New Europe's FREE Walking Tour of London: Royal London

Sandman's Free Walking Tours of Europe are a great way to get introduced to a new city. What more could you ask for – exploring the city, visiting all the must-see sites, learning all the history behind these places, and doing it for FREE! That's right, these tours are free! The tour guides work on a tips only payment and believe me, it's the truth, my friend Michael works for them. In fact, he was the one who did our Royal London Tour.

A friend had come over to London at the start of her European tour and as her first stop was London I thought it would be a good idea to take her on Michael's tour. One, so she could see all the things that London has to offer and Two, because even though I live in London I still like to be a tourist too! There are two tours in London, the Royal London tour and the Old City of London tour. Michael runs the Royal Tour so we decided to do that one.
The Royal tour starts every day at 11am and 3pm rain or shine. The meeting spot is at Wellington's Arch and as soon as a group had arrived, the tour began. First we learned all about Mr. Wellington himself and why he's so famous. Apparently beating Napoleon will earn you rights to the name of a pair of boots and a delicious dish!
From there we headed to Buckingham palace where Michael told us the history of the Royal Family and some of the famous break-ins the palace has seen. I am torn between the German students who were camping on the grounds and didn't get caught until they were trying to find their way out or the break-in of the drunk guy who only got nailed on stealing a bottle of wine, as at that time it wasn't illegal to break into Buckingham Palace. From there Michael will take you to some stationary guards to play with and get the most touristy photo London has to offer. God help Michael if he runs into these guys when they are off duty!

Onwards from Buckingham Palace we took a stroll up the residence of Prince Charles, William, and Harry. We knocked, but they were out for the afternoon. On our way to Big Ben we stopped off at the Horse Calvary , 10 Downing street, and Churchill’s War Bunkers. After Big Ben we went onwards to West Minster Abbey and the Parliament Buildings. All along the way we were learning stuff we would have never find out on our own and listening to interesting facts that are sometimes too funny to believe.

The tour lasts 2.5-3 hours and is all walking so make sure you wear decent walking shoes. I recommend the tour to anyone who is coming to London for a short time and wants to fit in as much as possible during their stay. Not only do you get to see all the famous sites of London, you get to learn about them from people who seriously know their stuff and have fun sharing with you.

These FREE tours are also offered in Edinburgh, Munich, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Madrid. For more information go to http://www.neweuropetours.eu/

Great tour to take even if you were droppin some pounds.