Half an hour’s boat journey from central London and closely associated with Greenwich Mean Time and the Royal Observatory and a perfect outing with plenty of museums and palaces to visit. We visit the World Heritage Site where Henry VIII’s favourite palace once stood and that now has three architectural gems – Inigo Jones’s iconic Queen’s […]

The British Museum features some of history’s greatest treasures such as the Egyptian mummies. Many of the objects on display have been key to understanding world civilisations. With this tour  of the British Museum we will “travel” to Assyria, Egypt, Greece, Hadrian’s Wall and Suffolk and see some beautiful and fascinating objects such as the […]

The famous C18th architect Robert Adam was asked to glorify an early C17th country house off Hampstead Heath. The result is an elegant, neo-classical villa with all the attributes of “grand living” in the C18th. It is filled with outstanding pictures by famous artists such as Rembrandt and Vermeer and top class furniture, some formerly […]

After the Great Fire of London in 1666, the authorities turned to Sir Christopher Wren to build a new cathedral. His building became a landmark on the London skyline, and a symbol of British life. Now filled with stunning mosaics and monuments, it has hosted many important ceremonial events, including the wedding of Prince Charles […]

The house is a treasure trove filled with history related to the Duke of Wellington, and surprisingly even has pieces of Sèvres porcelain from Napoleon’s divorce gift to Joséphine!
 Wellington was not only a military hero, he was also a bit of a ‘Ladies’ man’ and we will learn more about that. The collection also includes the centre piece of […]

Exploring the highlights of the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries, our tour encompasses masterpieces from 300AD to 1600. These include the famous Becket Casket made in Limoges in the C12th, exquisite C15th hunting tapestries, a wax model made by Michelangelo illustrating his creative process, rare C16th Medici porcelain, and the da Vinci notebook showing his fascinating […]

This is a walk in the area called Bankside. Here we will see interesting new architecture such as Tate Modern’s Switch House contrasted with the Dickensian atmosphere along the Thames’ backstreet alleys. We will stop for a drink at a 17C former inn off Borough High Street. We will also check out the trendy Bermondsey […]

Join me for a weekend afternoon tour of the V&A.  We will travel across the far corners of the building covering many continents and centuries discovering huge silver lions, bear and boar hunts depicted in tapestries, costumes from the musical Lion King and – probably the two most loved pieces in the museum: The Great Bed of Ware and Tippoo’s Tiger. We […]

The Mayfair and St James’s area is full of history going back to the time when Charles I made St James’s Palace his primary residence and the glamorous court and fashionable people followed him. During the reign of the fun-loving Charles II many exclusive shops were established. Some shops in St James’s Street, such as […]

Prince Albert had a grand vision for the area of South Kensington. The idea was that it would be a centre for culture and education. The 1851 Great Exhibition was held in a gigantic, purpose-built, glass palace erected in Hyde Park kick-started the project. It was a huge success and raised enough money for the foundations […]