During my time in London recently, I booked myself on a Royal London Bike Tour, which had been offered by Fat Tire Bikes, a company that specialises in doing such bike tours across Europe.

The first time that I had went on one of their Bike Tour had been in Berlin, Germany, and I had really enjoyed my experience.

So when I had visited London recently, I had decided to do the same thing by going on a bike tour, too. 

As well, I think that the good thing about Bike Tours is that they are able to cover significantly more ground as compared to what most Walking Tours can probably offer to clients.

I paid 26 pounds for the Royal London Bike Tour, reserving my spot the day beforehand. It is actually recommended to book online at least one or two days prior to your tour, just in case that there are no slots available for the day of your choosing.

Checking In

The Royal London Bike Tour had been a three to four hour tour and began at 11am, where we met our tour guide just outside the Queensway tube station in London.

This had been pretty easy to find and as such, I had no problems in locating the place. I was slightly early in reaching, too, so the tour guide told me that I had time to head to the nearby cafe to grab a cup of coffee – and because I needed my daily caffeine fix, I happily complied.

We had a small group of 11 riders, which had been split further into two sub-groups of six and five on the day, in order to make things even more manageable for the tour guides.

Choosing Our Bikes

Once everyone had checked in, we walked to the Fat Tire Bikes shop – which took us a few minutes, to choose our bikes and find one that was comfortable to ride for the next few hours. 

As I am short, I had been lucky to find myself a bike with a smaller frame that I was able to ride.

The Sights of London

Then once everyone had a bike, we were good to go. We pushed our bikes across the road, before mounting them when we had reached the nearby Kensington Gardens.

Our first stop was the Kensington Palace, which the guide pointed out to us, before then stopping there in order to tell us more about the stories behind the location.

For instance, it was interesting to find out that Kensington Palace was Princess Diana’s home after she married Prince Charles and when she later separated from him. In fact, the palace was also where she bought up her two boys William and Harry, and during those days, she would often walk them to nursery school in the mornings. 

Some of our other stops that we had made along the way, had also included the Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and the Westminster Abbey.

And for each of these locations, the guide would give us time to take photos, and at the same time, he would tell us more about the history and interesting stories of the place.

For example, it had been rather comical to hear about the guy who had successfully broken into Buckingham Palace a couple of decades ago, found his way into the bedroom of the Queen Of England, sat on her private bed, and actually saw her sleeping… before he got himself handcuffed, caught and arrested by her security guards.

And as well, at the Buckingham Palace, we saw the flag being mounted and a helicopter flying low in the sky; we could not tell for sure that this was the Queen Of England leaving the palace, but it was a possibility, according to our guide.

Unfortunately the Big Ben had then been undergoing renovations during our visit, so even though the guide pointed this landmark out to us, we did not get to see the famous clock tower in all its glory and splendour. Instead, we saw a lot of scaffolding where the clock tower was supposed to have been. This had actually been a bit of a letdown.

Also, due to the limited time of this tour, we didn’t spend very long at each location. So while this tour is good to catch a glimpse of the sights and sounds of London and take some quick pictures, you may be better off going by yourself if you wish to spend a longer time at each location and wander around the grounds.

Riding London’s Park Connectors and Cycling Paths 

Most of the route took place through the parks and cycling pathways along the roads, meaning that it was a pretty easy and leisurely ride, and as long as you have a basic proficiency in cycling, you would be able to undertake such a tour.

As well, the parks of London are flat, picturesque and scenic, so it felt really lovely to be out and riding through them. I also realised that in general, commuters and other park and road users in London are generally more courteous towards cyclists – as compared to those in Singapore, where I come from.

Guide was Good

Our guide was also very knowledgable with his history and facts and at the same time, patient when we wanted to take photos, sometimes even helping members of the group to take pictures if they had wanted. I thought that this had been quite good service on the part of Fat Tire Bikes.

At the same time, I also thought the guide did a great job in keeping everyone together and making sure that nobody was left behind. For instance, at the traffic lights, we would wait for everyone to reach before we made the crossing.

Having Lunch

As this was not provided as part of the tour package that we had paid for, our lunch had been free and easy, at Trafalgar Square, where there were plenty of shops. 

On his own accord, our guide had helpfully pointed out some of his personal recommendations, before leaving us to grab our food and letting us know what time we needed to return back to our bikes to continue with the tour.

This meant that we’d about 30 to 40 minutes allocated to us for lunch, which had been enough to grab a quick bite without being too rushed or hurried. I had mine at a sandwich cafe nearby.

Finishing The Tour

Our tour whizzed by all too soon, and we ended our two-wheeled tour of London at the Fat Tire Bike Tours shop, where it had begun. We got off our bikes at Kensington Gardens before subsequently walking the rest of the way back. 

This was because according to our guide, it would be safer to walk on the pavements rather than riding our way through the London traffic as not everyone may have been an experienced road cyclist. Better to be safe rather than sorry, I suppose.

Over at the shop, small souvenirs were also available for those who may have been interested to get a memento of their bike ride through London, but I didn’t see the need to buy anything because I already had plenty of photos to mark the way that I had spent one of my mornings and early afternoons in London.