London Transport Museum is launching a brand-new Hidden London tour of Aldwych disused Tube station specially tailored for families. It will have a recommended age range for children attending of 10–14, whilst still being open to older children.
Hidden London is the museum’s programme of exclusive guided tours which takes people into closed-off parts of the Underground network, including disused stations, wartime shelters and secret filming locations.
Designed especially for guests aged 10 and over and in collaboration with a family visitor attraction specialist, the new family tour is an adaptation of the programme’s classic Aldwych: end of the line tour, which has been running since 2016. It will deliver a guided exploration of Aldwych in a more interactive format, with additional activities to make the story of the station more engaging and accessible to younger guests.
As on the classic tour, families will step behind the closed doors of Aldwych station, a former Piccadilly line terminus which closed to the public in 1994. They will explore its original platforms, ticket hall, wooden lifts on the network and distinct tile designs, uncovering the detailed history of the station as London progressed through the 20th century.
Using language that is adapted for younger guests, expert guides will reveal the many roles that the station has played during its century of existence, from its role as a working Edwardian station, to becoming a shelter for Londoners during both world wars, its closure in the 1990s and its appeal as a filming location for iconic Hollywood productions today.
As they progress through the tour, children and their families will be encouraged to work together to crack riddles, find clues, and solve problems to uncover the next chapter of Aldwych’s history. There will be additional elements to help younger visitors engage with history including oral testimonials, sensory elements including smell jars and other objects, allowing them to get a better understanding of what it would have been like to shelter at Aldwych first-hand.
The launch of this new family tour comes 10 years after the launch of the classic tour of Aldwych station, which has proved popular with visitors and welcomed over 9,000 visitors in the last year. The classic and family editions of the tour will run alongside each other as part of Hidden London’s summer programme, running Wednesday to Sunday from 16 July to 30 August.
The new family tour is the first Hidden London tour to be designed specifically for families and younger audiences, following the lowering of the age limit across all Hidden London station tours from 14 years to 10 years in 2024.
Elizabeth McKay, director and CEO of London Transport Museum, said:
‘Launching our first family-dedicated tour is a big milestone for Hidden London and a reflection of how popular the programme has become with younger audiences since we opened our tours to over 10s in 2024.
‘It’s exciting to launch a tour that is especially written for younger guests, giving them the chance to explore London’s history right where it happened in a way that’s immersive, engaging and designed with their own curiosity in mind.
‘As an educational and heritage charity, we’re committed to helping young people discover and connect with the city’s rich transport history. This new family tour forms part of our wider ambition to inspire the next generation, especially as we are starting to think creatively about the future of the museum in the lead‑up to our 50th anniversary in 2030.’
Tours for the new Aldwych: the end of the line (family edition) will start on 16 July 2026, with prices starting from £43.50 for children and £46.50 for adults. Tickets include half price one-day entry to London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, where under 18s go free, within a month of the tour date and 10% discount on all full-priced products at the museum shops.
Tickets are now available to book here: ltmuseum.co.uk/hidden-london.
The new family tour will join Hidden London’s portfolio of guided tours, which have been giving visitors exclusive access to secret parts of the Underground since 2015. There are 10 in-person tours in total on offer, including of the closed Jubilee line concourse of Charing Cross, secret parts of Green Park and Baker Street, and the closed platforms of Holborn. Also on offer are tours of the deep level wartime shelter underneath Clapham South station, as well as an above ground walking tour covering the area around Covent Garden.
Tours run all year around Wednesday to Sunday, with locations varying week to week. Profits from the tours are used to fund London Transport Museum’s charitable work and to conserve and share London’s transport and design heritage.
