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Treat yourself or a loved one with the gift of Membership: enjoy free access to all exhibitions, access to our Members’ Room, priority booking to evening talks, and much more.
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West End Walking Tour with Mike Berlin
One-day course
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Tickets available from 10.00 on Wednesday, 29 January 2025
This guided walk will introduce you to London’s historic West End. Since the early seventeenth century the West End rapidly grew from its inner core around the Strand, to encompass Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Covent Garden, Soho and Mayfair. It became playground for the privileged, a place of elegant squares, aristocratic town houses, theatres, coffee houses and luxury shops. Yet the West End was also a working place for Londoners, a haven for religious and political refugees, and a place social and cultural ferment. This walk will explore the back streets and alleys as well as the graceful squares and surviving buildings that have marked out the different eras of its development and its contribution to cultural life of one of the world’s greatest cities.
V&A study days and walking tours invite you behind the scenes, bringing you face-to-face with the V&A's extraordinary collections.
V&A study days and walking tours invite you behind the scenes, bringing you face-to-face with the V&A's extraordinary collections.
- Join us on this walking tour that starts off-site to explore the inner west-end led by V&A Academy Course Director Mike Berlin
- Discover the history and working places for Londoners
- You will receive a walking tour handout to retrace the route and collection highlights
Linked to the 12-week online summer term course London: The Global City 1851 to 2020 led by Mike Berlin. Online course live session, Wednesdays 30 April - 16 July 2025 and access to lecture recordings until Wednesday 8 October 2025.
Please note that we cannot guarantee that this tour is fully accessible; there will be curbs, narrow and uneven pavements on this tour.
V&A Academy Course Director
Mike Berlin
Mike Berlin is a Lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is a specialist in the social history of early modern London and has published extensively on the history of London’s guilds. Before joining Birkbeck, he was a research officer at the Centre for Metropolitan History, Institute of Historical Research.
I loved it all! An excellent walk with so much interesting information Previous walking tour attendee
Membership Priority Booking will open at 10.00 GMT on Wednesday 29 January. General Booking will open at 10.00 GMT on Monday 10 February 2025.
Being up close with treasured objects from the V&A's collections brings your learning to life. Get precious time with incredible exemplars, as well as with our expert tutors and your fellow learners.
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One-day course: West End Walking Tour with Mike Berlin
6 June 2025
£70.00
Tickets not available yet
Need help enrolling? Talk to the admissions team:
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Open 10.00 - 13.00, Monday to Sunday (closed 24-26 December)
Header image: 19thC; Martin Paul, Piccadilly Circus © Victoria and Albert Museum, London