In 1666 the Great Fire swept away much of the London of our ancestors but the flames died to ashes to leave one corner untouched. With a walk, a coach tour that takes you from one side of London to the other and a relaxing canal cruise through Regents Park this is a day of great contrasts and interest.

We meet the guide at London Wall to buy morning coffee. Heading from the Aldersgate to the Newgate via a maze of narrow streets and bygone alleyways you’ll walk beneath a Tudor gatehouse, visit a plague pit and see the stately Charterhouse and the homes of Hercule Poirot and Sir John Betjeman. We pass St. Bartholomew the Great, which is London’s oldest Parish church and as this is Smithfield so you’ll also visit the Victorian meat market, now beautifully restored and still trading.

For lunch we transfer by coach to the precincts of St. Paul’s Cathedral where there’s a wide choice of pubs, cafes and restaurants including the Crypt Cafe in the Cathedral itself where, on rainy days, packed lunch people are welcome to enjoy their sandwiches.

The narrow boat cruise is a 50 minute exploration of London’s Regents Canal. Elegant London town houses back on to this hidden waterway which takes us from the cobbled and flagged courtyard of Camden Lock through leafy Regent’s Park and the terraces of London Zoo to Little Venice – a delightful pool surrounded by opulent Georgian Houses.

 

Price includes: travel by coach, driver’s gratuity, tour and boat cruise.

The coach leaves Virgin Active at 8.45am and departs London at 4.45pm.

 

£46