London Report/ London Walks

Posted by Julie (Chicago) on 04/05/22 06:30 AM

My daughter and I took the plunge and rescheduled our canceled 2020 trip to London. We have both been before, but we have never gone as a duo. We arrived Sunday morning. I can confirm what others have observed; masking is not universal - to say the least. It is better in the museums and mediocre in the underground so we are trying to avoid the busy times. We have tickets to two performances; I'm curious what the theatre policies are like in this regard. The restaurants are busy (and somewhat understaffed), the merchants are thrilled to see shoppers, and the flowers/trees are blooming. We are having a great time.

One highlight of our trip thus far has been our Legal London tour with Simon from London Walks. He was really informative, funny, and showed us places in London we would have never found on our own. The people on the tour were good companions as well.
I'm glad that this business has weathered the COVID storm.

Posted by heather

Chicago

04/05/22 11:38 AM

1942 posts

London Walks is wonderful and I used to take at least one of their walks every vacation.

From what friends in London have told me, not many people are wearing masks and the government has seemed to moved on from Covid. Masking in theaters is not required and I'd assume that many people won't be wearing them. There was an article in the NYTimes last month about a reporter who attended some plays there recently. NYT article.

Posted by Mary

Reno, NV, USA

04/05/22 02:21 PM

2427 posts

The Legal London walk was one of my favorites.

Posted by Claudia

Land of La

04/05/22 02:40 PM

8642 posts

Nice to hear you are enjoying yourselves and that the wonderful London Walks survived the lockdown.
Always well presented with knowledgeable guides.

Even last November the mask on mask off attitude varied. I always kept mine on especially on public transport.

You’ll find the majority of theatre patrons will not be masked.

Have a wonderful visit to a great city!

Posted by jerry zurek

08/05/22 08:22 PM

25 posts

We just returned from London and took 7 London Walks tours. We can't recommend them highly enough. The guides ranged from very good to superb. The price is unbelievably reasonable: £15 for adults, £10 for seniors and students and children. For some, admission is added on, such as St. Paul's.
-British Museum (with Karen Pierce Goulding, who is the pre-eminent guide, a former actress and author)
-The Blitz
-Old Westminster Walking Tour (with Adam Scott-Goulding, who, like his wife, is also superb. Wish we had been able to go on one of his music tours--The History Of Rock & Pop In the West End – 4 Part Series.) See walks.com
-Thames Siteseeing Brunel's River Cruise
-Boat Tour to Greenwich
-St Paul's Cathedral, with Simon Whitehouse, another of the top guides.
-Oxford and the Cotswolds -- a 9-hour trip to Oxford by train, then by bus with two stops, then back to Oxford for a tour and free time.

See Karen and Adam's blog: https://www.thedailyconstitutional.co.uk/p/blog-page.html