London has starred in many films over the years, from the big blockbusters and famous franchises like Bond and Harry Potter to cult films and romantic comedies. Whether you’re a film buff or just want to hear some interesting movie trivia, here’s our roundup of the best self-guided walks and film location tours in London.
Most of these tours are walking tours, but check with the specific providers about private tours, BSL and accessibility provisions. Meeting points are given for all guided tours, but your tour guide will usually have an umbrella and a sign to help you spot them.
Film Tours by Genre
Romantic Comedy film walks and tours
Firstly, we have of course a free option for you. Check out our film lovers’ guide to British Rom-Coms and enjoy them at your own pace.
Notting Hill Rom-Com Tour
Richard Curtis has made some of the most famous British rom-coms of all time, and Notting Hill is one of his most-loved films. This two-hour guided walking tour of the famous West London neighbourhood includes a visit to the famous travel bookshop with the blue door, as well as Portobello Road market. The area tour also includes some locations from the Gywnneth Paltrow film Sliding Doors.
Cost: £15.00Duration: 2 hours
Starting Point: Holland Park Tube Station
Date and times: Saturdays (Feb-Oct) 10:15 am
Website: https://britmovietours.com/bookings/notting-hill-movie-tour/
Bridget Jones Location Tour
Over the course of three films, novelist Helen Fielding’s romantic heroine Bridget Jones fell head over heels (often literally) in with posh men. Jones (Renee Zellweger) spends much of her time deliberating over whether to date the sensible, stable Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) or the slimy Daniel Cleaver. Follow in Jones footsteps as you visit 12 film locations including the exterior of Briget’s flat and the Inns of Court. The tour will also pass London landmarks including London Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral, ending up at Tower Bridge.
Cost: £15.00Duration: 2.5 hours
Starting Point: Temple Tube Station
Date and times: Fridays at 3pm (Feb-Oct)
Website: https://britmovietours.com/bookings/bridget-jones-locations-tour/
Love Actually and Rom-Com London Locations Tours
The two and a half hour walking tour is perfect for anyone looking for meet-cute inspired date ideas, or film fans who want to relive moments from classic British Rom Coms on wander through central London. You’ll visit locations from Love Actually, Last Christmas, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill along the way, ending up on the South Bank.
Cost: £15.00Duration: 2.5 hours
Starting Point: Next to the Amba Hotel by Charing Cross Station
Date and times: Select Saturdays at 2:15pm
Website: https://www.silverscreen.tours/tours/love-actually-rom-com-london-locations-tour/
Crime & Thriller film walks tours
Agatha Christie London Tour
Agatha Christie is the best selling novelist of all time, and wrote some of the most famous detective fiction books ever written. Her works inspired many big and small screen adaptations, and this tour takes in the locations that inspired her famous murder mysteries. The crime-story inspired walk will take you through the West End, Bloomsbury and Mayfair, ending up at Green Park.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Starting Point: Euston Square Tube Station
Date and times: Sundays at 10:30 (Feb-Oct)
Website: https://briticontours.com/agatha-christie-london-tour/
Gangsters of London Tours
Although this isn’t just a film location tour, it does have a pretty special tour guide. Your guide for this crime tour of London is the actor Vas Blackwood, who appeared in Guy Ritchie’s Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Join Vas on a two hour walk around the notorious East End neighbourhoods of Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, and Shoreditch to hear stories about the Krays and stop off at Lock Stock filming locations along the way,
Website: https://britmovietours.com/bookings/gangster-tour-of-london/Find more crime locations for yourself with a little help from our guide.
Horror film tours
London’s old streets have inspired horror films from classic 60s and 70s chillers to contemporary cult classics like 28 Days Later. There are fewer guided walks for Horror films, but there are plenty of locations to discover on your own, or using a self-guided tour.
Chills of Chelsea of the Dead Audio Guide , London City Of The Dead
If the overpriced establishments of the King’s Road aren’t enough to chill your blood, then the Chills of Chelsea tour might just do it. Writer and lecturer Lauren Barnett is your narrator for this audio guide through the dark heart of Chelsea, including grisly stories, horrible histories and of course locations for classic horror films including Dracula A.D. 1972 and Theatre of Blood. The guide comes with an A5 full colour map and guide book.
Cost: £8.00 + postage for the mapDate and times: Anytime, download it and start at your leisure
Starting Point: Duke of York Square, SW3
Website: https://londonmonthofthedead.com/chillsofchelseaaudioguide.html
A Horror Movie Mini-Tour of London (The Omen)
London Walks run guided city walks all over the city, but it also has blog posts on suggested self-guided tours. One that might interest classic British Horror fans is this short guide to the 1976 horror classic The Omen which takes in 8 locations across London, but some of the most iconic and spooky locations are clustered in Fulham, West London, so head there if you’re short on time.
