Power and Scandal: City of London Private Half-Day Walking Tour

Explore the 800-year history of the City of London, the global financial heart of Britain, with its melee of medieval streets, iconic skyscrapers, and historic buildings, and hear tales of the most notorious financial fraudsters through the ages.

On your private tour, you will:

• See the major landmarks of the city like the Stock Exchange and the Bank of England, nicknamed the ‘old lady of Threadneedle Street’;
• Visit the vibrant Leadenhall Market – popular with city workers for lunchtime drinks;
• See the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral alongside skyscrapers like the Gherkin and the Cheesegrater;
• Hear how Lloyd’s of London began as Lloyd’s coffee house and the important role of the coffee houses in the financial district;
• Learn about historic scandals of fraudulent trades, offshore banks, shady syndicates, and hoodwinking Ponzi schemes; 
• Learn about the extraordinary story of the thieves of Threadneedle Street: American forgers who nearly broke the Bank of England in 1873;
• End back at Threadneedles Hotel, where we encourage you to try their famous Gin and Tonic at Wheeler’s Bar!

With its eccentric mix of historic buildings and iconic skyscrapers, the City of London is a unique district in the heart of London with a history dating back over 800 years. Learn about the financial institutions that drive the City and hear the dramatic stories of fortunes made and lost through fair means and foul.

Learn of the rise and fall of the East India Company, forged banknotes by American fraudsters, the Lloyd's of London insurance scandal of the 1990s, the Poyais scam of 1825, and the South Sea Bubble implosion. Hear about charming thieves and audaciously dodgy investors through the ages.

Discover the origins of the East India Trading Company – a mercantile powerhouse that made a fortune on the back of the slave trade. Learn about the illegal sales of opium in China and the endemic corruption that led to its demise.

Entering Change Alley, your guide will describe the street as it stood 300 years ago - a crowded alley, filled with traders, rumour, and wild financial speculation: the collapse of the South Sea Bubble, a slave-trading business that shook Britain to its core.

Learn about the rise of Lloyd’s coffee house on Lombard Street – a popular place for sailors, merchants, and shipowners to gain their shipping news and discuss business and trade. It then became its own insurance business: Lloyd’s of London. It is now infamous for the huge scandal of the 1990s in which many lost millions.

End back at the elegant Threadneedles Hotel, where you'll hear the story of the scandal of the thieves of Threadneedle street - an attempted heist by American robbers that would have ruined the City had it not been spectacularly foiled. Perhaps enjoy a well-earned G&T at the Wheeler's Bar afterwards!