This October London Transport Museum will resume its exclusive in-person Hidden London tours of disused Tube stations and secret sites across the Capital, after more than a year and a half hiatus due to the pandemic.
Excursions into the dark and mysterious depths of the Tube network will once again be possible, with tours of the disused areas of iconic Piccadilly Circus and Charing Cross stations to run on selected dates from October-November, and November-December respectively.
Led by expert guides with a wealth of fascinating facts and tales to share about these ‘forgotten’ parts of the London Underground, visitors will explore disused tunnels, platforms and lift shafts steeped in history that lie concealed just a stone’s throw away from unknowing modern day commuters.
Tickets for new tours will be available to the Museum’s enewsletter subscribers ahead of general release, sign up via ltmuseum.co.uk for priority booking.
Tickets go on public sale on Friday 8 October 2021 via ltmuseum.co.uk/hidden-london
On the Piccadilly Circus: The Heart of London tour, visitors will be able to experience hidden areas of the station that have been closed to the public since 1929, as well as uncover the history of this iconic Grade II listed building and the famous architects responsible for its creation. Located directly underneath the celebrated landmark, Piccadilly Circus station opened in 1906 but was extensively modernised between 1925 and 1928 to meet passenger demands. This station is an engineering marvel and boasts one of the finest examples of subterranean architecture on London Underground.
Guests will be led behind secret doors to eerie passageways and disused lift shafts as they listen to stories of wartime-sheltering and the top-secret storage of priceless museum artefacts.
On the Charing Cross: Access All Areas tour, visitors will go behind the scenes to exclusive disused areas off-limits to the public. Walk under Trafalgar Square and see London Underground in a different light.
Closed to the public since 1999, the Jubilee line platforms at Charing Cross are now synonymous with movie and TV filming. This is a unique opportunity to get a glimpse of the sites where blockbuster movies such as Skyfall (2011/12), Paddington Bear (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2014) and TV’s 24 (2014) and Killing Eve (2019) were filmed.
A new season of virtual Hidden London tours will also be available to book. Running from October to December, these tours give visitors from anywhere in the world the opportunity to get up close to out-of-bounds areas on the network from the comfort of home. Guests will be walked through a gallery of contemporary photos, videos, never-before-seen footage as well as archival images from London Transport Museum’s collection while their expert guide shares the history of these mysterious parts of London’s transport system.
Access to many sites on the virtual tour roster is so restricted that in-person Hidden London tours will never be possible, making these virtual experiences particularly special.
For those who prefer their cultural experiences above ground, new tour dates for the Secrets of Central London walking tour of Covent Garden, Kingsway, Lincoln’s Inn Fields and Victoria Embankment will also be on sale. Explore these areas with expert guides who reveal fascinating little-known historical tales and tit-bits about the area and its transformation over the last 200 years.
