"London Walks has many copycats but it's the best"Frommer's London by Night
He came silently out of the midnight shadows of August 31, 1888. Watching. Stalking. Butchering raddled, drink-sodden East End prostitutes. Leaving a trail of blood and gore that led...nowhere. Yes, something wicked this way walked, for this is the Ripper's slashing grounds. We evoke that autumn of gaslight and fog - of menacing shadows and stealthy footsteps - as we inspect the murder sites, sift through the evidence - in all its gory detail - and get to grips, so to speak, with the main suspects. Afterward you can steady your nerves in The Ten Bells, the pub where the victims - perhaps under the steely gaze of the Ripper himself - tried to forget the waking nightmare.
The original - and best* - Jack the Ripper Walk takes place every** night at 7.30 pm (and Saturday afternoons at 3 pm) from Tower Hill  Tube Stop.
Let's tell it like it is. Going on this walk is as close as you're going to get to nailing the Ripper. Because this is the Ripper walk that was devised - and is frequently guided - by Donald Rumbelow, who is"internationally recognised as the leading authority on Jack the Ripper". Britain's most distinguished crime historian, Donald is the author of the definitive book on the Ripper, the best-selling The Complete Jack the Ripper. He's been the chief consultant for every major film and television treatment of the Ripper for the last 25 years.
The former Curator of the City of London Police Crime Museum, he's twice been the of the Crime Writers' Association. For good measure, he's a Freeman of the City of London and a top flight professionally qualified Blue Badge and City of London Guide. And not to put too fine a point on it, London Walks has an exclusive because ours is the only Ripper walk where you'll get the benefit of the very latest research into the Autumn of Terror. Donald normally guides our Ripper walk every Sunday night, every Monday night, every Tuesday night and alternate Friday nights.
The Jack the Ripper Walk costs £9 – or £7 for Super Adults (65+), full-time students and people with the London Walks Discount Walkabout Card. Children under 15 go free if accompanied by their parent(s).
“Only by starting at Tower Hill can you unlock the truth about the Jack the Ripper murders.”Donald Rumbelow, author of The Complete Jack the Ripper
This is the original – and complete – Jack the Ripper Walk.It begins at Tower Hill, right on the boundary between Scotland Yard territory and City of London Police territory. Only by beginning there can you understand the conflict between the two London police forces and their leading personalities. A conflict which blurred the investigation and made it easier for the Ripper to slip through the police nets.
And please tread carefully and keep away from the shadows… for you are about to enter the abyss. Which is by way of saying, the setting itself couldn’t be more dramatic. Two minutes into the walk a back alley takes us into a hideaway where the grim old London Wall rears up directly before us. It’s a hideaway so dark and so still that you can hear people breathing, a place where the clock seems permanently turned back to 1888, back to the Autumn of Terror.
And if you want to steady your nerves… at the end of the walk you can call in at the spooky old Victorian pub where some of the Ripper’s victims drank. Very little has changed – right down to the chilling old photographs and newspaper headlines that lour at you from the walls.Here, the autumn of 1888 never ended…
And please don’t worry, at the end of our walk you will not have to make the long trek through dark, empty streets all the way back to Tower Hill. Our Jack the Ripper Walk ends just yards away from the safe, convenient London Tube stop that is very close to where the last ghastly murder took place.
*Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what “they” say about London Walks.
“London Walks was the first – and is the best – of the walking tour firms.” Fodor’s Great Britain
“London Walks is the best, hands down.” Frommer’s London
“The original and best – there are several companies offering walking tours of London but London Walks (London’s oldest) is easily the pick of the bunch.” London, The Cadogan Guide
“the best is London Walks” Time Out
“London’s best guided walks” Time Out (July 2005)
“London Walks is by far the best” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“The best walks are conducted by London Walks”
Toronto Globe & Mail
“the best is London Walks” Let’s Go Europe
“The best walking tours in London” The London Guide
“by far the most impressive series of walks that I have ever encountered are those offered by The Original London Walks” Travel and Enjoy
“The best is London Walks” The Berkeley Great Britain Guide
“Without a doubt the premier walking tour company in London” Best of the Net
“Donald Rumbelow… [who] works for the highly reputable company London Walks… offers the best insight into Jack the Ripper and the London of his time.” Toronto Star
“London Walks puts you into the hands of an expert on the particular area and topic of a tour…” The New York Times
“be careful about the Ripper tour, however, since there are imitations… look for [the] one guided by Donald, who is Donald Rumbelow, the author of The Complete Jack the Ripper and a former curator of the notoriously grisly City of London Police Black Museum (a crime museum open by appointment only), credentials that are scary in themselves.” The New York Times
“If you want to know London better, if you want to learn some things about the world’s most cosmpolitan city that most people who spend their lives there never learn… I can think of no better investment than London Walks.” The New York Times
“I recently attended a meeting in Washington DC of tour guides at which London Walks was acknowledged as the premier walking tour company in the entire world.” Professional Tour Guide, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
** Except December 24 and December 25
Finally, a word of warning: never part with your money until you’re absolutely certain you’re with the bona fide London Walks guide. And please note, we never start the evening Jack the Ripper Walk before 7.30 pm. Don’t let anyone pull a fast one on you. As Frommer’s puts it – in London by Night – “London Walks has many copycats, but it’s the best”.
Click here for further details about the Jack The Ripper Walk
** Except December 24 and December 25
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