Secrets of South Bank: A Stroll around London's Old Port

Just 40 years ago, London’s South Bank was known as the ‘Pool of London’, home to a number of wharves that received cargo from all over the world. Today, this pedestrian-friendly area is a hive of completely different activity.

On this South Bank walking tour, you’ll find out the history behind the area and see how it’s been sensitively converted to allow us to appreciate its industrial architecture, and even some of the atmosphere of the old Port of London.

This walking tour starts near London Bridge in front of St Olaf House, once a church and now an Art Deco office block with a connection to early Viking invaders. I’ll tell you about the many structures that’ve been built across the river from Roman times onwards, from the medieval Old London Bridge (once considered one of the ‘wonders of the world’), to today’s reinforced concrete bridge.

As you make your way along the South Bank of the Thames, you’ll see historic structures including HMS Belfast (a former World War II cruiser, now a museum) and several dramatic modern developments. You’ll follow the cobbled street of Shad Thames, surrounded by former dock wharves and high-level bridges linking to distribution depots – now all converted into apartments or eateries such as the famous Pont de la Tour restaurant.

The tour ends next to Horsleydown Steps, with a stunning close-up view of Tower Bridge.

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

• Admire the reconstructed wharf now known as Hay’s Galleria, with its steel and glass canopy and massive maritime sculpture
• View the Tower of London across the river and the famous Traitor’s Gate, where condemned people were landed before being executed on Tower Hill
• Discover a former Brewery, now converted into apartments, where you can go down onto the river bed at low tide
• See the mouth of the River Neckinger, one of London’s many ‘hidden rivers’, where pirates used to be hanged
• Enjoy a drink in Tower Bridge Piazza with a view of the rather erotic fountain statues by the modern sculptor, Donaldson

At the end of this 90-minute tour, you’ll have covered 2,000 years of English history and seen how the former docks have been transformed into 21st-century attractions. You’ll also have seen two of London’s most iconic world-famous views, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.