London Guided Walks » Financial London Walk

Financial London Walk

Embark on a fascinating journey through the City of London, the heart of Europe’s financial capital, with a qualified City of London guide. Explore the rich history, architecture, and vibrant markets that have shaped London’s financial landscape over centuries. Discover the stories behind the people who made and lost their fortunes, and how their decisions contributed to London’s rise as a global financial hub.

Explore narrow alleyways & world-class architecture
Learn how money was made and lost
Qualified City of London guide

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Highlights:

Explore the hidden gems of the City of London’s narrow alleyways and marvel at world-class architectural masterpieces
Learn about the historical roots of the financial markets, including equities, bonds, commodities, and insurance, and how they continue to play a crucial role in the UK’s economy
Hear captivating stories of fortunes made and lost, and how these individuals influenced London’s financial landscape
Walk through the financial district, visiting iconic landmarks such as the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, and the London Stock Exchange.

See the Bank of England, where you’ll learn about its history and its role in maintaining monetary stability in the UK.

Enjoy the symbolic splendour of the Royal Exchange, an opulent building that once housed a commodities market and now serves as a luxury shopping destination. Discover the history of the site and its role in the development of London’s trade. Learn about the importance of equities and bonds in the global economy, and how the market has evolved over the years.

Wander through the narrow alleyways that were once the sites of secret deals, and learn about the cunning financial strategies that helped propel London to economic dominance.

Discover Lloyd’s of London, the iconic insurance market, and delve into its fascinating history and its ongoing importance in the world of global risk management.

Wonder at the modern skyscrapers of the financial district, where your guide will discuss the future of London’s financial landscape and the challenges it faces in an ever-changing world.

Book your Financial London Guided Walk today, and gain unparalleled insight into the world of finance, trade, and the history that has shaped the City of London into the economic powerhouse it is today.

Start: St Mary Axe
End: Bank Station
Suitable for 14ys+

Your Guide: Ian McDiarmid

Your Guide: Jenny Funnell

Financial London Walk Reviews

Ever wanted to know the origins of the phrase ‘hear a pin drop’ or understand the history of underwriting? This tour gave us a brilliant history of London as a financial centre – presented by our guide, Ian, in a very informative, engaging & humorous manner. London has a rich & interesting history and I feel I gained so much knowledge as a result of 90 minutes on this tour. Highly recommended for anyone interested in London, history or finance.

Bernadette

The financial tour was enjoyable, informative and interesting. Tour guide was knowledgeable and easy to listen to . The pace was just right I would definitely recommend this tour to others.

Nazima

The best guided walk ever! We attended ‘London as a Financial Centre’ guided walk on a hot July Saturday and absolutely loved it! Our guide Ian McDiarmid was simply amazing – he met us all at the designated spot, went through the rules and we set off on the little adventure through the maze of narrow streets learning so much about historic and contemporary financial London. He had so much knowledge, was pointing out different banks, explaining origins, development and roles in the overall financial structure; threw in many anecdotes, curious stories and even origins of some common modern phrases. He easily directed and enchanted group of 18 and we did not notice how 1.5 hours flew by. Even my moody pre-teen was absolutely captivated! Many many thanks for the amazing experience! You are doing an amazing job!

Jeff

“Very informative, interesting tour. Recommend it.”

Ann

“Incredibly informative. The leader packed in loads of history as well as the current workings of the City.”

Lenny

“Ian’s tour of London as a Financial Centre not only is an eye-opening, deeply enriching encounter with the principal financial institutions (and their history) of the City but should be recognized as a public service. It was a remedial education in fundamental urban/national economics for me and I think the most edifying 90 minutes than I have ever spent. This level of understanding of the role of the financial services industry in London’s (and thereby Britain’s) history and politics should be considered a normative requisite to attaining proper adult/citizen status and at the very least Ian’s lecture/tour should be made into a documentary widely available to schools and the public alike.”

Hitesh

“Ian is great guide and this guided tour was interesting and an easy walk. If you want to find out where the expression ‘you can hear a pin drop’ originates from you’ll have to go in this tour. I learnt a lot on this tour in an area that I’ve been around a lot and thought I knew. If you decide to go on this tour you will not be disappointed.”

Roy

“A great walk with informative and interesting content.He made a complex subject accessible.”

