london history trip header slk fe

Trips to London for History Students

London is a city with great historical significance. Its iconic skyline is so distinctive, packed with many of tourist attractions including the London Eye, the Shard building, and of course the Houses of Parliament and is the perfect location for a history college trip.

A student trip to London provides an opportunity to experience some of the world's best museums and monuments, each telling the story of London’s fascinating past. Students can even round off their stay with a trip to the theatre to see a West End show.

The city is also home to the world’s most famous sporting venues including Twickenham, Wembley Stadium, and Wimbledon Tennis Club.

Prices start from£149pp

Sample itinerary

Our sample itinerary provides you with an idea of the visits you can cover during your trip. We can tailor-make an itinerary to support your specific learning outcomes.

Morning Afternoon Evening
1 Executive coach transfer to accommodation Shakespeares globe Jack the Ripper tour. Evening meal
2 Royal courts of justice HMS Belfast Executive coach transfer home
  • 1
  • 2
Morning Executive coach transfer to accommodation
Afternoon Shakespeares globe
Evening Jack the Ripper tour. Evening meal
Morning Royal courts of justice
Afternoon HMS Belfast
Evening Executive coach transfer home

Price Shown includes

  • 1 night’s bed & breakfast accommodation
  • Executive coach transport from & to college & throughout your stay
  • Group travel insurance
  • 1 in 10 free place ratio

The visits shown in the sample itinerary above are not included in your quoted price unless indicated. If you would like to add any of these activities to your quote price, please get in touch.

Price shown is based on 40 paying passengers departing from a selected departure point on selected dates and is subject to availability.


On-tour support

Additional on-tour support available...

  • A choice of packed lunches for your group throughout your stay
  • Pre-booked meals at great group prices
  • Pre-booked and pre-paid public transport tickets

Top visits for college groups in London

Imperial War Museum

After a major redevelopment, the museum features groundbreaking WWI Galleries which will present the story - how it started, why it continued and its global impact - through the lives of those who experienced it on both the front line and the home front. The Witness to War atrium displays iconic larger objects including a Harrier, Spitfire and V2 rocket suspended from above.

Churchill War Rooms

Visit the Churchill War Rooms which Winston Churchill and the War Cabinet used during air raids. Explore the historic rooms to experience secret history and discover the stories of those who worked underground as London was bombed above them.

‘A Cathedral at War’ Workshop at St Paul’s Cathedral

A 60 minute workshop exploring how the cathedral survived the Blitz and still serves the city as a venue for remembrance and reconciliation. Students will be taught the Fire Watchers drill by a volunteer fire watcher and are taken on a journey around the Cathedral, being shown where bombs fell and demonstrated how to deal with the dreaded Incendiary bomb and gas mask.

HMS Belfast

Discover the stories behind this warship from WWII and beyond. Imagine sleeping in one of the tightly packed hammocks during duties in Arctic waters, or being stationed deep in the bowels of the ship when she opened fire in support of Allied troops on D-Day.

The Royal Courts of Justice - Court in the Past

This two hour session takes place in a working court room and around the courts. Students will be introduced to the Royal Courts of Justice and prepare and enact a trial based on a real historical case. They will then discuss and debate real historical sentencing options and compare these to sentencing options in the present day. Trials include a conscientious objector during WWI, a trial deciding whether forcing slaves to leave the country should be made illegal or a suffragette arrested for malicious damage.

Westminster Abbey - Westminster at War Themed Tour

Offered on Mondays, groups can take a themed tour around the majestic abbey and learn how it was affected in WWII.

The Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret

Understand the nature of surgery before the barriers of infection and pain had been overcome with the reconstruction of an early 19th century operation. Also covers the role, status and training of surgeons before the advances in surgery and medical training in the later 19th century.

The Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum

St Mary’s Hospital is home to the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum. As well as seeing Fleming’s laboratory, restored to its 1928 condition, students can explore the story of Fleming and debate his precise role in the development of penicillin.

Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons

Students will encounter key objects linked to the lives of leading figures including Ambroise Pare, Robert Liston, Joseph Lister and James Young Simpson, giving your group a chance to learn more about the significant contributions they made to the history of medicine.

