London’s River Thames: A Guide to its Iconic Bridges

Millions cross London’s River Thames every day, too concerned with traffic or reaching their destination to even notice the bridges they’re using. On this walking tour along the riverbank, you’ll dive into the history of London’s iconic bridges and hear about the effort – and risk – that went into building them.

On this 90-minute tour, you’ll see all nine of central London’s bridges, starting with London Bridge and ending at Westminster Bridge.

Along the way, you’ll hear the history behind many of the structures that have been built over the river, from as early as Roman times. You’ll also learn more about their design. You’ll hear about the medieval Old London Bridge – once considered one of the wonders of the world – and take in several historic buildings and ruins as you stroll alongside the river.

You’ll also see Hungerford Bridge, voted one of the five ugliest bridges in the world, Blackfriars Bridge with its grand ‘pulpit’ columns, and get the world-famous view of Big Ben with the Houses of Parliament behind it.

Along the way, you’ll have a chance to:

• Hear about the bus driver who was crossing Tower Bridge, only to see the drawbridge starting to rise just in front of him
• Learn about the fatal sinking of the Marchioness pleasure steamer as it passed between Southwark and Canon Street Bridges, resulting in 51 deaths
• Find out about Millennium Bridge’s famous wobble, and why the Queen hadn’t detected it on the bridge’s opening day
• Listen to the story of two extraordinary murders at Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridges
• Discover how things got political the original Waterloo Bridge (once called the most beautiful bridge in the world by the famous sculptor, Canova) was pulled down
• See how the elegant cable-stayed Golden Jubilee footbridge covers up the ugliness of the Hungerford Railway Bridge
• Wonder at the sight of the Houses of Parliament from the south of Westminster Bridge, and learn why the bridge is painted green

By the end of this tour, you’ll have covered 2,000 years of English history and seen the greatest number and variety of river crossings in any city in the world. You’ll also have seen two of London’s most iconic views: Tower Bridge and Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.