Susan

“This company is excellent and their walk leaders always provide in depth information in a clear and interesting way. Highly recommended.”

Joya

“The tour guide was friendly, incredibly knowledgeable and took his time explaining. He waited patiently for everyone to assemble at the various points and dealt brilliantly with people’s queries. My friend and I learnt so much on this walk and it was fascinating to learn about the creation of the City to the present day. Will definitely go on more of these walks and it was a perfect way to start the weekend by going on this on a Saturday morning.”

Wendy

“A very interesting and enjoyable walk with good commentary from Ian. Some of the explanations about investments and trading was a little complicated, but we were able to take from it as much as we needed.”

Joy

“The tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly and my friend and I learnt so much. A great start to a Saturday morning. He was patient and waited for everyone to assemble at each stop of the tour and dealt brilliantly with people’s queries. Definitely worth anyone going along to because it is fascinating how the City came about and its evolution through time to the present day. Will for sure go on more tours!”

Shenis

“The tour guide was very knowledgeable and responded to all our questions. He far exceeded his allocated time and not one person left on time as we were all enthralled and gripped with the knowledge that he provided about cash, coffee and commerce. A must for all to have a greater understanding of financial services, the traders and how they are governed and how the success of London impacts on our everyday lives.”

Anne

“Overall an interesting and informative walk. I learnt a lot and it was all the more exciting to be doing so in the locations where such important developments took place. I’d have preferred a slight shift in balance between the history of the finance industries (insurance, banks etc) and information about say the buildings. That said, it was a most enjoyable morning benefitting from Ian’s fantastic fund of knowledge”

Jan

“Wow! Now we know enough to become ‘Something in the City’! Ian’s depth and breadth of knowledge on this topic is mind blowing and so interesting. We thought we already knew a lot but now feel we could get our degree in Financial Services. The anecdotes stick in the mind: Hogarth’s Dad’s coffee shop where you had to speak Latin, why we say ‘you could have heard a pin drop’, why the City is so important and why it is resented by the rest of the UK. Thank you Ian for a terrific walk.”

Annette

“Excellent. Ian is so knowledgeable about the city and finance in general. He took us to some areas of the city you wouldn’t know to explore just by looking at a map. Highly recommended”

Tricia

“I enjoyed this tour very much and learnt a great deal about the City of London and how it developed. My knowledge of finance, insurance and bond dealing, hedge funds etc was very limited but Ian made it all very clear. It was lovely to see one of the original coffee houses and the site of others I had read about. Ian was easy to hear and understand thanks to the microphone. He also repeated questions from the group that were inaudible. That was very helpful.”

Matt

“Ian was a really intelligent and interesting guide to the world of city finance and the origins of trading in 16th century London coffee houses. A fascinating walk overall though I felt perhaps it tried to pack in a little more financial information than my brain could really process although extra is usually better.”

Shirley

“Very easy to find meeting point and not too much walking involved. Really informative walk and greatly enjoyed .”

Christine

“Really interesting walk around the City with Ian, who is an excellent, informative and entertaining guide. Learned so much about this very important part of London from both a historical and a present day perspective.”

Sue and Brian

“This was such a great walk; Ian has a wealth of information to impart about the City of London and it was delivered in an interesting and often amusing way. We thoroughly recommend it. ”

Ian

“Really enjoy going on walks with the “London Guided Walks as they guides are so good. This was my third walk with Ian and he is excellent. He so so knowledgeable, interesting and provides so much information. It is amazing how he crams so much in to 90 minutes. Absolutely no time is wasted and I always learn so much not just about buildings but also about history. The links form the 17the century to the present day via the 2008 financial crash were fascinating. It is such a privilege to be able to go on these walks with Ian and Hazel and hope in time to do all the walks they offer. Everyone should try at least one. You won’t be disappointed.”

Maria

“This would be a fabulous walking tour for someone who wonders what they do in the City of London and how it got started. Various financial instruments and institutions were carefully explained for the lay person. The evolution of the buildings in which transactions were made was also covered. I certainly had no idea how important coffee houses were as meeting places and markets as early as the 17th century! The guide helpfully shared his reading list for those interested in delving further into specific topics. Architecture and place were covered, but not really the focus of this tour. ”

Carol

“This was a fascinating walk, I came away with a much clearer idea of the history of the City and how it works.”