The South Bank: A Story of Pubs, Prisons, Prostitutes & Shakespeare's Plays

The South Bank: A Story of Pubs, Prisons, Prostitutes and Shakespeare's Plays

Welcome, I'm Justin. But some friendly advice! If you just want to take pretty pictures to put on social media (and don't really like walking much), I am the wrong tour guide for you! My tours attract people who like ideas, history and books. If that is not what interests you, book another tour :)

I have 4 walking tours on GuruWalk: 1) The City (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon pm), 2) Soho (Sun/Mon am) 3) Covent Garden (Fri am) and 4) the South Bank (Sat am), which together have a total of around 500 reviews averaging 5 stars (the highest on GuruWalk).

My South Bank tour is especially liked by those interested in history and literature

The South Bank of the Thames at Southwark is one of the oldest parts of London. The wealthy and powerful traditionally lived and worked north of the Thames in the "City of London" and pushed the theatre, entertainers and lower classes across London Bridge into Southwark.

The area is fascinating and associated with the birth of English theatre. It is also the oldest part of London south of the river. Apart from Southwark Cathedral, it does not have big, impressive buildings like Westminster but it has so many different stories to tell!


Highlights of the tour include: 

• The George Inn: Ancient galleried pub reputed to have staged Shakespeare's plays
• Crossbones Graveyard: Home to 15,000 bodies of paupers and prostitutes
• Borough Market: London's foodie mecca
• Southwark Cathedral: Rich in American associations, from the founder of Harvard University to a governor of England's first successful colony in North America, Virginia
• The Clink Prison: Used to imprison religious dissenters, the forerunners of America's Pilgrim Fathers
• The Golden Hind: The ship that opened the door to the English colonisation of America
• The Globe Theatre: Plays were popular entertainment in the late 1500s and early 1600s. Shakespeare was not high culture, but a fun night out for the masses!