London

Private Tour: The London of Shakespeare, the Beatles, James Bond and Sherlock Holmes by Traditional Black Cab

Badge of ExcellenceLondon, England

4 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Trace the footsteps of Shakespeare, James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, and the Beatles on this private, half-day tour of London. Traveling in a classic black cab, you’ll zip around the English capital in search of sites associated with the city’s most influential inhabitants and literary characters. Receive the undivided attention of your own personal driver-guide throughout.

Private tour of London in a private, traditional taxi
Follow in the footsteps of Shakespeare, the Beatles, James Bond, and Sherlock Holmes
Complimentary pickup from central London hotels
Enjoy undivided attention from your personal driver/guide

What's Included

Transport in private taxi (up to 5 people)
Professional guide
Hotel pickup

Food and drinks, unless specified
Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

We can pick up from Airports & Seaports at an extra cost. Please ask

What To Expect

Depart from your central London hotel in an iconic London black cab, and then relax as you’re whisked around the city by your private driver-guide.

Scout out locations associated with the city’s most culturally and historically significant characters; some real and others fictional. See 221B Baker Street, where the pipe-smoking sleuth Sherlock Holmes lived in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books. You’ll also see the house where Doyle himself lived and practiced medicine.

Delve into the fantastical world of 007. Visit sites featured in the James Bond movies and see Ian Fleming’s house, M16 and M15. Then, travel back to the swinging 60s. See where the Beatles’ stayed, worked and hung out when they were in London; from John and Yoko’s flat to the famous Abbey Road zebra crossing and studio.

You’ll also drive to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, see where playwright lived and visit several statues dedicated to him.

Your tour concludes in central London.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Abbey Road

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Baker Street

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Westminster Abbey

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 18 hours of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
Wheelchair accessible
There are no booster seats in London taxis
Children (up to 18) must be accompanied by an adult
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
The driver will wait a maximum of 20 minutes after tour time and contact you before driving off

No food or beverages can be consumed in the vehicles without prior agreement with the driver
Near public transportation
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

25 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 25 reviews

Off the beaten path

Deborah_C, Apr 2024

Steve was a doll. He took us to see everything we wanted - kept us off the beaten path and shared tons of historical antidotes. The kids loved it! Thanks for making the trip entertaining.

Great welcome to London!

Patricia_D, Sep 2023

Mick was a fun and knowledgeable tour guide. He knows where everything is, and has stories about it all. He Made the trip very fun and enjoyable. He made sure we got the best shots of all the photos we wanted.

Very detailed tour! Very knowledgeable guide!

Eddie_F, Jul 2023

It was a very detailed tour! Very knowledgeable tour guide with sense of humor. Pick up from our hotel was smooth and on time or even early. The black cab/taxi is clean! Very interesting tour! My family and I enjoyed it very very much! Very satisfied customers! Great experience! Definitely a highly recommended tour!

Excellent tour guide makes for a great experience!

Renae_G, Jun 2023

From the start of the convenient pick-up at our hotel, the whole tour was extremely enjoyable, informative, and great fun! Abbey Road, Baker St, & scene sites of Bond films were great to see, but our tour guide, Gordon, was the best part!! His knowledge of the tour topics is awesome, and then he enhanced it by having so many other stories, historical tidbits, anecdotes about London that were interesting and educational, pointing out many other things on the way to us first-time London tourists! He engaged fully with us the whole time, even being willing at the end of the tour to drop us at a fish & chips place, and being quite solicitous of one of us who had some infirmities. Plus, he is an excellent driver!!

The Best Experience in London

Stacy_V, Apr 2023

What an Amazing Experience!!!! We had a blast with our guide and super informative.. we Highly Recommended this fun trip!!! Cheers

Great Tour

FELICE_S, Nov 2022

Jerusalem our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and kept us engaged the entire tour. He arrived at our hotel 🏨 n time. He brought a black marker so we could leave a note at Abbey Road and advised us how to get our picture.

I think our tour guide was named...

Rhonda D, Jun 2018

I think our tour guide was named Andrew. He was at the hotel early and cab was spotless. The tour was really well done. The guide showed us a few videos to put some of the stops into context. Not sure we really needed that. The stop at Abbey Road was a highlight and we have the pics to prove it!

The tour was excellent. For anyone...

Dale_D, Mar 2018

The tour was excellent. For anyone who likes the four Bs, the Bard, Baker Street, Bond and Beatles, this tour is perfect. We were only in London for 36 hours and we saw a lot on this 4 hour tour. Additionally, you'll see clips from Bond movies, Beatles music videos and Sherlock episodes at the cites where they were shot. You can even step out of the cab to take pictures. In fact, Andrew, our guide, parked and showed us specific buildings and spots relevant to the tour. Riding in the cab was comfortable and carefree. Andrew knew his way around London like the back of his hand because he is a true London cab driver. Moreover, he was able to answer all of our questions related to the tour and about London in general.

We had a great time in London on our...

