Sandy took the four of us - me, my wife, our six-month-old strapped to my chest, and our miniature dachshund - around St James' for three hours. A great afternoon: full of stories and odd bits of history you'd never pick up on your own, not a procession of dates. Easy pace and completely unfazed by the baby and the dog. We live in London and still learned plenty about what's on our doorstep. Recommended.
事業者からの返答
Hi Chris, so pleased you and Georgia enjoyed the St James' tour and learnt a bit more about the city you live in. All the best. Sandy
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richardo500
September 23, 2023 · via Tripadvisor
Fascinating Tour
A really enjoyable tour, so much interesting detail…. I now know why Green Park is called by that name! Sandy was so knowledgable and told us so many background stories it brought the whole tour alive. Highly recommended!
事業者からの返答
Hi Richard, thank you so much for a lovely review. We were lucky to catch the Changing of the Guard, pageantry at its best, as well having a beautiful day to explore the area. Thank you for joining me. Sandy
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rosemaryo988
September 20, 2023 · via Tripadvisor
Brilliant tour of St. James’
Learned so much today, from who’s who at the Changing of the Guard, how St James’ Park became a park, masses about the monarchy from Henry VIII to now, to fun facts about Fortnum’s London honeys and marmalade competitions and men’s clubs! Sandy was a great guide, enthusiastic and very informative, and brought the area to life for me.
事業者からの返答
Hi Rose, it was a pleasure guiding for you and Richard today and I'm so glad you enjoyed the experience. Although St James' is primarily about the royals, as you say there are lots of other snippets of information about some of the retailers and the gentlemen who made St James' their (temporary) home for large parts of the 18th and 19th centuries. Thank you for joining me. Sandy
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Maria_R
September 7, 2023 · via Viator
St. James Village Tour, Sept. 3, 2023
My family of 5 truly enjoyed Sandy's tour of St. James Village. She is so knowledgeable and inspiring to listen to, from her stories of London's Royal history plus more. I highly recommend this tour.
事業者からの返答
Thank you so much for a lovely review Maria. It was an absolute pleasure to guide for you and your family. Do look me up when next you're in London and we'll do another tour together. Sandy
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Voyage191808
September 5, 2023 · via Tripadvisor
A living history lesson of the Royal Family!
Sandy’s knowledge of the Royals is so extensive, it was like we had a personal member of the family walking with us! She took her time, explained what was coming up, connected places to people, and people to their place in history. She gave a personal glimpse into what life was like since the beginning of English heritage. Seeing the changing of the guard from the beginning was an added bonus she was able to include!
If you want a walking history lesson, and come out feeling like you “know” the royals, this is the tour and Sandy is your guide!
事業者からの返答
Hi Maria, thank you so much for a lovely review. You and your family were such a joy to take on a tour: interesting and interested! Thank you for keeping me company. Sandy
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Melanie J
July 14, 2023 · via Tripadvisor
Sandy’s (Hobnob tours) St. James/ Royal Village tour.
Sandy, our guide for this tour, was prompt and very knowledgeable of St James and the Royal Village. I would highly recommend her, especially for first time London visitors. The walking tour does move fast and is roughly 3 hrs on foot.
事業者からの返答
Hi Mel, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review of our time together in St James. If we are trying to see parts of the Changing of the Guard, you are right, we do need to move quite quickly although the rest of the tour is leisurely! The ceremony is pageantry at its best! thanks again. Sandy
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PatWhitworth
July 11, 2023 · via Tripadvisor
Sandy is fantastic! Fascinating.
Sandy, our guide was extremely knowledgeable, energetic and enthusiastic. She made learning about the history of all of the sites we saw fun and interesting. She also had fantastic advice about how to get the most out of the experience, should we want to dig in deeper at any of the spectacular locations she showed us. Would recommend her 100% for anyone touring this area.
事業者からの返答
Hi Pat, it was a pleasure to guide for you, Lisa, Mel and Jim this morning and I'm so glad you enjoyed your tour of the St James' area. It really is a delight to explore and has a fascinating history centering around the Royals and the gentlemen. thank you for booking with me. Sandy
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T1080ACsusanc
June 27, 2023 · via Tripadvisor
An intimate tour of Royal St James.
