London Walking Tours with Fantastic Walks: Robin Launder's Expert Guide to the City

Many visitors see a lot in London but still leave feeling like they do not quite understand it. In this episode, Tracy Collins is joined by Robin Launder, founder of Fantastic Walks, to explore how walking tours and storytelling bring London’s history to life.

Robin shares how his background as a history and English teacher, plus years in education training, shapes the way he guides. You will hear why stories stick, what surprises first timers most about walking tours, and how guides balance humour with the heavier parts of London’s past.

We also chat through some of Robin’s most popular themed walks including Soho Rock and Roll, Westminster Wonders, Hidden London (Trafalgar Square to Covent Garden and back), Churchill, and Jack the Ripper (informed by Robin’s earlier career in the prison service and his criminology background).

Use exclusive code UKTP10 for 10% discount when booking a London walking tour with Robin at Fantastic Walks.

👉 Full show notes and helpful links at uktravelplanning.com/episode-193

🎧 Listen to next:

• Episode #189 – How to Plan a London Itinerary: Expert Tips, Must-See Landmarks & Common Mistakes to Avoid
• Episode #186 – Eating Your Way Through London [What, Where + Food Tours]
• Episode #167 - Must-Do London Experiences, Secret Spots + Foodie Favourites

Still planning your UK or Ireland trip?

Rabbie's small-group tours are a brilliant way to see more without the hassle of driving or planning everything yourself. With departures from cities such as Edinburgh, London and Dublin, it's easy to add a multi-day adventure to your itinerary. 

Have a look at their tours and any current offers on their website - Rabbies.com

Transcript

Why London Feels Hard To Grasp

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Many visitors see a lot in London but still leave feeling like they don't quite understand it. Today's episode explores how storytelling and walking the city can bring London's past to life.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, Tracy Collins. Each week, Tracy shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation. Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.

Sponsor: Walks And Devour Tours

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Before we get started, we'd like to thank our sponsor, Walks and Devour Tours. If you're planning a trip to London, you'll already know the challenge. There's a lot you want to do and only a limited amount of time to fit it all in. That's where the right tour makes all the difference because you want experiences that are the best use of your time with more access, less waiting, and a deeper sense of the city. That's why we recommend Walks and Devour Tours. They offer walk-in tours and food tours designed to make your time count, often with early or after hours entry. You'll also be with exceptional local guides who add the stories and context so you leave with a richer understanding of what you're seeing and a trip that feels genuinely memorable. If you're visiting London as a couple with family or you simply prefer a more intimate experience, walks and devour tours also offer private tour options. To learn more, you'll find the link in the show notes. Now let's get into this week's episode.

Meet Tracy And Guest Guide Robin

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Hello everybody and welcome to this week's edition of the UK Travel Planner Podcast. Now this week I'm very, very excited because I have a new uh partner to announce and to introduce. I've actually just had to kick Doug out of the room because he was he was having a fantastic chat with our guest today because he has met Robin and he has been on one of Robin's tours. Um actually I was saying Robin Doug should have been doing the the interview with you because you two were chatting away for ages there. Which is lovely, it's fantastic. He absolutely loved the tour when he was in London last year. So um we are very pleased to have you on board. So um, before we get into the nitty-gritty of the podcast, um it just introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about what it is that you do and a little bit about your company. I'm gonna let you introduce uh the name of your company. You can do the unveiling. Um tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up doing what you do.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

Well, Tracy, thank you very much. It's a real pleasure, honestly, to be um uh on this podcast and to uh I know we've been in communication a bit and it was lovely to see Doug in London. So then a little bit about me. My name is Robin Launder, and my company is called Ta-da-da-da-da-da-da-da Fantastic Walks. I really should have had a trumpet playing or something in the background when I did that, but Fantastic Walks. Uh and it's my company, essentially, so it's just me, sort of. I'll explain a little bit about that a little bit later on, um, perhaps because my son might be joining me. He's a very good tour guide. So essentially it's just me. So I am um a 60-year-old

From Teaching To Tour Guiding

SPEAKER_02 3:20

bloke who thought what would be a really good thing to do now that I am coming slightly towards the end of my previous career, not quite, but a little bit, which was in education. So for the last, oh, I don't know, time seems to move on. I've been a teacher for 30 years or so, right? Don't don't quote me on those, uh, not least because I don't want to think about those 30 years, like where did they go? Do you know? But anyway, for the last 30 years or so, I've been a uh a teacher. And then towards the end of that, I started getting into um doing teacher training. So I go around to schools, I go into conferences, I talk to lots of people about behavior management, about how kids learn, about motivation, all of those really interesting things that teachers need to know about, and I kind of really enjoy that. Um, and I still do that, so I kind of manage my diary and I still do those work, those pieces of work. Um but essentially my wife said to me, Robin, you have to get out of the house more. I do need a little bit of my own time, and I've thought, okay, what can I do? What do I like? Well, my subjects that I would teach are English and history. That were my two subjects. My degree um is in history. When you go into schools, though, they have quite a lot of history teachers, so they often will put you into teaching English, and English is one of my other loves. So English and history, and I thought, well, I like walking, I like talking, I like teaching, you know, I like trying to be funny. My children think I'm funny, my wife thinks I'm less funny, and you know, that's just the reality of it, I think, and go out there and uh uh do walking tours. So that's what I've been doing for about a year. But I have to say it's going, you know, really, really well, partly because I think I absolutely love doing it.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