Lisa R, Aug 2016

We had a great time in London on our own, and thought we had seen a lot....but the highlight of the vacation was the tour that we did in the traditional London cab. Our driver was Andrew, and he was amazing! He knew the answer to every question we asked, he was genuinely proud of London, and he showed us EVERYTHING!...when we go back, I am definitely going to request him as our driver again!

Best way to get an overview of the...

Steven_B, May 2016

Best way to get an overview of the key sites, of which we returned to many. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and had some wonderful stories to share!

We are a family of 4 and didn't...

Lorna D, May 2016

We are a family of 4 and didn't really know what to expect with this tour, but it was fantastic. Our guide Jerry was fantastic. He had a great fund of knowledge and a fantastic personality. Even my teenager was laughing...and making that happen is not easy. He spent more than the allotted time and kept our attention every minute. A highlight of our week!

My husband and I booked this tour...

klivesey7, Sep 2015

My husband and I booked this tour because it seemed absolutely perfect for us. I love the Beatles and Shakespeare, while he loves James Bond and Sherlock Holmes. Our driver was extremely personable and outgoing, and was a pleasure to be around. What I loved about this tour was that he expectantly gave us a tour of London which was lovely, and helped us plan what areas to go back to. I'm confident that without him showing us Covent Garden, the east end, etc, that we wouldn't have seen them on our short trip. The two negatives about our experience was that we did not see any Shakespeare at all I think he forgot, and our tour ended early at 12:30 as opposed to 1:00. We did not realize this until after we were dropped off and checked the time. So on one hand we are very grateful to have been shown different sights of London, however on the other hand were disappointed that our tour ended early and we missed out on Shakespeare. Despite the negatives, my husband and I would both recommend this tour-I would however, suggest that you keep your eye on the time and speak up if there's something you absolutely want to see.

Very nice driver and car but the...

Mark I, Aug 2015

Very nice driver and car but the tour itself was uninspired. Seemed like there should have been oppotnuites for continous banter on the topics but rather it simply struck on a few talking points. This is about what I would have expected from a cabby rather than a tour guide. In fact this he was a cabby but for the cost I expected a higher end guide, especially since we were paying per head in the cab and with 4 people it was pretty pricy.

Best tour ever!!! This was...

Wonderful Watson Women, Aug 2014

Best tour ever!!! This was absolutely our favorite tour of our entire trip. Our guide was phenomenal, and we were able to get our iconic abbey road photo! We also got a chance to stop for coffee, when we needed. This was amazing and absolutely worth it!

Our driver David was a pleasure. He...

Jan W, Aug 2014

Our driver David was a pleasure. He was accommodating, knowledgable, thoughtful, resourceful and an excellent guide. David exceeded our expectations in every regard. Would not hesitate to employ him again. The black cab though roomcommas not air conditioned which would have alleviated the sweltering heat. I would not hire an unfair conditioned cab during the hot summer again. The driver/guide was terrific and though the comfort of the car was an issue in the unseasonal heat I would still rate this a five star experience.

Tour was a lot of fun! We were able...

John S, Jul 2014

Tour was a lot of fun! We were able to see so much more than if we had taken a bus tour. David was a great guide and we learned so much. He gave us some great recommendations for dining, other sights, etc. Highlight was being able to recreate the Beatles' Abbey Road crossing.

Gordon was a fantastic guide, so...

Leora L, Jun 2014

Gordon was a fantastic guide, so funny and interesting , would recommend him to anyone. EXCELLENT!!!!!!!

Our private black cab and guide...

Ashley_P, Jun 2014

Our private black cab and guide picked us up at our hotel and whisked us off on an incredible tour. We stood on Abby Road, stalked Sir Paul McCartney, visited the streets Ian Fleming and Arthur Conan Doyle walked, and peeked inside Shakespeare's Globe Theater. But anyone can do that. Our guide, Jerry, took us to places we never would have found on our own. We snuck into a quirky hotel that was once a famous courthouse and jail that truly contained rock and roll royalty. We visited a ritzy hotel bar where the real Vesper martini was created, and we learned the meaning behind Lennon's repetitive Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine. The kids loved visiting the new Sherlock's 221b Baker Street address and Speedy's Cafe, but really freaked when we rolled up to St. Bart's Hospital, the site of the season two jump. They even left a message for Sherlock in the red phone booth. When we visit the city again, I'd pay to do the exact same tour. Our guide and the tour were that enjoyable.

We had 5 in the cab, which was one...

Jane L, Feb 2014

We had 5 in the cab, which was one too many. The angle of the cab to the street made it hard to see some of the places. However, if you think of it as a private "overview " tour of London, it was worth it. Our guide was very good and extremely knowledgeable.

Fabulous time with our cab...

Amber_S, Dec 2013

Fabulous time with our cab driver/tour guide, Richard. He really listened to our interests and customized the tour to our tastes. We had a very short time to spend in London, and there is no way we could have seen everything on our own. His graciousness and charm, along with his extensive knowledge and experience really made the tour a highlight of our visit. Would highly recommend.