¶ Walks Tours in London
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast . Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website , tracey Collins . In this podcast , tracey shares destination guides , travel tips and itinerary ideas , as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation .
Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages , from historic castles to beautiful islands , and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns .
Hi and welcome to episode 84 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast this week . I'm totally over the moon and really excited to be able to welcome guest Charlie Bennett .
Now Charlie is the Ground Operations Manager for Walks Turs in London and , as I'm sure you will know if you've listened to previous podcast episodes , I'm a huge fan of Walks Turs and I've been lucky to have been on lots of their tours in London and around the world and absolutely love them , which is why it is super exciting for me to have Charlie on the
podcast this week to share all about Walks Turs in London . The first thing I asked Charlie to do was to introduce herself and tell us a little about her background .
Of course . Thanks for having me , tracey . It's pleasure to be here and to talk about Walks and London and what we've got coming up for finish year . So a little bit about my background . I actually had the travel bug since a very , very young age .
My mum and dad would always say I've got ants in my pants because I could never keep still and I just wanted to go everywhere all the time . But I started very differently . I was actually a professional dancer for 18 years and I travelled on cruise ships around the world for 10 years .
So that kind of really got me into the whole love of travel and seeing new places and bringing places to life , and I did a lot of the shore excursions on board . So I got to see how everything was being guided and all these magnificent places that sometimes you completely forget about when you actually go to places .
But my body decided to give up at me back in 2014 and I needed a new venture . But I loved performing and I loved travels . I needed to try and combine the two for myself . So I ended up becoming a tour guide myself and I was leading groups of 40 around the British Isles on a small ship . Oh wow , which was fabulous .
We started down in Wales and we went all the way to Tresco and the Isles of Silly up to Dublin , northern Ireland , and then all around Scotland and it was wonderful and I did that for about three years . And then I got itchy feet again , which is very much like me , and I wanted to push myself a little bit further .
So I was offered the role of program services manager with the same company and I began hiring , training and supporting new tour guides and tour leaders on the tours that we had around the UK . I did that for about two years and then progressed even further and became country manager .
So I was then in charge of the whole operation of developing the tours , supporting program services managers in guide training and making sure the overall quality of the tours was up to the par that we wanted . Covid hit and then the company decided to move their office up to Glasgow , so for me was a little bit of a trek from the southeast all the way up .
So I found a new venture and started with walks in July 2022 , which was the best move I've ever made . I love working with this company . They really treat you as part of a family and that's what I love about it Everyone's always there from you , we're always sharing best practice , and it really is a fabulous company to work for .
That leads me into kind of interrupting a little bit there , charlie . But I love walks . I love working with walks as well , because I've been so lucky to have been on so many of the tours and I love working with everybody in the company because they are fantastic , so professional , so friendly , so knowledgeable .
So what is it that makes them so special for the people who are booking tours with walks ? I think one of the biggest things is our philosophy really .
You know , you see so many of the coach tours , bus tours , etc . But for us , you know , the one thing we always say is the best way to travel is to walk . You see everything , you get to meet people , you can hear stories , you can take your time looking at things . You find those hidden gems that you know you wouldn't see if you were just driving around .
And we do very carefully plan the itineraries that we put together . I think one big thing as well is we only do small groups , so we only ever have a maximum group size of 20 . We really try and make those extra special memories by giving an exclusive feel to our tours .
So we really try and give special access to as many of the most iconic sites as we can . So that could be Skip the Line , which is where we skip the public line , and we go in sort of round the back and get in a lot quicker before it gets too busy , beat the crowds .
So again , we go in at the same time , but we try and get to these , the areas before all the crowds hit . And of course , out of Hours Access is one of the highlights for a lot of our tours .
Oh yeah , totally Definitely vouch for that for a couple of very special tours that I've done in London .
Yeah , it definitely makes a difference when you can go in without the public there , without the crowds , and it makes the places come alive in my eyes .
Oh no , 100% , 100% , I have to say , and everybody is listening to this podcast , that's , listen to Episode 64 , the podcast where I talk about my favourite experiences in London last year in June .
We'll know just how much I love the ceremony of the keys and I know we're going to talk about that a little bit later and everybody who's been on that tour actually the feedback that I've had and I know that you get is it is so special Just having the Tower of London basically to yourself , a few other people , and having your own Newman water as well ,
which is amazing , just makes that fantastic and that's what that , in a nutshell , is just so special and walks can offer you that .
