The Secret London Bike Tour starts from the outside the entrance to platforms 1 & 2 at Waterloo train station. Please make sure you arrive at the starting point well before departure time so that you can make sure you are comfortable with your bike before setting off. Tours start 10 minutes after the advertised departure time and cannot wait for latecomers.
This fascinating cycle tour takes you through the East End of London, a part of town with myriad stories to tell. Along the way, your expert guide will peel away the layers of history to reveal the rich diversity of this captivating area.
Cycling casually along the river, ensuring your complete safety at all times, the tour takes you past highlights such as:
Tate Modern: Britain's national museum of international modern art housed in the former Bankside Power Station.
Shakespeare’s Globe: A modern reconstruction of the original Globe Theater built in 1599 by William Shakespeare's playing company.
City Hall: This unusual bulbous building has attracted some unflattering comparisons (an onion and a woodlouse among other things) but is designed for energy efficiency. It is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA).
Southwark Cathedral and Borough Market: The lovely Gothic Cathedral of Southwark overlooks Borough Market, London’s oldest food market.
The Tower of London: This forbidding fortress has a grim and bloody history and has served variously as royal residence, prison, armory, treasury, menagerie, and Royal Mint.
Dead Man’s Hole: An opening under Tower Bridge, formerly used to retrieve corpses thrown into the Thames.
Tower Bridge: Opened in 1894, the Victorian Gothic Tower Bridge has become an iconic symbol of London in the same way as the Eiffel Tower evokes Paris and the Statue of Liberty New York.
Angel of the Thames: Keep an eye out for the ‘Angel of the Thames’. Since the 17th century there have been reports of sightings of an ‘angel’ hovering over the Thames.
London Docks: One of several sets of docks in the historic Port of London. They were constructed in Wapping between 1799 and 1815, at a cost exceeding £5½ million.
Battle of Cable Street Mural: This powerful mural commemorates the day in 1936 when the people of the East End prevented Sir Oswald Mosley’s Fascists from marching through Cable Street in Stepney, then mainly a Jewish area.
Mystery of Jack the Ripper: Hear chilling tales of ‘Jack the Ripper’, the unidentified serial killer who operated around Whitechapel in 1888, murdering and mutilating at least five prostitutes.
Artillery and Brick Lanes: See historic Artillery Lane, and the famous Brick Lane. The latter is the heart of the city's Bangladeshi-Sylheti community and renowned for its curry houses as well as for its graffiti.
City of London: The historic core of London and the financial capital of the UK.
Bank of England: The headquarters of the Bank of England has been located in Threadneedle Street, the City of London, since 1734.
Royal Exchange: Founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham as a centre of commerce for the City. The building you see today is the third on this site and is now an upscale shopping center.
The London Stone, Cannon Street: This modest stone marked the point from which the Romans measured all distances in Britannia.
The Gherkin: The popular nickname for the office block opened in 2004 at No.30 St Mary Axe.
Monument to the Great Fire of London: This 202 ft (61.57 meter) tall stone column stands close to the place where the Great Fire of London started in 1666.
The ‘Bow Bells’: St Mary-le-Bow is an historic church in the City of London. According to tradition, a true Cockney must be born within earshot of the sound of the church's bells.
The tour takes 4 hours ends back at the starting point.