Hazel Baker

CEO & Founder of London Guided Walks

Award-winning London Tour Guide and qualified CIGA guide.

Clerkenwell & Islington Guide

Greetings, I’m Hazel, the CEO and founder of London Guided Walks. As a qualified and award-winning tour guide, I bring together my ardour for history, theatre, walking, and, of course, London. I founded London Guided Walks to serve as a nexus for individuals who, like me, are captivated by the enthralling narratives and landscapes that this magnificent city has to offer.

For the past nine years, I’ve been crafting and leading walking tours that offer a blend of factual richness and compelling storytelling. With more than 1,500 London walking tours to my credit, my objective remains steadfast: to offer each guest an unparalleled, insightful experience of London.

My efforts in tour guiding have not gone unnoticed; they have earned me prestigious accolades such as the Tour Guiding Excellence Award and Best Christmas Tours in London. I take pride in my affiliations with notable organisations; I am a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors and an honorary member of The Leaders Council.

Beyond guiding walks, my expertise has also been sought for various television programmes. I’ve had the privilege of appearing as an expert guest on shows like Walking Wartime Britain (Episode 3) and Yesterday Channel’s The Architecture the Railways Built (Series 3, Episode 7). Het Rampjaar 1672, Afl. 2: Vijand Engeland and Arte.fr Invitation au Voyage, À Chelsea, une femme qui trompe énormément. New programmes for 2023: Secrets of the London Underground and BBC Songs of Praise: St George’s Day Special. On the radio front, I’ve been a guest of Bill Elms on Radio London and Jumoke Fashola on BBC Radio London.

Beyond providing London walking tours, I am available for a variety of engagements including launch events, restaurant openings, afternoon tea experiences, book reviews, and radio and television interviews.

I invite you to explore the curated selection of guided walks and private tours I offer. Each one is designed to provide a rich, engaging experience, and I look forward to sharing the multifaceted charm of London with you.

Book a guided walk with Hazel

Private Tours with Hazel

Having attracted the rich and famous over the last two centuries, it's no surprise there are plenty of historical plaques in this area.
Explore the many nasal passageways of Soho and the West End including art installations and body bits.
Embark on the age of improvement on this authentic and different private walking tour.
Explore the Best of the under-rated area of Blackfriars.
Explore the City of London's Bloody Past.

Read Hazel's Reviews

We’re so glad this walk (Blackfriars) was recommended to us. Hazel is very knowledgeable and gave us glimpses into history and life in London that we would otherwise have missed totally. A great complement to our other activities.

We booked the Victorian Covent Garden on 21 October and we are so pleased we did! Our guide Hazel was so friendly and engaging and she enthralled us with lots of stories and facts right from when we met. Our hour and a half walk absolutely sped by. Importantly, Hazel ensured we could always hear her (she had a head microphone which was great) and she gave us plenty of opportunity to ask questions. You won’t be disappointed if you book this walk. Thank you Hazel, you were brilliant.

Fascinating tour given by a very knowledgeable and witty Hazel. One of the best tours I’ve done. I loved it.

Hazel was wonderful!! So friendly and knowledgeable. The tour was so enjoyable and we absolutely loved it Thanks so much Hazel

We had an amazing Wonders of Whitehall guided walk today with Hazel. We learned so much and truly enjoyed the walk. Thank you!

I recommend London Guided Walks.They were extremely well organized and clear about when and where to meet. The guides were personable, inclusive, and friendly with the whole group. Most of all, they really knew their stuff. And it wasn’t all just dry facts. There was humor and deep conversation. I would advise you don’t just do one walk, do more than one – you won’t regret it. And yes, you can do more than 1 in a day. I did 3 in one day and felt so educated and excited to start the rest of my 2 weeks in London. Hazel and Ian were both great!

Even with the weather against us Hazel kept the enthusiasm levels high. I really enjoyed the exploration of the nooks and crannies of the Covent Garden and hearing the stories that fed into the book. Recommended.

March 2023

Hazel gave a private tour to over 25 visiting American guests as part of our wedding weekend. Everyone who attended had a wonderful time on the Victorian Covent Garden walk. Hazel is a gifted story teller and has a great way of making history come to life. She’s incredibly smart and her passion for the history that she shares comes through beautifully. I had done many London Guided Walks prior to hiring them for our private group and cannot recommend them more highly for a great day out.

July 10, 2021
Oliver Twist brought to life!

