Tour guide in London Maria H.

My passion for the tour guide sector began when I lived and worked in Florence. I loved showing guests around the city staying at the hotel where I worked. Later, I worked at York's Tourist Information and Conference Centre, and enjoyed leading tours around the city. For the past five years I have been guiding and touring with visitors to London, and also showing travellers around Oxford and York, delighted to share the history and culture of three of my favourite cities in London. Recently I studied for a Masters in creative writing, enhancing long held passion for storytelling. I love to find and share the stories in history bringing the past to life with eloquence and sometimes humour! Graded distinction, I continued with my studies as a writer, now a PhD researcher at the renowned King's College London, following in the footsteps of my favourite writers - Virginia Woolf, Hanif Kureishi and Christopher Isherwood! I have previously worked as a teacher, with people of all ages, my powers of communication and experience of pastoral, inclusive and educational values, ensuring my tours are accessible and stimulating for all. Growing up in York stimulated a love of history - Roman, Viking, Tudor and Victorian - the traces of each era of British history very visible to this day in the museums, ramparts, and buildings of the city; York's stories of the past also living on through the legends that are shared at home and school. York is reputedly a very haunted city, so found myself frequently enthralled as a child, by retellings of local ghost stories, soon developing a love of gothic writing! For the last thirty years I have lived in London, and recently developed an extensive knowledge of the local area where I lived for over two decades, Covent Garden. Drawn to its rich theatre history, its street life, markets and the literature that some of our leading writers have written in response to such a varied and stimulating area I immersed myself in research and built my first London walk. Since then my love of touring has found me creating cultural tours across England from London's West End, the City, Kensington and the picturesque Primrose Hill, and beyond, to York, Oxford, Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge and even the Yorkshire Dales! My tour of Covent Garden takes my guests from Seven Dials, through charming piazzas, and markers taking in theatre and film history nearby. On a visual art theme, I offer fashion and vintage based tours including The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Fashion and Textile Museum and West End vintage stores. Studying at Chelsea College of Art, stimulated a love of art, design and architecture which informs all my tours and has also inspired me to offer options to develop portfolios, with tuition along the way. Further options include a tour of some of West London's most lovely wonderlands, Kensington Gardens, the stunning and tranquil Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, the Serpentine gallery, Design Museum and the vibrant Portobello Road. I lead tours exploring key areas in The City, taking in the Old Bailey, the old lanes around Smithfields, the Guildhall, and the glittering, towering financial district. I offer optional visits to the Tower of London, or London's best galleries. And why not include a river cruise and see sites from the Thames? Or perhaps you would like to take a walk exploring London's key film locations along with TV and film history? Enjoy the company, and vast cultural knowledge of an expert tour guide; see museum exhibits, palaces or street life enriched with well chosen anecdotes and literary exerts from some of London's greatest writers. Book a ready made tour or design your own itinerary with my expert help! Explore any area of London you choose, or if you wish to go further afield why not explore the entrancing city of Oxford or York? I have practical skills in first aid, very useful, but hopefully they won't be required! I am adept at arranging the best and most suitable transport when required to connect our key ports of call, and I can provide suggestions for the best food and drink on our excursions. If my guests have any questions they may wish to forward I will always respond as quickly as possible. I am a five star rated tour guide and hope to meet you for one of my tours to share the best of England with you while building wonderful memories to last. * Qualifications and Experience: Selected for the City of Westminster Guiding and Lecturers Association tour guide certificate. Many years' guiding experience in York, Florence and London Masters degree in Creative Writing with distinction, Royal Holloway, University of London, (September 2020) Enrolled for PhD at Kings College London, department of English BA with Honours, Fine Art, University of the Arts, London; BA with Honours, Theology and Philosophy; First Aid at Work qualification (July 2022) validated by: FAIB (The First Aid Industry Body) & QCA (Quality Care Academy) Accredited body) Security and fire safety certificate (July 2022, RB Health and Safety Solutions) Trained in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Disability Awareness Transport can be arranged by London cab or the top deck of a London bus, affording excellent city views. Fares and travel cards included.