Golden Tours

• Unique bus tour includes live actors, sounds, videos, smells and props as it travels around the famous streets and landmarks of Central London.
• Launching on 20th March 2017, the start of Shakespeare Week, the tour revives key elements of London life during Shakespearian times in all its gory details.
• All content linked directly to the National Curriculum for Key Stages 2 and 3, providing a solid, interactive learning experience for pupils, and includes a free activity workbook.
• Developed in conjunction with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Shakespearian scholars and educational experts, the tour has been awarded a badge of quality from the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.

Have you ever wanted to transport your class back to Shakespearian London for a fully immersive, fun and interactive lesson? Golden Tours, the UK’s sightseeing tour company, launches the UK’s first-ever multisensory bus tour, giving schoolchildren the opportunity to experience the city as Shakespeare would have by bringing London’s rich history to life – in all its exciting (and disgusting) detail! 

Live character guides - in full Shakespearian costume - intertwine stories of the Bard and tales of the time with sights sounds and smells that truly immerse pupils into Shakespeare’s era. Examples of the on-board multi-sensory experiences include:

• Touch the realistic lumps and bumps of what a plague victim’s skin would have felt like to help schoolchildren understand one of the greatest devastations London ever experienced, and why its impact is still talked about today.
• Feel the stark difference between the fabrics worn by different communities of Elizabethan society and discover the laws passed by the state, including those that could land Londoners a stint in prison for the crime of wearing purple!
• Sounds and smells will ignite pupils’ senses as live actors describe the meals of the rich compared to the poor, whilst discovering why travellers to the city were presented with the ghoulish sight of rotting heads of traitors stuck up on poles as they crossed London Bridge.
• Discover the most famous treachery of all, the Gunpowder Plot, that took place in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament, and learn about the origins of the 5^th November bonfire celebrations through specially-created on-board videos.

The Shakespeare’s London tour is directly linked to Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 of the National Curriculum for English and History and has been developed by education experts alongside Shakespearian scholars and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. It has gained the Quality badge from the Council of Learning Outside the Classroom – the nationally recognised indicator of good quality educational provision. 

Each pupil will receive a free workbook to aid their learning, packed with relevant facts and activities aimed at enhancing their day out.

The tour starts and finishes near Shakespeare’s Globe, and passes Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s Cathedral to help schoolchildren to understand more about these famous landmarks and their place in both Shakespearian and modern-day London.

Mikesh Palan, Managing Director of Golden Tours, said: “We are really excited to launch the first bus tour of its kind in the UK and continue to develop our increasingly innovative tour experience for school visitors. Shakespeare’s London is an inspiring way for children to engage with Shakespeare outside of the classroom walls and is certainly the closest thing to time travel that London has to offer.”

Jacqueline Green, Head of Learning and Participation at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said: “We are constantly exploring new ways to inspire and bring not only Shakespeare but also British history to life in schools. Having already brought Shakespeare to life for over 3.5 million primary school children across the UK, we are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Golden Tours on this pioneering new educational initiative and get even more kids learning about the history of the Bard in such an intriguing and exciting way.”

Booking and ticketing information

Each pupil will receive a free workbook to aid learning, filled with relevant activities and facts.

Tours last approximately 120-minutes and run at multiple times through term time starting and ending on the south side of Southwark Bridge, close to Shakespeare’s Globe. The route will take pupils from Southwark across the river to Westminster through to Whitehall, St Paul’s and the Tower of London and back to Southwark Bridge. Highlights on the tour include key iconic London sights such as Shakespeare’s Globe, the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and London Bridge. To book your Shakespeare’s London tour or to find out more, including applying for free London Transport travel, please contact our schools team on 02073416256 or email schools@goldentours.com

Discount tickets are also available to Shakespeare’s Globe and Westminster Abbey; please contact the Golden Tours schools team to find out more.

Further information is available from https://www.goldentours.com/school-trips

Notes to Editors: 

Golden Tours

Golden Tours is London’s foremost sightseeing company. Established in 1984, Golden Tours are the London Experts, providing top quality tours around the city and day trips to the best UK locations such as Stonehenge and Bath. With over 30 years of experience and an unrivalled range of top-quality London tours, we are proud to be in partnership with internationally renowned Gray Line Association and preferred partners of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.

We have a safe and secure website, are passionate about customer care and have carried over 10 million guests from hundreds of countries around the world. Value for money, informative guides and luxurious travel are guaranteed. Our vast range of products include day trips, our own Hop-on-Hop-off bus service, attraction tickets, theatre tickets, walking tours and airport transfers. Golden Tours your one-stop-shop for everything you need in London and the UK.

Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is the independent charity that cares for the world’s greatest Shakespeare heritage sites in Stratford-upon-Avon, and promotes the enjoyment and understanding of Shakespeare’s works, life and times all over the world. Established by Act of Parliament in 1891, the charity runs formal and informal educational programmes for people of all ages. It holds the world’s largest Shakespeare-related museum and archives open free to the public, a collection which is designated as being of international importance. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust receives no public subsidy or direct revenue funding; it depends on income generated through the support of visitors, donors, volunteers and Friends. For more information, visit www.shakespeare.org.uk.