Bowl Of Chalk
Bowl Of Chalk
5
City ToursHistorical & Heritage ToursWalking ToursPrivate Tours
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About
Fun, informal and factoid packed 'pay what you want' group walking tours of London on weekends and bespoke 'private' walks during the week. Whether you're a hardened Londoner or just stepped off the plane, you will learn oodles of things about London that you didn't know you didn't know, in guaranteed small groups. Booking via website.
London, England
Awards
Travellers' Choice
2023
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5.0
1,064 reviews
Excellent
1,049
Very good
15
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
1
Julia L
1 contribution
Dec 2023 • Couples
Amazing tour with Jonnie to discover Fleet Street. We live in London and were baffled by the amount we didn’t know about our own neighbourhood. Jonnie is funny, entertaining and has a bottomless pit of knowledge about London. We were thoroughly entertained despite the cold and can’t wait to go on our next walk with Jonnie!
Written 7 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Annette L
1 contribution
Oct 2023 • Couples
Did the "Around St Pauls" walk and had a fantastic time. Jonnie is a fun, entertaining, and knowledgeable guide. Would wholeheartedly recommend it. If you haven't been, you really should!
Written 6 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Elly
Birmingham, UK2 contributions
Nov 2023 • Couples
We did the Fleet St Tour with family and friends and we really thoroughly enjoyed it. Jonnie is super nice, knowledgeable and sociable. The walk was well thought out with lots of interesting information. Jonnie made time to speak to all members of the group (which was quite large) and seemed interested to get to know us a bit. I love Bowl of Chalk’s Fun London Facts on Instagram, and having seen lots of them and building it all up in my mind, the walk lived up to my high expectations. We will DEFO be doing another one soon. Sorry Jonnie, but we will be back!
Written 3 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bryan D
4 contributions
Dec 2023 • Couples
Another excellent, informative and enjoyable walk with Jonnie. This time it was “Fleet St” plus (hold the press) a whole lot more! Despite it being “taters” the 2 hours was an enjoyable stroll around the area (hidden gems included). All narrated with enthusiasm, knowledge and a good helping of rabbit holes. We hope to be back for more soon - thanks Jonnie!
Written 3 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Essie
2 contributions
Dec 2023 • Friends
Knowledgeable, interesting, fun guide - thank you, Johnnie (Johnny?). I learned so much and had fun discovering parts of London I’d managed to miss. And loved seeing my favourite London building on Fleet Street. This is a brilliantly-led guided walk. Will book another one in January.
Written 3 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alasdair B
1 contribution
Nov 2023 • Family
We did the St Paul's tour and thought Jonnie was the perfect guide for us, relaxed & informative - providing lots of interesting historical facts on the surrounding area but always mixing these with amusing tales & little asides.
Would highly recommend & will definitely try for another one of Jonnies tour areas when back in London.
Would highly recommend & will definitely try for another one of Jonnies tour areas when back in London.
Written 29 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andy E
1 contribution
Nov 2023 • Couples
What a brilliant tour of the great fire of London! Jonnie was brilliant. The tour was informative but informal, fun and a great way to learn more about London for a couple of hours. Jonnie was also incredible with learning all the tour parties names!!! Would highly recommend
Written 26 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Oliver
London, UK1 contribution
Nov 2023 • Family
The Tour around St Paul's Cathedral was everything we hoped - great fun and very informative in a highly engaging way. Jonnie (the tour guide) is a natural and gifted entertainer and brings history and London to life, revealing countless historical insights - from the church that emigrated to America, the original blue Police call boxes, the huge weight of St Paul's dome, an ornate monument to hot air, to the site of Tom Cruise's broken foot, the modern chewing gum art on the pavement, the huge Roman amphitheatre hidden deep under our feet and the City of London's special deal with William the Conqueror...I could go on.
There were so many different stories and nuggets that we were buzzing afterwards. We immediately went straight back to the Guildhall to see the Roman Amphitheatre - an amazing exhibition. We would highly recommend.
