London Uncovered

Welcome to London! A smooth private transfer from the airport will whisk you straight to the heart of Westminster, one of the most storied neighbourhoods in the city. Even Buckingham Palace is closer than you might expect...

Tonight is for settling in. A two-course dinner and welcome drink is yours to enjoy at whichever of the hotel's three on-site restaurants takes your fancy – from something light and easy after a long flight, to a proper sit-down meal to mark the start of the journey ahead. Order at your own pace and prepare to uncover London's maritime secrets in the morning!

The Thames has carried everything through this city – trade, empire, royalty, rebellion – and this morning it carries you. Your local guide will meet you at the hotel before we board a riverboat and head downriver to Greenwich, the city opening up on either side in ways that streets and tube maps simply can't prepare you for.

On foot through the borough, your expert guide will bring to life a place that once stood at the very centre of the world – the point from which all longitude was measured, and through which Britain's seafaring empire flowed.

Inside the Old Royal Naval College, the Painted Hall awaits – known as 'Britain's Sistine Chapel', its walls and ceiling alive with allegorical figures and naval scenes that artist Sir James Thornhill spent 19 years completing. To stand beneath it is to feel the full ambition of an age that believed no gesture was too grand.

This afternoon is yours to wander Greenwich Market, pull up a chair at the Trafalgar Tavern, or seek out Goddard's for a proper plate of pie, mash and liquor – jellied eels on the side if you're feeling adventurous! When you're ready, a public riverboat will take you back at your leisure.

The London of today's walking tour is one that has barely changed in centuries – and that's precisely what makes it so absorbing. A local guide will meet you at your hotel and lead you into Westminster's quieter layers: away from the ceremonial routes and into the passageways and backstreets where the city's royal history plays out without an audience.

You'll glimpse Buckingham Palace from a considered distance and pause at St James's Palace – still a working royal residence, as it has been since Henry VIII – before slipping into the atmospheric streets where gentlemen's clubs and private institutions have occupied the same buildings for generations, their brass plates worn smooth by time.

The tour continues to Jermyn Street, where the shopfronts have hardly changed since the 18th century. Floris has been blending fragrances here since 1730. Paxton & Whitfield has been cutting cheese since 1797. Berry Bros. & Rudd has been selling wine since 1698. These are places that feel as though they exist slightly outside of ordinary time.

The day concludes with a quintessentially elegant English afternoon tea – finger sandwiches, warm scones, clotted cream and indulgent cakes – a fittingly civilised final chapter before your next adventure begins.