London Historic South Bank Walking Tour

There isn’t another tour that is quite like this one where we will visit some of the most historic yet less visited sites in London.  This walking tour takes places entirely along and around the South Bank of the River Thames which has two thousand years of rich if sometimes less glamerous history which makes for a fascinating tour that opens the door on this less visited part of London.
From theatres to churches and cathedrals.  Palaces to prisons, hangings and slums. Voyagers of discover to engineering marvels.  Markets, smugglers and bodysnatchers to the birthplace of America.

Meeting Point

Mansion House

Underground Ltd Station, Mansion House, 38 Cannon St, London EC4N 6JD, UK

The tour starts from just outside Mansion House Tube Station.

What's included:

• Local guide
• Private tour
• Professional guide
• Hotel pickup and drop-off (if option selected)

Not included:

• Transportation to/from attractions

What to expect:

Duration: 3 hours

Millennium Bridge

Thames Embankment, London, SE1 9JE

The newest bridge in London, connecting St Pauls Cathedral and the Tate Modern, the largest Modern Art gallery in the world. You ight recognise the bridge from Harry Potter and other shows.

5 minutes

Tate Modern

Bankside, London, SE1 9TG

The worlds biggest Modern Art Gallery, housed in an old power station. Many of the places we will pass have been converted into new use!

Pass by without stopping

Winchester Palace

Clink Street, London, SE1 9DG

See the ruins of the once magnificent palace that miraculously survived centuries of industry and WW2.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

The Clink Prison Museum

1 Clink Street, London, SE1 9DG

We'll visit the eerie and atmospheric site of what may have been the most horrendous prison in Britain if not the world. You don't have to use too much imagination to see how it must have been even though the area now is extremely fashionable.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Golden Hinde

Cathedral Street, St Mary Overie Dock, London, SE1 9DE

A replica of the famous ship of exploration, giving an insight to what these parts used to be like.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Crossbones Graveyard & Garden of Remembrance

Junction of Redcross Way and Union Street, Entrance by the Golden Gates on Union Street, London, SE1 1TA

We will visit the resting place of thousands of plague victims, criminals and 'fallen' women who were buried unceremoniously here and learn of the dreadful poverty that so inspired social reform and the writings of Charles Dickens

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

The Marshalsea Prison

Angel Pl., London SE1 1JA, UK

Visit the small park that was once the location of a dreaded Debtors prison where Charles Dickens family was incarcerated.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

The George

Se1 77 Borough High Street, London, SE1 1NH

See the only remaining Galleried Tavern in London, the haunt of many a famous writing. The yard in front is where the pilgrims assembled in the Canterbury Tales.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Southwark Cathedral

1 London Bridge, Montague Close, London, SE1 9DA

Now part of London, Southwark was once and still is its own city and here is its beautiful and often overlook Cathedral.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Borough Market

8 Southwark Street, , London, SE1 1TL

The site of the world famous food market with food from around the world. There has been a market here of some sorts for at least 1,000 years and possibly since Roman times.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

London Bridge

London, EC4R 9HA

The world famous London Bridge, find out why it is here at all and learn about the awful things that used to happen here.

5 minutes

Hay's Galleria

1 Battle Bridge Lane, , London, SE1 2HD

Once the worlds first covered dockyard, now a place of leisure and good-eating.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

HMS Belfast

The Queen's Walk, London, SE1 2JH

See the old WW2 Royal Navy Cruiser, now berthed up as a tourist attraction.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

City Hall

Kamal Chunchie Way, , London, E16 1ZE

The home of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. You'll see why it has the nick name of the Armadillo.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Tower of London

London, EC3N 4AB

From the outside, we will see the old Tower of London, sat right next to the Thames.

Pass by without stopping

The Scoop

2A More London Riverside, More London, London, SE1 2DB

One of Londons very modern outdoor theatres.

5 minutes

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge Road, London, SE1 2UP

We will walk under the famous hydraulic lifting bridge, an icon of London.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Shad Thames

London

Explore the streets and creeks of what was once the Venice of Drains and the site of murders and executions and all things Charles Dickens.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Edward III's Manor House

20 Bermondsey Wall E, London, SE16 4TT

Centuries ago this was all swamp land and Kind Edward III built a hunting lodge here, the remains of which were relatively recently unearthed.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

The Angel

101 Bermondsey Wall E, London SE16 4NB, UK

This old pub was a smugglers den and reaches out over the Thames where the trap doors can still be seen. Captain Cook set sail from here on his Voyages of Discovery whilst the Hanging Judge use to sit nearby to watch his sentences be carried out.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

St Mary's Church, Rotherhithe

Saint Marychurch St, London SE16 4HZ, UK

This beautiful old church in what was once the village of Rotherhithe has a monument to the Pilgrim Fathers. The 'Captain' of the Mayflower is buried here and the ship was beached up on the Thames behind.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

The Mayflower Pub

117 Rotherhithe St, London SE16 4NF, UK

Visit the famous old pub from where the crew of the Mayflower ship departed for the new world. Perhaps return here after the tour to have a great drink or pub meal.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

The Brunel Museum at Rotherhithe

Railway Avenue, Rotherhithe, London, SE16 4LF

The famed Victorian Engineer Brunel built the very first under water tunnel here... the trains still use it today. At one point it could take days if not weeks for ships to dock on the Thames and this was hoped to be part of the solution.

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The Watchhouse Café

69 Saint Marychurch St, London SE16 4HZ, UK

This funky organic cafe is a great place to drink or grab a cheeky snack. It was once though a Watch House where dead bodies washed up on beaches of Rotherhithe were brought to protect them from thieves and body snatchers until the authorities arrived.

5 minutes

Rotherhithe Picture Research Gallery

82 Saint Marychurch St, London SE16 4HZ, UK

In this old industrial building amongst the warehouses is now a jewel of cinema and heritage costuming as well as having a lovely old cafe. Many period costumes are made here for television and movies and the reference library is full of photos of how this part of London used to look.

10 minutes