Historic City of London Tour

Two thousand years ago, the Romans stood on the banks of the Thames and decided this muddy stretch of riverbank was worth building a city on. They were right. What grew from that first trading post is now one of the most powerful square miles on Earth, and this free walking tour takes you through the whole story, layer by layer, from Roman walls to modern glass towers.

You'll start near the Tower of London, the fortress William the Conqueror built to remind Londoners exactly who was in charge, later a royal prison, an execution site, and still home to the Crown Jewels today. From there you'll cross to Tower Bridge, the Victorian landmark everyone photographs and half the world mistakenly calls London Bridge.

The walk continues into the City itself, the original square mile that gives modern London its financial heartbeat. You'll pass the Monument, Christopher Wren's column marking the Great Fire of 1666, standing at the exact height of its distance to the bakery on Pudding Lane where the fire began. From there it's on past the Bank of England, the so called Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, guarding one of the largest gold reserves in the world, and the Royal Exchange, London's first proper trading floor, founded in 1571 and still watched over by the grasshopper weathervane of the merchant who built it.

Along the way your guide will bring in the plague, the fire, the Blitz, and the bankers, traders and rebuilders who kept this small patch of London standing through all of it.

The walk finishes in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral, Wren's masterpiece and the building that stood defiant through the Blitz while the rest of the City burned around it.

This tour is completely free, run on a pay what you feel basis at the end, led by a real Londoner rather than a scripted guide.

It's best suited to first time visitors who want a proper introduction to the city beyond the postcard version, history lovers who want the stories behind the buildings, and anyone curious how a square mile of medieval streets ended up standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the tallest skyscrapers in Europe.

Two hours, entirely on foot, rain or shine, and no booking fee to join.