Belgravia Pub Walk
Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 2 customer ratings
(2 customer reviews)
Hyde Park Corner Underground station, London (outside exit 3)
Guided by David
Walk Times
| Day | Walk Type | Start Time | End Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 May 2024 | Special | 6 pm | 9 pm | Summer | Reserve Online |
Short read: Backstairs Belgravia – Byways, Hidden Haunts & Classic Pubs
Medium read: You think Belgravia’s just big squares and huge mansions, a world of white stucco and grandeur? Think again. There are some sensational finds if you know where to look: namely the best medley of lost lanes and hidden passageways in all of London. Watch the video if you’re in any doubt about that claim.
Long read: There’s no other neighbourhood in London like this. It looks different. Sounds different. Feels different. All pearly stucco and cut glass accents and blue blood, the place simply breathes money. The people who live here are people who could live anywhere. Which is why they live here. Here in this movie-set corner of London. Here in Upstairs-Downstairs land, so profoundly English, but also, somehow, exotic. And what a cavalcade of residents: Baroness Margaret Thatcher, David Niven, Vivien Leigh, Lord Lucan, Mozart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Omar Shariff, and other rare plumages. After tonight you’ll be able to do some world-class name-dropping! And because we’re going to see it through the peephole – threading our way through its cobbled little lanes and mews – past secret escapes and vistas of sudden surprise – we’ll make some wonderful discoveries. For good measure, we’ll call in at a couple of pubs that are small masterpieces – the haunts of those who know! And let’s end with something serious – and fascinating: this neighbourhood is a crash course in the English class system. The best one you’ll ever encounter. The gradations are marked out here like chess pieces on a chessboard. And arrayed every bit as clearly. If you know how to “read” the buildings, that is. The buildings and their relation to one another. You’ll acquire that skill tonight. Guided by David. N.B. the walk will end very near either Victoria Station or Sloane Square Tube Stop.
BELGRAVIA PUB WALK – THE PRACTICALS
The Belgravia Pub Walk takes place at 6 pm on Saturday, December 30. The meeting point is just outside exit 3 of Hyde Park Corner Tube.
N.B. we also run – a couple of times a year – a daytime Belgravia Walk. The daytime Belgravia Walk is guided by Stephanie. The meeting point is just outside exit 3 of Hyde Park Corner Tube.
LONDON WALKS SOUPÇON
There’s a single location in Belgravia [we of course go there] that brings one of the seminal events – the 1938 Appeasement Crisis in Munich – into sharp focus. Standing there you suddenly get it, see with crystalline clarity what the biographer of one of the principals meant when he said Goring’s “innate depravity seemed to escape him…nothing in his ‘upbringing had equipped him with the instinct to fathom the true wickedness of these men.'”
LONDON WALKS REVIEWS
“the unfailingly fascinating London Walks… If you can’t find one [of their tours] that captures your fancy, maybe you really are tired of life.” San Francisco Chronicle
“Even jaded Londoners find these London Walks a source of astonishing gems of information about the city in which they live.” Daily Mail, Top London Treats
“The best walking tours in London” The London Guide
LONDON WALKS VIDEO
Watch the video (it’s hand-held, its “production values” are zilch – but it’ll give you a really good idea of the hidden lanes and pathways this walk threads its way through).
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make one of the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, public Belgravia pub walks do think about booking one as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Belgravia Pub Walk – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. Ring Fiona or Peter or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you. A private London Walk – they’re good value for an individual or couple and sensational value for a group – makes an ideal group or educational or birthday party or office (team-building) or club outing.
GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS
A private London Walk makes a fab gift – be it a birthday or anniversary or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.
Pru Abraham –
What a fantastic walk. David weaves together historical insights and local pubs, both of which London has in abundance! You will discover the secret Belgravia hidden behind the grand houses, learn about key players and characters of the area over the years and have the chance to have drink in the four delightful pubs on the tour. I’m currently living in London, and found this tour an excellent way to discover one of the many corners of this city. I would really recommend it to anyone coming to London for a weekend; it’s a great way to start discovering what London has to offer, get into our pubs and also meet some lovely people. Great if you are here alone on a trip too, as David is such a welcoming and warm host and knowledgable guide.
Lisbeth Boutang –
A brisk, yet fascinating walk through the tidy, wealthy cobblestones of a posh neighborhood. David bubbles over with keen insights into the former and not so late residents behind these stone and brick walls. The pub stops were picture perfect. David’s observations, dramatic and inspiring. He was a tad hard on Dame Joan Collins, a bold and lucid survivor of 90 years of audacious wit and charm.