There were so many different stories and nuggets that we were buzzing afterwards. We immediately went straight back to the Guildhall to see the Roman Amphitheatre - an amazing exhibition. We would highly recommend.
Written 25 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
richardhill2016
Hockley, UK49 contributions
Nov 2023 • Couples
Having been on a number of walking tours this was by far the best.
Our guide Jonnie took the time to take an interest in each person on the tour and to ensure that we all felt felt that he actually wanted to tell us about what we were seeing, rather than just relaying details as he walked.
Jonnie had a really nice personality and very quickly gelled the individuals into a pleasant little group on a very enjoyable and interesting walk with amusing antidotes combined with relevant historical facts.
We will most certainly book on more walks with “Bowl of Chalk” and would most certainly recommend their tours to anybody interested in finding out about London in a very pleasant way.
Richard and Hilary Hill
Our guide Jonnie took the time to take an interest in each person on the tour and to ensure that we all felt felt that he actually wanted to tell us about what we were seeing, rather than just relaying details as he walked.
Jonnie had a really nice personality and very quickly gelled the individuals into a pleasant little group on a very enjoyable and interesting walk with amusing antidotes combined with relevant historical facts.
We will most certainly book on more walks with “Bowl of Chalk” and would most certainly recommend their tours to anybody interested in finding out about London in a very pleasant way.
Richard and Hilary Hill
Written 22 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jamesprussell
London, UK1 contribution
Nov 2023 • Solo
Great value for money. Jonnie’s very entertaining and knowledgeable. I would thoroughly recommend joining the walks.
Written 21 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Susan E R
1 contribution
Where did the walk start from in old street. Hoping to get on it but so last minute that havent heard back fro him yet, yesterday's walk was brilliant
marlene142
Seattle, WA6 contributions
Sorry, I didn't see this until now.
Debottym M
Houston, TX5 contributions
I just got to London but looks like Jonnie is on a well deserved vacation of Germany and Paris! Anyone try a different tour along the lines of 'Bowl of Chalk'? I've done Jonnie's tour before and it's splendid!
Jonnie F
London, UK
Deb. Just sent you an email with a few suggestions. Byeeee ...
KS1Ks1
KS1195 contributions
Assuming we like the tour, how much of a tip would you suggest we leave?
Jonnie F
London, UK
Completely up to you. The family above did £10 each. Some people give more, some less, but as you correctly pointed out ... if it's rubbish or you don't enjoy it, please don't give anything. You're welcome to leave too if it's too unbearable. Hopefully if you come, it'll be okay but I can't guarantee.
Judy S
San Francisco, CA4 contributions
We would love to take one of your walking tours. My only reservation is that I can't walk for hours without taking a quick sit down. Are there any benches which I might occasionally use for a sec? Or conversely, if I feel I can't continue on the walk, would it be awful if I stop and get a taxi? I can walk for about an hour if I can stop for a bit maybe.we would love to take advantage of your tour, but I am not sure about how much walking there would be without a break.
Jonnie F
London, UK
Hello Judy. I'm sure it'll be fine. Please send me an email to discuss whether you're interested in a private walk or weekend walk ... and I can reply properly to your above question. Thanks.
Angela W
Houston, TX5 contributions
I was wondering if the tour is power wheelchair friendly...
DJDinKC
Leawood, KS194 contributions
According to a few reviews I read, others using wheelchairs enjoyed the tour and felt Johnnie was very accommodating and helpful. Here are a couple quotes I found from recent reviews: "My family of four had a very nice day with him. He kept us entertained and informed. He dealt very well with my wheelchair." "My family is not an easy crowd since my oldest son is in a wheelchair therefore is challenging with transportation systems. Since my first communication with Jonnie I let him know and he didn't complaint, he even offer to help me with the tube planning!! The experience couldn't be better, " My family didn't use a wheelchair, but our tour was of the Westminster area, which was flat and did not require using stairs or getting on the tube. I hope this helps.
