Hidden London is the London Transport Museum's programme of guided tours into closed Underground stations and tunnels, such as Aldwych, Down Street and the wartime deep shelter at Clapham South. Each site is a separate ticketed tour of 75 to 85 minutes, open only to people aged 10 and over, with many stairs and no guaranteed step-free access.
These are not places you can wander into. The stations are either closed or still working around the parts you visit, so every visit is led by a museum guide and runs on a fixed date with a small group. Tickets are released in batches through the year and the popular tours sell out quickly, which is why most visitors who want one plan around the release rather than their holiday.
For the galleries in Covent Garden, read our London Transport Museum page, and the museum's depot in Acton has its own page. This page is only about the tours below ground: which sites there are, what each one shows, who can go, and how to get a ticket.
Hidden London tours at a glance
- Run by
- London Transport Museum
- Length
- 75 to 85 minutes per tour (museum brochure, 2025/26)
- Minimum age
- 10 on all tours. Ages 10 to 16 must be with an adult; no more than four children aged 10 to 15 per adult
- Access
- No guaranteed step-free access on any tour; wheelchairs cannot be accommodated
- Shoes
- Flat, sturdy and closed. Sandals, open toes and high heels are refused
- Price
- Per person, per tour; varies by site. Check the museum's Hidden London page
- Private tours
- From £1,300 plus VAT for up to six guests (2025/26 prices)
Aldwych the station, not Aldwych the bus stop
The name causes confusion, so it is worth settling first. Aldwych is a curved street at the eastern end of the Strand, and on this site it usually appears as a bus stop or a bus terminus. Aldwych station is a closed Piccadilly line station on the Strand itself, at postcode WC2R 2NE, a few minutes' walk from the bus stops. Our guide to Aldwych and the Strand covers the street above.
The station opened in 1907 at the end of a short branch from Holborn and, in the museum's words, was "never as heavily used as originally intended". It closed in 1994. In between it sheltered Londoners during the Blitz, and it has since become one of the most filmed locations on the network: the museum lists Darkest Hour, Atonement, Sherlock and The ABC Murders among the productions shot there. The tour takes you through the ticket hall, the original lifts, the abandoned platforms and tunnels, and walkways that are rarely opened to the public.
Aldwych is the best-known Hidden London tour and the one we would choose first. The museum has also run a family version of it for ages 10 and over, with clues and activities.
The other sites, and what each one shows
The museum's brochure for 2025/26 lists the tours below. Durations are the museum's own. Not every tour runs in every release, so treat this as the range rather than a timetable.
| Tour | Length | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Aldwych: The End of the Line | 75 min | Ticket hall, original lifts, abandoned platforms and tunnels |
| Baker Street: The World's First Underground | 85 min | Original 1863 platforms, disused lift shafts and corridors closed since 1945 |
| Charing Cross: Behind the Silver Screen | 75 min | The Jubilee line platforms closed in 1999 and since used for filming, and passages under Trafalgar Square |
| Clapham South: Subterranean Shelter | 75 min | A Second World War deep-level shelter with over a mile of passages |
| Dover Street: Alight Here for Green Park | 85 min | The old station hidden inside Green Park, its passageways and ventilation shafts |
| Euston: The Lost Tunnels | 75 min | Dusty passageways and fragments of vintage posters hidden for over 50 years |
| Holborn: The Secret Platforms | 85 min | The two closed platforms of the old Aldwych branch, with a signal cabin |
| Moorgate: Metropolitan Maze | 80 min | Disused tunnels and tracks, including the "Catacombs" under the Barbican |
| Piccadilly Circus: The Heart of London | 75 min | Passageways and lift shafts closed since 1929 in Charles Holden's station |
Down Street, in Mayfair, does not appear in the private-tour brochure but has been sold as a public tour. It is the Piccadilly line station that closed in 1932 and was turned into a protected wartime headquarters for the railway authorities, where Winston Churchill also sheltered. It is one of the smallest and most sought-after tours, and the museum prices it separately.
Several of these are about the same story told from different angles. If wartime London is what interests you, the deep shelter and Down Street pair naturally with the Churchill War Rooms and the Battle of Britain Bunker. If it is architecture, Piccadilly Circus is the one to choose, and the architect's other stations are the subject of our page on Holden and the Underground.
Clapham South: eleven storeys under the common
Clapham South is different from the stations. It is one of eight deep-level shelters built under Underground stations in the Second World War, a pair of long parallel tunnels far below the line. The museum describes the descent as eleven storeys underground. The shelter opened to the public in July 1944.
Its later history is the reason to go. After the war it housed some of the Caribbean migrants who arrived on the Empire Windrush in 1948, and it was later used as cheap accommodation for visitors to the Festival of Britain in 1951. The tour is at postcode SW12 9DU, by Clapham South station on the Northern line; our Clapham guide covers the area, and the circular drum-shaped entrances are visible from the street even when no tour is running.
