“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.”
Dr Samuel Johnson

 

Nowhere does London’s past come more vividly to life than within the walls of the City’s old inns and historic taverns. Fleet Street is called a Double Street, as there was as much going on on the street itself as on the neighbouring alleyways. The journalists held fort at one end of the street and the barristers the other end. So needless to say that there are stories of bribery, gossip and booze from the past 600 years. 

 

Between them Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple harbour some of the most picturesque, least changed and historically fascinating places you could ever hope to encounter.

 

We step through those gates, to set foot on those ancient flagstones that meander between the buildings, and to walk through the picturesque squares, tranquil cloisters and glorious gardens with which the inns abound, is to enter the refined world of the wigged and robed English barrister and, as we pick our way through these secret enclaves of hidden London, we will be walking in the footsteps of some famous, some infamous, some celebrated and many colourful characters.

And a walk in this historic area would not be complete without a stop in one of the centuries old taverns.

 

The basic tour lasts for 90 minutes and we can include add ons, based on the interest of the group. This might be, a visit to the Royal Courts of Justice to observe a trial (must be booked well in advance and places can’t be guaranteed), or a visit to a church built in the 1100’s by the Knights of Templars.

We can also modify the tour to follow the footsteps of famous filming locations (Poirot, Harry Potter, Bridget Jones and Downtown Abbey to name a few).

 

Also intriguing restaurants and pubs can be included in the tour.