Londonphilia Spotifiy Playlist: "D"

Here's my Spotifiy playlist of songs about London starting with the letter "D"...from Madness to Dizzee Rascal.

Coming Soon! Londonphilia Souvenirs!

When you walk down Oxford Street you see store after store of cheap and not so cheap tourist tat. Every store sells the same stuff. And it's not made in the UK.
Or you can buy some expensive...though lovely, Cath Kidston London themed merchandise.
I think that some people, not just tourists but other Londoners, want something in between...some cute London themed souvenirs at a reasonable price point...introducing Londonphilia Souvenirs!
And they will be made in London!
There will be three ranges:
Fictional London - Inspired by some of the famous fictional characters from literature, film and television...Doctor Who, Sherlock, Harry Potter, Mary Poppins...etc.
Transport of London - Buses, Trains, Automobiles, and Taxis.
Pearly Kings - Inspired by the cheeky charitable Cockneys of East London.

GoFundMe! Help Me Become A Certified Guide!

I have applied to the Camden Tour Guide Association's tour guiding course. I have started a GoFundMe page to help raise the money for the course fees, £850.
Anyone who donates to my cause will get a free tour!

https://www.gofundme.com/camdentourguide

Londonphilia Playlist: The Letter 'C'

Here's all the songs about London on Spotify that begin with the letter 'C'.

Luxury Travel Awards

My other tour, Rock n Roll Camden Walking Tour, is nominated for an award at the Luxury Travel Awards! I really excited and feel honored to be nominated!

Londonphilia Spotify Playlist 'B'

Songs about London starting with the letter 'B'...

The Legendary Castle Pubs of Camden

Starting in June, until September, I will be doing a pub crawl around the legendary castle pubs of Camden...the Dublin Castle, the Edinboro Castle and the Pembroke Castle...also included in the tour is the Hawley Arms which is near where the Caenarvon Castle was located near Regent's Canal.

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Londonphilia Spotify Playlist: The Letter 'A' + a Couple Numbers

I've finally joined Spotify and will be making Londonphilia playlists. I'm going through the alphabet and will be doing a playlist for each letter... plus a couple numbers. Some of the letters will be combined into one playlist.
Please enjoy!

Don't Panic! A Geek's Guide to London!

I'm probably the most excited about this private tour! I am a geek and I am a Londonphile, so combining the two of these into one tour only makes sense.

London is chock full of geeky things...from Sherlock Holmes to Doctor Who, from Shaun of the Dead to 28 Days Later, from An American Werewolf in London to the Highgate Vampire, from Harry Potter to The Rivers of London, from Clockwork Orange to Misfits.
Some of the locations we can visit are...

• Several Doctor Who locations including Earl's Court, the London Eye & London Bridge.
• Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter.
• The house in the TV show Spaced.
• Trafalgar Square - the location of several films & TV shows including Doctor Who and Day of the Trifids.
• The house from Hellraiser.
• Piccadilly Circus -  film location for bo
• The actual location of 221b from the TV show Sherlock.
• th 28 Days Later and An American Werewolf in London.
• The river side locations for Clockwork Orange & Misfits.
  
  

Most of these things are in and around central London but some of these sights are a little out of the way...so this is an all day tour. The minimum length will be 6 hours.

Because of this, we will obviously be stopping for refreshments, this may or may not include a pub or two, it's up to you.


Here's some places we can stop off at along the way:
The Four Quarters - London's only arcade bar. Craft beer, arcade games & fun times, what could be better!

The Grapes - The pub owned by Sir Ian McKellen, aka: Gandalf, Magento, etc.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - One of the oldest pubs in London. Dickens drank here.

Ye Olde Mitre - Another historic pub...if you can find it. It's almost like it's on a real life trap street.

Ping - Ping Pong bar in Earl's Court

We can even plan to do the tour on a day that Geeks Inc. have one of their quizzes!

The price for this tour is £150 per person. I can customise this tour to fit your fandom or we can do a mixed bag of geekdom.

Contact me at: djalicat@gmail.com

Private Tours

I offer several private tour itineraries to choose from.
If the tours are three hours or longer, we will stop for food and refreshments along the way.

£75 for a 4 hour tour

The Tate Britain to the Tate Modern.
This tour consists of a leisurely stroll along the Thames River starting at the historic Tate Britain & finishing at the spectacular Tate Modern. Along the way we will view the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, we will then cross over the river to walk along the Southbank and see the London Eye. We finish off at the breathtaking Tate Modern. If desired we can continue a long the river to Borough Market and London Bridge.

£75 for a 4 hour tour

This tour celebrates the music history of Soho and Camden Town. Starting at the world famous Denmark Street, we make our way through the streets & alley ways of Soho. We will see the locations of the recording studios used by David Bowie, Queen, Elton John etc. We finish off at the location of the famous Ziggy Stardust album cover before heading up to Camden Town. In Camden we will go to the pubs where Britpop started and Amy Winehouse hung out. We will also see world famous music venues like the Roundhouse & the Electric Ballroom.

