London Like a Local: Unmissable Black Cab Tours with Discover Real London

Unlock the secrets of London's winding streets and vibrant history with Oliver, founder of Discover Real London Tours, as he takes you on an insider's journey in the latest episode of our podcast.

From the cosy confines of an iconic black cab, Oliver lets you in on how his team of driver-guides bring the city's rich tapestry to life, navigating through the thrum of London's heart with the famed 'Knowledge'. Your adventure through the historic and contemporary marvels of this metropolis will be peppered with anecdotes only a true Londoner could share, ensuring that your encounter with the capital is as intimate as it is unforgettable.

Hear the remarkable stories of cab drivers who spend years mastering the intricate maze that is London, a testament to their commitment to giving you the most authentic and comprehensive experience possible. We delve into the specialized guiding courses that equip these drivers with the narrative flair to transform each tour into a vivid storytelling session. Whether you’re looking to absorb the grandeur of London's iconic landmarks or unearth the lesser-known marvels, we chat about how Discover Real London's tours cater to all, from the wide-eyed first-timer to the seasoned city slicker.

Wrapping up, Oliver extends a warm invitation to all UK travel aficionados, promising a blend of convenience, comfort, and discovery. Imagine being whisked from your doorstep to the city’s treasures, luggage and all, in the storied black cab.

For further intrigue and to tailor your next London adventure, remember to explore our show notes for links and details.

Guest - Oliver from Discover Real London
Shownotes - Episode 86

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, tracey Collins. In this podcast, tracey shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation. Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.

Speaker 2: 0:42

Hi and welcome to episode 86 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast. This week, I'm delighted to be chatting to Oliver from Discover Real London Tours. He will offer Tours Exploring London in the comfort and style of an iconic black cab. Discover Real London Tours aims to offer an experience like no other whilst visiting the UK, and this is a truly unique experience which enables you to see London's world-class sights in an informative, engaging way. After experiencing a fantastic tour with head tour guide Ollie in December, we can personally vouch for how much fun it is to take a private black cab tour of the capital with Discover Real London, so I'm really excited to welcome Ollie onto the podcast. Hi, ollie, it's great to have you on this week's episode of the podcast, so it would be great if you could just introduce yourself and share a little bit about your background and why you started Discover Real London Tours.

Speaker 3: 1:37

Hey, tracy. Yes, my name is Oliver and I am the founder of Discover Real London, and we are a private tour company that bases our tours around black cabs, so we do mainly city tours around all parts of London in our iconic vehicles, and you will. If you come on one of our tours, you'll have your very own driver guide, who will not only be a legit London cab driver that's study of the streets but he's going to be a qualified guide that will be able to give you all the history and info about what you're looking at as well.

Speaker 2: 2:11

I don't know. Doug and I were very lucky to go out with you actually, ollie, a few weeks ago, just before Christmas actually, and we absolutely loved it. It was one of the total highlights of the time. I've actually ever been at London and I was saying before we started recording you know I've been to London millions of times, I lived in London, but it was just amazing going out with you in the black cab. So I guess I'm going to give you the floor to kind of say what makes a tour in a London black cab with you guys so special and so different from anyone else. Because you really are unique and I kind of want you to kind of get that across to everybody that's listening to this podcast.

Speaker 3: 2:48

Oh, thank you so much for your kind comments, tracy. It was great to meet yourself and Doug as well. I'm obviously a big fan of your page and all the great stuff you've done for clients that come to London. So, yeah, it was pretty much to have you on board and I'm so pleased you enjoyed it.

Speaker 3: 3:01

Great question, so what makes us especially different?

Speaker 3: 3:04

I guess that the fact that we come from a background of predominantly cab drivers so we've spent, you know, sometimes years pounding the streets of this city, discovering and stumbling across every nook and cranny that the city has to offer, and the fact that we know such a vast area. We obviously know in the ins and outs of all the, all the sort of popular sites that you'd expect to be visiting, but I think we've got a really wide spectrum of knowledge that goes all across the city. So that's one of the things that makes us stand out when people come here. But I think, because you're you're with someone that that you know really are skinning the game in the city when we, when we get someone on board and we show them, like, show them London through the eyes of a Londoner, the parts that you're not often going to see on, you know, maybe, maybe big tours and the popular big selling tours, but show you the more hidden and intrepid side of the city, through our eyes really, and make our city feel like your city.

