London Sherlock Holmes Audio Walking Tour
An unofficial Sherlock walk from 221B Baker Street past the Holmes statue, Conan Doyle's consulting room, the Langham and Bloomsbury to Speedy's.
- 8 stops and 19 minutes of stories, told as you reach each place
- The intro and stop 1 are free in the app: try before you buy
- Download before you go; the audio plays without signal (the street map needs a connection)
- Walking with friends? Pick 1 to 10 seats; everyone hears each stop on their own phone, at the same moment
30 seconds of the real narration
Plays in the free Walk With Me app on iPhone and Android.
Where the story happens
Each stop, the moment of the story it belongs to, and what is there today.
| Stop | In the story | Today |
|---|---|---|
| 1. 221B Baker Street | A Study in Scarlet (1887): Watson and Holmes take rooms at 221B; later, the seventeen steps. | The Sherlock Holmes Museum since 1990, in an 1815 house; entry is ticketed. |
| 2. Sherlock Holmes statue | No scene here: the Holmes of the illustrations, with a hat and pipe the stories never quite gave him. | John Doubleday's bronze, unveiled in 1999 outside Baker Street station. |
| 3. Conan Doyle's consulting room | No story scene, though in The Blue Carbuncle Holmes and Watson swing through these streets on foot. | A dental clinic with a green plaque; some accounts put the room on Devonshire Place instead. |
| 4. The Langham | A Scandal in Bohemia: the disguised King stays here; in The Sign of Four, Mary Morstan's father vanishes from here. | The Langham hotel, with a plaque for the 1889 dinner on its Langham Place side. |
| 5. Montague Place | No scene here: Doyle's own lodgings in the spring of 1891. | Senate House covers the site of number 23. |
| 6. Montague Street | The Musgrave Ritual: Holmes recalls his first London rooms, round the corner from the British Museum. | A Georgian terrace of small hotels running up to Russell Square. |
| 7. Russell Square | Sherlock, A Study in Pink (2010): Mike Stamford spots John Watson in the gardens. | A public garden with a central fountain and a café. |
| 8. Speedy's, North Gower Street | Sherlock: the black door beside the café is the outside of 221B Baker Street. | Speedy's is a real café, still trading, with private homes above. |
About this tour
Watson describes how he and Holmes swung through the doctors' quarter on foot, and Doyle walked every morning from Bloomsbury to his empty consulting room. Walking the same streets puts the pieces in order: the address that didn't exist, the plinth that says where it went, the room where a waiting doctor wrote, the dinner that commissioned The Sign of Four, the lodgings of creator and creation a few steps apart, and the TV door on another street entirely. On foot, the gaps between fiction and fact become a story you can follow. If you'd like company along the way, open the Walk With Me live map to find other people out walking London.
The route
5.2 km in walking order from 221B Baker Street to Speedy's, North Gower Street. Stop 1 is free in the app.
- 1221B Baker StreetThe Georgian townhouse with the famous blue plaque and a uniformed doorman, and the trouble with an address that came along later.£19 to go in, optional
- 2Sherlock Holmes statueThe tall bronze detective outside Baker Street station, the words on his plinth, and two things in his kit that Doyle never wrote.
- 3Conan Doyle's consulting roomA corner house in the doctors' quarter with a green plaque, where an eye specialist waited for patients and filled the hours another way.
- 4The LanghamThe grand Victorian hotel at the foot of Portland Place, an 1889 dinner with Oscar Wilde, and the two books it set in motion.
- 5Montague PlaceA Bloomsbury street between Senate House and the back of the British Museum, where Doyle's morning walk began and a decision was made.
- 6Montague StreetA terrace of small hotels by the British Museum's corner, where the detective says he first lodged, a few steps from his creator.
- 7Russell SquareA garden square with a fountain and a café among the trees, where the BBC moved a Victorian meeting outdoors.
- 8Speedy's, North Gower StreetA sandwich bar on a quiet street north of Euston Road, the black door beside it, and why the letters keep arriving.
What costs extra
1 stop has a ticket to go inside. The story plays outside, so going in is your choice.
| Stop | Inside | Ticket from |
|---|---|---|
| 1. 221B Baker Street | Optional | £19 |
Questions
How long does it really take?
1 h 13 of walking plus 19 minutes of stories, so plan for about 1 h 32 with stops.
Can I go inside 221B?
Yes, the Sherlock Holmes Museum at the start charges for entry and keeps daytime hours, so check times and prices before you go. The story works from the street.
Is Speedy's open when I finish?
Maybe not. It keeps early, short hours and closes on Sundays. You can still see the door from the sidewalk; please keep it clear, as people live above.
Cheaper in a bundle
Before you walk London
Photos: Mike Peel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.