Hull White Star wrote:
Best thing I have ever done in London. I had the good fortune of Donald Rumbelow (famous Ripperologist and author) being our Ripper tour guide and even managed to speak to him personally about the Ripper Diaries that was big at the time. I love stuff like that, although I keep meaning to do the Ghost Tour of Hull but never got around to it.
When we lived in London we vowed to be perpetual tourists, otherwise it's too easy to take it for granted, and there are several companies who do guided walks, showing you things that you've walked past so many times without realising the history and significance. (We went on a Theatre walk once and the guy doing the tour was Edward Petherbridge! ... he was wont to climb onto dustbins etc to point out and hold forth on what we were looking at ... sounds a bit OTT but it was actually great fun having a proper actor telling you about the theatres and old-time actors).
Books of walks around London are also pretty good but I'd advise to be careful to choose one with plenty of text rather than just pretty pictures of what you see anyway.
The boats are fun but I'd take their commentaries with a pinch of salt, they are part-fact, part-hearsay and part comedic-effect.
