At the heart of England’s capital city sits the area of Westminster, the seat of the country’s parliament and political power. On this London walking tour, you’ll see iconic sites like the Parliament building and Westminster Abbey as well as the area’s lesser-known historical treasures. Starting on the Victoria Embankment, you’ll hear about this marvel of Victorian engineering built on reclaimed land in the mid-1800s before making your way through the main streets synonymous with the country’s corridors of power. While you walk, you’ll hear about the area’s earliest history and its connection to royalty. As you make your way around the back streets, you’ll hear tales of the people who once called the area home and visit locations that most tourists miss like the Churchill War Rooms museum and Banqueting House, the only part remaining of Whitehall Palace. You’ll then skirt around the magnificent St James’ Park to finish the tour at another famous landmark, the Horse Guards Parade but not before taking in London’s famous Big Ben which was originally called the Clock Tower. On this 90-minute tour, you’ll have a chance to: • See the Sir Joseph Bazalgette Memorial which honours the visionary Victorian engineer who created the Thames Embankment • Gaze at the magnificent apartment terraces built by a corrupt politician who masterminded one of the country’s largest financial frauds • Spot parts of Henry VIII’s royal palace that still stand today • Take in the exact spot where the only English King to be executed lost his head • Find out how the area of Westminster evolved, from its earliest days as a river crossing into a site of monastic worship • Discover how the Parliament building rose from the ashes of a devastating fire • Learn about Westminster School, another of the area’s institutions with many famous (and not so good) former pupils • Hear about the labyrinth of underground passages that were home to the country’s government during the Second World War So join me on this tour around an area that will take us from the earliest Roman occupation through nearly two thousand years of history.