Yeah , yeah , and that's why what we try and do with a lot of our tours and we're very careful with the guides we choose as well .
So we do use a lot of blue badge licensed guides and they they've gone through a very rigorous training to become these guides and the majority of our tours are led by them , because they're not there to give a lecture and it's not a scripted tour .
You know they are educators , they are storytellers and they just want to share their passion with everyone that comes on the tours . So we really do carefully plan all the itinerary and the guides that we use , but it makes you guys stand out , because it is a very competitive industry , isn't it ? Oh , very much so .
I mean , at the moment we're we're running in over 14 cities and counting . We're still growing and we have with us over 600 guides across the globe . It's wonderful to see that , even after everything we've been through the last few years , everything is still growing and we are really , really hitting our feet .
That's great . So it's not only surviving , but it's thriving . You're thriving as well , which which actually kind of speaks for itself in terms of the quality of the tours that you guys offer , really . So should we talk about some of the most popular tours in London ?
Yes , definitely . Well , when I started back in 22 , we only had four tours . We were only running four tours in the city and it was it was me and the team that we needed to bring London back .
London needed to come back to life for walks and , with a lot of redevelopment over the winter of 2022 , we're now running with 11 tours in London , so we've done a big jump from not having a lot to now running our feet off .
But , yes , I mean , some of the most popular tours we have and I could recommend this to any first time that come to London as well is our full London in a day . It's a full tour . It is an eight hour tour , but you really do get to see the most iconic sites of London . So it starts at 9am with a skip the line entrance into Westminster Abbey .
You get about an hour and a half in the Abbey with Blue Badge Guide .
You then head up to see the most iconic building , buckingham Palace , which is only an exterior view , but you get to watch guard change happen , which happens four days a week , and then you're head down to the horse cars parade , where you'll see those the horsemen change over and then have lunch in Trafalgar Square .
And then my favorite part is you actually get to take a river cruise with city cruises up to the Tower of London , so you get to see more of the iconic sites as you're going up the river and then you finish with a an hour and a half tour in the Tower of London . So it's a good .
You do a good lot of walking , but for the first time in London it's one of the best ways to see the whole of London in one day . It really is .
It sounds excellent . I actually haven't done that one . I have done Paris in a day and I did Athens in a day as well , and I can vouch for the fact that it gives you a great taste for the main sites that everybody wants to see when you go . So you know Westminster Abbey , Buckingham Palace , you see the changing of the guard .
Going on a boat trip along the Thames is to say it's a fantastic way to see London from a different perspective , and then the Tower of London . So you really do kind of cram all those main things into that day .
So that's a great way for somebody to spend a short time in the capital or wanting to kind of hit all the main sites and kind of digest them in a day , Exactly .
Exactly , and you know , if that isn't what you want to do , if you wanted to focus on one . We have our amazing complete Tower with with River Cruise , which takes in the opening ceremony , which for me was when I first saw it kind of blew me away . I never even knew it happened .
So you know we go in before the crowds , so there's us , maybe two or two other tool groups as well , and it's just us stood while they actually take the keys and open the Tower of London . It's something quite amazing .
And then you get first access to the Crown Jewels before the crowds , which if you've been to the Tower of London and you've had to stand in the queues for the Crown Jewels , you know this is absolutely one of the most amazing experiences to have the special access to get in before the Crown Jewels .
Again , I can say 100% . I've done that to a couple of times as well . Love that , love the fact that you're in the Tower of London before anybody else . And also , I think , the last time Doug and I were the first two people to walk in to see the Crown Jewels and we went round that travel aid and looked at the Crown Jewels .
A number of times Now I've been the Crown , I've been the Tower of London loads of times , but you know what it was great without the crowds , busy , you know , just to be able to do it . Yeah , I've been able to . I'm going to go round and have another look at this . Massive , massive diamonds and gorgeous jewels . Yeah , and no queue .
And you know , when you , once everybody gets in the Tower of London , it just goes crazy busy .
And I think the nicest thing with this tour as well is , again , you've got your own blue badge guide . So , as much as sometimes we are restricted on , you know the areas blue badge guides can can guide in in the Tower .
They are the only people , apart from the Yoma Warders , that are allowed to , so you really do get a true insight and understanding of what the Tower was . You know it was a zoo at one point , which a lot of people don't know about , and the guides will really go into depth with these stories , which which will bring it to life for them . Oh yeah , 100% .
