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Posts Tagged ‘Things to do in London’

Our Harry Potter London walks

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

For those of you not familiar with the history of our unique London walks around the Harry Potter film locations here is a little background.

In 2007 Richard and Joanne Jones and their two sons, Thomas (10) and William (8)  decided to put together a London walk that would allow parents and children to explore all the Harry Potter film locations in London.

The tours then on offer were either very expensive or were London walks that weren’t really relevant to the Harry Potter theme.

What Richard and Joanne decided to do was to put together a tour of London that parents and children could do on their own and for free. They also decided that, to keep the children occupied, it might be an idea to include a London Treasure Hunt as part of the tour.

And thus was born the Harry Potter London Tour and Treasure Hunt. Beginning at Temple Underground Station they began pacing out a tour of London and visited all the harry Potter film location sites in London.

Gradually the tour came together and by December 2008 it was ready to go live on the internet. However, the problem with the website was that if parents wanted to print it off it ran to somewehere in the region of 90 or so cumbersome pages.

The whole ethos behind the Harry Potter London walks was that they were intended to offer a day out in London for families that wouldn’t cost parents the earth.

So in May 2009 the Harry Potter tour was turned into a dowlaodable PDF file that printed out at just 28 to 30 pages.

Joanne and Richard expected a handful of requests and so were had planned to simply email the pdf manually.

However, the Harry Potter London walking tour proved more popular than they imagined and they were soon having to manually upload and send over 100 pdf’s a day.

Casting round for a more labour efficient way to send the pdf they hit upon the idea of an automated response. Having tested this under all conditions they were delighted to find that it actually worked.

Not only did this mean that they didn’t have to spend two or so hours a day responding to the Harry Potter London tour requests, it also meant that those who requested the free London walks would not have to wait till Richard and Joanne were able to respond to receive the tour. Within minutes of them sending the request the pdf would be in their in box - as if by magic! It’s just a great one of the things to do in London.

So why not but this to the test yourself? Just send your request to

harry-potter-pdf@discovery-walks.com

Then sit back and listen to the ping as it arrives. You then simply print it off and away you go exploring the streets of London on the first of a series of what, we hope, will be great London walks for families and anyone else interested in seeing more of London.

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More London Freebies - Walks and Things

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

In addition to our free London walks we like to keep you updated on all the wonderful things to do in London that are absolutely free of charge.

Each week we scout the streets to come up with a handful of locations that you can reach by doing your own London walks and which won’t cost you a penny to experience and dsicover.

Why not take a London walk along Strand and Fleet Street?

Now at first glance you might think these are just busy London thoroughfares with not a great deal worth delaying your journey over.

But you would be wrong. On Strand, for example,  you will find the Royal Courts of justice a magnificent Gothic revival pile that bears a striking resemblence to a Cathedral.

It is in fact the law Courts and you can go inside its hallowed interior and sit in on the trials taking place in the various courts. Criminal Appeal cases and Civil Cases are the order of the day. Be warned that they don’t allow cameras inside the building so don’t try to smuggle one in. But of you can bear to leave the camera behind then you can spend as much or as little time inside the cases as you please.

A little further along is the entrance to the Temple and just inside its gate is the Temple Church, built by the Knights Templar in 1185. In recent years this has achieved fame beyond its historic connotations as it was featured in the books and the film of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.

Walk then to the end of Fleet Street and step inside St Bride’s Church. This pretty Wren church was bombed in the Second World War and those bombs uncovered layers of buildings on the site going right back Roman times 2,000 years ago.

Going down in to the crypt you will find a fascinating display of old relics, stone walls and Roman tiles.

So for just a 10 minute walk along a London street you will find three things to do  that can keep you occupied for hours and you won’t have spent a pennny (on admissions that is - there are toilets for the other kind of spending a penny outside the Royal Courts!)

You might like to end your stroll by treating yourself to lunch at a true Fleet Street Survivor ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. This atmospheric old pub was a favourite with Charles Dickens and Dr. Johnson and it has changed little since it was rebuilt in 1667 after the previous pub was burnt down in the Great Fire of London. The food is not exactly a health kick ( steaks, Steak and Kidney pies being the order of the day) but then you can set off on another of your London walks and walk off your lunchtime excesses.

Cheers!

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Walks and Other Things To Do in London

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

If you are visiting London and looking for things to do then our walks offer you the opportunity to see much more of a city that spent 2,000 years preparing for your visit.

On our Roman London walks, for example, we take you back to the origins of London. If you come out of Tower Hill Underground Station you will find your self confronted by a remnant of the wall from the Roma City of London.

Many people come out of the station, pay it a quick glance and then hurry on to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, or whatever other destination has brough them to Tower Hill.

However, those who join our Story of London walks will find that this segment of the old wall, whilst certainly impressive, is not the be all and end all  of Roman London.

Indeed, tucked away in a courtyard behind the station is an even more impressive section of the wall. The upper level of this section is medieval, but the lower section is Roman.

It is one of those “wow” moments on our London walks, when participants stand before it and find themselves looking up in awe and a truly impressive remnant of bygone London.

It is typical of the sort of thing you can discover when you leave behind the busy main roads and begin exploring the backstreets and hidden places of London.

It also illustrates why London is a City to explore on foot. London walks make this possible and with us you have a choice of how to do this.

We offer our regular night time Jack the Ripper walks and Ghost Tours guided by our  range of excellent guides.

But we are the only one of the London walks companies that offer you a range of free walks of London. These can be printed off and done in your own time and at your own pace.

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