Our verdict
Best overall
Tower of London and Tower Bridge Private Tour
Four hours with a Blue Badge guide around the Tower of London and over Tower Bridge — the classic private walk, with a 5.0★ average from its first six reviews.
5.0★ · 6from £327 GetYourGuide →
Best value
London: Winston Churchill and London in WWII Walking Tour
Churchill’s wartime Westminster, rated 4.9★ by 169 people, bookable as a private or shared group walk from about £29. A strong theme on the one stretch of London that rewards a guide most.
4.9★ · 169from £29 GetYourGuide →
Best private option
London: Private Landmark Tour with Professional Photographer
Not a history walk but a private photo walk with a professional photographer around the landmarks, with edited pictures delivered within 48 hours. 4.6★ from 103 reviews.
4.6★ · 103from £84 GetYourGuide →
Skip it if
You're a couple on a tight budget
A shared themed walk costs £18–£35 each and the guiding is often just as good. Private only wins on price from about six or seven people.
What a private walking tour of London costs
The benchmark is a Blue Badge guide booked direct: from £229 for a half day of up to four hours, or £374 for a full day of up to nine, under the Guild of Registered Tourist Guides’ 2026–27 rates. That’s the price for your whole group — two people or ten. Guiding in another language starts at £258 for a half day.
On the booking platforms, private London walks in our feed run from about £84 for a short photo walk to around £327 for four hours at the Tower of London with a Blue Badge guide. Shared themed walks cost far less — about £18 to £35 each — and some, like the Churchill walk below, can be booked either way.
The honest summary: private walking tours are a group purchase. For two people, they cost three to seven times a shared walk per head. For six or more, they cost about the same and you get the guide to yourselves.
Private, very small group or shared?
| Format | Typical price | Group | Route | Live guide | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Badge guide, booked direct | from £229 / group (half day) | Your group | You choose | Yes | Families, groups of 4+, special interests |
| Private listing on a platform | ~£84–£327 | Your group | Set theme, flexible pace | Yes | Instant booking, verified reviews |
| Very small group walk | ~£64 each | A handful of strangers | Fixed | Yes | Fans of one theme (e.g. Ted Lasso in Richmond) |
| Shared themed walk | ~£18–£35 each | Varies — check the listing | Fixed | Yes | Couples, solo travellers |
| Free (tip-based) walk | tip | Often large | Fixed | Yes | Budget orientation on day one |
Listing prices are “from” prices in our partner feed today. Shared and free walks are covered in depth on our free walking tours and history and royal walks pages.
Which routes reward a private guide
Some parts of London make an average walk; a few make a great private one.
- The Tower, the City and Tower Bridge. Two thousand years in a square mile — Roman wall, medieval Tower, Wren churches, the modern towers. A guide stops you walking past the best bits. Compare private Tower options on our royal London page.
- Westminster and Whitehall. Parliament, the Abbey, Downing Street and the wartime bunkers. Only Blue Badge guides may guide inside Westminster Abbey, so book the badge if the Abbey is part of the plan.
- Film and TV locations. Richmond for Ted Lasso, the South Bank and the City for Harry Potter and Bond. Our film and TV location tours page has the shared versions.
- A neighbourhood you’d never find alone. The Inns of Court, Clerkenwell, Southwark’s riverside, Greenwich. These are exactly what a guide’s own route is for.
Private and small-group walks, checked today
German London: Highlights, Culture & Hidden Gems
from £18
See on GetYourGuide
London: Winston Churchill and London in WWII Walking Tour
from £29
See on GetYourGuide
London: Private Landmark Tour with Professional Photographer
from £84
See on GetYourGuide
London: Ted Lasso Filming Locations Tour: Very Small Group
from £64
See on GetYourGuide
Tower of London and Tower Bridge Private Tour
from £327
See on GetYourGuidePrices and ratings checked 21 Oct 2026; they change daily.
Do the per-head maths
Private vs shared — what does it cost per head?
Private tours are priced per group, shared tours per person. Slide the group size to see when private stops being a luxury.
The shared figure is the most-reviewed royal walking tour in our feed, a Westminster walk that visits the Abbey. Slide the group size: for two, private costs about £115 each against the shared price; at six the two are almost level; at eight a private Blue Badge guide is cheaper per head. The shared price may include Abbey entry; the private rate never does, so add £32 a head if the Abbey is on your private route.
Private walks in German, Spanish and other languages
Guiding in a language other than English is standard in London, at a modest premium: the Guild’s 2026–27 rates start at £258 for a half day and £411 for a full day, against £229 and £374 in English. Name the language when you contact a guide and ask which ones they offer. If a shared walk will do, the platforms carry a good range of German-language tours (Stadtführung auf Deutsch), including a 4.7★ West End walk through Mayfair, Soho and Chinatown from about £18 a head — and French- and German-language Harry Potter walks.
How to brief your guide
A private walk is only as good as the brief. When you book, say:
- Who’s walking — ages, anyone with limited mobility, pushchairs. London’s oldest streets have cobbles and steps.
- What you’ve already seen — no point repeating the Changing of the Guard.
- Your one must-see — the guide will build around it and handle the timing.
- Tickets — if a site is included, who buys the tickets. Guides can’t skip a sold-out slot.
- The finish — end near your hotel, a pub, or the theatre you’ve booked.
For a guide who also drives, or one booked for a whole day, see our Blue Badge guides page.
Questions people ask
How much does a private walking tour of London cost?
Is the price per person or per group?
Can we choose our own route?
Can we have a private walking tour in German, Spanish or another language?
How long should a private walk be?
What happens if it rains?
Sources
- Guild of Registered Tourist Guides — guide fees 2026–27 (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Institute of Tourist Guiding — the Blue Badge qualification (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Westminster Abbey — group visits with a Blue Badge guide (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- GetYourGuide — private tours in London (partner feed)
Written and checked by the Private Tours London desk