Stephen Fry’s City and Bankside: A QI Audio Tour

London, England
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Duration1h 15m - 1h 30m
Free cancellationFull refund up to 24 hours before
Instant confirmationYour booking is confirmed right away
TicketMobile or paper ticket accepted
LanguagesEnglish
Private tourOnly your group will participate

Overview

This self-guided audio walking tour through London is hosted by the legendary Stephen Fry and was developed with the QI Elves, the brilliant research team behind the hit BBC comedy panel show QI.

This immersive audio experience uncovers the bizarre facts, hidden oddities, and fascinating secrets behind the city's most famous landmarks. Over the next hour, Stephen’s narration will guide you through the quirky history hiding in plain sight, from Shakespearean curses to legendary pranks.

Starting at St. Paul’s Cathedral, you'll wander down Peter’s Hill, cross the Millennium Bridge, and explore Bankside. You'll pass the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe, dive into vibrant Borough Market, cross London Bridge, and finish at the mysterious London Stone.

Along the way, your audio guide reveals which icon the Suffragettes nearly bombed with a wristwatch and how John Cleese pranked Michael Palin.

Download to your smartphone and explore entirely at your own pace!

What's included

  • Directions to the starting point so that when you're in the right place, the tour will start
  • Lifetime access to this tour in English before your booking date and after it
  • Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
  • App for Android and iOS
  • Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour
  • Smartphone and headphones
  • Personal expenses for admission fees not included during the tour
  • Food and drink
  • Transportation

What to expect

  1. St. Paul's Cathedral
    Pass by
    This self-guided audio tour starts in front of St Paul's Cathedral. The fourth version of the cathedral was actually 38 meters taller than the current one, meaning you could fit Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue right on top of the modern dome to match its historic height.
  2. Millennium Bridge
    Pass by
    On this walking tour, you'll hear about the surprising state of the water beneath the bridge; though it was declared "biologically dead" in 1957, the modern Thames is thriving and is now home to seahorses, seals, and five species of sharks.
  3. Tate Modern
    Pass by
    On this GPS-guided tour, you'll find out how this former power station was fined £20 in 1903 for creating too much smoke, which, after adjusting for inflation, is roughly the exact same financial penalty (£2,500) an employee would face today for smoking a cigarette inside the art gallery.
  4. Pass by
    On this immersive smartphone tour, you'll discover how an on-stage theatrical cannon accidentally burned the entire original theatre to the ground in 1613, causing the play Henry VIII to be considered cursed and banned here for nearly 400 years.
  5. Golden Hinde
    Pass by
    On this self-guided audio tour, you'll learn how this full-sized, completely seaworthy 1970s replica is considered so permanent to its London mooring that the ship actually has its own official postal code.
  6. Pass by
    On this historical walking tour, you'll be treated to the story of Doorkins Magnificat, a stray cat taken in by the cathedral in 2008 who became so popular and beloved that she was eventually introduced to Queen Elizabeth II.
  7. Borough Market
    Pass by
    On this audio journey, you'll explore a vibrant market spanning over a thousand years of history, though you'll find out why visiting on a Monday means finding it completely flat and empty.
  8. London Bridge
    Pass by
    On this GPS-guided walk, you'll tune into the bizarre fate of the historic 1831 bridge, which was sold to an American oil magnate in 1968 for $2.5 million, dismantled piece by piece, and rebuilt over dry land in Arizona.
  9. The Monument to the Great Fire of London
    Pass by
    On this smartphone walking tour, you'll find out how this magnificent column was secretly co-designed to double as a giant, functional science telescope complete with an underground laboratory.
  10. The london stone
    Pass by
    On this final tour stop, you'll hear about how the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers used the top of this ancient stone as a makeshift anvil to smash 264 pairs of substandard eyeglasses in 1671.

Meeting and pickup

Meeting point

This tour starts at St Paul's Cathedral. Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.

End point

This self-guided audio tour ends in front of the London Stone.

Additional information

  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Cancellation policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
From
$14.99 per person
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  • Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts
  • Instant confirmation
  • You'll choose your date and travelers and pay on viator.com. Prices vary by date, group size and option.
Operated by VoiceMap Audio Tours · Booked through Viator
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