Speaker 2: 4:00

And it's kind of unique as well, because not only are you doing that with somebody who's a black car driver like yourself, so and it would be really good if you'd explain a little bit about the knowledge, because that's something that fascinates me and it's I know that's something that Doug and I asked you which makes you know London black cab drivers so unique but also about the fact that the London black cab itself is so iconic. So you know, you've got somebody like yourself who is a qualified black London cab driver and we are actually in that kind of iconic vehicle traveling around London. So I know there's loads of advantages about actually being in a London black cab, which which kind of blew my mind when I was traveling around with you that day. But I think can I talk about what it is that's so special about the drivers, and then we can talk about what's so special about being an actual and a black cab itself.

Speaker 3: 4:46

Great questions. Yeah, when you come to London, you're gonna see lots of icons, whether it be a red phone box, red bus and also black Cabs, and we're part of the fabric of the city and our history goes back all the way, actually, to the 17th century, when it was horses and carriages. But the vehicle itself that we travel around in today is very different to an old horse and carriage in the 17th century. We've taken all the history and heresies are our trade and today We've got a 21st century electric vehicle and with a panoramic roof that really Enhances the experience of being in the back of one, so we're fully wheelchair accessible. Six seats in the back, which are in a really nice social Conference layout, so three forward, three backwards so you can chat amongst yourselves while we're going around. We've got intercom so you're always gonna hear the driver even though you're in your own space, and the fact that we can stop on red routes, use bus lanes and that sort of stuff, the access that it gives us, not just that we know where we're going, but we can actually access specific roads that other people can't. We can stop for photos, and there's lots of rest Ranks and things like that where we can hop out, stretcher legs, go, go for a walk around.

Speaker 3: 5:53

A lot of people ask Actually, when they book a tour, they say, oh, do we get out? And we say, yeah, a hundred percent, we get out. One of the the great things is that it's very much a stop-start tour. We jump out, immerse self-serving in that area, in that part of London, then we hop back in. We'll be going a few kilometers up the road. So I think, yeah, it's an icon to look at, but I think, with the panoramic roof, the sustainable elements and the access you know, for mobility, maybe users and things like that, it really makes us a really really inclusive vehicle as well as being an icon.

Speaker 2: 6:25

Absolutely, and I'll mention again that day that myself and don't get went out with you is the fact. There's a couple of things that we couldn't get over is the fact that you could drop us off at Buckingham Palace, which was fantastic. So I honestly, you know I felt like royalty Hopping out the black cab. Then Doug and I went and took some photos and then and then you came back and picked us up a few minutes later they agree time and pick us from the same spot, so that was fantastic. And then also been able to park near Westminster Abbey and take a stroll with you and kind of have a look at the sites there and have a chat, knowing that it was only just a short walk back to get to the cab, was that was fantastic.

Speaker 3: 7:03

Yeah, it's. I mean today's actually a great example. We've had a slight, little, tiny, tiny dust in the snow today, nothing settled. But that's reminds us of times where you don't necessarily want to be out on the streets in London for three or four hours at a time Without a bit of shelter, because it can be a bit cold. I mean, it was a bit unusual today, but In the summer, you know, we've got the ice cold AC. In the winter We've got the heat. So it's nice to break up the tour with. We've in and out and, yes, it's nice to have that shelter. You know if you want to leave drinks and stuff in there, if you want. You know, maybe you got your suitcase, maybe you come in straight from the airport. When we do tours that start straight from Heathrow, you hit the ground running straight into town. So you've got that. That area that's yours and you can use it to put stuff in as well.

Speaker 2: 7:48

Yeah, and it's so comfortable. I mean been in the black cab as well. It's. It's incredibly comfortable Way to travel around London as well and, as you say, I've been able to go down the bus lanes and park in some places that other people can't. It just gives you access to To some fantastic places. So, you know, if you have got mobility issues as well, you don't have very far to walk. You can kind of drop people just basically outside. Let's say, we were two minutes walk from around the corner from Buckingham Palace, so it was easy to get out and have a look and then get back in the cab. So again, that's that's really important, I guess, for, you know, people who are traveling maybe with elderly parents, who still want to see those sites and may want to get out and have the photo opportunity, but don't want to spend sort of half an hour or an hour, you know, strolling around to get to some of these places.

Speaker 3: 8:33

Yeah, 100%. I agree. We do a lot of multi-generational tours where people have, maybe traveling with parents and it's, you know, sometimes a dream trip to come to England or maybe revisit somewhere where they might have studied or worked at one point. So, yeah, it certainly works for, for for people like that. And also, you know, on the other end of the spectrum, you know, having young kids doesn't stop travel if you're willing to do a bit of research and think outside the box. So we have lots and lots of families that I've got, you know, younger children and again, they know their attention span and the sort of distances they can walk and things like that. That makes it more accessible for them as well.

