Explore the secret and ‘forgotten’ locations where history took place in 2024 with London Transport Museum’s award-winning Hidden London tours – the only ones in the city that grant access to locations on the Underground network that are typically closed to the public.
Tickets will be released on Wednesday 8 November for
tours running from January to March, giving ticketholders an exclusive chance to step behind-the-scenes of history.
Subscribers to the free e-newsletter will receive 24-hour priority
booking from 7 November.
Seven in-person tours will be on offer in January, February
and March. These include tours of the
original 19th century passageways and features
at Shepherd’s Bush, the turn-of-century corridors and platforms of disused
Aldwych station, Euston’s secret 1960s gallery of advertising posters; and the labyrinth of underground passages hidden deep beneath
Clapham South built to shelter Londoners during the Second World War.
Also included will be the reintroduction of a popular packaged tour experience combining a historical dive into disused parts of Piccadilly Circus
Underground station with a lunch at the iconic Hard Rock Café Piccadilly Circus.
All Hidden London tours are written by historical experts from London Transport Museum and based on
content drawn from the Museum’s extensive archive and collection. The tours were named ’Best Hidden Gem in the World’ at the Tiqets’ Remarkable Venue Awards 2022 by public vote.
The Hidden London tours that will run in early 2024 are:
Piccadilly
Circus: The Heart of London
*As seen on UKTV’s
Secrets of the London Underground *
Discover the secret side of Piccadilly Circus, London’s busiest station throughout the roaring twenties and the flagship of Frank Pick’s Underground.
Behind secret doors you’ll see deserted passageways, original Edwardian design features and lift shafts, and you will learn about the successive layers of renovations that were undertaken to adjust to Londoners’ needs over the last century.
Dates:
Wednesday to Sunday between 10 January to 18 February
Tickets: Adult tickets £44, Concession £39
NEW: Piccadilly Circus Tour & Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe
This packaged experience combines the tour of Piccadilly Circus with a delicious lunch at famous Hard Rock Café Piccadilly Circus, where guests
will be surrounded by a world of music and iconic memorabilia. There will be a choice of main courses including burgers, sandwiches and salads to enjoy, accompanied by a tasty Chocolate brownie and a range of soft beverages.
Dates:
Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 10 January to 15 February
Tickets:
Adult £69, Concessions £64
Charing
Cross: Access all areas
*As seen on UKTV’s
Secrets of the London Underground series*
Walk under Trafalgar Square as you explore exclusive areas of Charing Cross station that are not accessible to the public. This tour will take you to disused parts of
the station, including the Jubilee line platforms that were closed in 1999 but which you may recognise from many famous movies and TV productions since, including Skyfall (2012), Paddington Bear (2013), and TV’s Killing Eve (2019) and A Spy Among Friends (2022).
Dates:
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 17 January and 10 March
Tickets:
Adult £44, Concessions £39
PLUS:
Charing Cross & Classic Afternoon Tea at The Clermont
Combine your Charing Cross tour with a quintessentially British afternoon tea at beautiful The Clermont, one of London’s greatest railway hotels, to enjoy tea complete
with scones, finger sandwiches and homemade treats.
Built on top of Charing Cross station by the Charing Cross Railway Company in 1865, the hotel’s late Victorian charm will take you back in time to the golden era of travel,
offering the perfect round up to your historical tour – complete with views of the busy Strand and Trafalgar Square below.
Dates: Running Fridays and
Sunday at 14.35, from 19 January to 03 March
Tickets:
Adult £79, Concessions £74
Baker Street: The World’s First Underground
Step into a historical journey at one of the oldest underground railway stations in the world. Hear what the very first Victorian passengers thought of underground travel, how the network grew and expanded over 16 decades, and how Baker Street has served not only passengers over the years, but also London Underground staff. You’ll explore closed-off parts of the station including original platforms, disused lift shafts and corridors that lay hidden in plain sight – some of which last accessed by the public over 75 years ago in 1945.
Dates:
Wednesday to Sunday between 10 January and 11 February
Tickets: Adult £44, Concessions £39
Euston: The Lost Tunnels
Discover a labyrinth of dark and dusty passageways once used by the travelling public, marvel at a gallery of preserved vintage advertising poster fragments that have been concealed for over 50 years and see the iconic Leslie Green station. Plus learn about the newest innovations to a Tube and Network Rail station that serves over 42 million passengers each year.
Dates:
Wednesday to Sunday between 14 February and 24 March
Tickets: Adult £44, Concessions £39
Shepherd’s
Bush: Suburbs to the City
Relive the days when this west London station was one of the busiest on the network, as the original western terminus of the Central London Railway (today’s Central line). You’ll learn how the station has transformed over the years
since its opening in 1900, how a then new ticketing system became an ancestor to our present-day Oyster card; and see original Central line design features that remain frozen in time.
Dates:
Wednesday to Sunday between 14 and 29 February
Tickets: Adult £44, Concessions £39
Clapham South: Subterranean Shelter
*As seen on UKTV’s Secrets of the London Underground series*
Step back in time to the dark days of the Second World War and discover how south Londoners found refuge in this deep-level shelter during the blitz. This secret labyrinth
of underground passages was built to accommodate over 8,000 people, and came complete with several canteens, medical stations and sleeping quarters. The first Caribbean migrants also temporarily lived there after having arrived on the HMT Empire Windrush,
making it their first home in Britain.
Dates:
Wednesday to Sunday between 21 to 25 February; 27 to 31 March
Tickets:
Adult £37, Concessions £32
Aldwych:
The End of the Line
*As seen on UKTV’s
Secrets of the London Underground series*
Opened to the public in 1907, Aldwych was never as heavily used as originally intended and closed nearly 100 years later in 1994. The station has had a varied history;
from providing shelter to Londoners during the Blitz, to being used for film and TV shoots including The ABC Murders (2018), Darkest Hour (2017), Sherlock (2014), and Atonement (2007). Explore the original ticket hall and lifts and discover abandoned platforms
and inter-connecting walkways.
Dates: Wednesday to Sunday between 28 February to 31
March
Tickets:
Adult tickets £44; Concession £39
