This is a tour of two halves. The morning is a coach tour through the markets of London where the poor of Dickens time would have bought their Christmas wares, followed by a delicious carvery lunch and an afternoon in the rich shopping grounds of London.

February 2012 would have been Charles Dickens 200th birthday. Come and celebrate the great man as well as that great focus of Christmas past & present - food!

Dickens created a vast pageant of characters but he also invented an idea of London and Christmas too. The fog, the mud, hearty Christmas feasts by roaring fires with the rich at table and the poor with their noses pressed to the frosted window. We begin in a neighbourhood he knew well, the lawyers district and an iconic London pub opposite the Royal Courts of Justice for morning coffee and biscuits.

During the morning we are going to look at Dickens Christmas London. We’ll show you the meat, fish and game markets, pockets of an old London that Dickens knew well. From jellied eels and pie and mash to whitebait from the River Thames and the fashions for hot chocolate and hotel teas, this tour is the ideal recipe for an entertaining and unique look at London this Christmas. Back to the pub for a slap up carvery lunch.

For the afternoon we are going upmarket to see how the other half would have celebrated a Dickensian Christmas with a visit to Mayfair and the 'dilly.' We visit the marvellous and opulent Burlington Arcade built to allow toffs to shop unmolested. You can chat to the Beadles clad in top hat and tails employed to chase off Artful Dodgers! And we will visit the sumptuous and world famous Food Hall at Fortnum & Mason where impeccable young men in red tail coats stack the shelves - there are wonderful pickings for Christmas presents and stocking fillers.

Price includes: travel by coach, driver’s gratuity, morning tea or coffee and a carvery lunch.

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

 

£47