O Tours de Londres offer French language tours of London. Guest blogger Hugo took an afternoon tour of London and and gives us his thoughts (in French, of course!) below:

“Visitez Londres est une expérience fascinante. En effet, la ville a été le témoin de 21 siècles d’Histoire… Cependant, il est parfois difficile pour de nombreuses personnes non anglophones de réellement comprendre et découvrir la capitale anglaise. Heureusement, Ô Tours de Londres propose un circuit au bord de la Tamise adapté à tous les francophones.

“Pendant près de 2h30, vous marcherez de la Tour de Londres jusqu’à la Cathédrale St Paul en passant notamment par le Tower Bridge. Sur le trajet se succèdent d’incontournables monuments comme la Cathédrale Southwark miraculeusement conservée, le Shakespeare Globe Theatre ou encore les ruines du Palais de Winchester… Vous découvrirez aussi l’incroyable histoire du London Bridge, l’unique pont de Londres pendant près de 18 siècles…

“Au total, cette balade guidée comporte 13 arrêts qui vous permettront de découvrir des lieux mythiques de l’Histoire de Londres.

“Les guides compétents, dynamiques et disponibles vous dévoileront, de façon simple et claire, récits et anecdotes. Ils partageront avec vous les secrets des rues Londoniennes et de la Tamise et vous emmèneront sur les pas de Guillaume le Conquérant, Henri VIII, William Shakespeare ou encore Charles Dickens.

“C’est après ce fantastique voyage dans le temps, que vous serez à même de comprendre l’évolution de Londres, de sa mentalité et de ses habitants.

“Accessible à tous, cette balade est proposée à un prix très abordable : 15 £ par personne (17,5 €) (Gratuit pour les enfants de moins de 8 ans). Alors oubliez la barrière de la langue et allez découvrir Londres et son Histoire dans la bonne humeur grâce à Ô Tours de Londres !”

Pour plus d’informations et pour les réservations, n’hésitez pas à consulter le site de Ô Tours de Londres : www.o-toursdelondres.fr

Hugo was a guest of O Tours de Londres.

More London tours

London isn’t often described as quiet, but Christmas Day is the one day of the year when the capital can feel that way. But there’s actually no shortage of things to do and Christmas Day is a rare chance to explore and experience a different side of London.

There’s no public transport on Christmas Day, but you could opt for a Boris bike to explore Central London with much less traffic around. There will also be a few taxis and mini-cabs for hire.

With limited transport options, and thousands of Christmas calories consumed, walking might be your best bet. You’ll have London’s beautiful architecture, street art and Christmas lights largely to yourself, and walking is the best way to experience it. Take a look at these photos of London on Christmas morning by IanVisits, which include Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street and Hyde Park Corner.

Tours

You can even go on a guided walking tour. London Walks hosts two walks on Christmas Day: The London of Samuel Pepys at 1pm and Charles Dickens’ London Walk at 2pm. Both walks start at the big Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square and last for two hours.

Westminster guide Peter Berthoud is offering three walking tours on Christmas Day, with the first at 6am for anyone who wants to experience an eerie 28 Days Later-style London! If you’re keen on a Christmas lie-in, you can opt for a post-lunch walk at 4pm.

Fancy a more relaxing tour? Push the boat out and have your Christmas dinner on the Thames, enjoying the sights of the river on a cruise. Or take a luxury coach tour of London with a professional guide.

Activities

Almost all of London’s attractions are closed on Christmas Day, but the weird and wonderful world of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not is open all year round. Ripley’s is open from 10am with last admission at 8.30pm on Christmas Day (closing time subject to change so check in advance).

Or, for a different kind of weird and wonderful, head to The Serpentine (lake) at Hyde Park where the hardy members of the Serpentine Swimming Club take part in the annual Peter Pan Cup swimming race. The race starts at 9am.

Christmas Services

Most London churches will have Christmas Day services. It’s best to check with the individual church in advance but Central London churches with Christmas Day services include:

• St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Southwark Cathedral (closes at 1pm)
• St Paul’s Cathedral (arrive early and be prepared to queue)

Eating and Drinking

Many restaurants close on Christmas Day but check our blog post for Christmas dinner options in London.

Some pubs open for a few hours around lunchtime but most will be closed or ticketed in the evening. Make sure you check in advance for opening hours. Hotel bars are a good bet for a drink on Christmas Day, but again, check with the hotel in advance.

Do you have any advice or suggestions for spending Christmas Day in London?

The Games might be over but there’s still plenty going on in the Olympic Park.