The Florence Nightingale Museum

Helping students to examine the role of Nightingale in the development of training for nurses and standards of care in hospitals, groups can see how the status of nurses was transformed, as well as how Nightingale’s work showed a new approach to the day to day running of hospitals. Why not use our worksheets to focus your group in the museum? 

Old Bailey & Lincolns Inn Visit, Talk & Court Sessions

During your visit you will be given a short talk outside the Royal Courts of Justice before listening to a court hearing in a criminal appeal. Your group will then be taken to Lincolns Inn, where many of the country’s top barristers have their chambers. The tour finishes at the Old Bailey where your group will be given a talk about the history of the court.

The Clink Prison Museum

During an educational tour of this unique and medieval prison, your group will have the opportunity to handle original historical torture artefacts relating to crime and punishment used in the prison, witness the terrible conditions of the time, and learn of the prison’s involvement in many major events through audio and visual presentations and the colourful narrative provided by your guide. Self-guided visits are also available.

Tower of London

Develop an understanding on the nature of authority and attitudes to crime and punishment in the early modern period with our school trips to the Tower of London. An ideal opportunity for a more in-depth study of Guy Fawkes and his attempt to destroy the Houses of Parliament in 1605.

The Royal Courts of Justice - Court In Session

Suitable for KS3-5, this exciting visit to the historic Royal Courts of Justice will have your group talking for weeks! You can choose from a wide range of quality learning experiences. 

This two-hour session takes place in a working court room and around the courts. 

Students will:

  • Be introduced to the Royal Courts of Justice and what happens there
  • Prepare and enact a trial based on an ex-offender’s experiences
  • Explore roles in a court room and meet a legal professional where possible
  • Discuss and debate real sentencing options

The Royal Courts of Justice - Motion To Appeal

Suitable for KS3-5, this exciting visit to the historic Royal Courts of Justice will have your group talking for weeks! You can choose from a wide range of quality learning experiences. 

This two-hour session takes place in a working court room and around the courts.

Students will:

  • Be introduced to the Royal Courts of Justice and what happens there
  • Prepare for and debate an appeal case which has been heard at the Royal
  • Courts of Justice (this can be a broader debate or one that focuses on a particular point of law)
  • Explore roles in a court room and meet a legal professional, where possible

Imperial War Museum - The Holocaust Exhibition

A rich learning resource for students in Years 9-13, visits include an orientation session to help prepare and focus students, a visit to the galleries and a feedback session to help students reflect on what they have learned.

Wiener Library

The Wiener Library is one of the world’s leading and most extensive archives on the Holocaust and Nazi era. Formed in 1933, the Library’s unique collection of over a million items includes published and unpublished works, press cuttings, photographs and eyewitness testimony. Workshops include The Nazi Games (looking at propaganda and the 1936 Olympics) and Rescues of the Holocaust (looking at individuals who saved lives under Nazi rule).

The Jewish Museum – Investigating the Holocaust Workshops: Witness the Witness/A Child’s Journey

This museum encourages understanding of the social psychology of the Holocaust, as well as the moral, spiritual and personal dimensions. 

Topics include family separation, the refugee experience and human rights. Students explore artefacts, documents and photographs, both as sources of evidence and as a starting point for unravelling personal stories. Tailor-made educational workshops available include:

Never Again Auschwitz, Witness the Witness/A Child’s Journey, Faith & the Holocaust, Focus on the Kinder Transport and Every Object Tells a Story.

Witness the Witness/A Child’s Journey
Students will meet and hear the personal testimony of a Holocaust survivor or Kindertransport refugee. We recommend this workshop for students in KS2-3 who have prior background knowledge.

The Jewish Museum – Investigating the Holocaust Workshops: Faith & The Holocaust

This museum encourages understanding of the social psychology of the Holocaust, as well as the moral, spiritual and personal dimensions. 

Topics include family separation, the refugee experience and human rights. Students explore artefacts, documents and photographs, both as sources of evidence and as a starting point for unravelling personal stories. Tailor-made educational workshops available include:
Never Again Auschwitz, Witness the Witness/A Child’s Journey, Faith & the Holocaust, Focus on the Kinder Transport and Every Object Tells a Story.

