Somerset House

Explore the River Thames as it weaves through the heart of London and discover fascinating history around every bend. Today, you can experience the splendor of this great city from the relaxed comfort of a modern, all-weather and wheelchair-friendly sightseeing boat. Informative commentary interlaced with colorful tales of the city's past will keep your mind engaged as you cruise down the Thames! Cruises depart frequently from Westminster Pier, Greenwich Pier, London Eye Pier, and Tower Pier, sailing every day of the year except Christmas Day. With a regular timetable, and evening cruises all summer, you can enjoy a full-day on the river in comfort. Hop on and off the boat as many times as you wish to explore sights such as the Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory, Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tate Modern, Borough Market, South Bank Centre, and the London Eye. Or grab a refreshment from the on-board bar and relax as you sail past Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, the Royal Festival Hall, Cleopatra's Needle, Somerset House, the Millennium Footbridge, Shakespeare's Globe, Monument, H.M.S.Belfast, and much more. During the festive season from December to January, all boats will be decorated and kids will get Christmas coloring sheet and pencils to keep them entertained while parents relax by sipping on a cup of mulled wine and a mince pie from our fully stocked bar. 'Tis the season to be jolly!

Enjoy the best views of Central London on a double-decker Routemaster bus while enjoying a Peppa Pig-themed afternoon tea. Listen to a Peppa Pig audio guide full of fun games and sing-a-long songs the whole family will love. Meet your host at the Somerset House. Hop on the double-decker red bus and get ready for a unique adventure. Take your seat, where your unique built-in tablet provides a Peppa Pig guided animation of the London tour itinerary and sing-a-long songs that the whole family will enjoy. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride as your driver takes you past Peppa’s favorite landmarks, such as Big Ben and Piccadilly Circus. Listen as Peppa will tell you about some of her exciting adventures. Tuck into your delicious afternoon tea served to you on board; you will have a choice of sweet and savoury British treats that you and the kids will love.

Experience a wild and fantastic River Thames boat cruise that is fun for all ages. You will climb aboard a high-speed vessel that offers non-traditional views of England's capital at speeds of up to 30 knots. You will be given a full safety briefing and a life jacket - just in case! Named by leading listings magazine Time Out as a "must-do" experience, both visitors and residents of London will be thrilled with this outing. Speed under the capital’s bridges, and marvel at landmarks such as the London Eye, Houses of Parliament and South Bank from an exclusive vantage point. Music floats through the air via the onboard sound system, as you power out toward the Docklands. High-brow banter is provided by an award-winning comedian guide, whose cheery anecdotes include narration through the greatest open air museum in the world.

Discover the Courtauld Gallery's diverse treasures, from Impressionist gems by Manet and Van Gogh to Renaissance masterpieces in the Blavatnik Fine Rooms. Explore Medieval and 20th-century art in a stunning setting at Somerset House. Begin your visit at the Courtauld Gallery with a journey through time. Marvel at the iconic Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces that grace the LVMH Great Room. Manet's "A Bar at the Folies Bergère" and Van Gogh's "Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear" await, alongside a UK treasure trove of Cézanne's works. Ascend to the Blavatnik Fine Rooms on the second floor, a haven of Renaissance to 18th-century art. Be captivated by Lucas Cranach's "Adam and Eve" and Rubens' "The Descent From The Cross." Admire Botticelli's "The Trinity with Saints" and Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "Landscape with a flight into Egypt." Explore the Ruddock Family Gallery dedicated to Medieval and Early Renaissance art. Wander through 20th-century art and the Bloomsbury Group's world in ever-changing displays. At the Courtauld, art history unfolds in a magnificent setting, a captivating journey through the ages.

Meet your guide by the London Eye and prepare to explore the exciting world of espionage from the James Bond franchise. Learn all about the man behind Bond, Ian Fleming, and how his experiences in combat and spying on enemies of Britain led to the creation of fiction's greatest secret agent. Hear about some other spies in London, including John Le Carre's George Smiley, Mick Herron's Slow Horses, and Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne. Listen to real tales of espionage within the capital. See sights like Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, and the MI5 building. Find out where to go if you want to dress like James Bond, and where spies like James Bond go out to dine with a glass of martini... shaken, not stirred.

