London Transport regularly run tours of disused Underground stations and tunnels. These are my reviews of three of their tours:

These tours are always popular and usually sell out in the pre-sale to London Transport Museum email subscribers. This is probably one reason why LTM have increased the prices of the tours. For example:

  • Euston Lost Tunnels was £35 in 2016 now £41.50
  • 55 Broadway was £32.50 now £38.50
  • Clapham South was £35 now £41.50

I always wonder where this money goes as the tours are all run by volunteers. Nonetheless, if you want to do the tour then that’s the price.

Tickets for five tours/events will go on sale to LT email subscribers at 10am 21st November 2017:

  • Euston: The Lost Tunnels
  • Euston: The Photography Tour
  • 55 Broadway: London’s First Skyscraper
  • Clapham South: Subterranean shelter
  • Clapham South: Subterranean Screenings

Sales to the general public start 22nd November. My previous booking experience, using the priority link that is sent on the 21st November, was:

  • Click at 10am
  • Find myself in a queue behind hundreds of others and eventually have the chance to buy after 40 minutes or so.

So if you want to go on one of these tours:

Register here: https://ticketfeed.ltmuseum.co.uk/ and ensure you receive an email confirming that you registered.

  • Choose a tour.
  • Decide the dates (see below) when you can make the tour.
  • Check your emails on Tuesday 21st November morning and click at 10am.
  • Don’t forget that tickets are non-transferable and non-refundable.

Here is some detail about the tours and dates:

Euston: The Lost Tunnels

Discover a labyrinth of dark and deserted passageways which were once used by the travelling public and see a gallery of preserved vintage poster fragments that have been hidden for over 50 years. This secret space is located below a busy Tube station that serves almost 42 million passengers each year and Euston national rail station.

Dates: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
20 January – 4 February, 14 – 25 February, 7 – 18 March 2018
Times: various
Tour duration: 75 minutes approx.
Location: Euston, NW1 2EA
Tickets: Adult £41.50; Concession £36.50 (+ £1.50 booking fee per transaction)

I personally don’t think this tour is worth £41.50 – see my review here.

EUSTON: THE PHOTOGRAPHY TOUR

This tour is an abbreviated version of Euston: The lost tunnels tour. It will be led by an expert tour guide with additional time structured in for photography. Please be aware this tour is a non-instructional photography tour and there will not be a professional photographer on site for instruction. You will need to have a good working knowledge of and provide your own photographic equipment. You must be self-sufficient in the use of your equipment.

Dates: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
7 – 11 February, 28 February – 4 March, 21 – 25 March 2018
Times: various
Tour duration: 150 minutes approx.
Location: Euston, meet at 16 Melton Street, NW1
Tickets: Adult £100; Concession £95 (+ £1.50 booking fee per transaction)

I think £100 is too expensive and unless you need a lot of time to set up equipment, you’d find time to take some good photos on the regular tour – here’s one of mine (taken on my iPhone):

55 Broadway: London’s First Skyscraper

55 Broadway was the headquarters of London Transport and later London Underground until 2016. This Grade I listed structure – London’s first skyscraper – was considered radical and offensive when unveiled in 1929. Now a fabulous example of Art Deco London, visitors will be able to see beautifully detailed offices, grand meetings rooms, and stunning rooftops views.

Dates: Saturday, Sunday
27-28 January, 24-25 February, 24-25 March 2018
Times: various
Tour duration: 90 minutes approx.
Location: 55 Broadway, SW1H 0BD
Tickets: Adult £38.50; Concession £33.50 (+ £1.50 booking fee per transaction)

Clapham South: Subterranean shelter

Opened to the public in July 1944, Clapham South deep-level shelter has over a mile of subterranean passageways that reveal the extraordinary stories of those who sheltered here. Find out how Londoners took refuge underground during the Blitz and how it was home to Jamaican migrants in the 1940s as well as visitors to the Festival of Britain in the 1950s.

Dates: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
13 – 26 January, 7 – 23 February, 28 February – 4 March, 14 – 23 March 2018
Times: various
Tour duration: 75 minutes approx.
Location: Clapham South deep-level shelter, SW12 9DU
Tickets: Adult £41.50; Concession £36.50 (+ £1.50 booking fee per transaction)

CLAPHAM SOUTH: SUBTERRANEAN SCREENINGS

Cosy up underneath a blanket 180 steps underground and watch a bespoke Second World War film reel curated by London Transport Museum. See one of 16 sub-shelters in the vast complex of tunnels and learn about the realities of being a Londoner during the Second World War whilst sitting in one of eight deep-level shelters that exists across London.

With first hand oral histories and footage from people that actually sheltered here during the V-weapon raids and throughout the end of the war, Ministry of Information propaganda films, cartoons and newsreel clips of the day, this unique event will transport you to a time encapsulated in history in this shelter hidden deep underground.

Dates: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
31 January – 4 February, 7 – 11 March 2018
Times: various
Tour duration: 70 minutes approx.
Location: Clapham South deep-level shelter, SW12 9DU
Tickets: Adult £46.50; Concession £41.50 (+ £1.50 booking fee per transaction)