London’s 10 best music related walking tours
A stroll through music history
London has an extraordinary musical history. From The Rolling Stones to the Sex Pistols, the city has produced some of the UK’s most notable artists. With its plethora of historic venues, from the dingiest of dives where you can catch the stars of tomorrow, to huge spaces playing host to the world’s most innovative and popular artists, London’s live scene has created many a moment that has gone down in musical history.
With so many legendary spots to visit, London is the perfect place for a music themed day out. You can of course navigate your way to places of interest, planning your own route across the city, while paying homage to your favourite artists. This writer once met a Brazilian tourist in The Hawley Arms in Camden who had travelled to London to carry out her own tour of sites linked to Amy Winehouse. But for many, a guided walking tour would be the best way to go.
London plays host to many music themed tours, so why not put on one of your favourite records and start thinking about the artists and scene’s whose history you most want to explore? We've picked 10 of the best tours on offer below.
1. The Original Soho Punk Tour
Punk exploded onto Britain’s cultural scene in the second half of the 1970s, with a highly political agenda and the aim of pushing aside rock music deemed to be overblown and pretentious. This highly rated tour traces the raw, DIY explosion of the scene. It takes in the sites of early Sex Pistols gigs, the King’s Road boutiques run by Malcolm Mclaren and Vivienne Westwood, The Roxy Club and much more besides. Expect anecdotes about squats and safety pins as you explore and navigate your way between London’s punk landmarks.
2. Amy Winehouse Tour in Camden
For a tragically short few years in the 2,000s, Amy Winehouse was one of the most lauded figures in UK music. With a sultry but powerful voice, retro aesthetics and a beehive hairstyle, she captivated audiences and developed a huge following. Her troubles with alcohol and drugs sadly came to overshadow her music, as she was trailed everywhere by the press. She was indelibly linked to Camden and could often be found in many of its bars and venues. This tour celebrates her life and explores the impact she made on the cultural scene of Camden and indeed London as a whole.
3. The Kinks in London
At the forefront of UK music in the 1960s, The Kinks are a quintessentially London band and produced numerous classic songs that rank as some of the most well-loved of the era. This tour will go down a treat with anyone who loves the music and history of the band. Learn about how three lads from Muswell Hill joined up with a Richmond based drummer, who nearly became a Rolling Stone, to have a storied career that would take them to the top of British music.
4. The Rolling Stones Tour of London by Black Taxi
This extraordinary tour involves being taken around many of The Rolling Stones linked sites in London by a knowledgeable guide in a black cab. It’s an outlier on this list as it’s not a walking tour at all, but we couldn’t miss it off as it is so special. It’s available all year and will set you back £590 per vehicle. However, if you love the Stones and have several mates who do too, it’s well worth the cost. Visit the site of the band’s first residency among many key spots related to their early career.
5. Beatles London Walking Tour of Marylebone and Abbey Road
A must for any London based or visiting Beatles fanatic, this highly rated tour takes in, of course, the famous Abbey Road zebra crossing. Alongside the most famous London locations linked to the Liverpool legends, it also stops off at Ringo Starr’s former home, Paul McCartney’s St John’s Wood residence and much more besides. The expert guides are also there to share some much less well-known trivia about the fab four.
6. David Bowie in 1960s Soho
Inarguably one of popular music’s greatest chameleons, David Bowie reinvented himself numerous times. He created characters, shifted styles and absorbed the musical trends of each era he operated in, making them utterly his own. But the 60s was a strange time for him. He abandoned multiple musical directions while struggling to break through – before eventually having a much greater impact towards the end of the decade. This tour traces the fascinating history of his time in 60s Soho as he struggles through the decade, working towards his future superstardom.
7. Jazz Tour of London (Soho)
This wonderful jazz themed walk, slightly erroneously bills itself as a tour of London. It does in fact cover Soho, which to this day plays host to a number of jazz clubs and bars. Chiefly among these of course is the legendary Ronnie Scotts, which opened on Gerrard Street in 1959 before moving to its current location on Frith Street a few years later. The tour covers the area’s essential jazz history involving many legendary names from Duke Ellington to Louis Armstrong.
8. Drag Queen Disco Diva Tour (Silent Disco Walking Tour)
Hugely different to the rest of the tours on this list – the Drag Queen Disco Diva Tour involves participants wearing headphones and listening to a soundtrack of Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Cyndi Lauper, The Spice Girls and more as they navigate Fitzrovia and Soho. Hosted by Ms Christina Draguleira, the tour offers up celebrity facts and riotous fun and is sure to be an unforgettable experience.
9. Freddie Mercury and Queen Tour of Kensington
This dedicated walk through Kensington traces Freddie Mercury’s story from Imperial College, where Brian May studied and Queen first performed under that name, past the old Kensington Market stall Freddie and Roger Taylor once ran. It also takes in Garden Lodge, Freddie’s final home. The guides are genuine fans who mix in bucketloads of fascinating trivia with the more personal side of Queen’s story.
10. Elton John Walking Tour
This intriguing tour charts the earliest experiences and development of one of pop music’s most iconic stars. It starts at Baker Street and the Royal Academy of Music, where an eleven-year-old Reginald Dwight won a scholarship. It moves through Soho, tracing his transformation into Elton John and the artist that we all know. An essential day out for the Elton loving pop fan.
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