Your Guide, Declan McHugh, has spent 40 years studying and researching William Shakespeare, and is especially knowledgeable about Shakespeare's London life. He will take you to hidden, beautiful places In London connected to Shakespeare. His passionate and knowledgeable words will summon up for you Shakespeare's life in his London: his friends, the places he knew, his work, his language, even his intriguing love-life!
You walk in William Shakespeare's footsteps NORTH of the river Thames. You will be shown many memorials to Shakespeare including statues, plaques, busts, and even a 20 foot (7 metre) aluminium totem pole incorporating one of his greatest speeches!
Plus - the icing on the cake - Declan, is a former professional actor and delivers some of Shakespeare's most famous speeches - just for you...
Inclusions & Exclusions
✔ Live entertainment
✔ Pickup and drop-off from designated meeting points
✔ Professional Guide
✖ Image already added
✖ Gratuities
Departure & Return
Departure:
,
Meet me outside the ONLY EXIT at Blackfriars underground station. Blackfriars underground station is on the Circle and District lines.
Itinerary
1
Shakespeare In The City Walk
This is the starting point for the 'Shakespeare in the City Walk'. Meet me outside Blackfriars UNDERGROUND Station. Blackfriars underground station is on the Circle & District Lines. (Be careful - do NOT go South of the river to Blackfriars overground station). There is only one exit so you won't miss me. I will be standing metres away from that underground station exit, with a sign on my rucksack featuring Shakespeare's face.
Duration: 2 minutes
2
A Shakespeare statue most people miss. Shakespeare's popularity. Why you should ignore the conspiracy theories.
Duration: 5 minutes
3
The location of the original Blackfriars Theatre, and why you had to be rich to attend; plus how rich Shakespeare himself became.
Duration: 10 minutes
4
The remaining fragment of the Blackfriars Monastery. Shakespeare's thematic obessions.
Duration: 5 minutes
5
A really lovely, hidden quiet location connecting Shakespeare and King James.
Duration: 5 minutes
6
The site of a Shakespeare house in London, and its fate. The play likely written here.
PLUS, a church with a hidden sculpture of Shakespeare praying, and a very important document. The Researcher who makes Americans proud. The play 'Richard 111' and its connections to the area.
Duration: 15 minutes
7
An extraordinary hidden totem pole made from a very famous William Shakespeare speech. You would NEVER find this weird and wonderful monument by yourself! Declan, who used to be a professional actor, gives the entire speech.
Next, The College of Arms and the Shakespeare family's coat of arms. Why that honour came two months too late. Plus Ben Jonson's joke at Shakespeare's expense. Also information about Shakespeare's children.
Duration: 15 minutes
8
On to a plaque revealing Shakespeare's generosity, why you should keep looking in dusty attics, plus the background to Shakespeare's two daughters and their very different fortunes.
Duration: 7 minutes
9
St. Paul's Cathedral
To the magnificent St Pauls Cathedral and a breathtaking revelation about it (although we don't go inside). Shakespeare's best ever seller, plus his sonnets and a reasonable interpretation of his sexuality. Declan's favourite words by anyone EVER (clue: it's only 4 words and they are by William Shakespeare. And they are cosmic).
Duration: 10 minutes
10
Next a section on Shakespeare's amazing vocabulary, and why it just wasn't enough.
The location of a pub he drank in and who else drank there. Plus a section on Shakespeare's religion, and why he was lonely and reclusive.
Duration: 12 minutes
11
Up next, a bust of William Shakespeare, and the men who honoured him; which plays we would lack without them. Plus revelations about his writing style. Also why you should NOT get all starry-eyed thinking about Love Lane!
Duration: 7 minutes
12
The location of Shakespeare's second house, and why Shakepeare ended up in this area. Plus the full story of how Shakespeare made a marriage and then regretted it.
Duration: 7 minutes
13
St. Giles Cripplegate
Finally, at a church he knew, the two best known actors of his age, and the sad case of his brother Edmund.
Declan finishes with another complete and hauntingly beautiful speech from Shakespeare's last play, in which Shakespeare gets cosmic again. The speech is perfect because it is about saying goodbye...
Duration: 7 minutes
14
Declan then walks to Barbican underground station if you want to accompany him to join the underground train system. Barbican is on three different underground lines: The Circle, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith & City Lines.
By the end of this magical tour I promise - and the rave reviews here on TripAdvisor agree - that you will know William Shakespeare, and his London, infinitely better!
Duration: 5 minutes
Additional info
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
• Children must be accompanied by an adult. Recommended age for a child: 10 years and above.
• A maximum of 15 people per booking
• Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
