Essential London Free Walking Tour: Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace in 2h

Everyone can find Big Ben. What most visitors miss is everything between the famous buildings.

I moved to London ten years ago and fell for its history and its culture almost immediately. Living here made me want to understand it properly, and for the last five years I've had the pleasure of telling this city's stories to visitors from all over the world.

That's the reason this tour exists. I learned this city the way you're about to: on foot, asking questions, getting the stories out of people who actually live here. So this isn't a list of dates read out in front of buildings. It's the version I'd give a friend who landed yesterday.

We meet on the steps of St Martin-in-the-Fields, two minutes from Charing Cross, and walk from Trafalgar Square to the gates of Buckingham Palace in around two hours.

You'll get the landmarks you came for. Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St James's Palace, Buckingham Palace. You'll also get the things nobody points out:
The smallest police station in Britain, hidden in plain sight in a square you'd normally cross in two minutes
The exact spot where England got rid of its king and briefly became a republic
Where Britain's most famous meal actually came from, and who really brought it here
An ordinary stretch of pavement where three things that changed daily life worldwide began
A genuinely unbelievable true story involving a zebra. No, really.
The pub near Parliament with a bell that drags MPs back to work mid-pint, and what that tells you about how this country is run
The real reason Britain drives on the left. It isn't the one most people think.
The man who broke into Buckingham Palace, got past everything, and ended up sitting on the edge of the Queen's bed

Changing of the Guard: On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays the route lines up with the ceremony and you'll catch part of it. I'll also explain what's actually happening when the Guard changes, because most people photograph it without understanding it, and I'll show you exactly where to stand if you want to come back and watch it properly. Worth saying plainly: the ceremony can be cancelled at short notice for reasons nobody controls, so I can't promise it. When it runs, you'll be in the right place.

The walk is mostly flat, on wide pavements and park paths, at an easy pace with plenty of stops for photos and questions. It is accessible for everyone, but if you haven't any concerns please message me. 

At the end you get the thing no ticketed attraction offers. Tell me what you're into and how long you're in town, and you'll get specific answers from someone who actually lives here. Where to eat near Westminster that isn't a chain with a Union Jack in the window. What's worth your time next. What to skip.

Free means free. Nothing upfront. At the end you decide what the tour was worth for you. I accept both cash or card.