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Offered languages
- English
You came to London to write, but the words won't come. Then on a foggy evening walk, you spot him: a man in a black top hat who looks impossibly like Charles Dickens. Dead for over 150 years, but real enough to follow. You set off after him.
This self-guided literary quest takes you on a walk through the Victorian heart of London. Using the Questo app on your smartphone, you follow the figure at 12 stops through Clerkenwell, Holborn, and Fleet Street: from the Charles Dickens Museum on Doughty Street and the buried Fleet River to Fagin's haunt on Saffron Hill, and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, where Dickens drank with fellow writers.
Decode hidden messages, solve literary puzzles, and piece together the story of Victorian London's most famous writer.
Start whenever you like and explore 3.5 kilometres of London's most storied streets at your own pace. Best experienced during the day.
Perfect for history lovers, literature fans, and curious explorers. No knowledge of Dickens required.
What's Included
Meeting and pickup
Please use Google Maps or other map services to arrive at this location. When you arrive, please follow the instructions inside the Questo app closely.
Itinerary
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Charles Dickens Museum (Pass by)
The Charles Dickens Museum is an author's house museum at 48 Doughty Street in Holborn, London Borough of Camden. It occupies a typical Georgian terraced house which was Charles Dickens's home from 25 March 1837 (a year after his marriage) to December 1839. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Admission ticket free -
(Pass by)
It was laid out around 1686 and originally ran further, along what is now the Man in the Moon Passage. John Rocque's Map of London, 1746 shows Vine Street extending from Piccadilly northeast to Warwick Street. In 1720, the main properties on the street were a brewery and a carpenter's yard. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Admission ticket free -
(Pass by)
This stylish inn dates to 1759, but its moment of fame came in 1838, when Charles Dickens changed its name to the Three Cripples and made it Bill Sykes' watering hole of choice in Oliver Twist. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Admission ticket free -
Staple Inn (Pass by)
Staple Inn dates from 1585. The building was once the wool staple, where wool was weighed and taxed. It survived the Great Fire of London, was extensively damaged by a Nazi German Luftwaffe aerial bomb in 1944 but was subsequently restored. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Admission ticket free -
Lincoln's Inn Fields (Pass by)
The Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre was located in the Fields from 1661 to 1848, when it was demolished. This, originally called the Duke's Theatre, was created by converting Lisle's Tennis Court in 1695. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Admission ticket free -
Maughan Library (Pass by)
Following a £35m renovation designed by Gaunt Francis Architects, the Maughan is the largest new university library in the United Kingdom since World War II. Designed by Sir James Pennethorne and constructed in 1851, with further extensions made between 1868 and 1900, it is a Grade II* listed building. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Admission ticket free -
Dr. Johnson's House (Pass by)
The house now known as Dr Johnson's House was probably originally built for a City merchant. Its most famous resident, and one of the most distinguished figures in English literary history, Samuel Johnson (1709-84), rented it from 1748 to 1759. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Admission ticket free -
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (Pass by)
Originally, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was built in the 1530's, although the original pub was lost in The Great Fire of London in 1666. The current pub dates from 1667 – having been one of the first London buildings reconstructed after the Great Fire. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Admission ticket free -
Saint Peter's Italian Church (Pass by)
It was consecrated on 16 April 1863 as "The Church of St Peter of all Nations". At the time of consecration, it was the only basilica-style church in the UK. Its organ was built in 1886 by Belgian Anneesen. During World War II, when Italian immigrants were interned, Irish Pallottines made use of the church.
Admission ticket free -
(Pass by)
The Royal College of Surgeons has a long history. Its earliest origins lie in the 1540s when the Company of Barbers and the Fellowship of Surgeons joined together to form the Company of Barber-Surgeons. In the 1700s medicine became an academic discipline and surgeons demanded more recognition for their expertise.
Admission ticket free -
(Pass by)
Romanian Orthodox chapel St Dunstan-in-the-West is one of the churches in England to share its building with the Romanian Orthodox community (St. George church). The chapel to the left of the main altar is closed off by an iconostasis, formerly from Antim Monastery in Bucharest, dedicated in 1966.
Admission ticket free
Additional info
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Tags
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Cancellation Policy
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
- Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Rating
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
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