The tour will cover the whole tunnel, taking you from Rotherhithe to Wapping and back underneath the Thames. You will walk through different parts of the tunnel on each way.
People Also Ask
While you can't walk through the Thames Tunnel, you can head underground into our spectacular Grade II* listed Tunnel Shaft which once served as the Grand Entrance Hall for Victorian visitors.
In years of using this tunnel I have never had any problems with thugs carrying knives or mug attempts. Lots of families use the tunnel. High risk of being hit by a bicycle though. Many cyclists cycle through as quickly as possible and are not put off by families with children or elderly.
An engineering marvel, the Thames Tunnel saw some 24 million pedestrians pass through before it was converted to rail use for the Underground in 1865. The reason all those people went through the tunnel—some more than once! —was to get to the other side, obviously, but also because it was a destination in itself.
On 18 May 1827, after a rising tide, the Thames Tunnel's ceiling collapsed under the weight of the river and a torrent of water filled the structure. Brunel narrowly escaped with his life.
The Kingsway Exchange Tunnels, some 40 meters below Chancery Lane tube station in High Holborn, were built in the 1940s to shelter Londoners from the Blitz bombing campaign during World War II.
As visitors and workers flocked to the city, its central roads became increasingly congested. Underground railways were built in 1863 to relieve the choked streets. Not everyone liked the early metro system, particularly as its trains relied on sooty steam engines.