Looking for a unique experience to gift yourself or a loved one this festive period? Tickets are now available for the early 2023 dates of London Transport Museum’s award-winning Hidden London tours. Exploring secret and ‘forgotten’ parts of the London Underground network, Hidden London tours give ticket-holders an exclusive chance to step behind-the-scenes and discover more of the capital and its fascinating history.
Tickets are now on sale for tours between 4 January to 19 February 2023, making them the perfect festive gifts. The tours were recently named ‘Best Hidden Gem in the World’ at the Tiqets’ Remarkable Venue Awards 2022 by public vote.
London Transport Museum’s Hidden London guided tours are the only ones in the city that grant guests access to locations that are usually off limits to the public on the Underground network. From ‘abandoned’ ticket halls and secret bunkers to time-capsule corridors and disused platforms (sometimes mere feet away from unsuspecting commuters), guests are taken through the history of London, its people, and its transport network right where it all happened.
The tours are written by historical experts from London Transport Museum and based on content drawn from the Museum’s extensive archive and collection; making them a unique opportunity for Londoners and visitors alike to discover little known historical facts.
Tickets for five in-person tours are on offer in January and February, including tours of Shepherd’s Bush’s original 19th century passageways and features, the deep-level subterranean shelters below Clapham South, Moorgate and its metropolitan maze of secret corridors, Piccadilly Circus’s long-hidden Edwardian design features, and Charing Cross’s ‘abandoned’ Jubilee line platforms.
A new season of eight virtual Hidden London tours is also on sale, allowing guests to cosy up and zoom in from the comfort of their own homes to out-of-bounds areas on the capital’s transport network, including behind the scenes looks at Liverpool Street and Tottenham Court Road stations on the Elizabeth line; and King William Street Bank, the first disused deep-level Tube station.
For culture seekers who prefer to explore above ground, new dates for London Transport Museum’s Secrets of Central London walking tour of Covent Garden, Kingsway, Lincoln’s Inn Fields and Victoria Embankment are also on sale. On this tour, expert Hidden London guides reveal fascinating and little-known historical tales and titbits about the area and its transformation over the last 200 years.
The tours on sale include locations featured in UKTV’s popular TV series Secrets of the London Underground, as seen on the Yesterday channel and available to watch on UKTV Play.
Fans who can’t get enough Hidden London content can also subscribe to the Hidden London Hangouts, a regular series hosted on YouTube channel by London Transport Museum team members Chris Nix, Siddy Holloway and Laura Brown. Joined by broadcaster and self-confessed Tube geek Alex Grundon, the series takes viewers behind the scenes of the Hidden London as the team explore various parts of the London transport system and share findings from their research. Episodes are free and released on London Transport Museum’s YouTube channel.
In person Hidden London tour details and ticket information:
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 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 tour also explores how the space was repurposed after the war and 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: Wednesday to Sunday between 4 January to 15 January
Tickets: Adult £37, Concessions £32; Special rate of £32 apply for weekday matinee tours
Shepherd’s Bush: Suburbs to the City
Relive the days when this West London station was one of the busiest on the network, providing an essential commuter link from London’s western suburbs to the City of London 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, just out of sight of modern-day commuters.
Dates: Wednesday to Sunday between 15 and 19 February
Tickets: Adult £44, Concessions £39
Charing Cross – Access all areas
*As seen on UKTV’s Secrets of the London Underground *
See what hides behind closed doors and 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 24 (2014).
Dates: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (18 – 22 January); Wednesday to Sunday (25 January – 12 February)
Tickets: Adult £44, Concessions £39
Moorgate – Metropolitan Maze
*As seen on UKTV’s Secrets of the London Underground*
Opened in 1865 on one of the first extension of the Metropolitan line, Moorgate station is one of London’s oldest working Underground stations. On this tour you will relive the early days of the Tube’s construction when the first tunnels were dug, discovering original glass tiles, abandoned tracks and even a complete Greathead shield from 1904 still in situ (the only one of its kind on the London Underground Network) along the way. You’ll hear how some of the events that took place there shaped and changed the Underground network over its history, and how London’s transport system has adapted to the growing city.
Dates: Wednesday to Sunday between 18 January and 19 February
Tickets: Adult tickets £52.50 / Concession £47.50
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 11 January to 19 February
Tickets: Adult tickets £44 / Concession £39