Enjoy a 1 hour circular cruise on the River Thames past historic riverside sights in the comfort of a fully heated modern river boat that also has an open upper deck. Informative and entertaining commentary will be provided live by the crew (recorded commentary in 8 languages) while a variety of drinks and snacks will be available for purchase from the on-board bar, including mulled wine and mince pies. With under 5s travelling free, this is something the whole family can enjoy. The perfect stocking filler! Marvel at some of London's wonderful sights lit up for the season’s festivities. Enjoy panoramic views of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge before heading up river towards Westminster and the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Along the way, expect to see a great number of famous attractions, including the London Eye, Cleopatra's Needle, Shakespeare's Globe, the Golden Hinde, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tate Modern, and Somerset House. Admire Renzo Piano’s Shard up-close, and pass the recently refurbished Savoy Hotel.

Escape the hustle and bustle of the city as you enjoy a night cruising along the River Thames. See famous sites light up as you whizz through the heart of London. Meet your guide just after sunset and board the speedboat. Enjoy London's night skies, one of the most famous skylines in the world, as you surf through the waves at a nerve-inducing 35mph. Listen as your guide provides commentary and tells you all about the city. Marvel at the London Tower Bridge from a distance as you see the evening light show. Hold on tight as you rock and roll down the river. Enjoy the music as you reach high speeds that will take your breath away.  Set sail back to London Tower Bridge, where you can unwind and enjoy a seasonal drink.

Traveling with a Spanish-speaking guide, visit Picadilly Circus before moving on to Buckingham Palace to see the famous Changing of the Guard. Following that, travel along St. Jame's Park before encountering the houses of Parliament and being passing by Big Ben. You then continue to Trafalgar Square before finding the National Gallery and arriving to Leicester Square. After a stop for lunch you will walk through Chinatown and Covent Garden, a market filled with stalls, shops, and vibrant restaurants. Do not miss Somerset House, located on the banks of the River Thames where you will stop to admire another of the most emblematic icons of the city, the amazing London Eye. This magical location is the perfect place for your experience to end.

Designed and delivered by an award-winning novelist with a PhD in Creative Writing, these tours use London's rich literary history as a prompt for a series of writing exercises, designed to suit all levels of expertise, from novice to novelist. The workshop combines literary history and anecdotes of the city with readings from major English writers, but it is not a passive experience: you will respond to the environment in creative ways, in an atmosphere of kindness and inclusivity. These intimate and unique workshop seek to inspire and invigorate. Virginia Woolf’s complex blending of past and present prompts a biographical sketch inspired by the view from Waterloo Bridge. Elliot’s reflections on time and history are echoed in the timeline on the walls at Aldwych, and accompany our tour of the church at St Mary Le Strand. We practice an ekphrasis – a writing exercise inspired by the church’s grand interior. The statue of Gladstone leads us to consider the way politics, truth and history change with our perspective, and we write a list of facts, blending our personal history with the environment we are a part of. At Doctor Johnson’s house, we read from his delightful dictionary and consider the way these structures – religion, politics, art, language – make us who we are.

Zig-zag across central London, from the stately Somerset House to the luxurious Savoy hotel, Trafalgar Square to Whitehall. Savour sumptuous sites from hit films, books, tv shows and even the odd stage production and uncover real-life spy secrets. See how art imitates life and vice versa through the lens of Ian Fleming's James Bond film character as well as other famous spy books, films, and comics. Start at Somerset House, a filming location for the films Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies. You will discover how this historic building in the heart of central London was transformed into Russia through clever set dressing and props and how its history has links back to the running of the British Navy. After a short walk to the Savoy, discover the identity of one resident, a secret but well-known spy who was Fleming's friend, and leave shaken and stirred. Next, visit another iconic London landmark, Rules, London’s oldest restaurant. Learn how the site is linked not just to real-life spies but also to fictional film spies. Visit locations in and around Trafalgar Square. Then it's over to Whitehall, where your guide will explain how the film crew managed to film securely in the throbbing heart of central London. In Whitehall, listen to your guide explain how Fleming’s work in the intelligence community inspired the world’s most famous fictional spy. Final stop: the exterior of the MI6 headquarters in London. Discover all that the public knows about the Secret Intelligence Service. Learn how the IRA attacked the building in a very fanciful and filmic style, and how the makers of one of the world's most famous spy film franchises managed to get permission to use the real Mi6 headquarters in their films!