Welcome to Guides and Tourism Books | Londons Secrets

London is a city with a cornucopia of curious places and stories, being ancient, vast and in a constant state of flux. Newcomers have, of course, a wealth of world-renowned attractions to keep them occupied for a month of Sundays, which are more than adequately covered in a plethora of standard guidebooks. What Quirky London does is take you off the beaten path to seek out the more unusual sights that fail to register on the radar of both visitors and residents alike. It also highlights unusual and often overlooked aspects and attractions of some of London’s most famous tourist sites.

Quirky London includes some of the city’s most unusual buildings, striking public artworks, outrageous museum and gallery exhibits, hauntings (including by animals), legends and much more. The entries range from Britain’s oldest door to the beginning of body-snatching, from dummy house façades to London’s unluckiest spot, from a legal brothel to the capital’s most haunted theatre and house, and from the original skull and crossbones to what has a strong claim to be London’s campest statue.

Although this book isn’t intended as a walking guide, many of the places covered are close to one another in central London – notably in the hubs of Westminster and the City – where you can easily stroll between them, while others are further out in the suburbs. However, all are close to public transport links and relatively easy to get to. And, conveniently for a city with a (largely unfounded) reputation for rain – London actually enjoys a lower annual rainfall than New York, Rome or Sydney – a number of the attractions are indoors, meaning that you can visit them whatever the weather.

I hope you enjoy discovering London’s curious sights as much as we did.