Old Westminster Walking Tour

(118 customer reviews )

St James' Park Tube the Broadway/Westminster Abbey exit opposite the Conrad Hotel

Guided by Ann or David or David T. or Isobel or Judy or Karen or Oliver or Shaughan or Simon

Adult: £20 · Students & Seniors: £15 · Children: £5

Walk Times

Day Walk Type Start Time End Time
Tuesday Weekly 2 pm 4 pm Winter Summer Reserve Online
Thursday Weekly 2 pm 4 pm Winter Summer Reserve Online
Saturday Weekly 11 am 1 pm Winter Summer Reserve Online

N.B. this walk will not take place on the following dates:

25-12-2025

NB The meeting point is at the Exit of the Tube station opposite the Conrad Hotel

The seminal London Walk. Miss it and you’ve missed London ( NB this walk is all outside it does not go inside any buildings).

Long read: 1,000 Years of History…


Old Westminster is London at its grandest: the place where kings and queens are crowned, where they lived, and often were buried.

It’s the forge of the national destiny, the place where the heart of the Empire beat, the Mecca of politicians throughout the ages. The past here is cast in stone and we take it all in: ancient Westminster Hall, the Houses of Parliament, the Jewel Tower, Westminster Abbey, etc.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING

Don’t just take it from us…

And to see it with a great guide (Karen, for example, winner of the Guide of the Year Award, Travel & Leisure’s “World’s Greatest Guide,” Presenter of Discovery TV’s London Next Stop) is to have that past suddenly rise to the surface, like seeing a photographic print come up in a darkroom. You can hear Karen here – it’s a recent interview.

It doesn’t get any better than this. Embarras de richesse, we’ll also explore the private face of Westminster – the London equivalent of Georgetown.

Unlike the tourist hordes who never find them, we get to see the hidden and ever so picturesque Georgian back streets where all the political salons are! We end very near the Cabinet War Rooms, the fortified bunker that housed Winston Churchill’s centre of operations during the war. N.B. So, yes, the walk ends very near Parliament Square, just a stone’s throw from Westminster Tube.  Want a preview of the walk? Click here to watch the video.

OLD WESTMINSTER – THE PRACTICALS

Old Westminster takes place Tuesday at 2 pm, Thursday at 2 pm, and Saturday at 11 am.

The meeting point is just outside  St James’ Park tube Station, the Broadway/Westminster Abbey opposite the Conrad Hotel

The Tuesday at 2 pm walk is guided by actor Oliver (the David Niven of London Walks) or Guide of the Year Award-winning Judy or Isobel (Isobel’s another award-winning Blue Badge guide).  It’s Shaughan or David at the helm on the Thursdays at 2 pm walk. The Saturdays at 11 am walk is guided by Karen, recently crowned by Travel & Leisure as “the world’s greatest guide. You can hear Karen here, in this recent interview.

THE WEATHER – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

“In four decades of guiding I’ve never once taken an umbrella;* it doesn’t rain on my walks” – David, the Seigneur of this favoured realm [London Walks].

London Weather Facts: Jerusalem, Gibraltar, Rome, Rhodes, etc. all get more rainfall than London. Precipitation-wise, London is one of the driest cities on earth.

You want a European city that does get (just slightly) less rain than London, Sevilla’s your ciudad. The line on Sevilla and rain is: “rainfall in Sevilla isn’t abundant and it’s concentrated;” by the same token the line on London and the wet stuff should be “rainfall in London isn’t abundant and it isn’t concentrated.” 

Bottom line: Don’t let the rain bogeyman call the shots. Send him packing. He’s all hat and no cattle, as they say in Texas.