I I well I have to say, uh Robin, and we we chatted about this before, that you're like the the male equivalent of me, because that is exactly my background, not that I'm funny in any way, shape, or form. Um, but I also was a teacher, history teacher, not English. I'm not so much of a fan of English, but I was a history teacher. Um, and that then I became uh an advisor. Um, and my actual remote was to uh prevent children from being permanently excluded from schools, which I absolutely love. So I did that job for 25 years um and and loved it. But I got to the end of that kind of teaching career and and I was thinking, what should I do? I really like history, I really like talking. So here we are. I'm the podcast host of being into the.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

I mean it really is almost identical. Our journeys are almost identical, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Yeah, it's it's just fantastic, really is fabulous. So, uh how do you think that combination of your teaching background, uh, your love of history, your love of English, your um comedic

How Passion And Humour Engage Learners

SPEAKER_01 6:10

side of you, how does that combine and influence the way that you are as a guide?

SPEAKER_02 6:15

I you know, I think entirely. I I think that that I think essentially the the person that I am on the tools um is essentially the person I am in the classroom, which is essentially the person I am when I'm standing up in front of maybe 30 primary school teachers or you know, 500 people in a conference. I mean it's the same person really, and I think it's the same kind of core skills. So I think it's about you know communication that you get your message across, whatever your message is, you know, whether it's how to use an apostrophe or what happened at this building, at this corner of a road in London. I mean, you know, the the what you're talking about is different, but but it's the same kind of underlining skills. Humour is always a good thing, you know. This this kind of a sort of trickling of humour all the way through, whether it's a lesson or a conference or a walk, you know, people then are going, okay, I wonder what's the next funny thing he's gonna say. Do you know? So they're kind of paying attention in that way. Um so I and I think the other key thing, this this is my own personal view about this is my own personal view. So the best teachers, the best uh teacher trainers, the best uh guides, this is my view, are the ones that are passionate about it. So if you're passionate about that thing that you are talking about, um you know, A, that's a sort of permission giver for everyone else to be passionate about it, but it shows that you just love this thing, that this thing is like the best thing in the world. And uh, you know, I'm passionate about what I what I teach, whatever the format, whether it's a walking tour in London or you know, I don't know, um, Shakespeare's sonnet. It really doesn't matter, you know, it's the same sort of thing, it's about being passionate about that thing, and I love those things, and I think it comes across, and I think that's infectious.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

I absolutely 100% agree with you, Robin. It it really does, and I just even think of my own days back in the classroom about um, and we've all had history teachers who were a bit boring and a bit dry, and and they relied on a textbook and it was you know death by worksheet in some ways. And I I wanted to do drama, I wanted to do art, I wanted to, and that's how the kids learnt in my classroom, and I absolutely loved it. And I think if you have that passion and you however you you deliver it, that comes across and and it's infectious. Everybody, everybody is infected by that and and and goes along with that enthusiasm as well and kind of wants to wants to learn, and that's actually the best way to learn when you're you're kind of immersed in it with somebody else who's got that enthusiasm as well as, of course, the knowledge. And so you mentioned uh that you you so you started Fantastic Walks just over a year ago, so it's not been going very long, but you have got, I believe it's over 400 five-star chip advisor reviews. Absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

Well, thank you very much. It's huge, it's bonkers, and it's nuts. And I should add on to that too. So it's about 450 now. I think last time we talked, it was, you know, just over, but of course they keep on going up. Um, and but the other thing to add into that is they are only five-star reviews. There is nothing less than five-star reviews. So it's about 450 five-star reviews, and nothing less than that. And um I, you know, I I I mean, I'm just overwhelmed by that. Of course I am, and you know, and of course, I'm very proud about that too, because you know, I know that is something special. Um, and and I want it to be what it is, which is a reflection of what I do. You know, I want it to I want people to come onto the walks and have to learn stuff, to to have

Reviews, Standards And Crafting A Great Walk

SPEAKER_02 9:45

stories, to bring the history alive in the way that you were just describing, right? But also to have fun. To go, this is my job, this is what I think, right? This is my belief. This is my worldview. It's not just about, not just about, you know, being a tour guide, but it's my worldview. My worldview is that when you go into a restaurant, that restaurant should be trying to make you the best meal you can ever have. Do you know? That when you go and see a film at the cinema, the person and the people that made that film should be doing their best to make the best film they can possibly make. When you come into my classroom, you know, and I was teaching as a teacher within the classroom, I want it to be the best lesson I can do. I want to be the best teacher I can be for you, and that translates and transfers to coming onto my walk. I want my walks to be the best walk. I want you, when you come onto my walk, to go, oh my god, that was just absolutely brilliant. I've just had the best time. How lucky are we? That's my job to provide that, do you know? And that's what I want to do. It's not about money, it's not about any of that stuff, it's just about a quality product, something that people really enjoy, you know?

SPEAKER_01 10:52

And and clearly that is what people are responding to. I mean, that's why you're getting these these, you know, uh amazing a number of five-star only five-star reviews. Um, what did was there a moment for you when you after you started doing the tours that you kind of went, wow, this is this is really working for me and for everybody, it's all kind of jelly?

