Private City & Secrets: Explore London's Hidden Gems on a Sunday

Here is the starting point

Roupell Street

• Explore Roupell Street, a fascinating glimpse into 1820s London, with its charming Georgian houses built for the working class. John Roupel reclaimed marshy land and named the streets after his family. Postmen's confusion led to name changes. The area almost burned down in 1829, prompting fire insurance reminders. Notice plaques on houses – without one, private firefighters would let your house burn. Despite WWII bombings, these streets remain.
• Visit The King's Arms, a Grade II Victorian Pub, offering 10 real ales, including local brews. Once an undertaker's and magistrates' court, it now serves top-notch Thai cuisine.

Blackfriars Bridge

Visit the brigde which was opened 1in 869 by Queen Victoria. It is named after the Dominican Friars who had their monastery at the north end of the bridge. The tops of the support columns are shaped like pulpits in its memory.

The Cockpit

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral, an emblematic London landmark, held Prince Charles and Lady Diana's wedding and Winston Churchill's funeral. Wellington and Nelson also lay here. With a rich history dating back to 604 AD, old St. Paul's was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, 1666. Christopher Wren rebuilt it, symbolising resilience. Despite WWII bombings, St. Paul's stands tall as an emblem of survival.

St. Mary Le Bow Church

Discover the church, whose bells are the most famous in London, where if you are born within the sound of Bow bells, you are true a Cockney Londoner.

Guildhall

Delve into Medieval London, and the town hall of the City of London and hear stories of the weird, archaic traditions, which have been unchanged since middle ages.

The Mansion House, City of London

Uncover the history of the highest point in the City of London, which has been of importance since Roman Times. Where you will learn about Mansion House (the home of the Lord Mayor of London) and the Bank of England.

Leadenhall Market

Visit the Victorian market, designed by Sir Horace Jones which in Roman times was the location of the Forum and Basilica. Here you'll uncover the Harry Potter Locations of Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron.

Lloyds of London

Discover and be immersed in the diverse architecture at the heart of the City of London. See the architectural masterpiece of Richard Roger's Lloyds of London Skyscraper, surrounded by its neighbours the Cheesegrater and the Gherkin in contrast to St Andrew Undershaft, a pre 1666 fire church, built when Henry VIII was king (1517).

London Wall

Discover one of the oldest parts of London and see the Roman wall of London, of which part was built by Romans around 200AD.

Cable Street Mural

Visit the mural completed in 1983 in one of London's most diverse, multicultural areas. It depicts the battle between fascists and protesters in 1936, when the area was a predominantly Jewish area.

Shadwell Basin

Explore one of London's original docks, in an area that has been regenerated since the 1980s, and learn about the history of what was 100 years ago, the busiest docks in the world.

The Prospect of Whitby

Experience a pint in

Tobacco Dock

St Katharine Docks

Explore the last of London's Docks to be built in 1825 and the first to close down in the 1960s. The area was the site of the the hospital St Katherine's by the Tower founded in 1147 by Queen Matilda.

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge, an iconic symbol of London, is a combined bascule and suspension bridge that spans the River Thames. Completed in 1894, it was designed by Sir Horace Jones and engineered by Sir John Wolfe Barry. The bridge features two neo-Gothic towers connected by a central walkway and has become a major tourist attraction. The Tower Bridge Exhibition, housed within the towers, offers visitors a chance to learn about the bridge's history and enjoy panoramic views of the city from the glass-floored walkway. The bascules are raised around 800 times a year to allow tall ships to pass through, providing a spectacular sight for onlookers.

Tower of London

Discover the Tower of London, an iconic historical site built by William the Conqueror shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Once a royal palace, menagerie, observatory, and armoury, it is most famous as a state prison and execution site. Entering through Traitors Gate often meant a grim fate. Notable figures like William Wallace, Thomas More, Henry VI, and Edward V met their demise here, as did Henry VIII's wives Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Today, the Tower houses the magnificent Crown Jewels, a must-see for any visitor.

HMS Belfast

Take in the grandeur of the World War II Cruiser Class Destroyer ship, which was built in the same shipyard as the Titanic in Belfast. The ship protected convoys in WWII and the Korean War and was part of the D Day Landings on June 6th 1944. And today it is a floating museum, where you can see interiors which doubled as the Royal Yacht Britannia in Netflix's The Crown.

City Hall

View the former City Hall of London, designed by Norman Foster.

St. Dunstan In The East

Take a moment in a quiet space in the middle of the busting City of London. The original church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, but was rebuilt by Wren.

The Monument to the Great Fire of London

View the great monument to the Great Fire of London of 1666. Standing at 202 ft high, If laid on it’s side, the golden urn on top would land at Thomas Farriner’s bakery shop on Pudding Lane where fire started 2 Sep 1666.

Southwark Bridge

Witness Shakespeare's Globe from one of London's finest bridges. Experience the magic of Shakespeare's Globe, a 1997 reconstruction of the original 1599 venue. As home to The Lord Chamberlain's Men, it saw the debut of many Shakespearean classics.

Tate Modern

Tate Modern, the world's most-visited modern art gallery, opened in 2000 after transforming a 1950s Bankside Power Station. Its twisted brick pyramid, a 2016 extension, features a 10th-floor viewing gallery. The impressive turbine hall hosts changing, monumental commissions. A masterpiece itself, the building is worth visiting even for non-art lovers. Admire works by renowned 20th/21st-century artists, from Mondrian and Richter to Rothko and Picasso.