Explore London’s secret underground network on a Hidden London tour
Did you know that there were whole sections of London’s underground network that lay hidden in plain sight? At the London Transport Museum you can explore secret parts of London’s Underground Network on a Hidden London Tour
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Behind closed doors are disused stations and platforms, former ticket halls; and time-capsule corridors that have remained frozen in time since they saw their last commuter – complete with vintage signs, advertising posters and all.
Those secret spaces are usually off limits to the public, but thanks to London Transport Museum’s award-winning Hidden London tours, you too can now gain exclusive access, both in person and online.
The Hidden London programme include tours of Aldwych disused station’s ‘abandoned’ ticket halls, original lifts and tunnels; the remains of Piccadilly Circus’s original Edwardian station; and the disused Jubilee line platforms at Charing Cross that have featured in many famous British TV and film productions including Paddington Bear (2013), Killing Eve (2019) and A Spy Among Friends (2022).
Also on offer are tours of the original 19th century passageways and features at west London station Shepherd’s Bush; Down Street, a bomb-proof wartime bunker and former station that lays concealed between the Piccadilly line tracks in Mayfair; and Clapham South, an expansive Second World War shelter hidden under the streets of south London.
An exclusive walking tour, Secrets of Central London, also takes you around Covent Garden and the surrounding area to reveal unique, fascinating and historical tales and titbits about this part of the city and how it has transformed over the last 200 years.
All tours are guided and share the exclusive historical stories that the museum’s experts found in its extensive archive and collection; allowing you to discover little-known facts about London, right where all this history took place.
If your next trip to London is still a long way away or if going underground simply isn’t your thing, the museum also offers a series of live virtual tours including one launched to celebrate the Tube’s 160th birthday earlier this year, Discovering the Forgotten Underground, which explores how some spaces on the network came to be disused over the years.
The virtual tours are held live via Zoom and hosted by a tour guide, using a combination of video footage, historical documents and archive images. Other virtual tours include visits of disused stations York Road and Brompton Road, and behind the scenes glimpses into two of London’s newest Elizabeth line stations, Tottenham Court Road and Liverpool Street.
The Hidden London tours were named ’Best Hidden Gem in the World’ at the International Tiqets’ Remarkable Venue Awards 2022 by public vote.
Tickets are available to book via London Transport Museum’s website at here.
Tours run throughout the year with new dates frequently released. Subscribers to the Museum’s free e-newsletter get 24-hour priority booking upon release.
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