Explore Hidden London: Victoria To Covent Garden With New Eyes

Welcome to the Victoria to Covent Garden Walk. Maybe you’ve been here before, but today we’re taking a slightly different route. We’ll pass a Royal Palace, explore some surprisingly peaceful green spaces and peek at a few quirky corners of London that most visitors miss. Along the way, we’ll see the Royal Park where Charles II once fed the ducks, admire a railway map from the 19th century and spot a piece of architecture that made your guide today laugh out loud. You’ll also glimpse London’s oldest restaurant, visit one of the world’s great opera houses and hear a few tales of 18th-century entertainment that were perhaps less than wholesome. Without stops, this walk would take about an hour, but with a few detours to admire the scenery and maybe snap a photo or two, it could take a little longer. A recurring theme on this walk is the surprising extent to which the Royal Family has shaped London’s architecture, an influence you’ll see right up to the present day. This is one of a series of walks created by your guide, Ian Runcie, a frequent visitor to London with extensive experience in writing tours about the city and beyond. We start inside Victoria Mainline Station, with your backs to platforms 13 and 14. So put on your walking shoes, keep your eyes open for the unexpected and let’s wander through a side of London most visitors never see, full of royal secrets, quirky corners and the kind of stories that make you laugh out loud. 🎧 What You’ll Discover on This Walk: • A Victorian tiled railway map hidden inside Victoria Station — restored after more than a century. • A golden ballerina dancing above a theatre roof. • Quirky parks tucked between grand streets, complete with shell-covered huts. • The story of Buckingham Palace, its eccentric history, and why its royal days may be numbered. • A thrilling statue of a lioness mid-pounce — and the bizarre tale behind it. • The royal ducks of St James’s Park (and the king who fed them). • The soaring Nelson’s Column, the lions that weren’t quite right, and other Trafalgar Square secrets. • The architectural joke hidden in plain sight at the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing. • The oldest restaurant in London and the scandalous nightlife of 18th-century Covent Garden. • And finally, the world-class opera house where history and modern design somehow live side by side.