Free bus tours began this week, offering a great chance to witness the park’s £292 million transformation into a new cultural hub and green space for London, before it reopens in phases from summer 2013. Here are some top things to spot on the trip:

1. Dismantling the Venues

The park is currently a huge construction site – or, more correctly, a deconstruction site. The world’s largest McDonald’s has been dismantled, as has the Riverbank Arena where Olympic hockey was played. On the bus tours you’ll be able to spot temporary venues being removed as well as athletes’ training centres, security areas and temporary seating stands or “wings” being taken to pieces. 

2. South Park Plaza

The area around the distinctive red ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture is being transformed into an urban park the size of 16 football pitches. When it’s finished, the new South Park Plaza will boast fountains, a climbing wall, a 12-metre wide tree-lined boulevard and “garden rooms” created by planting designer Piet Oudolf. During the Games, this space was the first part of the park most visitors saw after entering through the Stratford entrance.

3. Planting the Park

It was already a park to begin with, but over the next year or so the amount of open space in the Park will be doubled to a whopping 252 acres. The planting project includes 4,300 semi-mature trees, over 100,000 new shrubs and almost one million bulbs, which will all be watered by a park-wide water system. Even today the park has plenty of wildlife – you could see swans, ducks, cormorants and coots.

4. The First Neighbourhood

The Basketball Arena is one of the largest temporary Olympic venues ever built, and will be deconstructed between now and next autumn. The entire building can be recycled – from the seating to the floor – and some parts will head over to Brazil to be used at the Rio 2016 Games. Once the area is cleared it will be the site for the first new housing neighbourhood in the park, Chobham Manor.

5. The Stadium

Of course, no trip to the park would be complete without a glimpse of the iconic Olympic Stadium where athletes like Usain Bolt sped to victory this summer.

Tours run on Wednesdays, Thursdays and some weekends, until the Park begins to open in phases from July 2013. To book, email parktours@springboard-marketing.co.uk or call 0800 023 2030.

It’s now 50 years since The Beatles released their debut single, Love Me Do. The Fab Four quickly gained international fame, and many key moments in their ensuing career took place in London. To celebrate this important anniversary and the band’s close association with the capital, you can explore the sites listed below, all of which provide a great opportunity to connect with the world of Ringo, George, John and Paul.

Abbey Road
Pay a visit to the world’s most famous pedestrian crossing, located in St John’s Wood, where you and your friends can recreate the band’s iconic album cover. Afterwards, enjoy refreshments at the nearby Beatles Coffee Shop.

Beatles Tours
Beatles experts, including Beatles Coffee Shop owner Richard Porter, conduct regular tours of London locations relevant to the band. There are a wide range of tours to choose from, both pedestrian and chauffeur-driven, and you can see everything from studios and film locations to the church in which several band members were married.

Madame Tussauds
Get up close to the Beatles in their heyday thanks to the startlingly realistic wax figures of the band at Madame Tussauds. Make sure you get a photo with your favourite Beatle!

Let It Be
Enjoy an innovative theatrical experience at the Prince of Wales Theatre, where the Beatles’ history is retold through film footage and the live performance of more than 20 of their greatest hits. Let It Be is on in London until January next year – book your ticket now.

British Music Experience
Head to The O2 in Greenwich for an immersive introduction to the best of British music, which of course includes The Beatles! Using images, video and a wealth of audio clips, the British Music Experience brings The Beatles’ magic alive, and you can even see John Lennon’s glasses.

Beatles Shop
For the perfect end to your trip, head to this charming shop for a unique souvenir. The Beatles Store offers everything from mugs and t-shirts to platinum-coated albums.

Which Beatles hotspots have you visited in London and are there any we’ve missed?

Inspired by the Jubilee Pageant, I wanted to follow in the footsteps of the 1000 boats that had graced the Thames as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Exactly a week later I found myself on the shores of Chelsea at Kayaking London HQ, ready to embark on a trip up the Thames.

Our trip was led by Harry and Katy from Kayaking London who first gave us a very informative briefing on safety, including how to paddle and what to expect. They then kitted us out in life jackets and waterproofs before I and six other people set off on our own pageant in double kayaks.

The tour would take us past many of London’s iconic sites including the Battersea Power Station, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge, before heading back again.

Many of the others on the trip had no kayaking experience but with tips from Katy along the way the soon picked it up. Harry was a fountain of knowledge, telling us some great facts about London and pointing out sites including a miniature St Paul’s Cathedral which sits on Vauxhall Bridge and can only be seen from the river. It was a fantastic four hour round trip (with a much needed lunch half way) and such a great way to see London and to really see some of London’s best kept secrets.

For more information, and to book a tour, go to Kayaking London’s website

On Monday evenings, The London Library opens its doors to non-members, who can take a free guided tour of this important literary institution.

Set up in 1841 by Thomas Carlyle, who had grown tired of the British Library, the London Library was founded on the principle that members should be able to enjoy the riches of a national library in their homes.

