THE CHARLES DICKENS COSTUMED WALKING TOUR

• Privtae Bookings Only
• Anytime
• Outside The Charles Dickens Museum
• £10

YOUR GUIDE WILL BE IN VICTORIAN COSTUME

In 1837 a young writer, who had just started making a name for himself as the author of Pickwick Papers, brought his fledgling family to reside in Doughty Street.

Over the next few years he would produce another book that would seal his reputation and turn him into one of the World's first celebrities.

That book was Oliver Twist and the young author's name was Charles Dickens.

On this walk, you will have the opportunity to set out from his residence in Doughty Street and follow in his footsteps through the byways of 19th century London to the very places where he sought - and found - the inspiration for some of the most memorable storylines ever committed to the pages of English literature.

ENJOY THE HOUSE BEFORE YOU START

The Charles Dickens Museum is a truly magical time capsule that captures perfectly the ambience of a bygone age.

It makes perfect sense to arrive an hour or so early, so that you can explore the very rooms in which "Boz" evolved into the immortal Charles Dickens and in which his pen created some of the most memorable, and beloved, characters known to literature.

It's a great place to start a Dickens Walk around London from, as you can actually peek into the family life of the man who, whilst living here, began his rise to becoming England's greatest novelist.

You can also see artefacts from some of the buildings you will be passing in the course of the walk, thus acquiring a terrific insight into the streets and places you are about to explore.

YOUR TIME CAPSULE AWAITS

Stepping from the front door of the property, your costumed guide, Richard Jones will be waiting to welcome you to the streets of Dickensian London.

Once our merry band has gathered, Richard will begin with an introduction that will put the house and its surroundings into the context of the age you are about to journey back to.

This introduction will set the scene for the experience that lies ahead and, as you take those first few steps away from the threshold that Dickens himself would have set out from on many occasions, you will get the distinct impression that you are, indeed, venturing back to the teeming thoroughfares of the 19th Century Metropolis.

AN ARRAY OF COLOURFUL CHARACTERS

You will be able to picture young Mr. Dickens hurrying along the streets through which you will be walking, his keen eye taking in every sight it sees, his even keener ear attuned to every nuance of conversation and banter it encounters.

As he walks, his mind goes to work to fashion and shape his surroundings into works and storylines of pure genius.

And your guide will delight in re-telling those stories, and in introducing you to the characters the scenes of whose adventures you will be exploring.

Mr. Pickwick, Oliver Twist, Fagin, Bill Sikes, David Copperfield, Wilkins Micawber and Pip, are just a handful of Dickens' immortal creations who you will have encountered within the first hour of the tour.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WALK

The walk itself will take you into some wonderful parts of London which, in the words of the Orange county Register "...it's a sure bet [you] wouldn't see otherwise..."

There's the tucked away mews that you will encounter very early on in the tour which commemorates the real life counterpart of one of Dickens most beloved characters.

Then there's a magical moment - and almost everyone who has ever done the walk has commented on this - when you slip beneath an old archway and, suddenly, the noise and the rush of the 21st century has fallen far behind you, to be replaced by tranquil, almost cloisterly, surroundings, where the loudest noise is that of your footsteps on the echoing cobbles.

But, when it comes to surroundings, you're in for a veritable visual and atmospheric feast, as you will dip in and out of so many of these enchanted enclaves that you'll be hard pushed to decide which of them was the most magical and Dickensian!

However, there are some locations that are true highlights and to which those that Richard introduces to them always vow to return.

These include:-

• The early 19th century office building inside which Charles Dickens came to work as a clerk at the tender age of just 15 years old.
• The black and white timbered façade of a building that was already almost 300 years old when Dickens featured it in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
• The sturdy Tudor gates alongside which the teenage Dickens, on his first day at work, came of the worse from an fracas with a "big blackguard fellow" who had knocked off his cap.
• The old dining hall inside which Dickens set the memorable opening scene in Bleak House.

And, if these tiny time-locked morsels fail to live up to your great expectations, then, how about the chance to admire the curiosity that is The Old Curiosity Shop, or to stand outside the very chambers where lived Dickens greatest friend - John Forster?

They all still exist, and they're all waiting for you to discover them.

WALK IN DICKENS FOOTSTEPS

So, if you you are looking for a special tour that will show you the streets that Dickens knew - and which also retain the character and the ambience of 19th century London - then join Richard Jones, your Victorian guide, for a journey that will open your eyes to the life and times, the ups and downs, of Charles Dickens - England's undisputed greatest novelist.