An Urban Adventure tour of London

A typical London bus in front of the historic St James's Palace. Photo: Anouk van den Eijnde

Living in London I often feel as though I'm missing out on the dazzling spectrum of cultural activities on offer, from historic monuments to fascinating museums and west end plays. So when I heard about the Urban Adventure tours, I jumped at the opportunity to do a guided tour of London and see it from a different perspective.

An Urban Adventure is a different kind of 'off the beaten track' city tour offering people a truly local experience. I opted for the'War Rooms and Tea Rooms' tour for a good dose of London's history and heritage.

Our group of Aussies, Indians and Londoners met up by the statue on Piccadilly Circus, an area that is so busy and touristy I usually avoid it like the plague. But as our guide Padraig led us along the side streets, I quickly realized why this area is as popular as it is. This is Old London at its best.

Prince Harry and William's favourite shirt shop on Jermyn Street. Photo: Anouk van den EijndeAs we wandered down Jermyn Street, we stopped off at many legendary venues I'd never seen before including male grooming shop Geo. F. Trumper, recognised as the finest gentleman's barber in London and Turnbull & Asser which have provided shirts to Princes and James Bond since 1885. On St James's Square we visited the wonderful London Library, the world's largest independent lending library with a million books to browse and (unlike academic libraries) available to take home. Our guide brought us back in time by showing us the last remaining wall of St James's Theatre on King Street, a celebrated theatre (established in 1835) that was interestingly once managed by Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivian Leigh before it was sadly demolished in 1957. We also took a peak at one of London's oldest palaces (pictured in the first image), St James's Palace, the household office of Prince Harry and William and in my eyes more attractive than Buckingham Palace.

Our guide by the old clock and record player in Fortnum and Mason. Photo: Anouk van den EijndeReady for a sweet treat, we headed to Fortnum & Mason, a quintissentially English store selling impeccably presented fine food, hampers, teas and wine. Again our guide revealed a hidden gem. Along with a shop The indulgent treats at Fortnum & Mason. Photo: Anouk van den Eijndeassistant he seemed to know, he led us to an old clock on the ground floor that opened up to reveal the oldest record player I've ever seen - and it still works! We then crossed the street to enter the lovely courtyard (with fountains and sculptures) of the Royal Academy of the Arts, where our guide gave us some insight about the history of the museum.

A short cab ride later, amidst all the tourists we arrived at Buckingham Palace, and although we missed the changing of the guards, we did see the guards marching very officially. I enjoyed our guide's historic tales, particularly the one about someone paragliding into the royal palace and that the surrounding St James's Park used to be hunting grounds and even had crocodiles and pelicans. On our way to Westminster Abbey, we passed 10 Downing Street, the Churchill War Rooms and an amazing monument for the Bali bombings with 202 doves representing all the people who lost their lives.

Our group near Buckingham Palace. Photo: Anouk van den EijndeAfter a lot of walking, the tour came to a close in the inner courtyard of the stunning Westminster Abbey where we sat down, grabbed a well-deserved cup of tea and were lucky enough to enjoy a brass band performing (there are free mid week lunchtime concerts in Westminster Abbey's College Garden). Though I felt slightly rushed from one site to another, our guide made up for it by being very insightful and having plenty of amusing anecdotes you couldn't read about in any guide I know of. Londoner or no londoner, this tour opened up my eyes to all the stories behind the monuments and really made the city come alive.

For more information on more locally guided tours of European cities, see: Urban Adventures.