£75 for a 4 hour tour

You don't need a time machine to see things from another time period in London. This tour spans the centuries...from 1000 to the 1800s. See the oldest museum, the oldest church, the oldest dwelling. We'll also see the monument to the Great Fire of London and a monument to local heroes. We finish off at the oldest market in London.
Along the way we can stop off at several historic pubs including Ye Olde Mitre, Cittie of Yorke, the Princess Louise, The Viaduct Tavern (a haunted pub!) and The George Inn.


If none of these tours interest you I can plan a private customised tour just for you.
Private customised tours are available on upon request, a minimum of two weeks in advance.
We can  communicate through email and also have a Skype/Facetime chat to go over what your interests are so I can plan the tour.
The price for private customised tours is £20 per person per hour.
The tour can be anywhere from three (minimum) to nine (maximum) hours.

Please contact me at: djalicat@gmail.com

Kentish Town Lock Open Days

This weekend on the Camden and Kentish Town borders the Kentish Town Lock was drained so they can replace the doors...which you can see in the pictures below.
The Canal and River Trust took this oportunity to let the public come and see the lock and canal form a different perspective.


There was a good crowd when I got there on Sunday around 2:30. Lots of families, London locals and tourists from all over the world.

The volunteers were very friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.




It was an interesting experience standing on the bottom of the lock looking up at the walls and the new doors.

The Canal and River Trust does good work and you can support them by clicking on the link below.
canalrivertrust.org.uk

Legendary Londoner: David Bowie

David Bowie was born in Brixton and grew up in Bromley. He found himself in the alleys of Soho. He found his mentors, bandmates, rivals, partners in crime in London. Has been and always will be an inspiration and an influence on everything around us. He changed music and fashion obviously...but he also changed nightlife...The Blitz started off as a Bowie tribute night, it was one of the first club nights to happen on a week day. Without Bowie and the Blitz there would've been no Trash, a club night that I worked at, which would finish every night with Rock n Roll Suicide.

Besides Londonphilia Tours, I also do tours under the name Rock n Roll Camden Walking Tour...through that I have been doing a Bowie themed tour of Soho, Sound & Vision: David Bowie's Soho, since 2014 when the V&A was doing their Bowie exhibition. I will now be doing it the first Sunday of each month starting on February 7th. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to a cancer charity.

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London A-Z: C is for Camden Town

Now I'm gonna be honest...I am completely biased when it comes to Camden. I do a walking tour of Camden, Rock n Roll Camden Walking Tour, because I love Camden so much. The first time I went to Camden on vacation back in the 90's I knew I was home. Camden is full of freaks, geeks and weirdos...goths, punks, mods, cybergoths/punks, trustafarians, rockers, hippies, crusties, b-boys, drag queens, rock-a-billys, death metallers and emos.

I can show you where this was taken.

Camden is the home of Britpop, Madness and Amy Winehouse. The Clash had their rehearsal space in Camden. Prince has played several 'secret' shows in Camden. Amy played pool at one of the pubs...I don't want to give too much away because I want you to come on my tour!
As a Camden local, I stay away from Camden Market on the weekends...Camden is the fourth biggest tourist attraction in London...millions of people come to Camden, usually on the weekends. If you're going to visit, do it during the week, the stall holders will probably appreciate it more. The best way to see the market is to take the Northern Line and get off at Chalk Farm, not Camden Town, it's just a short walk from Chalk Farm Station to the Stables Market. Easy, peasy.

Camden Lock Street Food Market

The street food market in Camden Lock Market is amazing. There is food from every country on the planet...if you can't find something to eat, you're not hungry!

Legendary music venue KOKO

Down on the other end of Camden is Mornington Crescent and KOKO. KOKO started life as The Camden Theatre in 1900 and then was renamed The Camden Hippodrome in 1909. Charlie Chaplin regularly performed there. After a couple other name changes it became the Music Box and the home to several legendary punk shows including a four day residency by The Clash in 1978.
In 1982 it became Camden Palace and Madonna played her first UK show there.
Camden Palace closed in 2004 and reopened as KOKO in 2005. If you have the chance to go to a gig there, you should definitely take it!

Rock n Roll Camden Walking Tour recommends:
The Dublin Castle pub on the Parkway is my favorite pub in Camden. It's the official Madness pub after they did a year long residency there back in the 70's. There are pictures of Madness all over the

Nelson the pub cat at Tapping the Admiral

pub and it has the best jukebox in Camden.

Tapping the Admiral pub is probably on eof the best pubs in North London. It has won 'Pub of the Year' from CAMRA several times. It has an amazing selection of real ale and craft beer. And it has a pub cat named Nelson.
It's kinda hard to find though, it's on the borders of Camden and Kentish Town but actually just a quick walk from Kentish Town West Station.

Starting in February!

 

I can't wait to start doing Londonphilia tours in February! 

I've got so many tour ideas that I hope people will come on and enjoy!