London Magical Tours

Private sightseeing in and around London

London Magical Tours runs private and small-group sightseeing tours in London and on day trips out of the city to Windsor, Hampton Court, Stonehenge, Oxford and the Cotswolds, with Wimbledon also on the list. Its core product is the private tour: a car with a driver-guide who collects guests from their central London hotel, a London airport, a Eurostar station or a cruise port. Prices are in pounds, from £24.14 for a transfer to £216.50 for the longest private tours, and the site runs in English, French and Spanish. A sister firm, Paris Magical Tours, handles tours in France.

The about page tells the origin story of founder Dr. Gil Cartland, who "returned home in 1915" and could not find a way to show London to his guests without cramped tours, so he set up a service with a chauffeur and "a personal guide with a true in-depth knowledge". The footer carries the line "Cartlands Group 2009 - 2026". The page describes the guides as "actors, architects, doctors, lawyers and blue badges" and the chauffeurs as "fully licenced in accordance with English law", and calls the company "the original pioneers of Layover Tours".

Private tours and their prices

The tours page lists a "from" price per person for each private tour:

• Private Taste of London Introduction Tour, 2 hours, from £74.83pp, billed as costing "less than the price of a shared group bus tour", with a driver-guide.
• Half Day London Tour, 3 hours, from £133.17pp, covering Buckingham Palace, St James Palace, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
• London Day Tour, 5 hours, from £183.17pp, adding the eastern City of London and St Paul's Cathedral.
• Magical London Full Day Tour, 7 hours, from £216.50pp, which promises "over 2000 years of history", including the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.
• London Night Tour, 3 hours, from £133.17pp, past Piccadilly Circus, the West End, Waterloo Bridge and the Houses of Parliament as "the city's old Victorian lamps become lit".
• Private Pick & Mix London Landmark Tours, 3 or 5 hours, from £149.83pp, with 1 landmark on the shorter tour or 2 on the longer; visits inside each last "between one and a half and two hours".
• Private Sherlock Holmes London Tour, 3 hours, from £133.17pp.

Outside London, the Windsor tour runs 5, 7 or 9 hours from £183.17pp, Hampton Court 5 hours from £183.17pp, Stonehenge 6 hours from £199.83pp, and Oxford with an optional Cotswolds extension 7 or 9 hours from £216.50pp. Layover tours from Heathrow, Gatwick, City Airport and the cruise ports of Southampton, Harwich and Dover start at £138.17pp, and tours from the Eurostar at St Pancras at £123.17pp. Seasonal Christmas lights tours, which the site calls award winning, start at £149.83pp. The private Magical Christmas London Tour runs daily from 13 November 2026 to 6 January 2027. The Hampton Court page promises the state apartments, the Tudor kitchens, "over 60 acres of gardens" and the maze at Henry VIII's palace, while the Oxford tour sells the city as the inspiration for the Harry Potter, Narnia and Lord of the Rings stories.

How a tour runs

The Stonehenge and group pages explain the format. Tours are "fully escorted": at the standard level a single driver-guide drives and narrates, with photo stops and commentary; at the VIP levels a guide and a separate chauffeur work as a team, and the guide leads walking tours at key landmarks while the car waits. The Stonehenge tour begins with a drive through the countryside and a private guided tour of the stones, and offers a 3-hour Windsor extension (the page adds £400 for the 9-hour version), taking in the town, the Changing of the Guard when it runs, and St George's Chapel, which it notes is closed for sightseeing on Sundays. Tours run daily all year, and Stonehenge slots start between 9:00am and 11:30am.

On languages, the Stonehenge and group pages say tours are available "in most languages" through a multilingual guide team, naming Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese, with language surcharges. The Stonehenge page says prices include the driver-guide (or guide and chauffeur at VIP levels), the private vehicle, parking fees, collection and return in central London or Victoria Station, and all taxes. Fast-track entry tickets are offered for Stonehenge and Windsor Castle, and the site's FAQ list includes a question on whether lunch and entrance fees are included.

Groups, scheduled tours and booking

The group page covers parties of 6 to over 100 in "modern ac mini-coaches & buses", with multiple coaches for more than 100 passengers, and says "the larger the number of passengers, the greater the saving off the per person price". It names missionary groups, schools and universities, family groups and corporate visits, with Gold and Platinum Level VIP upgrades for companies, and offers pub lunches, fish and chips or afternoon tea as pre-booked extras. For travelers happy to share, scheduled group tours include Royal London Express from Heathrow (6 hours, from £99.00pp), Kensington Palace and the V&A (4 hours, from £129.00pp), Wimbledon with Hampton Court (7.5 hours, from £139.00pp, with fish and chips), and a Windsor and Hampton Court day (8 hours, from £149.00pp).

Bookings run through an online booking page, with an "Online Price (save £20)" note on tour pages, or by phone on 020 7859 4561 (+1 800 336 3172 from the USA and Canada) and by email.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

The tour pages do not publish a cancellation or refund policy or a deposit rule, and the group page says per-person prices fall as the party grows, so the "from" figures are a starting point rather than a quote. The 1915 date comes from the founder's story rather than a stated founding year.

London Magical Tours suits visitors who want London or a day out to Windsor or Stonehenge in their own vehicle, collected from the door, and travelers with a long layover at Heathrow or Gatwick. Groups get a clear format, and anyone wanting a guide in a language other than English can request one.