Speaker 2: 9:08

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna swing the conversation background to what it is so special about your driver guides and I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you again about the knowledge, because I think that's a really important thing, because I don't I don't know if anywhere in the world, in any other city, taxi drivers have to do something like the knowledge, in particular in London. It's fascinating because it it takes a long time for you to to actually study for that. So do you want to kind of explain what what that is?

Speaker 3: 9:35

Yeah, great question. So this blows quite a lot of people's mind tracing. I'm sure some of your listened listeners will be completely bowled over with what we have to do. But in London to be a taxi driver you have to study For an average between three and four years. And what do we study?

Speaker 3: 9:51

We study the streets, and this studying that we're doing is purely logistic, so it lends itself really well to doing the tours that we do. But the primary focus is for candidates that aspire to become cab drivers To prove that they can navigate their way around the city successfully. So the area that we learn is a six mile radius of the center of London, which visitors to London may or may not know. That's Trafalgar Square. If you've been here before the chance, so you've definitely been through that and that junction. And there's approximately 25,000 streets in that area which we don't. I have to say we don't actually normally set out to learn them all. However, we can be asked any of those streets on our exams, so we have to have, you know, a really good knowledge of all areas. I would probably lean towards saying we end up properly learning the exact characteristics in between maybe 10 to 12,000 streets If you're at home thinking how on earth Would you even do that you act.

Speaker 3: 10:48

The only way to actually, you know, digest this city is to Ride the streets. You can most people do on a motorbike or a scooter. I've heard of people doing it on push bikes and cars before but I think that's obviously very, very difficult. But yeah, it's broken down by transport for London, who run the knowledge now into 320 Roots. Roots are about my mile or so long and they're laid out to go to every single part of London. If you learn them roots, you know from one place to another, you learn the straightest legal way to travel. Then that jigsaw will come together and stitch this city together.

Speaker 2: 11:27

Wow, honestly, I just find it incredible. I thought of studying. Studying that for three or four years is just incredible, and that's what makes you guys so special as well. But even more so, not only do you have a black cab driver, taxi driver, taking the tours, but obviously also your drivers are also qualified to take tours as well.

Speaker 3: 11:48

Yes, so we've. We've all obviously done the knowledge and we've got our medallions and our badges, which is, you know, a really endeavour to do. But on after that, you know the team that I work with we've all completed a special Guiding course that specifically designed just for taxi drivers. It's based at the Museum of London and it's run by the worshipful company of Hackney carries drivers and it's two month course that really takes the knowledge that we know the city and supercharges that and, you know, really gives us the in-depth history of the city and lots of different areas. And from passing that course, you have proper written exams and and on-site walks and things like that and practical assessments. Once you pass that, you got your badge for that and and yeah, we think that that's what you know sort of turbo charges, the Experience of us, that you get the best of both words an expert navigator and iconic vehicle with all the history to go with it.

Speaker 2: 12:43

Absolutely. It's just fantastic. Honestly, I can't I can't express to all listeners how much we love this to. Honestly, if you are coming to London, you really really need to look at discover real London and look at the tours that they offer, which kind of leads me into Sharing with our listeners the different tours that you do have, because I'm fairly confident and knowing a lot of people that listen to our Podcasts and there's quite a few thousand I know they're gonna be thinking okay, really keen on this, really like the idea of this. So so what tours do you offer, olly? What sort of things can people look at booking?

Speaker 3: 13:16

So we've got a variety of tours that are listed on our website. Our best seller is the Discover Real London Tour so good, we named it after our company and that is a tour that focuses on the main site. So if you're here, maybe for a day or for a week, and you want to get your vacation off to a really great start, this is super popular. It's a half day tour, so four hours. Most of our city tours, or a lot of them, are four hours, so you can easily have them in the morning or the afternoon and it, as I said, will focus around all the big sites you took in Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, tower Bridge, st Paul's Cathedral, westminster Abbey, etc. Pick up a drop off from anywhere in central London, so normally it's at your hotel or maybe if you're out for lunch or you're shopping. It's up to the clients. We really work around you. This is our clients time, so we'll always try and suggest things that make life easier or more convenient for them, and not only will it focus on the big sites, but we'll try and shoehorn in something extra if we can. If you like Harry Potter, we might showcase that Maybe if you've got some people that have been to London before and some haven't, we'll try and throw in a hidden gem or two.

