Sherlock Holmes Walking Tour in London

Badge of ExcellenceLondon, England

Sherlock Holmes Film Location Tour in London

2 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Follow in the footsteps of London’s most famous sleuth on a 2-hour Sherlock Holmes tour. With your film-savvy guide, explore myriad feature locations from Holmes’ literary and cinematic journeys. Visit the Royal Academy building, complete with fascinating reference to the thriller Murder by Decree. Literary buffs will enjoying see the sites of the fictional Diogenes Club and Pentonville Prison, as well as the charmed location of Holmes and Dr. Watson’s first meeting.

2-hour Sherlock Holmes literary and film location tour of London
Learn about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who brought Sherlock Holmes to life on paper
Hear tales of the 1979 thriller Murder by Decree while seeing the Royal Academy building
Visit the location that featured as the Diogenes Club in the BBC Sherlock adaptation, with Benedict Cumberbatch
Stop for photos outside Somerset House, the Neo-Classical building that was used as Pentonville Prison

What's Included

Professional guide

Food and drinks
Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

224 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9HP, UK
Arrive 10 minutes prior to the tour departure time. The meeting point is outside 224 Piccadilly (which also says 'Criterion Est 1874. Restaurant' in the blue sign above the entrance) near to the Eros statue, next to the Criterion Theatre. Leave Piccadilly Circus station by exit for statue of Eros.)

Start time

10:30 AM

End point

151 Strand, London WC2R 1HL, UK

What To Expect

In the morning, head to Piccadilly Circus to meet your friendly guide and begin your walking tour through the sites and stories of Sherlock Holmes. As you begin, learn a bit about the beloved 19th-century detective – the brainchild of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – and his most tangled and fascinating adventures. Pass the initial meeting place of Holmes and his dear Dr. Watson, and continue to the Royal Academy building, used in the film adaptation of the 1979 thriller Murder by Decree.

Follow your guide’s carefully laid trail past famous book and film locations including grand hotels, pubs and gentlemen’s clubs. See the sites that inspired Doyle and have recently given host to performances by Jeremy Brett, Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr., star of Guy Richie’s 2009 film Sherlock Holmes.

Stop at the site of the Diogenes Club, known for its strict no talking rule, and Somerset House, location of the fictional Pentonville Prison. Admire the lovely (and very non-prison like!) Neo-Classical architecture while hearing tales of the prison’s infamous resident, Lord Blackwood. This tour offers plenty of time to brush up on Holmes lore, ask questions and snap photos.

Your tour concludes on the Strand in central London.

Somerset House

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Piccadilly Circus

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Royal Academy of Arts

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers

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

150 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 150 reviews

Excellent tour

Kevin_B, Apr 2024

Michael was excellent. He had a wonderful knowledge of the novels and Of the popular and lesser known Sherlock Holmes movies.

Good but too quick.

Joel_B, Oct 2023

Michael was our guide, & we felt he was quite knowledgeable. But, he walked way too quickly. We had a very difficult time keeping up with him. Other than that, we enjoyed the experience, but it really would be better at a slower pace. At one point on The Strand, Michael was a full block ahead of us & we thought we had lost him.

Loved it

Luna_O, Oct 2023

I had Spencer as my tour guide and he was great, made quite a fun tour and made the walking feel like nothing. and the fact he's a fan of Sherlock Holmes makes it greater, because he knows his stuff properly. lovely lad

Not being a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast does not matter one bit

Anthony_W, Oct 2023

Enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and entertaining host and a reasonable bit of exercise as well. Plenty of information beyond Holmes and Watson as well.

Sherlock tour

Michael_G, Sep 2023

Fiona was an excellent guide. Informative and animated. The tour was interesting and a must for Sherlock film fans---old films and new TV shows.

Very interesting.

Stacey_L, Sep 2023

Michael was very knowledgeable and interesting to listen to. We really enjoyed hearing about all of the sites for the different movies and how they were used to create the movie scenes.

Awesome tour!

