Charles Dickens’ Life in London: A Tour with Context

London was central to Charles Dickens’ life, and the inspiration for his most beloved writing.

On this literary walking tour with Context Travel expert Tim Barron, you’ll explore the streets, alleys, and historic buildings that shaped the life and works of England’s most celebrated Victorian author. You’ll discover how Dickens transformed his experiences into powerful social commentary, unforgettable characters, and enduring stories that continue to capture readers’ imaginations today.

The tour begins at the Queen Victoria statue on Blackfriars Bridge. You’ll wind through atmospheric alleyways to see sites connected to his earliest writing endeavours, like St. Andrew by the Wardrobe (a church) and the Apothecaries’ Hall. Along the way, you’ll explore hidden courtyards and historic legal buildings that featured prominently in novels like Bleak House and Great Expectations.

As you walk, you’ll discover how Dickens’ formative experiences – from his father’s imprisonment for debt to his time as a child labourer – influenced his fierce advocacy for social reform. You’ll learn about his campaign against public executions, his criticism of London’s legal system, and his powerful depictions of poverty. The tour ends at the Charles Dickens Museum, the author’s only surviving London home, where he wrote Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, and completed The Pickwick Papers during a formative period in his career.

During this 90-minute tour, you’ll also have a chance to:

• Visit the Inner Temple where the 15-year-old Dickens worked as a junior law clerk, gathering characters and observations for his future novels
• Explore Fleet Street, where Dickens dropped his first story “stealthily at twilight with fear and trembling” into a publisher’s letterbox
• Stop at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a historic pub where Dickens worked on his weekly magazine All the Year Round
• Discover the Temple Church, whose religious atmosphere influenced Dickens’ complex views on faith and clergy
• Pass by the Old Curiosity Shop, whose name was inspired by Dickens’ famous novel
• Walk through Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the setting of the manipulative lawyer Tulkinghorn’s home in Bleak House
• View the Royal Courts of Justice and learn how Dickens’ hatred of the legal system inspired his most biting satire

By the end of this immersive journey through Victorian London, you’ll have a sense of how the city’s characters, architecture, and social conditions became immortalised in some of the most beloved stories in English literature.