British Royal Mistresses and a Pub

London’s respectable streets conceal a surprisingly bawdy past. This private walk connects royal mistresses, notorious men, old brothels, theatrical scandals, and a stop at a sex-toy shop, giving you a very different way to read central London.

I like the unusual subject and the route through Soho, the Strand, Chinatown, and Covent Garden rather than a standard royal or literary tour. I also like the private format, since your group can ask questions and set the tone. The main concern is value: at $249.81 per person, the tour needs a lively guide and strong storytelling to justify its price.

Key points about this London walk

• Royal scandals take center stage: Hear about Edward VII, George IV, and Nell Gwyn in places linked to their private lives.
• The route covers several central districts: You walk from the National Portrait Gallery through Soho, the Strand, Chinatown, and back to Soho.
• The stories are adult in tone: Topics include sex, mistresses, brothels, flogging, condoms, cocaine, and sexual customs.
• The experience lasts about two and a half hours: It is long enough for a substantial walk, but short enough to fit into a busy London day.
• The tour is private: Only your group takes part, which can make an unusual subject feel more relaxed and personal.
• The price is high for a walking tour: No broad set of museum admissions is included, so the guide’s storytelling carries much of the value.

Why London’s love life makes a good walking-tour subject

Most London sightseeing focuses on monarchs, grand buildings, and famous writers. This tour asks you to look at the city through desire, secrecy, and scandal instead. That can be a clever angle because central London’s streets were not only places of government and commerce. They were also meeting points, entertainment districts, theatrical quarters, and places where people paid for pleasure.

The subject is best suited to adults and older teenagers. The minimum age is 16, and the content is plainly not aimed at young children. You should expect frank references to sex, mistresses, prostitution, sexual punishment, old contraceptive practices, and drug use.

I like the way the route uses familiar parts of London. You may already know the National Portrait Gallery, Soho Square, Drury Lane, Chinatown, or the Strand. The stories give you another lens for streets you might otherwise pass without a second thought.

The quality will depend heavily on the guide. A good guide can turn a pavement, doorway, or ordinary-looking square into a scene from London’s past. A weak guide may simply recite facts while you walk. That distinction matters here because the tour does not appear to rely on major interior visits or elaborate demonstrations.

Meeting at the National Portrait Gallery

The walk begins outside the National Portrait Gallery on St. Martin’s Place. This is a practical meeting point in central London, close to major sights and public transportation. You can pair the tour with a visit to the gallery before or after, though gallery admission is not part of the experience.

The opening location also fits the theme. Portraits often present public figures as dignified, controlled, and respectable. The tour looks past that public image and asks what some of those people did away from official ceremonies and formal portraits.

You should arrive ready to walk for roughly two and a half hours. The supplied details do not promise a particular route length, seating, or indoor breaks, so comfortable shoes are a sensible choice. Since the activity returns to its starting point, you do not need to plan a separate journey from the final stop.

Soho and the strange story of reusable condoms

The first major section takes you into Soho. The headline detail here is a question about nineteenth-century condoms and whether they could be reused. It is the sort of fact that immediately signals the tone of the tour: curious, intimate, and a little shocking.

Soho is a natural setting for this material. The district has long been linked in the public imagination with nightlife, sex, restaurants, theatres, and unconventional entertainment. The tour uses that reputation to introduce older attitudes toward sex and personal health.

This stop is free in the sense that no admission ticket is listed. You are learning from the guide while moving through the area, rather than paying to enter a formal attraction. That keeps the tour flexible, but it also means the experience depends on what the guide can show you from the street.

I would pay close attention to how the guide handles the subject. The best version of this stop would explain the practical side of historical contraception and the social attitudes around it, not just offer a quick joke. The material has real historical value when it shows how people managed intimacy before modern medical products became widely available.

The Strand, Edward VII, and Casanova

The walk continues along the Strand, one of central London’s great historic routes. Here the focus shifts to dining, royal affairs, and famous visitors. You are taken toward what is described as London’s oldest restaurant, where Edward VII dined with his mistresses.