Carol_G, Aug 2023

Fiona was wonderful!! She made the tour so much fun and we learned so much too. We love her passion & contagious enthusiasm for Sherlock!

Plus and minus

DawnL_Y, Jun 2023

Guide Fiona was lovely; but the tour officials should work it out with the Sherlock Holmes restaurant/pub to allow tour guests to view the pub and homage space to SH while on the paid-for tour instead of telling/expecting tour members to see it later on own. Also, more focus on the author and books.

History missing

ann_k, Jun 2023

Good storytelling Wish it had more history rather than tv series .. felt missing Baker st would be good

Delightful walk with Sherlock!

Deborah_P, Jun 2023

Chris was a wonderful guide! Very knowledgeable and welcomed comments and questions. Well worth the time and money to spend a morning with him!

We had amazing time...

Gabriele_b, Apr 2023

We had amazing time walking around London and listening interesting stories about Sherlock Holmes. Would recommend

Fabulous! The games afoot…

Eric_J, Mar 2023

Fiona , what a fabulous Sherlock Holmes aficionado! I highly recommend this lady and tour company. Everyone on her tour was pleased.

Worth the trip!

Cathy_G, Oct 2022

This was a great little walking tour. The tour guide was well-versed in Sherlock Holmes and the various books and films he appeared in and made the experience quite a lot of fun. Highly recommend.

A foot! Joke!

Nicholas_W, Jan 2022

Amazing guide! Super fun walk around London with some off the beaten path stops. Great for any diehard or casual fan of sherlock!

A wonderful way to se and learn about London

Maps44489943104, Mar 2019

Me and my family really enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes film tour and the guide Kathryn was very professional. I liked that she refferred to a lot of different books, novels, films and series about Sherlock and that the guide told us nerdy facts of Sherlock and sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Great tour opening and appeared to...

Bruce M, Aug 2017

Great tour opening and appeared to be a great and knowledgeable tour guide. However, we signed up for a walking tour not a running tour. We made the first two stops OK but when we stopped the take a picture the tour, and guide, were gone. We caught the tube to the next scheduled stop he told us about but could not locate the tor group. Very disappointing.

Please do not select this tour...

Keith D, Aug 2017

Please do not select this tour whatever you do. A quarter of the way through this tour, I made the best decision of my life and simply left the tour, which was being hosted by a woman from Texas, USA and attempting to speak proper English, which was nothing but annoying and simplistic. The hostess was simply unprepared, non-personable, and our group size was too large, in which non-tour members were joining our group at times. It was pretty obvious that this tour company was simply after profits without providing a forfilling and worthwhile tour service. Subsequently, please select another tour for a much more enjoyable time since you deserve better. Kind regards.

Unfortunately this review is not...

Chelsey L, Apr 2017

Unfortunately this review is not based on the content of the tour, but the way the tour was run. The tour guide did not consider the walking abilities of all participants. His height had him walking very fast and not waiting for the others. My parents fell behind a couple times and he had no concern whether they were still with the group or not. The other walking tours my parents had done, the guide went at the pace of the slowest person or at least waited so everyone was able to take part. It had not even been half an hour and the guide had lost them because he had gone too far, too fast. Even looking around, my parents could not find where he went. This is the first tour booked through Viator that my family and I have been disappointed with. I did not do this tour with them, but we did other walking tours and this was not an issue. I think it's really awful that we paid money for something that couldn't even be completed because the guide didn't care about all of the paying participants.

I really enjoyed all the locations...

SusanB_N, Apr 2017

I really enjoyed all the locations where the literary Sherlock, the BBC Sherlock and the movie Sherlock took place. The guide gave us so many other bits of information. There was lots of walking, but it was worth it. We went to locations that otherwise I would have never walked to on my own.

It was great fun. David our guide...

cynthia t, Oct 2016

It was great fun. David our guide was top notch. Some suggestions is to include a bathroom break. Maybe a caution to people interested in the tour that it involves brisk walking, so wear appropriate footwear.