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Yeah, yeah, it was day one, actually. I can tell you day one. So the way that I just did this, it was um I had to put my toe in the water, you know. So I the way that I did, I went onto a tour, I went onto a gu, uh, a walking tour of London um with a really nice guy, and I kind of emailed him afterwards, and we got talking, and I said, you know, I'd quite like to do this. He said, Well, would you like to take a group? Do you know, would you like to take one of our groups, right? So I researched the walk, I you know, I really looked into it. I I sort of did lots of dummy runs on my own on my own. My wife came along, my kids came along, we sort of went through it because you you know you've got to know the material, you've got to be sure of what you're doing. And then I took my first group, and I had the best time, by the way. I believe they had the best time because they told me that they had the best time, and then I thought I would just risk something at the end, right? Um, I whether I should have done this or not, I don't know. But I said, look, just so you know, you this group, the people that are with me now today, will always be firmly fixed in my brain. I will never forget you, and it's true. I haven't, in fact, um, for my website, I have a sort of concert uh um an image of this group that's on the website, um, uh, because this group is my first ever group. And what I said to them, I said, so you're always going to be firmly in my brain, and the reason for that is you are the first group I've ever had. I don't whether

Storytelling As The Engine Of Memory

SPEAKER_02 12:33

I should have said it or not, but I did, right? I thought I'd just take the risk. And they went, No, no, you've been doing this for 20 years. I go, no, honestly, no, the first time, no, we don't believe you. Honestly, it's true, it's true. This is the first time I did it. And I and I I guess it was from their reaction and also the rare their reaction all the way through, really, that kind of convinced me that I'm onto something, you know. Um, whatever that thing is, whatever that ingredient is, it's probably the stuff that we've talked about, you know, knowing your subject, being passionate, being funny, you know, engaging, being personable, being a nice human being, you know, being inclusive.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

I think so. And uh I think, well, just your enthusiasm, honestly, Robin. It's it's coming through in in, you know. I don't know how to explain it. Just just bountiful uh enthusiasm coming through the mic. Yeah, I can feel it. Um and it's it's getting on it, it gets a little bit later here in Australia, but yeah, yeah, enthusing me in this time, and I'm like, oh my goodness, it's amazing. Now, um again, I it takes me a little bit to when I was back in the classroom because I was very enthusiastic about teaching my kids. Um, and and one of the best ways that we can teach or we learn, I think, is through stories, and particularly history, it just lends itself so well to storytelling. You know, we we can all learn a list of dates and it means nothing. It's as dry as more than a chicken, yeah. But actually tells telling somebody a story makes such a difference. And you know, why do you think it is? Why do you think when you tell a story it it draws people in?

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Yeah, I I think I I think I think this is set down when we were like living in caves and we were around those fires, do you know? And we would sit around and people would tell stories. I think, you know, I think having a walking tall guide of London is a modern version of sitting around a fire in a cave, uh like of how many hundreds of thousands of years ago, I don't know. But I think it's the same core ingredients. We love stories, and you know, and you were saying about history. It's funny, I you know, you would you would assume that the the subject in schools that that's best for stories would be English, because English is always about stories, but it's not. The subject that's best for stories easily, hands down is history. In fact, you know, if you think about the word history, it's got the word story embedded within it, right? So it's definitely history. Um so I think we love stories. I think we are storytellers, I think we lose ourselves in the in the story. Um I think it's you know one of the reasons we that TV and cinema and and podcast and you know reading, thankfully, reading is so you know so um so important to people and um and and enriches their lives. Uh so I think we we just have a natural predisposition to the importance of the story. Um and what's lovely about doing a walking tour is

Bringing Sites Alive Where History Happened

SPEAKER_02 15:25

you're doing the story where the thing happened. Wow. You know, you're talking about, say, Churchill, and you're talking about Churchill and the speech that he made outside the building, and you can go and you can touch that building and you can bring it to life, do you know? Or whatever the story might be, you know. That there's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of glorious stories uh in London. It's uh that's true of every city, but it's particularly true of London. And to stand there and to say that story, to to to bring that story to life, you know. I don't know, this is what you do, I know it's what you do, but like, you know, almost to act it out. So for instance, at one on one occasion, I think during my change in the guard tour, we look at um Horse Guards Parade, and there's a famous jousting arena, it was Henry VIII's jousting arena. So I get some of the if it's children, I get them to hold my flag, which is now the lance, and they have to kind of charge me in a very safe kind of way, and I fall off my imaginary horse and and I explain what jousting is in that way, do you know, and then linking it to what happened to Henry VIII and um Anne Boleyn, you'll have to go onto the onto the walk, of course, if you want to find out all those details, but it's all about stories and bringing it alive, you know.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

And also uh like getting the kids involved as well, acting it out is another great way to experience it and immerse yourself in it and and and learn it. It's just and just say Yeah sorry, and then not forget it because you physically yeah, yeah, absolutely, that's the best way to to do it. And and I've I've always firmly believed that. And it's just say London is just uh it is an open book full of stories waiting to be told, um, and go on your tour, and you can you can hear some of those stories, which is amazing. Now, for somebody who hasn't done a walk and tour before, so if you're listening and you're thinking, I fancy doing this walk and tour, Robin, but but I'm not sure about this. What's going to be involved in it? What do you think surprises them most about going on a walk and tour?