Another one that that I absolutely love is the Westminster Abbey and Diamond Jubilee Galleries . This one is one of my favorites , obviously . Her Majesty passed last , last year , the year before Gosh that's gone fast , isn't it ?
And the Diamond Jubilee Galleries were opened up after her death for public view and a lot of people don't know that they're actually there , but they're right at the very top of the West Wing of Westminster Abbey and with this tour the complete Westminster Abbey and Diamond Jubilee Galleries you get a full tour of Westminster Abbey and then you get a full 45
minutes to an hour upstairs in the galleries where you can find the wedding certificate of William and Kate , lots of all the clothing that the Queen used to wear , some of the models of the palace and the Abbey , of how they they were deemed back in the days , and it really is an exclusive visit . It's unbelievable .
Oh yeah , I did do that to last June as well and I loved it . I've never been up there . I didn't even know what was up there . We had the guide . She was explaining you know , lots of the different things that are up there . It was fascinating . It's like in Aladdin's cave up there . It really is .
So you know , if you plan to go to Westminster Abbey , do this tour and also go to the Jubilee Galleries , because it is such a special experience .
¶ Exclusive London Tours
And Churchill War rooms . If you're really into your World War II history , we really do recommend this tour . We take you on a walk around some of Churchill's hidden gems so we show you where he used to buy his his romper suit .
We take you where he buys his cigars and where he used to sort of hang out when he was younger , and it's a wonderful insight into his life and into how World War II really affected London and changed London . And you finish off with a tour inside the war rooms . Now , this hasn't got any special access , unfortunately .
The war rooms don't don't tend to do this . So you know we do get there at a decent time where we don't have to queue very long and we go in .
You get your audio guide inside , but our guide will also be there to help with any questions and to point you in the right directions , and it really is one of those tours that opens your eyes to things that maybe a lot of people don't know about Churchill and , of course , world War II .
I haven't done that one . I need to do that one . I think , Charlie , I think you do .
I think there's a few you need to do now .
Absolutely . I'm going to say one . I will mention that you haven't brought up yet , but you probably are about to , so I probably preempted you . It's the Westminster Abbey with the House of the Parliament , so it's a really interesting tour , that one .
We were absolutely fascinated because we'd seen the House of Commons , the House of Lords , on the TV , but actually standing in those rooms was quite incredible .
It is a lovely tour and it really it kind of it links two very , very iconic buildings in one area . People talk about Parliament Square and they think it's just Westminster Abbey , but there's so much more to it .
And having your license guide around Westminster Abbey and you get a lovely hour and a half in the Abbey , then you get taken into Parliament and we switch the guides over so you actually get a proper House of the Parliament tour guide and he or she will just bring Parliament to life .
But to see the areas of Parliament that you only see on TV , to stand there and actually really understand how things work and what everything means in there is it really is something quite magnificent .
Definitely , definitely , and I don't know if you're saving the best to last or my favorite to last .
I think I am the ceremony of the keys . Of course I haven't got to mention this one . This one is my absolute favorite tour that we have and it is a real exclusive for walks . Not many tour companies , in fact very few tour companies , are able to do this , but we have our ceremony of the keys , which is our after hours tour at the Tower of London .
It starts at 8.30 pm and the most amazing thing about it is there is not one other group from the public in the Tower of London which is I don't think you ever thought you would get . You're led by Yeoman Warden themselves .
So it could be a Yeoman Warden or it could be the Raven Master , which we've had on few occasions , but they will really take you around the exterior of the Tower of London . So you won't go into any of the towers , but they will give you a real insight into what life is like as a Yeoman Warden .
But what life is like living in the Tower of London , you get exclusive access into the chapel , which I know for you , Tracey , was a big , big highlight .
Huge , huge for me . I absolutely loved that . It was incredible , absolutely incredible . I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do that and also just having the stories from the Yeoman Wardens and telling us the history and so much more .
They said they could tell us , so much more than obviously they can when they do the free tours during the day , when there's so many people that they could actually answer our individual questions , point different things out to us . It was absolutely fantastic .
And the last tour that I did actually and I'm sure people will maybe have heard that there's a new kitten in the Tower of London Well , the new kitten belongs to him and he was telling us some stories about her and what she was getting up to , which was really cool , but it just felt so much more personal as well .
