For a great day out to really test your knowledge of our capital city, then why not embark on one of our treasure hunt London walking tours at Discovery Walks. We have a vast selection of treasure hunt London walks in our portfolio; however the ultimate has got to be The Mother of all Treasure Hunts.

This London walk is an all day event and great to do with a few friends or as part of a group activity. Teamwork is essential and you can also compete against your own friends to discover who really does know their city the best.

The format of our treasure hunt walks are based around cryptic clues which will send you all over the city. The difficult part is however, that you will need to work out where to go based on specific clues.

Knowing your London history is just as important as knowing your way around, as even if you know the shortest way to get to a place, if you have got the answer to your clue wrong then you really could be led up the garden path.

At Discovery Walks we ensure your day is filled with activity and you will meet genuine, and not so genuine, London characters along the way. They may help you or hinder you so ultimately it is up to you to complete this London walk successfully.

The Haunted Britain trips have been turning up some real gems and the book is set to meet the deadlines in time for its publication on Halloween. I’m off down to Somerset this week ( I couldn’t make it there the other week because I got turned back by the snow) and will be trying to count the stones at Stanton Drew Stone Circle.

The recent snow played havoc with our London ghost walks, but we soldiered on and many of our walkers chose not to take up our offer to transfer to another night. I have to say London was really atmospheric in the snow and, although sub zero, virtually all those who chose to soldier on said how atmospheric it made the old streets of London. Those who we did transfer were very impressed, not to say grateful, that we offered the transfer service. We even phoned people up and actually offered them the option to transfer, and those who had transport problems on the night were also transferred. This is something we’ve been doing ever since we started taking bookings back in 2005. Unlike other London walks we like to limit the number of people on our tours to a sensible and manageable number, which is why we ask people to book in advance. But we also understand that things can go wrong (the recent snow being a great example of this) so we always ask that people call us should they encounter any problems.

In addition we now  have  twelve top flight Blue Badge Guides conducting our tours, several of whom have done tours for other London walks, and they all say how much they prefer our system because it is far simpler and much more guide/client friendly.

A Little Sherlock Holmes Information

I was joined in Edinburgh Mark Ubsdell because part of the reason for being up there, in addition to researching my new Haunted Britain book, was to film the great new documentary we’re working on about Sherlock Holmes and his creator Arthur Conan Doyle. Did you know that when Conan Doyle wrote the first Sherlock Holmes stories he’d spent very little time in London? In fact it was the streets of Edinburgh he was  picturing when he wrote the first stories. I have to say that Edinburgh looked truly magical in the snow and we got some great location shots. We also conducted interviews with several Surgeons at the Royal College of Surgeons; filmed at  the site  of Conan Doyle’s birthplace, from which the statue of Sherlock Holmes is currently missing because of the work on the trams in Edinburgh, and even filmed Dr Joseph Bell’s grave (the man upon the character of Holmes was part based). We also looked at Conan Doyle’s friendships with J. M Barrie and Oscar Wilde.

We’ll be filming in London next week and then the documentary will be all but complete. We’ll post details of when its ready on the website.

In the meantime it’s back to the haunted London walks at weekends and, of course, our nightly Jack the Ripper tour of London.

All the best.

Richard

People of all ages are obsessed with Harry Potter and what better way to get involved in this magical world than with a London sightseeing tour around the locations seen in the famous Harry Potter films?

Our Harry Potter walking tour at Discovery walks is perfect for the entire family and a great day out for the children. Our London walk takes you to all the famous sites and you will see the real places where the members of Hogwarts really went.

At Discovery walks we know that children do not miss a trick, which is why our London walk of the Harry Potter sets includes areas which are in the sixth film. You will get to see everything from the Diagon alley to riding the Hogwarts train and not forgetting the famous nine and a half platform at London’s Kings Cross station.

Our Harry Potter walking tours are self guided, meaning that we provide you with a detailed map and you and your family can make your way around the places where Harry went at your own leisure.

Beware of dragons and ghastly encounters as your embark on this London walk – magical powers are essential if you are going to make it to the Hogwarts express in time.

For a great day out to really test your knowledge of our capital city, then why not embark on one of our treasure hunt London walking tours at Discovery Walks. We have a vast selection of treasure hunt London walks in our portfolio; however the ultimate has got to be The Mother of all Treasure Hunts.

This London walk is an all day event and great to do with a few friends or as part of a group activity. Teamwork is essential and you can also compete against your own friends to discover who really does know their city the best.

The format of our treasure hunt walks are based around cryptic clues which will send you all over the city. The difficult part is however, that you will need to work out where to go based on specific clues.

Knowing your London history is just as important as knowing your way around, as even if you know the shortest way to get to a place, if you have got the answer to your clue wrong then you really could be led up the garden path.

At Discovery Walks we ensure your day is filled with activity and you will meet genuine, and not so genuine, London characters along the way. They may help you or hinder you so ultimately it is up to you to complete this London walk successfully.