Cost: FreeDates and time: Anytime
Starting Point: Fulham
Website: https://www.walks.com/blog/a-horror-movie-mini-tour-of-london/
Dare to discover the inspiration for more macabre scenes yourself? Read our guide to Horror in the City.
Film or Franchise location walks and tours
Harry Potter
The Harry Potter franchise seems to be the one with the highest number of unofficial tours, There are more wizard-location based tours in London than you can shake a wand at. Orient yourself with our Harry Potter London location guide and then check out some of these walking tours to started:
Wizards London Walking Tour (self guided)
The Magical London tour is a free Harry Potter location sightseeing tour. Put together by Blue Badge Tour Guide and author Richard Jones is a free, downloadable PDF guide to different film locations in central London. It’s one of the longer tours and covers a wide area, so it’s worth splitting it up over a weekend.
Cost: FreeDate and times: Anytime
Starting Point: Any point, but the full starts from Bank Station (Exit 3)
Website: https://www.the-magician.co.uk/
Harry Potter Walking Tour, Strawberry Tours (free)
Strawberry Tours offers free guided walks around London, although pay what you feel tips are encouraged. Kicking off in Theatreland, this two hour walking tour will take in Potter film highlights including the location of The Ministry of Magic, the side streets that inspired Diagon Alley and Hardy’s Sweet Shop.
Cost: Free / pay what you feelDate and times: Weekdays at 3:30pm / Weekends at 11am and 3:30pm
Starting Point: The Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue
Website: https://strawberrytours.com/london/tours/free-harry-potter-tour
Harry Potter London Locations Tour, Free Tours by Foot
Free Tours by Foot is another free / name your price walking tour company with a love of Harry Potter. This two and half hour magical walking tour will take place on foot and on the London underground. The tour of central London including Millenium Bridge (as scene being attacked by Death Eaters), Scotland Yard, Trafalgar Square where the final film had its premiere and Godwin’s Court aka Knockturn Alley).
Cost: Free / pay what you feelDuration: 2.5 hrs
Date and times: Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2pm or self-guided via GPS
Starting Point: Next to the Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square
Website: https://freetoursbyfoot.com/harry-potter-walking-tour-london/
Bond
The other iconic British film franchise that has inspired several location tours is Bond, aka James Bond, to be precise. London has features in several of the infamous agent 007 films including The Living Daylights, Die Another Day and Skyfall.
James Bond and the History of Espionage – Free, Strawberry Tours
Take a stroll around to discover the real-life spy stories that inspired Bond creator Ian Fleming, as well as set stories from filming and visit London landmarks including the Ministry of Defence, The Corinthia Hotel and Westminster Bridge where the tour ends.
Cost: Free / pay what you feelDuration: 2 hrs
Date and times: Select Saturdays at 3:30pm
Starting Point: In front of The Clermont, Charing Cross
Website: https://strawberrytours.com/london/tours/free-james-bond-tour
James Bond Walking Tour – Brit Movie Tours
This two and half-hour walking tour around central London will include locations from famous Bond films including Skyfall, SPECTRE, No Time to Die, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights as well as places connected creator Ian Fleming’s secret service past
Part of the tour will involve catching buses in Zone1, so you’ll need your oyster card or contactless card/device for those sections. Highlights include the National Gallery, Whitehall and the oldest restaurant in London as featured in SPECTRE, finishing up at Vauxhall Underground station.
Duration: 2.5 hrs
Date and times: Thursdays at 2:30pm (May-Aug), Saturdays at 10:30am (Jan-Dec)
Starting Point: In front of The Clermont, Charing Cross
Website: https://britmovietours.com/bookings/james-bond-walking-tour-of-london/
James Bond BusTour of London – Brit Movie Tours
Brit Movie Tours also runs a bus tour for Bond lovers, although (somewhat disappointingly) it isn’t not wheelchair or pram/buggy accessible, and there’s no BSL interpreting. The mini-bus tour is a more extensive Bond tour that goes all over London from Wapping in the East End to The London Eye in Zone 1. Tour highlights include a visit toT he College of Arms from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a stand in for St Petersburg in Goldeneye and Q’s house from No Time To Die.
Cost: £35.00Duration: 4hrs
Date and times: Sundays at 9:30am (Feb-Nov)
Starting Point: Blackfriars Tube Station
Website: https://britmovietours.com/bookings/spy-movie-london-tour/