Hazel literally brought Oliver Twist to life. This walk concentrated on chapter 8, following the footsteps of Oliver from The Angel pub in Islington to the likely lodgings of Fagin in Farringdon. The tour provides a snapshot of London in 1838 when Dickens wrote the story. It’s fascinating to discover why the Regency terraces of Pentonville Road had such long front gardens, and contrast it to the cramped, barely living, conditions of the ‘Rookeries’. Hazel’s engaging style detailed the implications of herding cattle through the streets to Smithfield meat market and why you might pay someone to cross the road. It made me think differently about pollution before combustion engines, the smells, noise, customs, and why the late Victorians sanitised certain street names.
As we twisted through the allies and streets Oliver’s narrative, Hazel enriched and contextualised Dickens’ London, it really was a great walking tour.

July 8, 2021
Road to Ruin

We went on a private guided tour called Road to Ruin. Hazel was our guide and we thoroughly enjoyed our 90 minutes with her. She was very knowledgeable and entertaining and could answer all our questions. There were four of us and we all felt it was good value for money and time well spent. We would go on another of these tours at the drop of a hat. Would highly recommend.

July 8, 2021
Road to Ruin

We went on a private guided tour called Road to Ruin. Hazel was our guide and we thoroughly enjoyed our 90 minutes with her. She was very knowledgeable and entertaining and could answer all our questions. There were four of us and we all felt it was good value for money and time well spent. We would go on another of these tours at the drop of a hat. Would highly recommend.

4littlediamonds
December 24, 2019
Fantastic Christmas Carol Tour

We went out with Hazel for a Dickens’s Christmas Carol tour on Christmas Eve with our three teenage boys. Hazel was both very knowledgeable and entertaining. The time sped by and we loved every minute of it. A fantastic way to learn more about London’s history and to discover lesser known areas. Highly recommended

November 8, 2019
Private Tour

We joined Hazel in Westminster to begin our tour. Hazel was a wealth of historical and architectural knowledge proving interesting and insightful facts along the way. We as a small group really enjoyed the tour. It was easy to access pretty much flat. Hazel was happy to provide a few detours of things we were interested to see. We finished in a fabulous little restaurant for lunch. I highly recommend if you’re a history geek like me. I certainly will be looking forward to joining another tour soon.

October 25, 2019
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Victorian Covent Garden walks

Have now done two walks and I have been so impressed. Hazel is a superb guide, very knowledgeable with a lovely personality. The time passes so quickly and it is so good to learn so much and see out of the way places. These walks are good for tourists and seasoned Londoners alike as everyone will benefit. I highly recommend these walks and will hopefully be going on many more.

October 24, 2019
Best of Blackfriars Walk

London Guided Walks are a great way to see London. Hazel ran the guided walk around Blackfriars and opened our eyes to things that we would normally walk by without a second glance. She is warm and friendly and immediately put the group at ease. She communicates in an engaging way and her use of a microphone means that everyone can hear. We learnt about the history of the area as well as some of the more curious facts – the King’s Wardrobe area being one of them. Highly recommend the walk.

October 11, 2019
Very entertaining and so knowledgeable

All the tours are fantastic. I’ve been on almost 10 of them and I felt that I had learned a lot on each of them. Hazel is incredible: she knows aa great deal and has a wonderful way to communicate her knowledge : she is funny, she is friendly, she’s a lovely person. Although she’s not the one responsible for the financial tour, I highly recommend the tour: the guide is such an expert on the financial district and of London as a financial center that you get so much interesting information that you almost need a second tour! It really is a very good value for your money.

September 13, 2019
Warm and knowledgable

Had a fantastic tour with Hazel. She is very knowledgeable, personable and very open to answering questions. She showed us things that we wouldn’t have noticed and we got a different perspective on London, despite the fact that we have all lived there at some point! She also did a little personalized piece about a restaurant we were surprising our friends with too. Great service and responsiveness beforehand as well. Thanks Hazel!

September 20, 2019
Greenwich Treasure Hunt

We had an amazing time on Hazel’s treasure hunt in Greenwich. Not only is it a fantastic way of seeing a beautiful part of London but it was also great to make you examine parts of Greenwich you’d otherwise gloss over. A fantastic afternoon!

monkeywordsmith
July 31, 2019

Heretics and Horrors (the walk, not the walkers)

A ramble round the city, at a comfortable pace, brought to life by an amazing guide. Hazel has a wonderful way of explaining; her vivid descriptions of sometimes gruesome details of the past are delivered with humour and wit. This lady is a superb communicator!

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