Unique Christmas Day Walks
London at Dawn 6am
London After Breakfast 10.30am
London After Lunch 4pm
For the first time ever fully qualified City of Westminster specialist guides are offering unique guided tours on Christmas Day.
The tours are designed for locals and visitors who want to explore Westminster on the one day of the year when London is effectively closed and quiet. They are also available to purchase as gifts. I recently wrote a blog post about Christmas Day in London and that might give you a flavour of what to expect.
London at Dawn 6am
Our first tour starts before dawn. Together we will walk through the eerily deserted streets, past some of London’s most iconic sites. If you have never seen London empty, this is really the only opportunity to do so all year. A really magical tour for locals and visitors. As the sun comes up we will show you to a cafes and restaurants where you can enjoy a hearty breakfast.
London After Breakfast 10.30am
Our After Breakfast tour takes place in that part of the day when presents have been unwrapped and preparations are being made for lunch. What better way to work up an appetite than an entertaining and informative stroll around a London that is beginning to wake up? Our After Breakfast tour ends just as some of the pubs are beginning to open and we will show you an atmospheric pub where you can enjoy an aperitif if you like.
London After Lunch 4pm
The After Lunch tour provides the ideal opportunity to walk off the excesses of Christmas lunch. As dusk falls and the lights twinkle we will guide you through an uncommonly quiet and peaceful Westminster. The subjects of the tour will provide you with new views of familiar landmarks and show you many of London’s “hidden gems” and curiosities.
Your Guides
The tours are being led by Colin Davey and myself, Pete Berthoud. We are both fully qualified City of Westminster Guides and members of the City of Westminster Guide Lecturers Association. Some might call us London obsessives, and so we are, but each of us have won prizes for our guiding!
Our tours are fun, inclusive and informative and are suitable for fellow London obsessives or for visitors. One key feature of our tours is their flexibility.
Unlike some guides, we don’t stick to some dry script that has been delivered a thousand times before and sounds like it. We genuinely involve our groups and respond spontaneously to their interests and questions.
Unlike some unqualified guides Colin and I both have full Public Liability Insurance for all our tours.
Our combined interests and knowledge include London’s history, architecture, sculpture, painting, street-art, hidden London, food and drink and Westminster’s curiosities.
Length
All tours last approximately 2 hours and can be booked by emailing walks@peterberthoud.co.uk
Meet
Each tour starts and ends at a very central location, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square or Piccadilly Circus, full details are given upon booking.
For the 6am tour there is the option of meeting earlier, at no extra charge, if you are in the Victoria area. We will be walking from Pimlico to begin the tours, so please ask for details if this might be useful to you.
Travel
The lack of traffic is one of the things that makes London so appealing on Christmas Day but obviously it might make it hard for some people to join us too.
There will be no public transport at all on the day. But we can help you to identify Barclays Cycle Hire Stands, find places to lock-up your own bike or places to park a car and pass on details of mini-cab and taxi operators, please let us know if you would like some help getting into Central London.
Weather
The latest forecast is for a mild and dry day!
Accessibility
All tours are designed to be fully accessible but there are some kerbs and narrow pavements, please contact me if you want to talk in more detail about accessibility.
Prices
All walks cost £20 per person but any children under 16 go free, well it is Christmas after all!
Booking
To book, or to buy a tour as a gift, simply email me at walks@peterberthoud.co.uk
Just state the time and name of the tour you would like to book and how many places you would like. In the case of a gift, please let me know the names of the recipients and a little about their particular interests.
On booking I will send you details of the meeting point and full contact details.