My passion is to mostly provide exclusive private tours  –  (I also love commissions – new tours are so exciting to research).

I have over 800 five star TripAdvisor reviews, and guiding is my total pleasure!

I work also for corporate clients such as Deloitte, CBRE, DWS, Deutsche Bank, London BID teams, The City of London Corporation and the Guards Museum.

Please contact me for more details on:

david@thelondonspy.com

Prices for personal tours for small groups of up to 10 people (friends and families)

I charge from £300 for a private tour of up to 2 hours

Between 2 and 4 hours (a half day) the price is from £450

Between 4 and 8 hours (a full day) the price is from £800

The price may vary depending on the type of tour and specifics.

The cost does not include tickets for entry to attractions, your travel and food.

For Corporate rates please ask.

Here is a list of some of my tours:

City of London

Heroes and Villains of the City – The Heroes and Villains tour starts in Leadenhall Market, and takes in Livery Companies, murderers, Dick Whittington, treacherous geese, Puritans, Monarchy, the Great Fire, Coffee Houses, Bank Vaults, the Samaritans and Roman remains.

Roman London Wall – London’s most ancient boundary marker defining the “Square Mile” dating back to around 200 AD, this is the extent of original Londinium. It can still be visited in many surprising places, including building basements, a car park, museum, underground stations and medieval churches.  Experience the might of the Romans in this far flung rainy outpost of the Empire.

Thameside tour – walk along the north side of the Thames from the Millennium Bridge towards London Bridge and hear the amazing story of the River that created London

Dickens tour – the evocative story of the man who invented Christmas and knew London like no one ever has

Rooftop Romance – an evening tour of the rooftop bars of City of London hotels – starting at Aldgate and ending by the Tower of London, see incredible views and ending with a magic show at the final bar.

Cheapside tour – Discover Medieval London’s Oxford Street, the centre of trade and business with stories of murder, poetry, Wren Churches, Queens and Norman Architecture

Ye Olde Pub tour – wander around historic hostelries, beauteous boozers and perfect pubs while learning about London’s relationship to alcohol, sin and vice as well as other amazing facts and places.

Harry Potter in the City and Southwark – City of Magic tour with iconic film locations

Fleet Street Stroll – the Street of Shame. Walking along the Strand and Fleet Street, covering 17th century churches, the Royal Courts of Justice and the heart of London’s journalism and print history along with historic pubs and churches, a James Bond film location, Sweeney Todd and WB Yeats 

Fleet Street Apocalypse (A Radiohead inspired tour) – based on a print of this historic street created by Stanley Donwood – the “fifth member” of the band, we walk along the locations used in the print with selected Radiohead tracks.

Wall to River- Aldgate to Tower

Roman City tour –

Join the London Spy for a time travelling tour back 1800 years to Roman Londinium – the City founded by the invading forces of the Emperor Claudius. See the Roman Wall itself up close in a surprising modern location. Observe the Roman London fort, built for Emperor Hadrian.  Visit the Amphitheatre and imagine the bloody deaths enacted there for public entertainment.  Follow the route of the subterranean River Walbrook where the first Roman building remains were discovered. Finally experience a Roman religious ceremony in the Temple of Mithras under the Bloomberg building.

Spooky City – a ghostly tour of the City of London – including “Scratching Fanny of Cock Lane”, executions, haunted churches, martyrs, Sherlock Holmes, spooky lifts, secret tunnels, murderers, horrific tortures and much more – can be adapted for child friendly content!

“Westward Ho!” – Guildhall to Blackfriars

Billingsgate Roman Bath House – a unique surviving private house with an astonishing extra bathhouse – almost 2,000 years old

Coffee Houses history tour

The juice that powered the Financial revolution in the City of London. First sold here in 1652, discover why it was called Hogo Sirreverence, how it shaped business and why Charles II tried to ban it, all the way to the noughties reinvention of the Coffee House.

Guildhall Art Gallery tour – London’s hidden gem, the least visited major London art Gallery, full of Pre-Raphaelite stunners, historic documents, a Roman Amphitheatre, the Lord Mayor’s Show, the Great Fire of London and much more

Leadenhall Market Tour – meet Tom, Dick and Harry Potter

Corruption and Lies tour – history of financial crime in the City

Moorgate meander – a tour from Finsbury Square along to the Guildhall, finding John Keats, Roman walls, Communist plots, spy sites, bungling medics, Gong farmers and powerful livery companies.

City of Westminster

Spies and Secrets – A tour of Spy Central in London – Westminster and St James’ – learn your own tradecraft, brush shoulders with Bond and real life traitors.

The tour route makes our way through the history of Espionage, mostly factual but with a nod to James Bond locations also, along with learning real Tradecraft.

Some personalities and events we meet include Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Ian Fleming, The Berlin Spy Tunnel, MI6, GCHQ and much more.

City Spies Book tour – based on the wonderful young person’s Spy series “City Spies” by James Ponti, discover the real life locations behind the stories, and some real magic too!

Life of Winston Churchill tour – Discover the legacy of “The Greatest Briton” as voted by BBC polls, follow his footsteps, hear his speeches, see his favourite locations.

Churchill War Rooms guided tour – Have a personalised tour of the most secret London location in WW2, where the war was won – see the Cabinet Room, the Map room and the secret “toilet” hiding the transatlantic hotline. Tickets to the rooms are extra for this tour.

Covent Garden – Opera, aristocracy, crime, thievery and illicit pleasures

VE Day tour – learn about this incredible moment in time when the nation rejoiced after 5 years of horror and celebrated victory over the Nazi threat in Europe.

Sculpture Wars – statues have been attacked for millennia, recent events are nothing new – a history of violence both political and surprisingly artistic.

Soho – Theatreland, the literary demi-monde and clashing cultural values

Royal Westminster tour

Harry Potter Magical Westminster tour with iconic film and book locations

Great Scotland Yard Hotel – the heart of Crime in the centre of Government

Victoria’s values – from Suffragettes to Slums, from MI6 to Monarchy 

National Gallery tour

Guards’ Museum tour

Bond Street – the Heart of Luxury

British Museum treasures tour

Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Fitzrovia – George Orwell, the Great Satan himself and banished revolutionary heroes.

Other London tours:

Kings Cross – stunning new developments against industrial heritage

Hatton Garden – discover this wonderful street’s history – now synonymous with jewellery but previously Fagin’s lair, a medieval church survivor, a Tudor charmer, the original River Fleet and the story of Bleeding Heart Yard amongst so much more.

Clerkenwell – a centre for protest and revolt, an ancient Order of St John and cutting edge modern architecture

Paddington – Brunel’s greatest station, the home of Paddington Bear, amazing bridges, SOE spies and much more

I also often provide volunteer tours at the Guildhall Art Gallery and for the Friends of City Churches Watcher scheme.