That detail gives the tour a useful social angle. Royal history is often presented through palaces, ceremonies, and succession. This stop brings it down to a table in a restaurant, where private relationships and public reputation met.

You will also hear about Casanova’s stay in London and which mistress mattered most to him. Casanova is an easy name to use for comic effect, but his appearance here can add a wider European connection to the walk. The point is not only that he visited London, but that the city was part of a wider network of fashionable travel, sexual adventure, and social intrigue.

The restaurant itself may be more important as a historical reference than as a dining stop. There is no meal included, and the tour does not promise a table or tasting. If you want to eat there, treat that as a separate plan and check the restaurant’s own arrangements.

Soho Square and George IV’s darker amusements

Soho Square brings a different kind of story. The guide points out a favorite spot of George IV and discusses the School of Sodom, where men were severely flogged.

This is one of the more difficult subjects on the route. It shows that the history of sexual behavior is also a history of punishment, public shame, and unequal treatment. You should expect the guide to address male homosexuality in a period when same-sex activity could bring harsh legal and social consequences.

The stop is listed without an admission ticket. In practice, that means the square serves as the setting for the explanation. You will not be entering a preserved school or an operating historical site. The value comes from connecting the modern public space with events that are no longer visible.

I would regard this as a test of the guide’s judgment. The story needs context and care. If delivered only as a sensational anecdote, it may feel cheap. If the guide explains the setting, the punishment, and the people involved with respect, it can be one of the more thoughtful parts of the walk.

Drury Lane and the story of Nell Gwyn

At the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the focus turns to Nell Gwyn, described here as the most influential royal mistress. Her story connects theatre, class, celebrity, and the royal court.

Nell Gwyn is an especially good figure for this route because she was not simply a secret lover hidden from public view. She was a performer with a public identity, a royal connection, and a place in the popular culture of her time. The theatre setting helps explain how performance and personal reputation could overlap.

The tour also points toward former eighteenth-century masquerades. Masquerades offer a useful way to discuss disguise, flirtation, social rules, and temporary freedom from ordinary appearances. They were not just parties. They created a setting where people could experiment with how they presented themselves, even if the social order returned when the masks came off.

Again, you should not assume a theatre performance or interior visit. The theatre is a location for the story, and admission is not included. If you have an interest in London theatre, you may find this section especially appealing. If you want a full theatrical history, you will need a separate theatre-focused tour.

Chinatown, brothels, and cocaine in 1920s London

The route then reaches Chinatown, where the subject moves into the twentieth century. You will see locations associated with 1920s brothels and learn where Londoners obtained cocaine for private use.

This section shows that the city’s sexual underworld did not belong only to kings and eighteenth-century adventurers. Soho and nearby districts continued to change through the twentieth century, with new forms of nightlife, vice, and drug use appearing alongside restaurants, theatres, and ordinary homes.

The cocaine story may be the most surprising part for people who think of old London as strictly restrained. It also gives the guide a chance to explain how substances once moved through social circles before modern drug laws took their present form. The details provided do not indicate that you visit an original brothel or enter a former cocaine outlet, so expect street-based interpretation.

Chinatown is a busy part of central London, and the setting may make it harder to hear at times. Because this is a private group, you should be able to ask the guide to repeat something or pause when needed. That is a real benefit over a large public tour.

The final Soho stop and the pub question

The walk ends back in Soho, in an area described as full of hidden secrets. This final section includes the tour’s sex-toy-shop stop, according to the available description. That may appeal to you if you want the experience to finish with something concrete and modern rather than another historical speech.

At the same time, this is where expectations matter most. One blunt assessment of the tour called it a boring walk with only one stop at a sex-toy store, and criticized the lack of imagination in the guiding. That criticism should not be brushed aside. A route built around scandal can feel thin if each location receives only a quick fact and a joke.

The title also promises a pub connection, but the supplied details do not clearly state that a drink is included or that the group spends a set amount of time inside a pub. You should not book this expecting a pub crawl, tasting, or hosted drink. The named restaurant and pub theme seem to refer mainly to places linked with the stories.