I've been in the Tower of London so many times , but I feel like I know some of the Yeoman Wardens really well now .
That's exactly it , and it's hard to imagine that this ceremony has been taking place for 700 years now , every single night without fail . And to be there and to witness this and to have your name put on a book to say that you were there to witness the ceremony of the keys is I mean , it's priceless . It really is , so 100% recommend this tour to anyone .
Absolutely , and I tell everybody about it because I just loved it . I'd go every night if I could . I'd like to aim to meet every Yeoman Warden that would be good .
That would be good . There you go . There's your bucket list of 2024 .
Absolutely Go meet every single one because they're just fascinating to talk to and they're all different . They all have a different perspective , they all come from the different backgrounds and it's just great and I know everyone because I've done the tour twice .
Now I've been really lucky to have done the tour twice and I know everybody that has done those tours have absolutely loved it .
Good , now , hopefully this will encourage more people to come and join these tours and really get that exclusive and unique experience that we offer .
Well , I hope so and I will be putting a link to all the tours and the show notes . So if you listen to this thinking , I want to get booked on and honestly , I would say the ceremony of the keys .
If you want to do the ceremony of the keys , go and check that link and get booked , because it is so popular and it is so exclusive and it's so VIP that everybody wants to do it .
Perfect . Well , one thing , a couple , that I do want to mention , tracy , and I know you're probably going to get onto it is we've got some amazing new experiences for 2024 . The first one being , which we're extremely proud of , is the brand new Harry Potter and Warner Studios tour .
It's been a while to get this and to get a partnership with Warner Studios , but we finally did it . And 2024 , we're running every single day from January the 20th .
You get an exclusive walking tour in London of some of the the most fantastic film locations and with an avid Potterguide , avid fanatic , and then you get a private coach out to the Warner studios where you'll get three hours to discover the experience itself , and then a coach will take you back into central London .
It's an incredible tour and with thrilled to be able to get this up for this year .
Oh , it sounds amazing . I know that one is going to be so popular . So many people want to go to Harry Potter studios , so this is a fantastic way to do it Get the studios and you also get the tour and the transportation so fantastic . So have you got any other new tours up your sleeve ?
Well , we have actually finally to say that we have just managed to get partnership with Royal Collection Trust , which includes Buckingham Palace . So for 24 we are launching a brand new Buckingham Palace tour . So the state rooms they're only open three months of the year .
However , we are going to be running from March , but we're going to be offering the Royal Muse whilst the state rooms are closed , so it'll be a little bit of a switch . So obviously , just be prepared when people are booking . But yeah , it's going to be a fabulous tour .
We're going to be running a morning and afternoon tour five days a week , so hopefully , fingers crossed this should be a really popular one this year as well .
Oh , brilliant . And is that launching in March for bookings ? It should be launching in March . Yes , ok , perfect . So we're looking at everybody . Keep an eye out for that one .
Keep an eye out for that one .
Excellent . So I'm just going to ask you one more question , because you've done a brilliant , brilliant job of explaining about walks and their amazing tours that they've got , but I always end the podcast , whoever I talk to , always end with the same question . So what is the one tip that you would share with somebody visiting London for the first time , charlie ?
Oh gosh , plan your days well , and the one tip I would give anybody is don't book any tours for hours after you land . We've had many , many people on tours that have contacted us saying our flight's delayed . We can't make the tour . Give yourself that first day to just relax , orientate yourself , get yourself settled and book those tours for the next day .
One , so you can enjoy them as much as the guides enjoying telling you all the stories . But two , it just eases you into the city . It's it's a busy city and it can be very overwhelming if you come straight in and rush out to do everything .
So just pace yourself , give yourself time and always book in advance , because high season we always seem to get full up quite quickly . So book yourself in advance and come and join us at walks in London Brilliant .
Thanks so much , Charlie , for coming on to the podcast this week . It's been great to chat to you . It's been an absolute pleasure .
Thank you for having me .
Thanks again to Charlie for this fantastic episode of the podcast . You can find links to book walks tours in the show notes for this episode , which are UKtravelplanningcom . Forward slash , episode 84 .
Next week in episode 85 , you can hear myself and Doug chat about our experiences of four of the walks tours that we've talked about in the last episode , which we absolutely loved . So do tune in next week for that kind of reflection of walk tours from our own personal experience . And that just leaves me to say , as always every week , happy UKtravelplanning .