London Rock and Roll History Tour

This tour is perfect for lovers of classic British Rock. In the space of a few hours, you will see where great bands were formed, where they played and partied, and the locations of some of their most famous performances, such as the location of The Beatle's final performance and the Sex Pistols's first gig. During the tour, your passionate local guide, who also loves all things Rock and Roll, will share stories about the greatest British bands and those international legends who also love London.
A 'must do' for any music fan during their time in London, you will walk the streets where The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and David Bowie strutted their stuff.

The tour meets at an easy-to-find and iconic London location. Its route visits some of the most vibrant and historic areas of London, whose histories will also be revealed as part of the tour.

The price of the tour is for a private walking tour for yourself and your guest. You may have up to 15 people in your booking.

Meeting Point

The London Palladium

8 Argyll St, London W1F 7TF, UK

Please wait for your guide outside the London Palladium's main entrance.

What's included:

• All guiding fees are included as part of this tour

What to expect:

Duration: 3 hours

London Palladium

8 Argyll Street, London, W1F 7TF

The tour commences outside one of London’s most famous and popular theatres where some of the biggest names in music have performed. The Palladium was the venue for one of the UKs most popular television shows, ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’. It was here where
Beatlemania really began and the Rolling Stones refused to do what everyone else did at the end of a show.

10 minutes

Broadcasting House

Broadcasting House, Portland Pl, London W1A 1AA, UK

Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC and the location of their major radio stations. There is a whole wing named after DJ and music pioneer John Peel. For all the wonderful things the BBC has done for popular music, as will be revealed the relationship between the BBC and rock and pop music has not always been an easy one and in the past the BBC banned a number of records from their airwaves.

10 minutes

University of Westminster

309 Regent St., London W1B 2HW, UK

This university building used to be the London Polytechnic, and it was here in September 1962 that three students, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright, enrolled to study architecture. They would rehearse in a tea room here in a basement in a band called Sigma 6. Later on, Syd Barrett joined them, and the band became Pink Floyd.
Find out about their origins and the early adventures of the band.

Pass by without stopping

Carnaby Street

London, W1F

Visit Carnaby Street, the centre of fashion in swinging London. Learn why this street became so cool, the unexpected 1950s origins of the flamboyant clothes worn by bands such as the Small Faces, The Who and the Rolling Stones, and the notorious music promoter and manager Don Arden.

10 minutes

Kingly Street

Kingly St, London, UK

Visit the site of the former Bag O'Nails on Kingly Street.
This was the site in the 60s where some of the world's most famous musicians played and performed. It was a haunt of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Animals and Tom Jones. At least three musicians met their future wives here, including Paul McCartney, who met Linda in 1967.

10 minutes

Heddon Street

Heddon St, London W1B, UK

Visit the legendary location of the front and back cover of ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars’. There will be a chance to recreate the iconic photos and get the whole story of the photoshoot on a cold and wet January night in January 1972.

10 minutes

3 Savile Row

3 Savile Row, London W1S 3PB, UK

Visit the site of the former office of the Beatles and site of their legendary rooftop concert.
See the building where the famous rooftop concert was held in 1969, as featured in Let It Be and Get Back. As well as being the site of the Beatles' final performance, number 3 Savile Row was the headquarters of Apple and, as such, was a magnet for Beatles fans from all over the world. The office had some very interesting visitors which you will hear all about during this tour.

10 minutes

Cordings Ltd

19 Piccadilly, London W1J 0LA, UK

A certain famous musician would window shop when he was a teenager and hoped one day to be able to afford the clothes in this famous shop. Years later, this musician became a regular customer and eventually invested in the business and became its design director.
This musician is Eric Clapton, and you can hear all about his association with this successful clothes business on this tour.

10 minutes

Hotel Café Royal

10 Air St, London W1B 5AB, UK

Hotel Cafe Royal began as a cafe in 1865.
It was here that David Bowie retired the character of Ziggy Stardust in an expensive and star studded bash in 1973.
Discover the story of this star studded event and how it
inspired a Ziggy Stardust cocktail bar inside the hotel.

10 minutes

Wardour Street

London

Wardour Street was home to the world-famour Marquee Club.
The Marquee was an important and very popular music venue in Wardour Street which was open for 26 years. The venue helped to launch the early careers of The Who and David Bowie and many more.

Whilst at Wardour Street you will learn about the importance of this venue and why there is a dusty
plaque to Keith Moon over the door.

5 minutes

Sounds Of The Universe

7 Broadwick Street, Soho, London, W1F 0DA

London has many wonderful record shops, and this one is great. But the shop occupied the site of the old Bricklayers Arms pub which was where the Rolling Stones had their very first rehearsal.

15 minutes

The Ship, Soho

116 Wardour St, London W1F 0TT, UK

When The Marquee lost their alcohol licence, music fans chose to drink at The Ship pub, and the singers and musicians followed.
Whilst outside this iconic pub you will discover the drunken antics of rock legends who drank here, and why The Ship rocked!

10 minutes

Former Site of Trident Studios

17 St Anne's Ct, London W1F 0BF, UK

This studio,tucked away in a tiny alley round the corner from The Ship was between 1968 and 1981, an incredibly popular studio used by some of the most talented artists in the world. Artists such as David Bowie, The Beatles, Queen, Elton John, Rolling Stones and Black Sabbath all recorded here.

5 minutes

Soho Square

Westminster, London, W1D 3QR

Soho Square is home to MPL - McCartney Publishing Limited, which is the home of Paul McCartney's music empire. Paul McCartney was revealed to be a billionaire partly because of his music publishing business and whilst here you will discover how he become the richest of all the Beatles.

5 minutes

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club

47 Frith Street, , London, W1D 4HT

Musician Ronnie Scott moved his famous jazz and music venue to Frith Street in 1965. Here you will learn about the famous names that have played here, including a surprise and shocking performance by Lady GaGa and the final performance of Jimi Hendrix.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

ODEON Covent Garden

135 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8AH, UK

In 1966, the Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, decided to buy a theatre. Learn about his grand plans, what he did with it, the legendary artists who played there and how the 60s will soon be revived.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Foyles Bookshop

107 Charing Cross Road, , London, WC2H 0DT

Foyles Bookshop was once a university building. You will hear about the Sex Pistols' first gig here. At this now iconic bookstore, you will hear why, in the early days, The Sex Pistol's manager, Malcolm Mclaren, would only book them for student gigs and where Steve Jones would get their guitars from.

10 minutes

Denmark Street

Denmark Street, , London

Denmark Street is the final destination on the tour and arguably the most important location for British 20th-century music.
Now the home of wonderful guitar shops and music venues it is on this street that the Beatles’ first music publishing deal was struck, where The Rolling Stones recorded their first album, where the Sex Pistols crashed, rehearsed and where John Lydon drew rude pictures on the wall that are apparently visible to this day!

Finally discover how this celebrated street was pivotal in early days of Elton John and David Bowie.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included