Clapham South is a long climb back up. The shelter is reached by stairs, not a lift, and you walk back up the same way at the end. If anyone in your group struggles with long flights of stairs, this is the tour to skip, whatever else you book.
Who can go: ages, fitness and claustrophobia
The museum lowered the minimum age on its tours to 10. Guests aged 10 to 16 must be with an adult, and an adult may bring no more than four children aged 10 to 15. Children under 10 are not allowed on any tour, for health and safety reasons.
The museum is plain about access. There is no guaranteed step-free access on any Hidden London tour, wheelchairs cannot be accommodated, and it advises that you need "an adequate level of fitness". Some sites involve long flights of stairs, and all of them include confined spaces the museum says may be unsuitable for people with claustrophobia. Our guide to step-free travel in London covers the working network, but it cannot help here.
Wear flat, sturdy, closed shoes: the museum refuses entry in open-toed sandals or high heels. It also recommends darker clothing, because the spaces are dark and dusty. Check the ticket page for the tour you book for any identification it asks you to bring.
Getting a ticket
Hidden London tickets are not on sale all year round. The museum releases tours in batches, announces each release, and the most popular sites, Aldwych, Down Street and Clapham South in particular, can sell out soon after a release opens. If you are visiting from abroad, the practical approach is to sign up for the museum's newsletter, note the release date and book as soon as it opens, then plan the rest of the trip around the date you get.
Tickets are per person and per tour, and prices vary by site. We could not read the museum's ticket pages from our systems in November 2026, so we do not print exact fares. As our estimate for November 2026, most public tours cost roughly £35 to £50 per person, with Down Street well above that. Two adults and two children aged 10 to 15 should therefore budget somewhere around £150 to £200 for one of the standard tours; check whether concession or child prices apply before you add it up.
The tours are sold separately from museum entry and are not covered by the museum's Annual Pass. Whether museum membership gives earlier access to a release changes from time to time, so check the membership terms at the time you book rather than paying for membership in the hope of it.
Book the tour first and the flights second. A Hidden London tour is one of the few London experiences where the ticket is scarcer than the travel. If a particular site matters to you, wait for its release, secure a date, and only then fix the rest of the itinerary.
Private tours for a group
If you are travelling as a group, or simply cannot get a public ticket, the museum sells private tours at a date and time you choose. Its 2025/26 brochure prices them from £1,300 plus VAT for up to six guests, £1,600 for seven to twelve, and £1,750 for thirteen or more, with a maximum group size of between 16 and 25 depending on the site. Cancellation is free 14 days or more ahead; within seven days the full fee is charged. The same age and access rules apply.
On the day, and what to see nearby
Arrive at the meeting point a little early, with your ticket and any identification the tour asks for. Take as little as you can: you will be climbing, standing in narrow passages and walking on uneven surfaces. We could not confirm the museum's current rule on photography for every site, so ask your guide at the start rather than assuming.
The central tours are close to other things worth doing. Aldwych and Holborn are a short walk from Covent Garden and from the Holborn museums. Moorgate sits under the Barbican, and Baker Street is at the edge of Regent's Park. If tunnels are the appeal, our page on Tower Subway and London's lost tunnels covers what you can see from the surface, and Chislehurst Caves is the underground visit you can book without a release date. For older children, our page on London with teenagers has more of the same kind of thing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Hidden London tour cost?
Prices are per person and vary by tour. As our estimate for November 2026, most public tours cost roughly £35 to £50, and Down Street costs considerably more. Private tours for a group start at £1,300 plus VAT for up to six people in the museum's 2025/26 brochure.
Can children go on Hidden London tours?
Only from the age of 10. Guests aged 10 to 16 must be accompanied by an adult, and an adult may bring at most four children aged 10 to 15. Children under 10 are not admitted to any tour for health and safety reasons.
Are Hidden London tours accessible for wheelchair users?
No. The London Transport Museum says no Hidden London tour has guaranteed step-free access and wheelchairs cannot be accommodated. The tours involve stairs and confined spaces, and the museum advises an adequate level of fitness.
When do Hidden London tickets go on sale?
The museum releases tickets in batches during the year rather than all at once, and announces each release. Popular sites such as Aldwych and Clapham South can sell out quickly, so sign up for the museum's updates and book as soon as a release opens.
Can you visit Aldwych station without a tour?
No. Aldwych station closed in 1994 and is opened to the public only on Hidden London tours and for filming. You can see the station's red-tiled front on the Strand at any time, but the platforms are reached only with a guide.
Sources
- London Transport Museum - Hidden London private tours brochure 2025/26 (sites, durations, age, access and clothing rules) (checked November 2026)
- London Transport Museum - Discover Hidden London (checked November 2026)