SPEAKER_02 17:52

Oh, um gosh, that's a really good question. Um, I think I think how engaging it is. Uh I think that's that I think that's the main thing. You know, you can you can do this in lots of ways, right? You know, you can go onto a bus tour or a taxi tour, or you can get a guided book. They've all got something for them. They're all

Balancing Joy With Dark Histories

SPEAKER_02 18:08

good ways of of engaging with London. I think the walking tour is the best because you get up close and personal. Do you know you're there where this stuff happened? So, what surprises people, I think what surprises people is well, I I you know I was looking forward to this. I thought this would be really good. I mean, honestly, I thought it was going to be good, but I didn't know it was gonna be that good. I didn't know that story was there. Oh my goodness, I've walked past, and I obviously do this for Londoners too, so you kind of get a slightly different you know response from Londoners. They say, I've lived here 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, whatever it might be. I never knew that. What there? That happened there. I can't believe that. How did I not know? Do you know? So I think it's the kind of the immediacy of being in the place that brings it, brings it to life. That's what makes it extra, extra special. Do you know?

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Oh, absolutely, yeah. And there's so many places, as I say, you can walk to in London, and you're walking in the footsteps of famous people or you know, authors that you you may have read about, or you're sitting in a pub having a paint, you know, where Charles Dickens has sat and had to paint at some point, you know, crazy, yeah. Crazy and it's incredible. And London has had a very tumultuous, very interesting history. Lots of things have gone on right the way we've got, you know, you can see Roman remains within London. Um, all the way to present day. Lots of stuff's gone on in London. Now, how do you kind of balance the humour and the entertainment with, I guess, some of the kind of emotional parts of London? Because, you know, there's been some interesting things that have disasters that have happened in London.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So I mean, obviously the humour's got to be appropriate to the context, right? So um, I do the jack, I do a Jack of the Ripper tour, I, you know, look, I can tell you there's no humour in that, right? Because it's very difficult to be, and nor would I ever want to be,

The Tour Menu: Guards, Soho, Westminster

SPEAKER_02 19:53

uh, to put in jokes or be funny in the context of that. That that's just far too disrespectful. That would not be appropriate. So it's about it's about, you know, the context in a sense makes the decisions about about um uh about humour, say. But you know what? I think humour is one part of something. So I think I think what you're trying to do uh as a storyteller is evoke emotions in your in the people that are listening, right? I think tall guys, I think the best tall guys, and most tall guys are pretty good in all honesty, because if you're not very good, they generally speaking you get poor reviews and then people don't re-employ you. But but anyway, right, I think the very best ones are the ones that um elicit emotions from from their group, and humour is one of those emotions, right? So it's on that kind of umbrella term, um, but also you know, sadness, also shock, also potentially disgust. They're all emotional reactions to the story that you're hearing, which means that you are fully engaged in that story. So I think for me, it's about the emotion that I want to bring to the fore. Sometimes it's you know funny emotion, sometimes it's a sad emotion. Depends, obviously, it depends on the context of what you're talking about, but that's what you're trying to get into. And I think that's why stories are so good for that, actually.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

Uh absolutely, absolutely, because you just say you can evoke a range of emotions in in a story. Now you have got quite a few um different tours for people to choose between. Um, so do you want to give us a little bit of a give us a description or rundown of what you have got on offer? Um because I'm very excited because I'm going to be joining some of these as well. So I'm like, oh yes, I've done that one.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Well well, um, of course, Doug do joined my my Changing the Guard tour, which is like Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, a version of it is on Sunday. That's that's just a lot of fun, and it's so interesting, and it's you know, you may be a monarchist, you may not be a monarchist, it doesn't matter. This is just a very special thing to see because you're seeing living history. That's what I love about it, it's living history, and it's exciting, you know. We march with the guards, um, you know, uh down the mile. We march with them with the band is playing to our right, and we're kind of marching too, we have lots of fun. So changing the guard is a very, very special one, and I it's one of my favorites. I'm just thinking about what I did yesterday in the afternoon. I did a Soho Rock and Roll Tour. Boy, do I love the Soho Rock and Roll Tour.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

It's I'm on that one, Robin. I'm on that one. Oh my goodness, Robin.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

I'm not saying it's any better than the than the changing the guards it's kind of fundamentally different, but what a tour. So, you know, to give you an example, we look at where the Beatles did their last rooftop uh co uh uh concert, you know, 30th of uh January 1969. We look at we this is just just just a tiny few things that we do, but I mean the whole thing is incredible. We look at where the Rolling Stones auditioned, we go to where Amy

Ripper Tours Through A Criminology Lens

SPEAKER_02 22:53

Winehouse um uh wrote the lyrics for Back to Black. We go to where the Beatles recorded Hey Jude. Hey Jude, the most successful Beatles song of all time. We go to the place where Led Zeppelin first played as Led Zeppelin. Do you know? Uh we go to where uh Bowie did his first uh five albums where he got the album cover made for Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders and Mars. You can probably tell that this particular tour um appeals to people of a certain age.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

What is that saying about me?

