5 Unique London Day Tours to See the City in a Different Light

The typical hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus is a great way to spend the day on your first trip to London. You can get your bearings and tick off some of the famous sights you feel you can’t miss. But London’s size also means that there is so much dwelling beneath that tourist-friendly surface. As Samuel Johnson rightly said, “He who is tired of London is tired of life,” and you could spend years in the British capital and still never run out of new things to see and do. These unique London day tours can show you another angle on the city. Below is my no-holds-barred assessment of which London day tours are really worth the cost.

Literary Pub Crawl

The cultural dominance of London and the British Empire makes the city a natural for literature-themed pub tours. A local actor in character as Charles Dickens or Virginia Woolf guides you around Fitzrovia and Soho over the course of three hours, pointing out pubs famous authors and poets frequented. You won’t drink at every pub. The tour I took many years ago stopped for drinks at just two sites (the Marquis of Granby and Soho Theatre). You can always arrive a little early or stay a little late to have a tipple at your start and end points. The script for this tour is so corny, and perhaps unsurprisingly, is mostly just about Dylan Thomas. Personally, I don’t think I would take this specific tour again and would instead opt for a DIY pub crawl.

The best London day tours are passion projects, where the guides are deeply connected to the material. Literary pub crawls are often operated by larger companies with routine scripts.

Liar Liar

The exception to that passion project rule may be Fun London Tours. This company is very professional, but when I met up with a group of London-based travel bloggers for a walking tour, our guide Matt was perfectly personable. Of course, a lot of that owes to the totally unique set up of Fun London’s Liar Liar quiz tour. As we explored the Square Mile, at each stop Matt would tell us three facts or stories about the site. Two would be true, but one would be a lie. Split into three teams, we competed to guess which was the lie. The Gherkin, Leadenhall Markets, and the original starting point of London Bridge all featured on our route.

The more, the merrier here! This tour’s interactive take on London’s history and architecture is made for large groups, like traveling families or girls’ getaways. But solo travelers might find it a fun icebreaker for meeting fellow travelers.

Disclaimer: I received a discounted ticket for this tour as part of a group of bloggers. Big thanks to Pinay Flying High for organizing our meetup! All opinions are naturally my own, and I would happily pay full price for this tour (or another from the same company) on a future visit.

Shoreditch Street Art

Alternative London operates a variety of walking tours and workshops in the Shoreditch area. My semi-impulsive booking scored me a spot on their two-hour walking tour ending at Moniker Art Fair, a commercial art market. We explored the rapidly developing neighborhoods of east London and spotted works by Jonesy, Lily Mixe, and Citizen Kane.

Personally, I was not wildly impressed with this tour. The guide mostly just used it as a soapbox for his political views. Politics will always have an important place in street art… but there’s a lot of interesting art to discuss too. My guide, a documentary filmmaker rather than a street artist himself, had a rather narrow view of “real art” and I think we missed out on a lot of interesting pieces as a result. I would recommend anyone interested book far enough in advance to get a spot at the combined tour and workshop. Having the extra engagement of learning to work with spray paint and stencils would be more worthwhile, as the tour does not stand as well on its own.

Soho Murder Mile

Unfortunately, this is no longer available as a guided tour, which is a shame because Michael was easily one of the best tour guides I’ve ever had. But, you can DIY your own true crime tour with the Murder Mile podcast.

It is packed with painstakingly researched stories and infectious energy. Within a single mile of ground in Soho, you can hear the sorry tales of a dozen murderers with over 70 victims.

Jack the Ripper fans: don’t get your hopes up. London’s most legendary killer operated in Whitechapel, not Soho, and was heavily exaggerated by tabloid press. What you will hear about are stories with more hard evidence behind them from 19th century madman William Crees to the infamous 1980s serial killer Dennis Nilsen.

Gin Distilleries & Events

London is the true homeland of gin and offers plenty of ways for you to get a guided introduction to the spirit.

The now defunct Graphic Bar in Soho used to host a monthly Gin Social. The bar would welcome a label to pour for a small group of guests with tickets including a guided tasting and two cocktails. Since that bar is now closed, I sadly can’t recommend this event anymore, but I will say I’m deeply intrigued by the Gin Safari at the Phileas Fogg inspired Gin Parlour in Covent Garden.

You can also book a tour of one of the gin distilleries in London. The old-school copper tanks at Sipsmith Distillery, located in Chiswick, and its matching bar are as Instagrammable as it gets. Sipsmith tours fill up fast — you may need to book as much as a month in advance. Groups are very large, making it a little difficult to follow the guide. But you get a unique glimpse into how gin is produced and a guided tasting which includes Sipsmith’s craft vodka, dry gin, sloe gin, and a gin & tonic. They also send guests away with a little parting gift.

London Day Tours I Think You Should Skip

Hands down, two of the most sought-after London day tours must be Jack the Ripper-themed walks and Beatles-themed walks. I think you should say no to both.

Jack the Ripper is more myth than man. We all love a good story, of course, but I was completely underwhelmed by the Ripper-themed tour I took. The guide had very poor skills, not projecting his voice enough, stopping the group by noisy construction sites, etc. He also tended to stop the group far from the sites we were actually discussing, which hurt the connection we could feel to the stories. Walk the Soho Murder Mile instead.

As for the Beatles, there are multiple tours run by many companies. I’ve heard of many bad experiences with rude guides, so these are likely hit or miss day tours. If you love the Fab Four, DIY your own pilgrimage or head up to Liverpool and focus on the sights there.