Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Jack the Ripper Walks
Each walking tour company seems to make most of its money with “haunted” and Jack
the Ripper tours. Many guides are historians and would rather not lead these lightweight
tours—but, in tourism as in journalism, “if it bleeds, it leads” (which is why the juvenile
London Dungeon is one of the city's busiest sights).
Back in 1888—in the decade of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, when
London was still a Dickensian Tale of Two Cities—locals were terrorized by the murder
of five prostitutes within a few weeks. In the wee hours, the murderer (who was given
his name by local newspapers, which made a fortune on this sensational series of events)
slit the throats and cut out the guts of his victims in the poor and wretched side of town.
These were desperate women—so desperate they took their customers not to a bed, but
up against a wall for a “four-penny knee trembler.” While almost no hint of the dark and
scary London of that period survives, guides do a good job of spinning the story. Think
of this mile-long walk, starting at the Tower of London, as a cheap night out with a few
laughs. It's still light out in summer, so the scary factor is limited to the tales of the vic-
tims' miserable lot in life and the gory way in which they were killed.
Two reliably good two-hour tours start every night at the Tower Hill Tube station
exit. London Walks leaves nightly at 19:30 ( £ 9, pay at the start, tel. 020/7624-3978,
recorded info tel. 020/7624-9255, www.jacktheripperwalk.com ) . Ripping Yarns, which
leaves earlier, is guided by off-duty Yeoman Warders—the Tower of London “Beefeaters”
( £ 8, pay at end, nightly at 18:45, no tours between Christmas and New Year, mobile
07813-559-301, www.jack-the-ripper-tours.com ). After taking both, I found the London
Walks tour more entertaining, informative, and with a better route (along quieter, once
hooker-friendly lanes, with less traffic), starting at Tower Hill and ending at Liverpool
Street Station. Groups can be huge for both, and one group can be nearly on top of another,
but there's always room—just show up.
Private Walks with Local Guides
Standard rates for London's registered Blue Badge guides are about £ 150-165 for four
hours and £ 250 or more for nine hours (tel. 020/7611-2545, www.guidelondon.org.uk or
www.britainsbestguides.org ) . I know and like four fine local guides: Sean Kelleher (tel.
020/8673-1624, mobile 07764-612-770, sean@seanlondonguide.com ), Britt Lonsdale
( £ 220/half-day, £ 320/day, great with families, tel. 020/7386-9907, mobile 07813-278-077,
brittl@btinternet.com ), and two others who work in London when they're not on the road
leading my Britain tours, Tom Hooper (mobile 07986-048-047, tomh@ricksteves.net ) and
Gillian Chadwick (mobile 07889-976-598, gillychad@hotmail.co.uk ) .
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