London Rock 'n' Roll Private Walking Tour
- 3 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
This tour is perfect for lovers of classic British Rock. In the space of a few hours, you will see where great bands were formed, where they played and partied, and the locations of some of their most famous performances, such as the location of The Beatle's final performance and the Sex Pistols's first gig. During the tour, your passionate local guide, who also loves all things Rock and Roll, will share stories about the greatest British bands and those international legends who also love London. A 'must do' for any music fan during their time in London, you will walk the streets where The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and David Bowie strutted their stuff. The tour meets at an easy-to-find and iconic London location. Its route visits some of the most vibrant and historic areas of London, whose histories will also be revealed as part of the tour. The price of the tour is for a private walking tour for yourself and your guest. You may have up to 15 people in your booking.
Inclusions
What's included
- All guiding fees are included as part of this tour
What's not
- Gratuities
Itinerary
The tour commences outside one of London’s most famous and popular theatres where some of the biggest names in music have performed. The Palladium was the venue for one of the UKs most popular television shows, ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’. It was here where Beatlemania really began and the Rolling Stones refused to do what everyone else did at the end of a show.
Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC and the location of their major radio stations. There is a whole wing named after DJ and music pioneer John Peel. For all the wonderful things the BBC has done for popular music, as will be revealed the relationship between the BBC and rock and pop music has not always been an easy one and in the past the BBC banned a number of records from their airwaves.
This university building used to be the London Polytechnic, and it was here in September 1962 that three students, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright, enrolled to study architecture. They would rehearse in a tea room here in a basement in a band called Sigma 6. Later on, Syd Barrett joined them, and the band became Pink Floyd. Find out about their origins and the early adventures of the band.
Visit Carnaby Street, the centre of fashion in swinging London. Learn why this street became so cool, the unexpected 1950s origins of the flamboyant clothes worn by bands such as the Small Faces, The Who and the Rolling Stones, and the notorious music promoter and manager Don Arden.
Visit the site of the former Bag O'Nails on Kingly Street. This was the site in the 60s where some of the world's most famous musicians played and performed. It was a haunt of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Animals and Tom Jones. At least three musicians met their future wives here, including Paul McCartney, who met Linda in 1967.
Visit the legendary location of the front and back cover of ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars’. There will be a chance to recreate the iconic photos and get the whole story of the photoshoot on a cold and wet January night in January 1972.
Visit the site of the former office of the Beatles and site of their legendary rooftop concert. See the building where the famous rooftop concert was held in 1969, as featured in Let It Be and Get Back. As well as being the site of the Beatles' final performance, number 3 Savile Row was the headquarters of Apple and, as such, was a magnet for Beatles fans from all over the world. The office had some very interesting visitors which you will hear all about during this tour.
A certain famous musician would window shop when he was a teenager and hoped one day to be able to afford the clothes in this famous shop. Years later, this musician became a regular customer and eventually invested in the business and became its design director. This musician is Eric Clapton, and you can hear all about his association with this successful clothes business on this tour.
Hotel Cafe Royal began as a cafe in 1865. It was here that David Bowie retired the character of Ziggy Stardust in an expensive and star studded bash in 1973. Discover the story of this star studded event and how it inspired a Ziggy Stardust cocktail bar inside the hotel.
Wardour Street was home to the world-famour Marquee Club. The Marquee was an important and very popular music venue in Wardour Street which was open for 26 years. The venue helped to launch the early careers of The Who and David Bowie and many more. Whilst at Wardour Street you will learn about the importance of this venue and why there is a dusty plaque to Keith Moon over the door.
London has many wonderful record shops, and this one is great. But the shop occupied the site of the old Bricklayers Arms pub which was where the Rolling Stones had their very first rehearsal.
When The Marquee lost their alcohol licence, music fans chose to drink at The Ship pub, and the singers and musicians followed. Whilst outside this iconic pub you will discover the drunken antics of rock legends who drank here, and why The Ship rocked!
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
5.0
- 57
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Ratings come from 7 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- Please wait for your guide outside the London Palladium's main entrance.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- Tours Of The UK
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
How it compares in London
- Its from-price is 12% below the median of the 4793 experiences we list in London.
- Its length is typical for the group.
- By number of reviews it ranks 1499 of 4793.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About London
London mixes royal ceremony, world-class museums and riverside landmarks with distinct neighbourhoods, markets and parks to explore on foot.
The Thames threads the city together. On its banks stand the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, the Tower of London with the Crown Jewels, Tower Bridge and the long South Bank walk past the London Eye, Shakespeare's Globe and Tate Modern. St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey anchor the older skyline, while glass towers crowd the financial district.
Top-ranked sights in London: St. Paul's Cathedral, Stonehenge, Tower of London.
Special offers in London
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