Sandy, our guide for the morning, was already waiting for us at the starting point. There was only 4 of us on this tour, which immediately felt relaxed and just the type of experience we were looking for. After a few facts and figures and explanations on how the the mornings tour would run, we were off. Immediately I could tell we were going to enjoy the experience, Sandy had clearly spent a lot of time preparing the tour and doing her research on Royal St James. We were about to find out not only about the Royals who called St James home but the nobility and local characters that had moved west from the city to establish new lives. Although the history of St James went back to before Henry VIII, we focussed on the last 300 years or so, which was very much what we wanted. Sandy brought to life not only the monarchs of the Georges, the Williams, the Annes and Victoria but also the people that had flocked to the area once the royals were in residence.
A highlight of the tour was the changing of the guard at St James Palace and Buckingham Palace with the Grenadier Guards in all their splendour accompanied by marching bands. Always good to see the crowds jump when the drums start the procession with such a clash when you are only a couple of feet away from them.
Although it was a hot day with Sandy cramming a lot of interesting facts and answering lots of our questions, the tour seemed over in a flash.
If you are looking for a smaller. more personal tour, would highly recommend. We plan to join Sandy on further tours soon, including Hampton Court and Westminster....Can't wait!!
事業者からの返答
Hi Sue, I'm so pleased you enjoyed the St James' tour and, as we talk about some of the monarchs from all four dynasties of royals since 1485, there are inevitably some weird and wonderful tales to be told about them all!! Although the St James' tour is a wonderful experience with or without the Changing of the Guard, there is no doubt that the pageantry adds a certain something and you're right, if you happen to be standing beside the band when they start to play, it can give you a bit of a fright! Thank you for your kind comments and I hope to see you on another 'Hobnob' tour at some point in the future! Sandy
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garymcross
June 25, 2023 · via Tripadvisor
Wonderful Introduction to St James - "The Royal Village"
Tour started promptly, and our guide explained everything we would definitely see and what we would hopefully see. This was a small intimate tour and our guide (Sandy) explained that she only toured with small numbers so that she could be attentive to the group and more importantly answer any questions. Sandy had obviously done plenty of research in support of the tour with plenty of little anecdotes as well as the key historical facts. Being a small group we were able to explore the little alleys, narrow streets and tiny square that were tucked away, each with a story to tell and ones that Sandy brought to life.
Although it wasn't guaranteed we were able to see the changing of the old guard at St James Palace and the new guard at Wellington Barracks. It meant some swift footwork but Sandy had already explained this and checked we were all happy with making a few quick moves to make the most of the spectacular of the Marching Bands and the Grenadier Guards, responsible for protecting the King.
It wasn't all rush and we had time to shade from the sun and have more fun facts and history explained to us, with lots of chances to ask questions.
If you love intimate, historical tours with a friendly and knowledgable host, can't recommend enough and will definitely book more tours with Sandy......Wear comfy shoes!!
事業者からの返答
Hi Gary, thank you so much for the lovely review and I'm glad you enjoyed the tour. St James' is a real favourite of mine because, as you have explained so well in your review, the area is very varied. There are royal palaces and parks, gentlemen's clubs and exclusive shops which are centuries old and pageantry too with the Changing of the Guard; there's never a dull moment! Love the comment about 'comfy shoes' - I couldn't agree more. Don't worry about fashion, just be comfortable! Thanks again Gary and I hope to see you on another tour in the future. Sandy
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martinpI111BD
June 14, 2023 · via Tripadvisor
Wonderful walk around inner london
The walk around St james was extremely informative. Following a return to London and more specifically this particular area, sandy our guide gave me such a great insight to the extensive history of this place through the detailed descriptions provided throughout the tour
Thoroughly recommend this tour to not only foreign tourist but locals as well
事業者からの返答
Hi Martin, thank you so much for your kind words and it's interesting what you say. So many of us wander an area on a daily basis either because we live or work there but we don't question why the things we look at are there! It's only on a tour like mine that you start to realise the fascinating history that lies below the surface of what we look at on a daily basis! So pleased you enjoyed it. Thanks again. Sandy