Review: Royal London Free Tour

Introduction

Review by Willem van Westbroek

The Royal London Free tour is a great choice if you are new to London and don’t know where anything is, personally I had just arrived a few days before and had no clue where to go.

This tour will give you the chance to see some of the famous places which London has to offer and hear about its accompanying history, even if you are not into the back story you can always enjoy the charismatic scenery which London has to offer. So if you want to hear more about the tour where you can see such unique locations as Buckingham Palace, the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, then keep on reading!

Personal experience

The tour from the Generator Hostel starts at the reception; I recommend joining here if you are new to London as the Tube system may be tricky to tackle by yourself.

Our highly energetic tour guide named Ed took us to the actual start of the tour which is at the Wellington Arch right besides Green Park. After waiting for about 15 minutes at the Arch and being divided into groups (There were around 150-200 people at the Arch) the tour officially starts.

Once the tour starts the group walks underneath the Wellington Arch while hearing about its similarities to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, afterwards you are thrown right into one of the most famous things which London is known for, the Changing of the Guard. You may have some trouble getting up close to this event which takes place every other day, because of the massive amount of tourists that come to see this. If you want to see Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard then I would recommend getting there quite a bit before 11 AM.

After visiting Buckingham Palace and hearing about the Queens endeavors you are taken past the official residence of Prince Charles which is Clarence House, here the women are given the opportunity to throw themselves at the young princes while the men can hear of the escapades of Prince Charles.

Next you will walk past Churchill’s War Cabinet Bunker and the Horseguards you end up at the first square, this being Trafalgar Square, and interesting place which is close to the exact center of London. This square also is the scene of many of England’s victory parades regarding the sports world. This is a pretty cool area as there is a place here where people can spend time on top one of the pillars and do whatever they want, in my case I saw a woman protesting to prevent the greenhouse effect.

Following we made our way to our last stop which is Westminster Abbey, with a lot of history of betrayal and violence this was of course one of the more intriguing stories of the day along with some visual aid of old English interrogation styles.

Personally I usually don’t go visit any of the tourist attractions in any large cities and if you are anything like me I am sure you will like this tour because they keep it fresh and funny, instead of going into the boring details your tour guide will tell you about the fun facts of what happened there, mind you that you don’t enter any of the buildings, which was fine for me as the exteriors are always impressive nonetheless.

Directions

Easy! Just find your way to the Generator Hostels reception at 10:15 AM or 3:15 PM, if you do however wish to go to the Wellington Arch yourself and join up with the rest of the tour this will be a fun option as well. Simply take EXIT 2 when leaving Hyde Park Corner station.

Hot tip

After the tour be sure to check out the sleek and stylish bar Verve in the heart of the West End, the free tour will be able to get you 25% off of your whole order! This is a great place to unwind after a long walk; their bar serves as a trendy place to hang out both for lunch or at night for drinks. Your tour guide will most likely suggest this and give you the option to follow him.

More Info

Price: Free!

Tour departs at 11 AM and 4 PM every day,

Duration: 2.5 hours

Meeting point: Generator Hostels reception, or find your way to the Wellington Arch

Also check out our FREE walking tour page

London reviews.