{"id":861,"date":"2024-02-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/?p=861"},"modified":"2025-08-15T15:23:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T14:23:46","slug":"a-literary-london-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/a-literary-london-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"A Literary London Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Few other cities can rival London in its literary reputation. From <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/tours\/day-tours-from-london\/warwick-castle-shakespeares-birthplace-oxford-the-cotswolds\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=literary_london_tour\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">William Shakespeare<\/a> and Charles Dickens to Virginia Woolf and Zadie Smith, many luminaries past and present have called the Big Smoke home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow in their footsteps, and soak up London\u2019s creative and inspiring ambience on your next trip to the city. For <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/15-inspiring-books-to-learn-about-british-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">writers, readers, and bibliophiles<\/a>, these five stops are the perfect place to begin your literary London tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where to go in London if you love literature?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Keats House<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bloomsbury<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Globe Theatre<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Charles Dickens Museum<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The British Library<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on as we tell you more about each place below!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keats House<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1100\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-keats-house.jpg\" alt=\"A Literary London Tour | Keats House\" class=\"wp-image-865\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-keats-house.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-keats-house-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-keats-house-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-keats-house-768x384.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Experience London\u2019s Romantic side with a visit to Hampstead\u2019s lovely Keats House. Home to the talented poet from 1820-1880, the building comes with a good deal of literary lore: Keats supposedly wrote many of his most enduring works here (legend has it that \u201cOde to a Nightingale\u201d was scrawled underneath a plum tree in the back garden).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See if the muse moves you during your tour of the landmark when you can see Keats\u2019s original manuscripts and artefacts, attend live poetry performances and events, and even try composing an ode of your very own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bloomsbury<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1100\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-bloomsbury.jpg\" alt=\"A Literary London Tour | Bloomsbury\" class=\"wp-image-862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-bloomsbury.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-bloomsbury-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-bloomsbury-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-bloomsbury-768x384.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Few <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/top-wealthiest-london-neighbourhoods-to-discover\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">London neighbourhoods<\/a> are as alive with the spirit of literature as Bloomsbury. After all, the district gave its name to the Bloomsbury Group, an early 20<sup>th<\/sup>-century collective of innovative writers and intellectuals that included the likes of Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, and John Maynard Keynes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you wander Bloomsbury\u2019s streets \u00e0 la Mrs Dalloway, watch for the plentiful blue plaques that hint at its rich history. For further literary lore, a visit to The Fitzroy Tavern, where Dylan Thomas and George Orwell once supped their pints, is another must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Globe Theatre<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Shakespeares-Globe-Theatre.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Shakespeares-Globe-Theatre-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6486\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Shakespeares-Globe-Theatre-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Shakespeares-Globe-Theatre-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Shakespeares-Globe-Theatre-270x180.jpg 270w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Shakespeares-Globe-Theatre-770x515.jpg 770w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Shakespeares-Globe-Theatre.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/attractions\/london-attractions\/shakespeares-globe-theatre\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=literary_london_tour\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Globe Theatre<\/a>, currently on London\u2019s South Bank, is a fitting recreation of the Elizabethan version, down to the thatched roof. And yet, an amusing piece of trivia: this restored version has now stood longer than the original, short-lived theatre ever did (it was built in 1599 and destroyed by fire in 1613).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visit during the summer months to see the Bard\u2019s timeless works live on \u2014 you\u2019ll be risking the weather, but a \u00a35 groundling ticket makes this one of London\u2019s most affordable (and memorable) cultural experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Charles Dickens Museum<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1100\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-charles-dickens-museum.jpg\" alt=\"A Literary London Tour | Charles Dickens Museum\" class=\"wp-image-864\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-charles-dickens-museum.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-charles-dickens-museum-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-charles-dickens-museum-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a-literary-london-tour-charles-dickens-museum-768x384.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Charles Dickens was as peripatetic as he was prolific. <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">Although he had over two dozen residences in London alone, the site of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dickensmuseum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Charles Dickens Museum<\/a>\u00a0at 48 Doughty Street is the only one that remains open to<\/span> the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And what a splendid house it is: the Georgian residence is still decked out in its 19<sup>th<\/sup>-century trappings, so visiting can feel a bit like stepping back in time. For an especially immersive experience, the museum\u2019s Dickens After Dark event series will see you explore by candlelight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The British Library<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>London\u2019s literary legacy isn\u2019t just a thing of the past, however \u2014 it lives on into the present, and nowhere is that more visible than the sprawling British Library. Housed in a mammoth building on Euston Road, the Library has the second-largest collection in the world (hardly a surprise, then, that they needed ample space).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the bookshelves, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bl.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">British Library<\/a> also hosts temporary art exhibitions and a permanent collection of priceless books and objects (including the Magna Carta, a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, and handwritten lyrics by the Beatles). It also offers a full calendar of author readings, panel discussions, and other events designed to inspire you to literary flights of fancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you feel like going book shopping, check out these <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/best-london-independent-bookshops-for-bookworms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">London bookshops<\/a>, or <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">enhance your explorations of literary London with one of our immersive coach or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/tours\/london-tours\/walking-tours\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=literary_london_tour\" target=\"_blank\">walking tours,<\/a>\u00a0which<\/span> delve into the rich British cultural heritage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For writers, readers, and bibliophiles, these five stops are the perfect place to begin your literary London 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