A Black Cab Taxi Tour of London

In London I am always passing weird place names. The other day I saw a church called the Parish Church of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe. I had to know where on earth it had got that name.

So I went on a Black Cab Taxi tour of London. A private two hours of being driven around by one of the people who know London best: a cabbie.

To drive a Black Cab you have to pass a test called The Knowledge. It means you know London’s streets and significant places inside and out. It can take up to four years. All over London you see people on small motorbikes with clipboards on the handlebars, lists of streets and places, riding around learning, learning, learning. All so we can jump in a cab, say an address and be whisked there.

Philippa on her London Black Cab Taxi Tour (Ok, it’s really a mauve cab)

Our driver for the Black Cab Tour, Michael, had not only passed The Knowledge and been driving a cab for over 30 years, but he was an officially trained tour guide with the badges to prove it. As well as doing general London guides, he is one of only two Black Taxi cabbies who offer Harry Potter tours.

Michael was great. Patient in the traffic, informative, amusing. The only slight surprise was that his cab was not black; it was purple. Well, mauve really. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked that – I have no problem with purple, I even painted my kitchen cupboards purple once. But this is London and surely cabs should be black. But once inside the spacious back seat I forgot the colour and just enjoyed the ride.

London Black Cab Taxi Tours: First, a little history

Quick bit of history. London cabs are not just any old cars that drive you around. They were specially designed with that distinctive shape, by the same people who designed the old Routemaster buses, the famous double-decker red ones with the staircase at the back (and, once upon a time, a conductor hanging off helping people on and off). These old buses were phased out a few years ago to great dismay. Now a few run on only two routes in London (9 and 15). When in London, you have to catch a Routemaster bus at least once, just for historic reasons. And catch a Black Cab at least once. I have always been fond of London cabbies since one old-timer drove me home for free on my first trip to London when I was lost and broke in night-time Brixton; he feared for my safety and probably saved me a bad experience.

Black Cabs are the only taxis you can hail in the street in London. The slightly cheaper mini-cabs have to be booked in advance and are not always sure where they are going. Recently, to the chagrin of the Cabbies, the Mayor Ken Livingston licensed more taxi companies but while more reliable than some mini-cabs, they still have to be booked in advance.

Black Cabs are famous for their small turning circle and have to be watched closely because they are forever suddenly doing U-turns in busy places like Oxford Street. So, when crossing the road, watch out. And if you see one without a For Hire sign on the top, it may be Prince Phillip or Stephen Fry or some other notable person who has bought a black cab for their own private use, mainly for anonymity but also because of their toughness in London’s crazy traffic. I was caught in a traffic jam the other day because the Queen’s Horseguards were heading off somewhere. The whole city ground to a halt for horses and fancy uniforms. You’ve got to love it.

London Black Cab Taxi Tours: Make your own itinerary

On a Black Cab Taxi Tour you can either choose specific places you want to see or, do what we did, and have the general sightseeing tour. We were picked up from a central London hotel and headed down through Covent Garden (shopping heaven) and Soho (the busy nightlife and media offices area of the West End). We tried to imagine the area as a huge hunting ground and learnt that the name Soho comes from a hunting cry akin to Tally-ho, the one we all know. Apparently different hunts had different cries and So-ho was used for hare hunting. These days Soho is still a hunting ground but the cry has transformed into alcohol-affected requests for mobile phone numbers.

As we passed through Trafalgar Square I realised we could have spent the full two hours just there; London is so saturated in interesting history and fact. I’d never known that the four famous lions are made from English cannons off ships sunk during the Battle of Trafalgar, or that the lion modelling for them died before they were finished and was propped up with wood so the artist could continue his work. Or that the smallest official police station is there; it fits one person who stands inside keeping a close eye on carryings-on in the square. Or that the statue of Charles I in the square is Kilometre Zero for London; it’s from there that all distances to and from London are measured.

