My monthly Open Tours are a fun and easy way to explore London’s art and architecture, with a wide choice of venues from the V&A to up-and-coming design districts.
From £20 per person
Click here for booking Private Tours.
An architectural walk in the new exciting area emerging around Vauxhall and Nine Elms, just opposite Westminster and Chelsea. We will see Damian Hirst’s luxurious Newport Street Gallery, Terry Farrell’s MI6 building often featured in James Bond films, the new £1 billion American embassy and the iconic Battersea Power Station. It is definitely becoming a “happening place” including various restaurants under the refurbished railway arches and two new tube stations.
A chronological colour themed tour of the V&A, where we will look at various beautiful red objects in the collection. Ranging from 1,500 year old Egyptian socks to a Chinese red lacquer throne.
The Kings Cross area seems to really have come alive. From having been a seedy ‘no-go’ part of London it is now an interesting mix of restored Victorian Gasholders and modern buildings, many with big roof gardens. The Coal Drops Yard was designed by Thomas Heatherwick and consists of two converted 19C coal warehouses that touch each other – and hence the nickname ‘The Kiss’. A former granary has become the home of the prestigious Central St Martin’s School of Art and Design. There are canals and new gardens. Definitely a new place worth a visit.
We will take a journey through British history via portraits, starting with the fabulous Ditchley portrait of Queen Elizabeth I and ending with the stimulating work by contemporary artists such as Marc Quinn and Sam Taylor-Johnson.
The National Portrait Gallery is an ideal place to get to know great British personalities, to gain an understanding of why the portraits were selected and why these individuals were considered important at the time. It is also interesting to learn how the technique and purpose of portraiture and collecting have changed over time, reflecting the attitudes of today.
The visit is particularly atmospheric and romantic if done at night. Why not conclude with a glass of champagne in the fabulous rooftop restaurant?
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 the famous Portuguese silver service commemorating victories in the Peninsular War and a number of exquisite paintings – including Titian and Velázquez gifted to the Duke by the Spanish royal family.
Maybe lunch afterwards in The Grenadier, the classic pub in a nearby mews.
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 Berry Bros. & Rudd, wine merchants and vintners to the Queen, and Lock & Co, hat-makers and inventors of the bowler hat, have been there for more than 300 years.
Berkeley Square is filled with mid-18C aristocratic town houses that were lived in by famous people such as Clive of India and Sir Winston Churchill. No 50 Berkeley Square had the reputation in Victorian times as London’s most haunted house. No 44 housed the famous night club Annabel’s that closed, only to be reincarnated two doors down in a totally different style.
Maybe followed by one of Duke’s famous Dry Martinis or a drink in the American Bar of The Stafford?
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 Berry Bros. & Rudd, wine merchants and vintners to the Queen, and Lock & Co, hat-makers and inventors of the bowler hat, have been there for more than 300 years.
Berkeley Square is filled with mid-18C aristocratic town houses that were lived in by famous people such as Clive of India and Sir Winston Churchill. No 50 Berkeley Square had the reputation in Victorian times as London’s most haunted house. No 44 housed the famous night club Annabel’s that closed, only to be reincarnated two doors down in a totally different style.
Maybe followed by one of Duke’s famous Dry Martinis or a drink in the American Bar of The Stafford?