Ok, we get the occasional mizzle but it’s easily seen off. A brolly – which I (David) refuse to carry – does the trick every time. And as long as you’re at it, always allow for the lost in translation factor: on the other side of the Atlantic the word ‘rain’ = rain; over here the word ‘rain’ = damp; or a mizzle.**

For a deep draught of the subject, try this richly satisfying (and eye-opening) podcast – https://www.walks.com/podcast/london-weather/

Cue tag team London Walks moment: “I divorced weather forecasts five years ago. It’s like being unchained from a lunatic. You might as well look at a horoscope as pay any heed to UK weather forecasts” (London Walks guide, Adam, Visit England Superstar Finalist 2022).

*Historically, the British public regarded the idea of not getting soaked when it’s pissing it down as ‘too French’, with accounts saying we called people a ‘mincing Frenchman’ if they were caught using an umbrella.

**A mizzle does not pleasure and pain make, let alone a downpour [‘pleasure and pain’ is Cockney rhyming slang for ‘rain’]

LONDON WALKS REVIEWS

“Best Tourism Experience in London”  Gold Medal Winner, Visit London

“The best walks are conducted by London Walks”   Toronto Globe & Mail

“The best walking tours are organized by London Walks”   USA Today

“London Walks was acknowledged as the premier walking tour company in the entire world  American Tour Guides Convention

“The original and best – there are several companies offering walking tours of London but London Walks (London’s oldest) is easily the pick of the bunch”   London, Cadogan Guide

Want to find out more about wonderful Westminster? Check out our other Westminster tours.

LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS

If you can’t make one of the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, Old Westminster Walking Tour it can always be booked as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Old Westminster Walking Tour walk – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. Ring Fiona or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you. A private London Walk – they’re good value for an individual or couple and sensational value for a group – makes an ideal group or educational or birthday party or office (team-building) or club outing.

GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS

A private London Walk makes a fab gift – be it a birthday or anniversary or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.

LONDON WALKS – STREETS AHEAD!

Don’t just take it from us.

OTHER TOURS YOU MAY LIKE

118 reviews for Old Westminster Walking Tour

  1. Dan Casey

    Excellent walk today (8th March) with Simon. Really enjoyable, we saw a lot of special locations and he’s great to listen to. Thanks again Simon, I’ll try and get on some of your other walks as well.

  2. Kelsey

    Amazing walk by Simon! So much history to learn and engage with. Highly recommend!

  3. PAUL HAROLD REGELOUS

    Never disappointed with a London Walk! I took a relative along with me from Oz, whilst the weather was foul, we had a very interesting afternoon. Ann certainly lived up to the London Walk motto , Rain or Shine ! Always interested in the tiny little things that you would never think of. Thank you Ann. And we did finish off in The Two Chairman, for a bit of liquid refreshment after.

  4. Steve

    A fabulous walk, Ann was very knowledgable with great information & stories. Have visited this area of London for decades, so the highlight for me was seeing the back streets of Westminster & finding out more about their history.

  5. Harold Zijp

    Ann made us forget the chilly afternoon wind with her great stories about the old Westminster. It was a joy to be in her group.

  6. Mark Dobbins

    David was a perfect gentleman, an entertaining and thoughtful guide and a good listener when needed. Would definitely tour with him and our family again.

  7. Janice Render

    Please know that even in the cold today David gave us a lovely tour of the Westminster area. His comments and wealth of information of the area is amusing and interesting.

  8. Raquel R.

    Our walk with Ann through the major tourist sights was amazing. Two hours of quintessential London views, accurately curated by Ann. This tour was more of a wonderful discussion with a knowledgeable and fun friend. She provided answers to all of our question and even made a special minor diversion, tailoring our walk to us. Ann made this very interactive and would definitely book again with her!

  9. David Lees

    It was a really great walk and despite the persistent rain and cold, everyone was in good spirits throughout! Thank you Ann for such an interesting and informative talk and we learned such a lot about Westminster and its particular historical place in London. My two friends visiting from Bristol thought it was a fabulous tour, as indeed I did and would certainly recommend it to others!

  10. Diane Hastert

    We have a lovely time and learned a great deal. It was a pleasure/

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