You’d expect a city with as rich a history as London to have ghosts popping out all over the show, from the ancient Romans to Anne Boleyn and beyond. We played tourist again and joined Great British Tours for a walking tour of some of central London’s haunted spots. We took the tour on a beautifully sunny evening and started in Green Park.
Londoners making the most of the evening sunshine in Green Park
This post isn’t really a review of the walking tour, although we were a bit disappointed and glad that we had purchased our tickets on a discount website! It may have been our fault for doing the tour in summer when it was still very light at the beginning, but the tour wasn’t really very spooky at all. We didn’t get the guide that all the good reviews on the website mention, who sounds like he makes the tours pretty special. Our guide rushed through many of the stories, and it often felt like he was just trying to cram details in without trying to create any atmosphere. In the end the tour only took 2 hours instead of the advertised 2.5, but we were ready for it to end anyway.
However we did get to see some cool buildings and go on a short river cruise, and I loved the beautiful evening light.
The Royal Arcade
The gorgeously orange Royal Arcade was built in 1879 and earned its moniker after the shirtmaker at that time was regularly patronised by Queen Victoria.
50 Berkeley Square – supposedly one of the most haunted houses in London
I never get tired of photographing this tower – I have discovered that I love neo-Gothic architecture!
Pro tip: The bell inside is called Big Ben, not the clock or the tower. The tower was officially renamed the Elizabeth Tower from just the Clock Tower in 2012 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
London Eye and the Thames in the evening light
Our tour included a cruise on the Thames from Westminster to the Tower of London, and it was lovely to see some of the landmarks of London again from the river. It really is a cool perspective on the city.
St Paul’s Cathedral and Millennium Bridge
Our tour finished up at the Tower of London, which I’m saving to visit in a month or two when there will hopefully be a slight decrease in the hordes of tourists around. It offered some of the best sights of the night, with both the Tower itself and nearby Tower Bridge looking stunning lit up.
Creepy lion replicas in the foreground…
While I wouldn’t recommend the tour, at least during the summer months, we did enjoy visiting a few spots that we wouldn’t normally wander through, and it was a lovely night for a walk!
