Shakespeare History Walking Tour with Actor Guide

This is the starting point for the 'Shakespeare in the City Walk'. Meet me outside Blackfriars UNDERGROUND Station. Blackfriars underground station is on the Circle & District Lines. (Be careful - do NOT go South of the river to Blackfriars overground station). There is only one exit so you won't miss me. I will be standing metres away from that underground station exit, with a sign on my rucksack featuring Shakespeare's face.

A Shakespeare statue most people miss. Shakespeare's popularity. Why you should ignore the conspiracy theories.

The location of the original Blackfriars Theatre, and why you had to be rich to attend; plus how rich Shakespeare himself became.

The remaining fragment of the Blackfriars Monastery. Shakespeare's thematic obessions.

A really lovely, hidden quiet location connecting Shakespeare and King James.

The site of a Shakespeare house in London, and its fate. The play likely written here.

PLUS, a church with a hidden sculpture of Shakespeare praying, and a very important document. The Researcher who makes Americans proud. The play 'Richard 111' and its connections to the area.

An extraordinary hidden totem pole made from a very famous William Shakespeare speech. You would NEVER find this weird and wonderful monument by yourself! Declan, who used to be a professional actor, gives the entire speech.

Next, The College of Arms and the Shakespeare family's coat of arms. Why that honour came two months too late. Plus Ben Jonson's joke at Shakespeare's expense. Also information about Shakespeare's children.

On to a plaque revealing Shakespeare's generosity, why you should keep looking in dusty attics, plus the background to Shakespeare's two daughters and their very different fortunes.

To the magnificent St Pauls Cathedral and a breathtaking revelation about it (although we don't go inside). Shakespeare's best ever seller, plus his sonnets and a reasonable interpretation of his sexuality. Declan's favourite words by anyone EVER (clue: it's only 4 words and they are by William Shakespeare. And they are cosmic).

Next a section on Shakespeare's amazing vocabulary, and why it just wasn't enough.

The location of a pub he drank in and who else drank there. Plus a section on Shakespeare's religion, and why he was lonely and reclusive.

Up next, a bust of William Shakespeare, and the men who honoured him; which plays we would lack without them. Plus revelations about his writing style. Also why you should NOT get all starry-eyed thinking about Love Lane!

The location of Shakespeare's second house, and why Shakepeare ended up in this area. Plus the full story of how Shakespeare made a marriage and then regretted it.

Finally, at a church he knew, the two best known actors of his age, and the sad case of his brother Edmund.

Declan finishes with another complete and hauntingly beautiful speech from Shakespeare's last play, in which Shakespeare gets cosmic again. The speech is perfect because it is about saying goodbye...

Declan then walks to Barbican underground station if you want to accompany him to join the underground train system. Barbican is on three different underground lines: The Circle, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith & City Lines.

By the end of this magical tour I promise - and the rave reviews here on TripAdvisor agree - that you will know William Shakespeare, and his London, infinitely better!