Private Walking Tour · London · Two Historic Pub Tours · Free Drinks Included
London Historic Pub Tours
Two very different tours — both private, both with free drinks included, both utterly unlike anything else in London
Where Stalin met Lenin. Where Queen Elizabeth I danced around a cherry tree. Where Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Arthur Conan Doyle drank. Where the Krays committed murder. Where Jack the Ripper’s victims had their last drink. Two private pub tours — one grand literary and legal crawl through the City, one dark and notorious journey through the East End. Both include a free drink in each pub.
Tour 1 — The Historic Pub TourEast End to Fleet Street · 5 hours · 11am · from £190pp
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Tour 2 — Jack the Ripper & The KraysWhitechapel East End · 4 hours · 11am · from £140pp
Tour 1 of 2
The Historic Pub Tour — Royalty, Writers & Revolutionaries
Unlike our imitators, this London Historic Pub Tour is entirely private and includes a free drink in each pub — a wide range of traditional ales, beers and soft drinks are available at every stop. From the fringes of the East End we walk through Smithfield, Clerkenwell and Farringdon before visiting truly historic pubs in Holborn and Lincoln’s Inn Fields and squeezing in one in the City itself. We visit several dozen pubs along the route — some we drink in, some we simply stop outside at. The choice is always yours.
📋 Please note: On very rare occasions, due to circumstances beyond our control, one or more of the specific pubs visited may differ slightly from those advertised. Any substitution will always be of equal historical interest and character — the quality and the stories are guaranteed.
The Viaduct Tavern — or The Rising Sun
The Viaduct Tavern is built on the site of a former jail and five of the original cells are still visible in the basement — one of the most remarkable interiors in London. Alternatively we sometimes visit The Rising Sun, a one-time notorious bodysnatchers’ pub. Either way, drink up quickly.
The Crown Tavern, Clerkenwell Green — Lenin’s favourite boozer
The lounge of this pub was once a noted music hall — perhaps what made it Lenin’s favourite drinking spot. In 1905 he met with comrade Stalin here in a room upstairs. You may well have seen this pub on television or in a film.
Ye Olde Mitre — the hardest pub to find in London
Built in 1546 for the servants of the Bishops of Ely, Ye Olde Mitre is famous for a cherry tree around which Queen Elizabeth I danced with Sir Christopher Hatton. The pub was technically part of Cambridge — its licensees had to travel there for their licence. It stands near where William Wallace was hung, drawn and quartered at Smithfield.
Cittie of Yorke — or The Seven Stars
The Cittie of Yorke has been likened to a cathedral inside and is a magnificent legal pub. Alternatively we visit The Seven Stars — dating from around 1602, it backs onto the law courts and was once a legal wig shop. Its walls are adorned with caricatures of barristers and judges, and it still retains its original shopfront with a display of wigs in the window.
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese — the unmissable finale
Hidden away near Fleet Street, the sign proudly declares it was rebuilt in 1667 — following the Great Fire of London. The subterranean levels could be considerably older. Known as the regular drinking spot of Charles Dickens, Dr Johnson, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Alfred Tennyson and P.G. Wodehouse — no London pub tour worth its name can omit a visit here.
Tour 1 Pricing — 5 Hours · Drinks Included
Departure 11am (later times available). One drink per pub included. Excludes tube travel.
Alternatively you can book by using the automated booking process with Viator below.
Tour 2 of 2
Jack the Ripper & The Krays Pub Tour — Notorious East End
This London pub tour with a difference takes us through the heart of Whitechapel in the once-notorious East End — visiting pubs where some of the most infamous and tragic events in the history of London took place. All very different in style and setting, and very much real pubs rather than tourist traps — an authentic East End experience is all but guaranteed.
📋 Please note: On very rare occasions, due to circumstances beyond our control, one or more of the specific pubs visited may differ slightly from those advertised. Any substitution will always be of equal historical interest and character — the quality and the stories are guaranteed.
The Blind Beggar — an East End institution
An East End institution — the Blind Beggar is where perhaps the most infamous Krays killing took place. Just down the road from the Siege of Sidney Street, and more happily the founding of the Salvation Army. Have a drink if you dare.
The White Hart — where the Ripper may have drunk
Standing on Whitechapel High Street, not much has changed since 1888 when it is thought Jack the Ripper himself may have enjoyed a tipple here. What cannot be disputed is that a terrible murder happened just a hundred yards down the lane alongside it.
The Ten Bells — perhaps the most notorious pub in the world
The most notorious pub in the East End — if not the world. Jack the Ripper frequently visited here, along with several if not all of his victims. If that doesn’t call for a stiff drink, nothing does.
Dirty Dick’s — not cleaned for 200 years
This infamous East End pub wasn’t cleaned for 200 years, with dead cats and dogs on the floor — and there’s a very good and rather tragic reason for it that you’ll learn on the tour. It finally had a thoroughly good clean in the latter part of the 20th century, right opposite Liverpool Street Station, and has scrubbed up very nicely indeed.
Tour 2 Pricing — 4 Hours · Drinks Included
Departure 11am (later times available). One drink per pub included. Excludes tube travel.