Michael pointed out the clock on the Horseguards building in Whitehall; there is a black mark on the number 2. This is because at the end of the English civil war in 1649, King Charles I was executed on January 31st at 2pm, in a window of the building opposite.

London Black Cab Taxi Tours: More London history

We moved on across the river to get a great view of the Houses of Parliament. Here Michael dropped us off for a few minutes so we could take photos. He did that a few times in significant places and was happy to stop more if we saw something we really liked. Although he pointed out that two hours was barely enough time to cover the major sights and history of London and he preferred four-hour tours or even all day. Especially with the way London traffic is. Incidentally, the tours are a little cheaper Monday to Thursday.

London Black Taxi Tour: Parliament & Big Ben

We learnt the history of Big Ben. Which is not a clock at all but a bell inside the clock tower. Big Ben was the nickname of the timekeeper during the construction of the House of Parliament; hence the massive bell of St Stephen’s Westminster Clock was affectionately named after him. Michael was very keen that we know the answer to the question: How many hands on Big Ben? None, because it is a bell. I love this kind of information so was really enjoying being whisked around London getting history, facts and anecdotes.Westminster Abbey was next and we stopped on the spot where Diana’s coffin stopped during the funeral. We learnt that since then the Abbey has been charging admission and making money out of us tourists. And that 3300 people are buried inside. Not Diana of course who is buried at her family home outside London.

The Queen Mother lay in state in an open coffin in Westminster Cathedral after her death and anyone could pass through and pay their respects, whereas Diana was laid at rest in St James Palace and only invited people could visit and pay their respects to her. I finally know the difference between being laid in state and laid at rest.

We moved on into the Royal area of London, around St James Palace, still actually the official court of the English royals; Buckingham Palace is only their residence. And in fact, Buckingham Palace is not really a palace anyway. It was the house of the Duke of Buckingham, sold to King George IV and in 1837 Queen Victoria decided she wanted to live there so they stuck a palatial front on it and called it a palace. If you look beyond the facade, you’ll see the rest of the building is a very different colour and style: the original Buckingham House. So, it was in the chapel at St James Palace that Princess Diana laid at rest after her death, because that is the real palace.

You’ll also notice that the roads in this area are paved red; this denotes the royal nature of the area. Not sure why, but it does. Apparently either Prince Charles or Camilla or both were in residence at Clarence House as we zoomed past; the guards were standing outside the gate. If no-one’s home, they stand inside.

We saw St Paul’s Cathedral, learnt about the whispering gallery up in the dome where the acoustics are perfect. Drove through the City of London which is actually the original square mile of the Roman city Londinium, and is a separate city to the rest of London, has it’s own Lord Mayor, police force etc (their helmets still have the Roman centurion peak on top), and learnt about the Great Fire of London of 1666 which destroyed 80% of London and, luckily, ended the Black Plague by killing all the infected rats.

London Black Cab Taxi Tours: All good things come to an end

The tour ended opposite the Tower of London, although Michael would happily have driven us back to the hotel or wherever. But time and traffic were against us so we opted to see as much as possible and get the Underground back. We drove across the amazing Tower Bridge and around the outside of the Tower of London where the Crown Jewels are kept.

Outside Tower Bridge Station is a large sundial depicting the history of London. It’s definitely worth a visit for getting a potted history of Romans and fires and uprisings and so on. And nearby is the spot where people were executed in days gone by. It seemed to happen with alarming frequency. One queen due to be beheaded – and it seems a lot of royals met bad endings – organised for a French executioner to be brought over to do the job. Apparently he was able to do it in one fell swoop unlike his English counterpart who often took three chops to get it right. Nasty.

Exhausted? We were. But also deeply satisfied to have some of the layers of this great, old city exposed.

And as for the church of the wardrobe? Well, many centuries ago all the streets around the Tower of London were home to trades relating to the royals. And the street with that church had to do with the clothing trade. Mystery solved.

–Philippa Burne

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s London tours and things to do in London, from city tours to London shows to day trips. Also check out some of photos of London on the Viator Flickr site.