Free Guided Tours of London with a Local London Greeter

Mar 16, 2011
Mike Gerrard

The London Olympics - London Olympics

In time for the Olympic Games, London emulates New York by offering tourists guided tours of London by people who live there, the London Greeters.

So who are the London Greeters? Well, back in 1992 New York introduced the Big Apple Greeters, an enterprising program in which local people volunteered to show visitors around their own neighborhoods. It was a way to encourage tourists to get off that tourist trail, to show them parts of New York they might not otherwise see, and to let them know that New York wasn’t necessarily the dangerous city it then had a reputation for being. The scheme was a huge success and was taken up by other cities, including Houston, Paris, Melbourne, Toronto, Berlin, and Chicago, with Greeters offering free guided tours, and a firm ‘no tipping’ policy.

Now in 2011, one year before the Olympic Games and just after the Olympic tickets go on sale, London has at last copied New York and introduced its own scheme: the London Greeters.

London Greeters

To set the ball rolling one London Greeter showed two Chicago Greeters around his own part of London, Camden. One reason for introducing the London Greeters scheme is that the Olympics are being held in a part of London that isn’t familiar to too many visitors: East London.

East London is a very large area and includes some places whose names might be known, such as Canary Wharf, Brick Lane, and Epping Forest. However, foreign visitors might not be so familiar with places such as Walthamstow, Woolwich, Wapping, Hackney, and Hoxton.

They are all places teeming with London history, even if they’re not necessarily the prettiest parts of the capital. They have unexpected delights, like the William Morris Gallery and Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow, the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich, Eltham Palace in Eltham, and the Geffrye Museum in Shoreditch.

Booking a London Greeter for a Free Guided Tour

It’s recommended that you book a tour at least two weeks in advance. Tours range from one to four hours in length, and are held whatever the weather. The maximum group size is six people, one of whom must be over-18. You can only make one London Greeter request per visit. The free Greeter tours take place on foot and using public transport, and your only cost will be the use of public transport.

You can find out more about the London Greeters and make a booking on the Visit East London website, or by emailing greeters@greenwich.gov.uk.