London Transport Museum is launching a brand-new behind-the-scenes tour of Holborn Tube station, with tickets available to book now.
Originally opened in 1906 as a complex of four platforms to serve the Piccadilly line, Holborn station has a lot more to explore than first meets the eye. On this new tour, due to start in the summer, ticket holders will be able to step behind concealed doors and explore the expansive disused areas that lay concealed, some not seen by the public in nearly 30 years.
Led by an expert tour guide, visitors will explore closed-off areas including the two closed platforms of the former Aldwych branch. They will also enjoy an unexpected view of the Piccadilly line, complete with vintage posters, original Leslie Green Edwardian design, and an original early 20th century signalling cabin.
Written using content drawn from London Transport Museum’s extensive archive and collection, the tour will reveal the twists and turns of the 20th century as visitors hear how the station’s disused spaces came to be used in surprising ways over the years, including as scientific laboratories, providing shelter for London Transport staff in wartime, and even housing a model rail club.
Also covered will be how staff members may have felt working there during the height of the Blitz, how the big modernisation project of the 1930s led to the closure of nearby British Museum station, and how the station is still playing a key role in the future of the London Underground today as part of a massive upgrading project of the signalling system.
London Transport Museum will be running its exclusive Hidden London tours at Holborn from 31 July 2024. Guided tours will take place on Wednesday to Sunday each week. Tickets cost £45 and can be purchased on London Transport Museum’s website. Concessions are available.
Additional dates to experience other Hidden London tours of disused Tube stations and secret spaces on the Underground network are also now available, with the tours that will be running listed below.
Profits generated from Hidden London tours help fund London Transport Museum’s charitable activities as an education and heritage charity. Activities include igniting children’s curiosity about the world of transport and STEM, delivering employability and skills programmes for young people, and heritage conservation work.
The tours that will run in addition to Holborn from April to September 2024 are:
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 and explore closed-off parts of the station including original platforms and corridors that lay hidden in plain sight – some of which last accessed by the public over 75 years ago.
Dates: Selected Wednesdays to Sundays in April, May, August and September 2024
Tickets: Adult £45, Concessions £42
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. Behind secret doors you’ll see deserted passageways, and original Edwardian design features, and you will learn about the successive layers of renovations that were undertaken to adjust to Londoners’ needs over the last century.
Dates: Selected Wednesdays to Sundays in May, June, and September 2024
Tickets: Adult tickets £45; Concession £42
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: Selected Wednesdays to Sundays in May, June, September 2024
Tickets: Adult tickets £70; Concession £67
Clapham South: Subterranean Shelter
*As seen on UKTV’s Secrets of the London Underground *
Step back in time to the dark days of the Second World War and discover a secret labyrinth of underground passageways built to accommodate over 8,000 people. The tour also shares the stories of the first Caribbean migrants who temporarily lived there after having arrived on the HMT Empire Windrush, making it their first home in Britain.
Dates: Selected Wednesdays to Sundays in May and June 2024
Tickets: Adult tickets £38; Concession £35
Down Street: Churchill’s Secret Station
Enjoy rare access into one of London’s most intriguing spaces, hidden between the Piccadilly line tracks in Mayfair. Down Street had a short life as a working station but was covertly transformed into the Railway Executive Committee’s bomb-proof headquarters during the Second World War. Experience the warren of narrow tunnels where the nation’s railways were coordinated, and where Prime Minister Winston Churchill secretly took refuge at the height of the Blitz.
Dates: Selected Wednesdays to Sundays in April, May, June, July, August and September 2024
Tickets: Adult tickets £90; Concession £85
Down Street and Luxury Cocktail & Nibbles at The Flemings Hotel
Running every Friday and Saturday at 17.30, from 28 July to 24 September
Tickets: Adult tickets £105 / Concession £100
Once the tour finishes, head to nearby hotel Flemings Mayfair, a cosy, glamorous space full of secluded corners and 1930s flair where spies were once rumoured to meet.
There you will enjoy ‘Darkest Hour,’ a Churchill-themed cocktail designed specifically for the occasion and exclusively available to Hidden London guests, accompanied by tasty nibbles.
Over 14s only. Alcoholic drinks can only be served to over 18s. Non-alcoholic alternatives are available.
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: Selected Wednesdays to Sundays in April, July, and August 2024
Tickets: Adult tickets £45; Concession £42
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: Selected Wednesdays to Sundays in June and July 2024
Tickets: Adult tickets £45; Concession £42
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.
Dates: Running Fridays and Sunday at 14.35, in June and July 2024
Tickets: Adult £80, Concessions £77
Euston: The Lost Tunnels
*As seen on UKTV’s Secrets of the London Underground series*
Explore a century of the station’s history, from its humble beginnings on the corner of Melton and Drummond Street, to its exciting future as the London terminus for the brand-new High Speed 2 (HS2) line up to the Midlands and beyond. 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.
Dates: Selected Wednesdays to Sundays in May, June, and July 2024
Tickets: Adult £45, Concessions £42
Secrets of Central London (Walking Tour)
Discover the secrets of the area around Theatreland, Covent Garden, Kingsway, and the Embankment with one of our expert guides. This walking tour reveals little known facts about the area that were pulled straight from our archives. Find out how well-known streets shaped London’s transport systems and get glimpses of some iconic Hidden London tour sites.
Dates: Selected Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in April – September 2024
Tickets: Adult £20, Concession £17.50
To book visit here
To book visit www.ltmuseum.co.uk