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Gosh, I would never say that, but it's certainly it's certainly my age and my age group and up, you know. Um but interestingly, also younger younger people do go on it because you know what happens is the grandparents and the parents introduce this music, this glorious, wonderful rock and roll music, to to you know, to their children, and they go, Oh my goodness, this is really, really great. Um, but you know, it also has modern stuff in it, like we see where Oasis did their first album cover where Pelp and Blur played. I mean, it's a really, really good tour. So I love that. That's tour number two. Um, tour number three, I do Westminster Wonders. That's fantastic. We start at Buckingham Palace, we go through all the back streets of St. James, through St. James' Park, through Horse Guards Parade, down Whitehall, we end up at Westminster Abbeys. Westminster Abbey. We're seeing three, I think it's three, UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I mean, it's just remarkable again, dripping in history. Wonderful, wonderful stories. I've just told you, at least I mean I made reference to the Ripper, um, the Ripper tour that I've just put together, which I have to say, I think it's just fabulous. I know that's how can you say that without sounding conceited? But I

Hidden London: Finding What Others Miss

SPEAKER_02 24:38

do think it is. Um, I I didn't mention this, and I should have mentioned this when you were saying, you know, about about my journey here. So for the last 30 years, um I have been a teacher, and I still teach in the context I told and I I told you about, and I do the walking tours. But before I was a teacher, for about 17 years, uh I worked in the prison service. So um I have I have a master's in in forensic psychology, uh, which includes criminology. So for the repertoire, uh, you know, we're looking at history, we're looking at the offenses, but we're also looking at it from the perspective, you know, from the lens, if you like, of a criminologist. And you know, the reality is I worked, you know, when I was working in the Princess Service, I only ever worked with serious offenders. So I worked with offenders that would be a line to, and would be as awful as the offences that happened in Whitechapel in 1888 by Jack the Ripper. Um, so yeah, that gives a different dimension to it. Um, what else do I do? Oh, hidden London, it's a new tour. Oh, I love this. We talk, I think we I mentioned it to you, I think. So hidden London, the thing is, you know, what's hidden. So when you're walking down these streets, we start off into Fulgar Square, we go over across the Strand, we go down to Victorian Bankment, we come back up again through Covent Garden. It is the most wonderful loop. I mean, it is glorious and it is full, full, full of hidden treasures. And here's the thing, right? This is why I think everyone, look, I think it's true anyway, of any any city that you visit. Any city that you visit, if you're there on holiday, and I always do this personally. So if I go to a city with my wife, you know, we always do this. I always do one or more walking tours because it brings the place alive, right? I absolutely brings it alive. I love it. I also it's a bit busman's holiday because I want to see how they're doing it too, do you know? So I and I often learn because they do some great things that I then incorporate in. But anyway, so you want to come to London, you want to do a walking tour, because otherwise you're walking down these streets and you go, Well, that's a nice building, and that's it. You need something, you need someone to bring that alive. It's the stories that relate to that building, you know. Um, and here in London, there's so much stuff you don't see. And when you've got someone pointing out that's that, that's that, that's that, that's that, you know, old stuff, new stuff, stuff in the middle, it's it's it's a joyous experience. It's a joyous experience.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

Well, I'm also very excited about I'm excited about all your tours, Robin, but I'm also very excited about that one because I'm particularly interested in uh the area of Covent Garden because the history of Covent Garden is fascinating. And most visitors will come, see some street entertainers, go and have a have a cup of coffee an afternoon tea or something, and have no idea of the history of Covent Garden. Um, so I'm not gonna share that in this episode. I am gonna do an episode later on this year about Covent Garden itself. Um go on go on uh on Robert's tour and find out uh about the history of Covet Garden because it it is absolutely fascinating.

Choosing Stories And Route Design

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Now, when you talked a little bit about obviously when I when we go on holiday as well, we always go we always do a food tour because we love our food, and we also also do a walk and tour because again, you learn about you you can walk, there's so many places in so many cities around the world, you walk past something and you you will not understand or realise the kind of significance or or what happened in that building, and it's so it's lovely to kind of get that that context. Now, there are so many stories to choose from in London. How do you decide what to include in a tour? Because you could probably spend months taking somebody to around Comic Rock, for example.

SPEAKER_02 28:15

Yeah, exactly. Yes, exactly. So to give an example of that, so when I start off the Soho walking tour, you know, which is the Walk and Vo Tour, um, I say, you know, it's lovely that you're here, etc. etc. And just so you know, because it's a two-hour tour, by the way, the tour is a two-hour tour, virtually all are about two hours, and I say to my guests, I say, just so you know, this is a four-hour walking tour that I've crammed into two hours, right? And the point is it could have also been an eight-hour walking tour that I'd crammed into four, because that's the point. There's so there's so much choice. I think some of it, some of it sometimes is just geographical because you want to um start in a place that's really easy for for guests to get to, you know, somewhere near a tube station, for instance, or a really obvious place, and you want to end at a place that's really easy to get away from. You know, there's a there's a tube station, for instance, you know. Um so that sometimes it's just the geography that tells you, and therefore, because of the geography, you pick up on the stories as you go around. So it's sometimes it's just nothing more than that. Sometimes it's thematic. So, for instance, you know, when I do the the Westminster tour, that is the uh the wonders of Westminster, where we start from Buckingham Palace and we go down to Westminster Abbey, well that actually crosses over some of the changing the guard. But the change in the guard material is very different from the Westminster Wonders material because the change in the guard material is linked to essentially changing of the guard. Whereas Westminster Wonders, you've got a much more of a free hand to talk about anything that personally interests me. Do you know? Hidden London, the one I just mentioned, the one that you know you want to go on, and the one I want you to go on, where we start in Trafalgar Square, we go down to the embankment, we come across a strand, we uh go through Covent Garden and come back to Trafalgar Square. So this is quite nice, it's a circular one. Well, it's hidden London, so there the theme has to be everything that is hidden. Hidden purposefully so, perhaps? You know, we go into St. Martin's uh in the fields and we go into the crypt, and in the crypt there is a whipping post, it's a sort of medieval punishment, hardly anyone knows it's there. You've got to know where to look to be able to go and see it. The date on it is 1752. There is a whipping post in the crypt dated 1752. I won't go through the horrible details about what a whipping tail post entails, but there's a clue in the title, of course, right? And it's 1752, that's where its date is on there, and that's a replacement from

