Review: Celebrity Walking Tour of Notting Hill

See trendy Notting Hill through the eyes of a celebrity watcher

Review by Vincent Alblas

Often when you visit a city you just wander around aimlessly, not knowing about the hidden facts behind certain buildings, or churches, or parks. The most exciting stuff could have happened there in the past, but you will never know about it, because no one took you by the hand and told you about the city’s secrets. Good for you that you can now take the Celebrity Tour of Notting Hill, which will reveal all the mysteries about this area’s famous people! Find out where Mick Jagger used to rock in his early years, in which house Robbie Williams had pillow fights, and where Kate Moss and Johnny Depp took a bath in £40.000 worth of champagne.

Personal experience

The tour starts in Portobello Road in the hip trendy area of Notting Hill. The meeting point, Notting Hill’s oldest pub named The Sun in Splendour, is located only a few minutes walking from tube station Notting Hill Gate. Our guide David waited for us at the pub’s entrance. At 2.30pm we started walking and experiencing Notting Hill.

Personally I had never been in this area before, so I had no idea what to expect. Also, I always thought I wasn’t really interested in all this celebrity stuff, with their big polluting racecars and rat-like dogs that fit in their handbags. The main feeling I had before going on this tour was that I would enjoy seeing an unknown part of London, but that the facts about all the glamorous folks would bore me to death. I was wrong.

You know, I did enjoy seeing a new part of London; watching the lively Portobello Road, the aristocratic mansions from past centuries, and such things. But I have to admit that the longer we walked, the more interesting the facts got, even for me. We were shown where George Orwell wrote masterpieces like ‘1984’ and ‘Animal Farm’.

We visited the tourist shop that in better years used to be the rock society where Jeff Beck (I love his song Nadia), Jimmy Page and Mick Jagger performed in their early days. We saw the former hotel where Jimi Hendrix overdosed, the house where Richard Branson founded his multi-billion dollar Virgin empire, and the recording studio where Radiohead made their masterpiece OK Computer. And of course, but that goes without saying, we saw the real Travel Book Shop from the film ‘Notting Hill’.

But let’s not turn the tour into something holy, because (and I’m sorry to say) not everything on the tour was great. For instance it didn’t take the promised 2,5 hours, but only 1,5 hours. Furthermore, the guide seemed to be in a hurry, and he could have told more during the actual walk, and not only when we stood still. But besides these critical remarks, I think going on a tour like this gives you a better feeling of what you actually see. It’s always good to observe a city through a different lens!

Directions

From the Generator you walk to King’s Cross / St Pancras tube station. Take the circle line (westbound) and get off at Notting Hill Gate. From there it’s a two minute walk to The Sun in Splendour at 7 Portobello Road.

Hot tip

Go visit Portobello Road after walking tour. Now that you’re in the area, you might as well stick around to drink something on a terrace, buy some new shoes, send a postcard to your parents, or whatever it is you like to do.

More info

Price: £10,- per person.

Tour departs daily at 2.30pm (except Mondays)

Duration: 2.5 hours (approx.)

Meeting point: The Sun in Splendour, 7 Portobello Road, London

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