Speaker 3: 14:28

Obviously, all the tours are quite dynamic because we're working in a very, very busy city, which is what makes it great. But we don't like to over promise too much, but we try and give that little bit extra. But that's what that tour is. It focuses on the big site. If you've never been here before and you want to see the sites in the most effortless way, that is definitely the tour for you.

Speaker 3: 14:48

One of the tours that we're really proud of is our secret city tour. We call it the London D-Tour because it is the D-Tour. You're not looking at the big sites, you're going off the beaten track a bit and you're really digging down and showing people the secrets of this city. So that's a very, very popular tour for more intrepid sort of travellers that really want to scratch beneath the surface of places, but also people that may be returning for their second, third, fourth, fifth time.

Speaker 3: 15:14

They want to see something different. They've done the walking tours, they've been inside the big top attractions, which they've really enjoyed, but they want to see a different dimension of London. Now All the tours are a little bit different, but we focus on a whole variety of things and also for any requests. So typically it will be things like maybe some Roman history, a bit of medieval history. We'll look at maybe some street art and look at maybe the darker side of the city as well, because it is nearly 2000 years to unpack, so we've got a lot to choose from. But the sort of thing that people will need to remember is it's away from the big sites and you're showing, you know, seeing London through the eyes of London are on that.

Speaker 2: 15:59

Absolutely, and I know the time that we spent with you. We saw three things that we'd never seen before. One was the street which had bomb damage from World War II. We saw a bomb shelter from World War II and we saw the blue as a blue post box with NHS.

Speaker 3: 16:14

Yes, well remembered. Yeah, and that was sort of. That wasn't even something that I'd normally focus on, but as we go and past, you sometimes end up commenting on such little oddities, which people like. That's the exciting. You've remembered that.

Speaker 2: 16:28

Absolutely absolutely, because I'd never. I'd never seen that before, I'd never kind of clocked it before, or even I might have walked down the street and not realised that down that street there was the bomb shelters. I didn't know until we looked at the actual notice on the wall when you pointed it out, because there's so much to London that even is to say I mean, I've lived in London, but in the time that we spent there was so many things that you're pointing out that I didn't know. I was like, wow. So, as you say, it goes beneath the surface, and we are often asked by people who are returning to London for the second or third time so no, we've done all of those main sites, we want something different, and I think this tour that you do certainly offers that and the ability to actually say go a little bit deeper.

Speaker 3: 17:11

Yeah, we really enjoy it and our guides enjoy it as well, because it challenges us a bit more, because some people say to us you know, just to warn you, we've been to London three or four times, you know we've seen probably most of it and we're like, okay, cool, let's see how we get on. And we really like to have it as a personal challenge to really showcase the different sides of London that people just haven't seen before.

Speaker 2: 17:31

That's perfect, and you've got quite a few other tours as well, so I will be linking to those in the show notes and I will point people towards your website as well. But just to kind of talk about a few of the logistics of people are thinking I really want to book, is you know how many people can you actually fit in a cab? I guess that's a kind of first question to ask.

Speaker 3: 17:52

Yeah, great question. So we can fit six people in the back of our taxi and you know it's pretty spacious. So we've never had any issues with six adults. Obviously, if you guys are on a rugby tour and you know you're all pretty big chaps, then you might want to drop us an email first and see, if we can, what else we might be able to do. But yeah, they're nice and spacious in the back. So six is certainly what we take and it's always normally fun.

Speaker 2: 18:18

And you can accommodate some luggage as well.

Speaker 3: 18:21

Yeah, we can accommodate a bit of luggage in the front, so it's completely out your way. So normally two medium size suitcases we can squeeze in the front. And when I'm talking about the front, if people are scratching their heads in a taxi, there's no front seat. So if, like you, want someone to ride shotgun, they can't and it's avoided specifically for luggage a stroll or maybe a travel wheelchair, stuff like that. Also, in the back, the rear facing streets are flip down seats. So if you imagine what you're coming into London, yeah, hostess, on the way into London Heathrow they flip down their seat. It's a bit similar to that, but what that means is you can tuck a bit of luggage or something under it so you might have a little bit in the back with you if you've got quite a few cases, but it's never normally going to really intrude on your space.

Speaker 2: 19:06

And that's brilliant. So what can people expect when they book? So if they go onto the website and they choose a tour, how does it work from that point? Do you then? Do they actually book the tour and give you the date, or do they contact you?

Speaker 3: 19:20

No, they can book straight away.

