Scuba Divers, Mansions and the Great Fire: City of London Audio Tour

Few cities pack as much history into such a tight space as London's Square Mile. On this walking tour from Liverpool Street to London Bridge, you'll trace nearly 2000 years of the city's story, from Roman roads and medieval markets to some of the most distinctive skyscrapers on the modern skyline.

The tour starts at Liverpool Street station's Hope Square, where a bronze statue commemorates the Kindertransport, the programme that brought over 10,000 children to safety from Nazi Europe. From there, you'll head south along Bishopsgate, one of the city's great historic thoroughfares, passing a hidden Turkish bathhouse built in 1895, the tiny medieval church of St Ethelburga's, and the ornate gateway of St Helens Place, carved with Canadian wolves' heads by the Hudson Bay Company.

Continuing south, you'll move through the ancient lanes around Leadenhall Market, built over the site of the Roman Forum, and past Lloyd's of London – a building so boldly designed that its lifts and plumbing run on the outside. You'll also pass the Monument to the Great Fire of London, Christopher Wren's 212-foot column that, if toppled, would land exactly on the bakery in Pudding Lane where the fire began in 1666. The tour ends at London Bridge station, one of the city's oldest rail hubs, with Borough Market a short walk away.

On this 90-minute tour, you'll have a chance to:

• See the 70,000-litre fish tank in the reception of Heron Tower, cleaned by scuba divers
• Hear the story of Crosby Hall, a medieval mansion and those that lived there now reassembled in Chelsea
• Visit St Andrew Undershaft, where John Stow's memorial receives a fresh quill from the Lord Mayor each year
• See movie locations from the last 30 years
• Learn why the Cheesegrater is wedge-shaped, and how planning restrictions have shaped the city skyline
• Walk through Leadenhall Market a site that has hosted traders for nearly 2000 years
• Discover why the children's song London Bridge is Falling Down may record an actual historical event

London's Square Mile rewards those who look up – and listen closely.