Faith & The Holocaust
Reflecting on faith during and after the Holocaust. Students will look at the role of belief, ritual and prayer in the face of adversity. Students will explore religious objects and the texts as a springboard for discussion. This workshop is recommended for students in years 9-13.

The Jewish Museum – Investigating the Holocaust Workshops: Never Again Auschwitz

This museum encourages understanding of the social psychology of the Holocaust, as well as the moral, spiritual and personal dimensions. 

Topics include family separation, the refugee experience and human rights. Students explore artefacts, documents and photographs, both as sources of evidence and as a starting point for unravelling personal stories. Tailor-made educational workshops available include:

Never Again Auschwitz, Witness the Witness/A Child’s Journey, Faith & the Holocaust, Focus on the Kinder Transport and Every Object Tells a Story.

Never Again Auschwitz
Drawing on the life story of British born Holocaust survivor, Leon Greenman OBE, this workshop enables students to reflect on the experience of individuals in the Holocaust and relate this to the concepts of tolerance, respect, freedom and identity both in the past and today. This workshop is recommended for students in years 9-13.

Suffragette Walking Tour

Your expert guide will meet you close to where the headquarters of the Women’s Social & Political Union once was, and the tour ends at Emmeline Pankhurst’s statue. 

Along the route, which takes in some of the best-known sights of London, you will learn about major events in which the heroes were Emmeline, Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst, Kier Hardie, the ill-fated Emily Davison and others. The inspiring story continues through the First World War to the Suffragettes’ final victory. 

Karl Marx Walking Tour

Take a two-hour walk through the life, times and ideas of Karl Marx. Visit the places in and around Soho where Marx lived and worked, and hear the extraordinary tale of this man who would change the world.

The tour gives a full biography of Karl Marx and his family from his early years, his studies, his revolutionary journalism, his hopes, dreams, ailments and tragedies, as well as reviewing his political and intellectual influence. 

London, Sugar and Slavery Exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands

Visit this permanent exhibition that examines London’s involvement in transatlantic slavery. In the setting of this historic sugar warehouse, challenge long-held beliefs that abolition was initiated by politicians and be touched by the real objects, personal stories and vibrant art and music that have left their legacy on the capital today.

Whitechapel Crime, Policing & The Inner City Walking Tour

For those studying the GCSE option Crime and Punishment in Britain, take a walking tour of the Whitechapel area.  Five of the six most famous murder cases in Britain from 1811-1911, plus a famous Kray Twin murder, the Sidney Street Siege and the Cable Street Riot, all took place in or a stone's throw from Whitechapel.

This walk can be adapted to your study themes, whether it be the Whitechapel of Jack the Ripper, the Krays, some of the other crimes or, a combination of them, we'll cover the social history, the policing and also consider why it is that Whitechapel produced such famous crimes.  

City of London Police Museum

The City of London Police Museum takes visitors on a unique journey, which includes the last hours of Catherine Eddowes, one of Jack the Ripper’s victims; bomb damage during the Blitz; being at the forefront of technology to counter terrorism and the current work against economic crime and cybercrime.

The National Army Museum

Visit the National Army Museum and find out how Britain’s past has helped to shape our present and future. Discover the impact our Army has had on the story of Britain, Europe and the world, and see how the actions of a few can affect the futures of many.

Crime in Whitechapel – The National Archives Education Session

Why was 19th century Whitechapel so difficult to police?  Using original documents from our collection, students will explore the key features of Whitechapel in the 19th century to uncover why this area was such a challenge for the Metropolitan Police. Students will also discover how the police sought to overcome these challenges, from dressing as women to developing silent footwear, in their bid to rid Whitechapel of Jack the Ripper.

Whitechapel, Crime and Policing Tour

Exclusive to NST - this new guided walking tour in London is ideal for students studying Crime and Punishment in Britain or Whitechapel, c1870–c1900: crime, policing and the inner city options for their History GCSE. Led by a guide with examining experience, your group will discover the area of Whitechapel and learn about:

•    The environment of Whitechapel of the time
•    The role of the police
•    Reasons for Jack the Ripper's escape
•    View contemporary sources for the period


Evening activites

  • The lastminute.com London Eye
  • View from The Shard
  • Thames River Cruise
  • West End show 
  • Jack the Ripper tour
  • Bowling
  • Cinema