The ever-expanding collection contains more than 1 million books, over 90% of which are on display and can be borrowed by its members.

We started our tour by following the wonderful smell of old books up the stairs to the stacks containing the Science and Miscellaneous books in the library.

The London Library’s collection focuses on arts and humanities and has its own unique cataloguing system. This system places quite a few books in the catch-all category of Science and Miscellaneous. Here you’ll find anything from horse-shoeing to human sacrifice sitting alongside each other on the shelves.

From up here, you can get some idea of the size of the library – looking down through the slightly unnerving metal grille floor (a Victorian air conditioning system) you can see many storeys below, all packed with books.

We also peeped into the library’s main reading rooms – offering complete silence for members to read and write in.

Next we headed down to the basement (featured as the scene of a murder in an episode of New Tricks last year). This is where the library keeps its archive of periodicals, plus every single copy of The Times newspaper. Even the toilets (also in the basement) have a story to tell, as they are designed by Turner prize-wining artist Martin Creed.

The library has had, and continues to count, many famous writers among its members, including Charles Dickens, TS Eliot, Seigfried Sassoon and Simon Callow. But the library stresses that you don’t have to be an esteemed author to join, membership is open to all.

If you love books, I thoroughly recommend taking The London Library tour. It’s free and makes for a really interesting hour, where you’ll see books of all shapes, ages and sizes; find out about the library’s history, and potentially start planning the day you can join up and write your best-seller!

The London Library tour, Mondays, 6:30pm. Places are limited so booking is recommended. Phone +44 (0) 20 7766 4704 or email visits@londonlibrary.co.uk to reserve a place

Whether you’re a Shakespeare aficionado or a complete novice, you’re sure to be impressed by the magnificent Shakespeare’s Globe.

The theatre is a faithful recreation of an open-air playhouse designed in 1599, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed.

We’re offering the chance to win a private tour of Shakespeare’s Globe for up to five people, where you’ll find out more about the Bard, the building and Shakespearean London.

You’ll also discover how books were made in Shakespeare’s day, and have a go at printing your own text on a 17th-century-style printing press.

Enter now for your chance to win a private tour of Shakespeare’s Globe

I took my boyfriend (a dedicated football fan) on a tour of Wembley Stadium at the weekend. I’m not usually interested in football but I really enjoyed the tour. Our brilliant guide Stevie showed us around the stadium, shared behind-the-scenes gossip and taught us a lot about footballing history.

Highlights of the one-and-a-half hour tour included:

• The crossbar from the 1966 World Cup
• A replica of the World Cup Jules Rimet Trophy. The original was stolen in 1966 and later found under a hedge by a dog named Pickles
• The 1km-long walkway around Level 5, where FA employees jog in their lunch breaks
• The VIP suite decorated in “Windsor purple”, which leads to the royal box
• The holding room for trophies. The silversmith is given just six minutes after a game to engrave the name of the winning team
• The press room where up to 180 journalists gather to interview managers and players
• The England dressing room, complete with players’ shirts, which is also used by bands performing at the stadium

I found the huge stadium building awe-inspiring and it was fun getting privileged access to backstage areas. Even if you’re not into football, I’d recommend booking your own 90 minutes at Wembley.

Wembley Stadium tours run every day except 25 and 26 December. Adult tickets cost £15.

World Cup Willie, the mascot from the 1966 World Cup, has been reincarnated.

And what’s more, he paid a visit to VL Towers this morning!

The cuddly mascot is travelling around London today to promote the magnificent Wembley Stadium tour.

During the 90-minute tour, you’ll have the chance to be snapped with a replica of the FA Cup, climb the steps to the Royal Box and see unique objects from English Football’s history.

While the World Cup is on you’ll also have the opportunity to grab a photo with the famous Jules Rimet World Cup trophy. There’s also a chance to meet World Cup Willie yourself on the tour every Friday throughout the summer holidays.

The England 2018 World Cup bid is currently being considered by FIFA with a decision expected in December… But who could deny a cute lion?

For more information call +44 (0)844 800 2755 visit www.wembleystadium.com/tours

With the recent warm weather, I decided there was no better time to see London by speedboat along the Thames!

We headed off to Embankment Pier in Central London for the Thames RIB Experience which offers a thrilling guided boat tour of the Thames with a dash of James Bond to indulge the thrill seekers out there.

Equipped with life jackets we boarded the boat and it sped by popular London sights including the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and Canary Wharf. Our hilarious guide Dean provided useful and funny facts about London.  

The real action began as the RIB tore up the Thames providing screams, laughter and an exhilarating experience for all!

Tours depart daily in rain or shine taking groups of up to 12 people.  Book tickets