NEW FOR 2026 Adam writes… Following a successful trial in 2025, my Early Bird Tours are back for summer 2026!
This August I’m offering a short season of Early Bird Summer Weekend walking tours. Each one kicks off at 9am on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Each takes place in an area of London famed for being really busy at the weekend, especially in summer. The streets will be much quieter than you’ve seen them before and, another bonus, by the time the walking tour is over, London will be opening up. Brunch, shopping, galleries… the world, or at least London, is your oyster.
The early Bird Summer Weekend tours are also small group guaranteed. So not only will we have London to ourselves, we’ll also enjoy all the benefits of an exclusive private tour for the cost of a regular scheduled tour. Here’s the schedule…
The Schedule
(Scroll down for more info & booking)
Saturday 1st 9am (0900) – Musical Covent Garden
Sunday 2nd 9am (0900) – The Music of Royal London
Sunday 16th 9am (0900) – Musical Statues
Musical Covent Garden on is one of my most eclectic tours, covering everything from Bob Marley to Dame Nellie Melba. Exploring this neighbourhood early in the day before the huge crowds and street entertainers arrive really makes sense. The Music of Royal London also covers a lot of musical ground. But we’ll be there before the crowds descend for the changing of the guard. It’s St James’s like you’ve never seen it before. Similarly, Musical Statues explores a peaceful Whitehall. At the end of these walking tours, you will be perfectly placed to make the best of all the restaurants and bars and shops as they start to open for the day.
Early Bird Musical Covent Garden
From the Opera House to the theatre where Bob Marley became a legend; via the oldest recording studio in Britain (1898) to the hotel where Bob Dylan held court in ’65; from Rule Britannia to On the Street Where You Live – this London Music Tour covers the musical waterfront from Arne to Zappa.
We’ll see…
The Savoy Hotel
Savoy Theatre
The Gramophone Company’s recording studios 1898-1931
Royal Opera House
St Paul’s Church as featured in My Fair Lady
Lyceum Theatre
The Middle Earth Club where Pink Floyd played
From John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera to Bob Marley’s Exodus, there will be cameo appearances from Noel Coward, Alan Jay Lerner, Gilbert & Sullivan, Charlie Chaplin, The Smiths, U2 and – in the best tradition of greatest hits collections – many, many more.
Early Bird Music of Royal London
It starts with a bang – and an arrest (!) and a death (!) – with Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks and ends with a fanfare and a calypso at The Abbey.
In between we’ll discover…
• Strange secrets of the Queen Mother’s LP collection
• Weird and wonderful mythology of Queen Elizabeth II‘s piano
• The King who wanted violins banned
• Which Queen who hated Handel?
• The opera house that never was
• Buckingham Palace as the world’s poshest jazz club
• Music of the Changing of the Guard
The soundtrack to this great royal soap opera is provided by Mozart, Purcell, Handel, The Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Queen, Chopin and Madness – playing a heady mix of hymns, jazz, baroque, rock and showtunes.
Early Bird Musical Statues
What is the sound of history? Its soundtrack? The tunes of glory that played at times of great victories? Do you know the music inspired the great and good of history?
Or to put it in a 21st century context… What would be the bangers on Florence Nightingale’s or Abe Lincoln’s Spotify Unwrapped?
More importantly… why didn’t Churchill like whistling?
In the old children’s game Musical Statues, when the music stops we all stop, too. On this walking tour it’s when the music STARTS that we’ll find some unexpected historical tales.
This epic and musically eclectic walking tour sets out to answer all these questions and more.
Special Offer 2-for-1
Book all, three tours and only pay for tour. Get a truly FREE tour!
Don’t forget, private tours are ALWAYS available. Use this form to get in touch…
And, as always, if you’re also interested in my non-music themed walking tours, you can find those at the famous London Walks company website HERE.