Logistics: Group Size And Mobility

SPEAKER_02 30:43

an older one that goes all the way back to the 1500s. So we go into a crypt. What does the word crypt mean? It means hidden. That is the literal definition of the word crypt. That's why you get it in cryptology and encryption and cryptic crosswords, you know, it's all hidden. So it starts by going into a hidden place, literally saying Martin's in the fields and then working our way around. So as long as the connection is hidden in some kind of way, hidden intentionally, hidden because we've forgotten about it, you know, hidden because it was lost in some way, then that will be the sort of thematic link, you know? But even then, there's tons of stuff that we could talk about, so you've got to be selective.

SPEAKER_01 31:23

Well, I have to say, I love the cafe and the crypt to go and have um something to eat, because it's amazing, and I'll recommend that all the time. Well, I never knew about that, so there you go. So I you know, um I'm learning already from you before we've even done a walk and tour, Robin. So I'm sure um everybody listening, I'm sure, is catching you know the enthusiasm that you're that you're exuding um in this interview, which is amazing. And as I say, like Doug um absolutely loved the the tour that he did with you and and has talked about it ever since. He really that's why he had to pop in and say hello when you knew it was working to you tonight. Um and I'm really looking forward to to coming on a tour. And um, and I so I kind of want to ask, because I we're very selective about who we work with. We we really and when when when I first spoke to you and Doug went on a tour, you absolutely it fits so well into who we want to work with and who we want to promote because there's so many different tours in London that everybody can choose from and lots of different walker tours. But what do you feel? Oh, because you've had so much amazing feedback. What is it that people take away from a walk with you that that wants you know make some want to leave that amazing feedback for you?

SPEAKER_02 32:32

Do you think oh thank you? That's the kind that's the kind of thing, and I do think it is a little bit like what you just said, actually, that they've had um such a great time. I mean, okay, you know, that's that's your hope, that's my intent. I told you that's my worldview. I want people to come onto a tour and have the best time ever. That's my job to provide that. That's what I believe, right? Um, and I think then people have had such a nice time, so you know, they've enjoyed themselves, right? Uh and to the point that they are surprised how much they've enjoyed themselves. Surprised how, you know, they say, Oh, I knew it was gonna be good, I just didn't know it was gonna be that good. You know, this and it's charming. I obviously I just love reading the feedback, but I think the feedback is a gift back. I think what they're saying is, I love this so much, I want you to know it is, so I'm gonna go to the trouble of writing the five-star review and say what I say, because I want you to know, Robin, that we loved it. Um, so I mean, I'm really glad about that. I'm glad that that's the case, and that's exactly what I want to hear, and it's what I aim for. And because I've waffled, I've now forgotten, of course I have, and partly because I'm 62, I have now forgotten what the question was,

Serendipity: Guests Add New Stories

SPEAKER_02 33:38

Tracy.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

Uh, don't worry, I was just saying what what was it that is um so special about your tours that people people want to leave the mission? I think it's the I think you've answered it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I also mention that I'm also your age, so um I'm not massively younger. I'm pretending to be, but I'm not. Um now, um obviously we we do work with walks tours as well who do um small group tours, and we absolutely love walks tours um too. Um yours are slightly different in that your your groups are are larger. So just give us a little bit of a chat about kind of how many people are in your group and kind of the expectations a little bit actually as well about mobility, because I know that question of will get all uh get asked. Um so kind of just sort of describe a little bit the logistics of your tour.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

Yeah, no, I think that's a that's a great question, right? So um, you know, certain tours are longer than others. So the changing the guard one, um, you know, you you you you need a bit of mobility. There's not steps, but there is a bit of walking. Um and it's just unavoidable. You know, we it's where we start, it's where we end up. If you if you're gonna see this well, um as you can imagine, I post all those details on the walks themselves so that people can be clear about whether it's and I say how long the walk is, uh in both time and of course distance, and whether there are any steps. There are no steps. Um there are no steps on the changing the guard tour. Um and you know, Soho, much shorter. The so it's I would say everyone can do Soho really. You know, if you can walk half a mile or so, then you can definitely do Soho. And um and and I would say that's m that's true for for most of them. I try to avoid the steps, but sometimes it's impossible. You know, it's just this is a medieval city essentially, and uh it doesn't always cater for you know people with mobility issues. Um so you've just got to factor that in. And you know, then we've got to factor in the rain, and we've got to factor in you know all those sorts of things too. London is a rainy city too. So um, you know, you must know in yourself whether you've whether you can do these tours. Uh my walks will identify how far they are, um, um, and whether there are steps essentially. But I think you know you've got to have you know a general level of mobility to kind of get around. I think that's probably true of most walking tours, to be fair. Yeah, um,