Speaker 3: 19:21

So, unless it's within a few days time when it gets very busy, like London is such a popular place in the summer, it's very, very fast moving, so we don't take automatic bookings for the next few days from now.

Speaker 3: 19:36

But if you wanted to book a tour for a week or so time, you can book it straight away online. You can go through, you can make the payment, you'll get the confirmation email and what will happen is that goes into our database in our system. Obviously, if you've got any questions, you'll be free to say hey, I booked this just to let you know X or Y or this request or whatever, but then the guide will contact you the day before your tour. So we've got a whole team of passionate ambassadors of this city that are part of our Discover Real London team and we allocate the tours normally about 48 hours before. So you'll get a message via WhatsApp or SMS from your guide the day before, just checking in, introducing themselves, reconfirming the pickup that the client selected and obviously letting them know that they're super excited to be hosting you the next day.

Speaker 2: 20:25

So, yeah, that's exactly how the process works okay, brilliant, and just want to share the URL for your website as well at this point, ollie yeah, so if you any more information, guys, on our website you can find it reallondoncom.

Speaker 2: 20:41

Brilliant and I will just say that if you book just mention that you heard about it. I heard about to score real London to us through the podcast or through the website or through the Facebook group, because that's really cool for us that Olly knows that you came via any of UK travel planning kind of methods, and I will put a link in the show notes as well. So don't worry if you didn't get chance to write that down, because in the show notes of the episode there will be a link and more information as well, so you know how you can book that way. So, olly, it's been great to have you on. But there's one question that I always ask to everybody at the end of every podcast. So you are not immune, you also get the question. Except I'm going to focus on London. So what would be the number one tip that you would share, olly, for somebody visiting London for the first time?

Speaker 3: 21:26

Great question, tracy, do you know what? I'm not going to go with? A place I'm going to go with With it, with a sort of word, if you like. I'm going to go with preparation, because London is Such an incredible variety of things to do, and some of them a bit more. This expensive event, a lot of it, actually, if you know when to look, is it the super affordable end, but it takes a bit of prep. So when I talk about preparation, I'm talking about things like the ceremony of the keys. So you're no very well, tracy, that's one of my favorite things to do.

Speaker 3: 22:01

If someone reaches out to me after they booked a tour and it's in six months time and they say, olly, what, what you know? Is there anything I should know? That's unmissable. I say that. You know, if you, if you Harry Potter fans, for example, you need to book the Warner Brothers Studios super early. That is going to get sold out. If you want to, if you thinking about going to the Tower of London, if you want to see one the most Intimate and an incredible, you know experiences, you need to get on board with the ceremony of the keys, but you need to be organized and things that are completely free. The sky garden I know you would have been up there. I'm sure loads of times Tracy, how good is the sky garden.

Speaker 3: 22:34

Absolutely, it's fantastic and it's free, exactly. But if you're turning up at Heathrow and thinking, what should I do today, you're not going to be able to do that. Yes, I know you, it is possible sometimes to queue up, but you know, if you've got that ticket in your back pocket, you know for a fact, next Wednesday You're up there. So, again, a little bit of preparation, you can. You can turn what's a fantastic vote vacation into a completely unforgettable Experience in London with that little bit of planning and preparation. So that would be my top tip for everyone If you listen to this and you're on either you co-traveling Facebook page and stuff, then you're one step ahead already of everyone. So I'm sure you're going to be very prepared and you're going to really, really have an incredible time in our city.

Speaker 2: 23:16

Brilliant. Oh, it's been fantastic talking to you today. We went out with you guys before Christmas and we absolutely loved it. As I say, doug and I are still talking about it and it's funny, it's those things that you remember and, and I know, like ceremony of the keys is another one of our favorite experiences in London and, honestly, going out with discover real London was was absolute highlight for us. So I want to say huge Thank you for myself and Doug for an opportunity to do that and thanks so much for coming on the podcast.

Speaker 3: 23:41

Thanks so much, tracey. Well, it's been an absolute pleasure and, yeah, we will certainly look forward to welcoming lots of your lovely listeners and followers to London.

Speaker 2: 23:50

Thanks again to Ollie for coming on to this week's episode of the podcast. It was absolutely fantastic to talk about discover real London Tours. You can find a link to the website in this week show notes, which are UK travel planning. Comm forward slash, episode 86. Please don't forget to mention that you heard about discover real tours through the podcast, through our Facebook group or through our Website. Please, and that just leaves me to say it, until next week. Happy UK travel planning.

Speaker 1: 24:18

You.