The final stop is marked as included, unlike several other locations where no admission ticket is included. That may mean access to the sex-toy shop or a similar included visit, but the exact format is not explained. If this detail matters to you, ask Pigeon Tours for clarification before paying.

What the private format changes

This is a private activity, so only your group participates. That is important for a subject that can make some people shy. You can ask direct questions without speaking in front of a large crowd, and the guide can adjust the pace to your group.

A private tour also gives you a better chance to shape the conversation. You may want more royal history, more social history, more theatre, or more detail about Soho. The provided information does not promise a customized route, so do not assume every request can be accommodated, but the format is more personal by design.

The tradeoff is cost. At $249.81 per person, this is not a low-cost way to see London. The price may make sense for a small group that wants a private specialist walk and enjoys unusual historical subjects. It is harder to justify if you are mainly looking for famous sights, museum entry, food, or entertainment.

No admission fees are listed for most stops, and the professional guide is the main included service. I would compare the price with the total cost of a standard private London walk before booking. If your group is large enough to share the value of a private experience, the calculation may look better. If you are booking alone or as a couple, it is a substantial spend.

Who will enjoy this tour most

I would recommend it most strongly to you if you enjoy social history, royal gossip with historical context, London theatre, Soho, and unusual walking routes. It may also suit repeat visitors who have already seen the Tower, Westminster Abbey, and the major royal palaces.

The minimum age is 16, but age alone does not tell you whether the subject suits your group. You should be comfortable with adult themes and frank discussion. This is not a family sightseeing walk.

The tour may also work well for a private group celebrating a birthday, planning a distinctive evening, or looking for a conversation starter before dinner. The English-language format keeps the presentation straightforward, and confirmation is provided when you book.

I would be cautious if you need a highly visual experience. Much of the tour appears to involve standing outdoors and listening to stories about places that have changed. You will not necessarily see preserved interiors, original objects, or theatrical recreations.

Practical details before you book

The experience lasts about 2 hours and 30 minutes and begins and ends at the National Portrait Gallery on St. Martin’s Place. It is offered in English and uses a mobile ticket.

Service animals are allowed, and the activity is near public transportation. The provided details say most people can take part, but they do not give a specific walking distance, route surface, or seating plan. If you need those details, ask the operator before booking.

Pigeon Tours provides the professional guide. No guide’s name is supplied, so you cannot select a particular person or assess an individual guiding style in advance. That makes the guide’s performance an important unknown, especially given the mixed assessment of the storytelling.

You can cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours before the local start time. Changes or cancellations made less than 24 hours before the start are not accepted for a refund.

Should you book British Royal Mistresses and a Pub?

Book it if you want an adult-themed London walk built around royal affairs, sexual customs, theatres, brothels, and Soho’s less polished past. The private format and unusual subject are the strongest reasons to choose it.

Think twice if you expect a pub crawl, a meal, major interior admissions, or nonstop entertainment. At $249.81 per person, the guide must bring more than a list of scandalous facts. Ask Pigeon Tours exactly what happens at the final Soho stop and how the pub element works before committing.

My call is conditional: the concept is appealing, but the price demands excellent storytelling. Choose it for the subject and private setting, not for a long list of included attractions.

FAQ

Where does the tour begin?

It begins at the National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin’s Place, London WC2H 0HE, UK.

Where does the tour end?

The activity ends back at the National Portrait Gallery meeting point.

How long does the tour last?

The tour lasts approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes.

What language is the tour offered in?

The tour is offered in English.

Is this a private tour?

Yes. Only your group participates in the activity.

What is the minimum age?

The minimum age is 16.

Is admission to the attractions included?

Most stops list no admission ticket or no admission ticket included. The final Soho stop is marked as included, but the exact form of that inclusion is not specified.

Are service animals allowed?

Yes, service animals are allowed.

Can I cancel for a full refund?

Yes. You can cancel at least 24 hours before the local start time for a full refund. Cancellations made less than 24 hours before the start time are not refunded.

Is the tour near public transportation?

Yes. The meeting point and activity are near public transportation.