When To Book And How To Pick

SPEAKER_02 36:03

yeah, and in terms of group size, well, it depends really. So for changing the guard, you know, you because it's quite a spacious area, generally speaking, you can do you know, you can do quite well with you know larger groups, so 20 or so is is fine. For for normally around um uh Soho, which is cramped, you know, it's more like 10 to 15 is is a workable number, and that's the generally speaking what I take around. Um so that's the sort of numbers that it works really. I mean, obviously people can do these tours privately. I and of course I'm more than happy if they want to do that. I think there's something quite lovely though, being part of a group. Because I like this kind of interesting because when you're part of a group, you get some of the stories that come from the group. A lot of the things that I've learned on these tours come from from the guests. Um, and that's true, you know, from guests from abroad or guests from London. So to give an example, not everyone will. I'm gonna tell you an example that happened um just yesterday on my walk. Not everyone will know this person, but nevertheless, on my walk yesterday, I had um um Mickey Most's daughter. Now, Mickey Moose was a very famous record producer. He's the guy that produced um The Animals Um, oh gosh, help me out, help me out, I'm 60, um, House of the Rising Sun. So he Yeah, right, he produced that and lots of other things too. So I have his daughter on the tour, and I'm getting all these stories about Mickey Most, who's you know, he's he's pivotal, he's crucial to the rock and roll story in in London and therefore you know across the globe. Uh uh then if we go back a couple of months ago, again, they won't necessarily mean things to everyone, but there's a chap called Chaz Chandler. Chaz Chandler was the bassist on The Animals, coincidentally the same group, but he was also the manager of Jimi Hendrix. And uh so now I've got Chaz Chandler's niece on the tour, who's telling me all these stories about Jimi Hendrix, do you know? And um and people that would gone to the clubs and you know, late yes, just yesterday I didn't get a chance to talk to her because this was on the Change in the Guard tour, so she's gonna come onto my Soho tour, but she also worked with Dick James. Dick James was the guy that um was was doing the um the the um the music who who owned the copyright to the Beatles songs, you know.

SPEAKER_01 38:19

So you never know who you can meet on a toe with you and hear all those stories. That's absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_02 38:25

You know, you get all this kind of insider stuff, and which is really, really lovely.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

But that's really cool. As I say, like in you don't know what what um information the people have common with them as well and what their interests are, and um you know what they what they I mean Doug's really good on medieval history, he knows loads of stuff about that, and I'm always like really surprised when he tells me something

Curiosity Over Checklists

SPEAKER_01 38:43

like, oh, okay. Um so you know, you you just don't know what you and who you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 38:47

I mean, that's one of the benefits, yeah, to have a group rather than do a private group.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

You can also meet people from all over the world as well, which is always really, really nice. Now, if somebody's gonna book a tour, would you recommend they do it? Is there a time you'd say do it like at the beginning of their time in London or later when they found the feet? Which way would you say do it?

SPEAKER_02 39:06

I mean, you know, it depends how far. If you've if you've gone all the way from Australia, for instance, right? You need a bit of whoo, that was a long flight. I need some moments to myself, do you know? Um, so maybe that's a part of the factor. But I would say, let's just say that you have, I don't know, a five-day tour of London. Let's just say, let's just play that game. I think what you should do on day one is a walking tour, on day two is a walking tour, day three is a walking tour. Yeah, I would say do a walking tour. And then just before your flight, I would suggest doing a walking tour because it's the best way to access London. Do you know?

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Oh, and then he throw.

SPEAKER_02 39:46

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, actually, heathrow is a walking tour, but it's all the way through. And then, of course, you know, go visit our churches, visit our pubs, and visit and have some good food, and you know, see a show or two. Uh, that's that's the London experience, really.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Oh, I can't wait. I can't wait to be back in London. I just love being there. I it you know, it really is one of those. Like if you're if you're bored of London, you're bored of life, isn't that the the uh the quote? Um now have you got any tips for choosing the right walk based on particular interests um or even time of year?

SPEAKER_02 40:18

I mean, is there any yeah, interest, I think just go with your interests, right? But I also wouldn't personally, I mean, absolutely go with your history. So I do a Churchill tour, I think he's a really fascinating character. That's one of my tours. I love that. You know, we go into the shops that he would bought all his stuff from, we sit in Churchill's chair in his cigar shop. I mean, it's just a crazy, crazy tour. It's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. So if you like Churchill, do a Churchill tour. You know, if you like if you like Changing the Guard, and boy the way you should like Change of the Guard because it's brilliant, do Changing Guards. If you like rock and roll, do rock and roll. That that kind of speaks for itself. If you're interested in the in the in the incredible story of Jackie Ripper, um and the lens it gives you on Victorian London, particularly in really, really desperate areas that is Whitechapel, do that tour. But I would got another piece of advice, right? My other piece of advice is do tours that are just not obviously interesting to you. Do those tours too because it's there you'll discover new stuff, you know? If you wouldn't choose the Jack the Ripper tour, choose the Jack the Ribber tour almost because you will see and stuff will come to the surface and you'll open yourself to another corner of the world. So I think you know, I think being curious is a great thing, but I think you've got to be open to all the corners that there are in the world because there's lots and lots of corners. So, you know, put yourself some walks that you know nothing about and just see what comes up.

