Is there a secret London many of us don’t know about?

I recently read Charles Dickens’ Night Walks and The Uncommercial Traveller, a series of essays based on his walks around London.

Known to be an insomniac, he described the London he saw, from Haymarket, which he describes as “the worst kept part of London” (Uncommercial Traveller, Chapter 13), to the ghosts around Execution Dock (in Wapping, somewhere), to the noise of the Chatham Dockyard where the ironclad frigate HMS Achilles was being built at the time.

Charles Dickens’ London

Dickens had a dark and gloomy perception of London, as he says in Night Walks, “the very shadow of the immensity of London seemed to lie oppressively upon the river”. As I read on, I started to wonder whether many of the places exist in today’s London or were they figures of Dickens’ imagine?

I visited the Charles Dickens Museum in Holbon, London. This Georgian terraced house was his family home for 2 years between 1837-1839, and is where he wrote Oliver Twist. Besides learning more about Charles Dickens as a family man, various painting also gave me a good idea of what London was like during the early Victorian times.

London to many visitors today is about Big Ben, the London Eye, the Shard, the red uniformed Palace guards, the red phone boxes and big red buses. It can easily be assumed that once you’ve seen all of these, you’ve seen London.

But for a city with so much history, you really need to dig deeper. You don’t quite need to walk at night like Dickens did (although, the excellent night life in London seems to have made this into a fashion) – it is really about seeking out the unusual, the lesser visited attractions around London to get a feel of the layers of personality London hides behind its glamorous facade.

A guide to show you the unusual attractions in London

I recently received a copy of Secret London: An Unusual Guide, which includes just the places around London that isn’t just the commercial touristy stuff you see in brochures. In fact, some of the gems in this book could be what Dickens was talking about through his walks around the capital – and more, many of which are from the Victorian era, which means Dickens would have seen them too.

This excellent guide really has got under London’s skin, and will take you to the most intriguing places, no matter what your subject of interest is. Some historical, some quirky, some just amazingly inspiring.

Places like a dog cemetery in Hyde Park, disused Underground station entrances, Britain’s smallest police station at Trafalgar Square, Bethlehem Museum of the Mind, Twinnings Tea Museum and Sky Garden where there is a better view than from the Shard (in my opinion).

I’ve learned so much about London’s history through this guide to make me appreciate my adopted city more.

Of course, if you want someone to guide you, there’s always walking tours with a difference you can join. A while back I did the London Loo Tours (Yes I know. There is such a thing.) and had fun learning all about London’s public toilets (and it’s more interesting than you think!). There’s also Free Tours by Foot and Eating London Food Tours too.

Enjoy London :)