SPEAKER_01 41:46

Well, I will I will link to your

Discount Details And Booking Info

SPEAKER_01 41:48

tours. So hopefully, um, some of you guys listen out there will be um checking out uh Robin's uh website, and also we have a uh we have a uh a 10% discount as well for UK travel planning listeners uh as well. So I will link to that and the code. I'll give you that in the show notes. So you need to go and check the show notes to get that code um and the link to go and book with uh Robin. Um but I always end the podcast with uh with the same question. Everybody gets the same question. Uh what would be well it's kind of it's always nuanced to the actual theme of the podcast, not the exact same question. But what would be the one tip you'd give someone visiting London for the first time who wants to understand the city, not just tick off sites?

SPEAKER_02 42:35

Yeah, uh you know what I'm gonna say, right? I I I feel it's got you know what I'm gonna say. In fact, I could just now sort of stop talking just for literally 30 seconds and let the listeners who are listening to this podcast filling the missing words because they know exactly what those 30 seconds of missing words are gonna be, right? However, just for the sake of making sure, because I think if we had 30 seconds of silence, people would think, well, that's what's happened to the podcast? I'm gonna literally, literally say it. It's go on a walking tour. That's tip number one. Tip number two is go on a walking tour. And my third takeaway tip is make sure that you do tips one and two. Um that's tip number three.

SPEAKER_01 43:18

Excellent. Well, thank you so much, Robin, for bringing your enthusiasm and your humour and your knowledge and information about your amazing walking tours in London to our listeners. It's been great to chat with you. I am very much looking forward

One Tip To Truly Know London

SPEAKER_01 43:33

to meeting you in a couple months' time in London. Hey guys, if you book a chur with Robin, you don't know. You might not only get Robin, but you may get myself. And actually, I have just remembered, Robin, I was gonna ask you because you did allude to this earlier on. So we're gonna uh at this, we ended the podcast, but I'm gonna have to do this because I've forgotten. Is you mentioned about your son. So at the moment it's just yeah, you're a one-man band, but it's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 43:57

Yeah, so since you're a one-mine band, um, my son Judd has done a couple of walks for me. Um, and now here's the interesting thing. So, you know, when you get these these um, I don't know, these kind of businesses and it says father and son, you know, lun, you know, launder, that's my surname, launder and son, right? You see you see it on a on the side of a business or something. Um, so what actually happened is um my son has not followed me into this business. I have followed my son into this business. So my f my son is a qualified tour guide. He might say that this

Meet Judd: The Family Of Guides

SPEAKER_02 44:38

isn't the case. Do you know? There's the thing with history, you know, you can kind of i it it's like you know, you get two different witnesses witnesses, you get two different kind of a accounts of this thing, but it was my son. I suggested to my son, you know, I think you'd be a really good tour guide. And I realized that when I was suggesting it to my son, it was because I wanted to be a really good tour guide. So he ends up being a tour guide. I thought, oh, you know what, I want to do that too. So then that's when I kind of broke into that or moved into that. Um and Judd is so good, he's so knowledgeable, he's funny. What's slightly irritating about my son is that he is funnier than me. That's that's that's that's the bit I don't like. But otherwise, I adore him, of course. But the fact that he's funnier than me is slightly annoying, and he's really good at it, and I think you know he'll take more and more of these walks. So he does a jack, he does a jackaripper already, he does a changing of the guard, not for me, but he will do at some point. And he's also going to create um, because he's a tour guide for Arsenal, you know, the the the football club. He's also gonna do a tour of the Arsenal and the Highbury areas, and that'll be interesting. We'll bring that online at some point.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

I think that'll be that will be popular, that definitely will appear to the manipulator. We've just been doing a lot of um of consults with uh people visiting the UK in the next few months and uh go to a football game is very popular, and Arsenal has come up a few times, so not the dog, he's like what you mean, Arsenal? Uh any other football team other than Arsenal.

SPEAKER_02 45:59

Any other team, yeah, and it does generate the response it does.

SPEAKER_01 46:02

Definitely, definitely. By the way, thanks for filling in the blanks on that because I know you did mention that earlier on. So for a second time, I'm gonna say thanks very much, Robin, for coming on the podcast. It's been brilliant chatting to you this week.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

Thank you very much. It was a pleasure. It was a pleasure. Thank you very much, Tracy, for the invite.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

Thanks again to Robin from Fantastic Walks for coming on to this week's episode of the podcast to talk all about his walking tours. You can find the discount code and a link in the show notes for this episode at uktravelplanner.com forward slash one nine three for a 10% discount off Robin's tours. If you've enjoyed this week's episode, please leave us a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps other people planning the trips to the UK to discover

Closing Thanks And Listener Requests

SPEAKER_01 46:48

our podcast and we will be eternally grateful. Thank you very much. Uh but as always, that just leaves me to say until next week, happy UK travel planning. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planning Podcast. As always, show notes can be found at uktravelplanning.com. If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favourite podcast app? We love to hear from you, and you never know, you may receive a shout out in a future episode. But as always, that just leaves me to say until next week, happy UK travel planning!