Last updated: 30 July 2023
Did you know there are at least 40 disused tube stations in London? Some are used for film sets, others re purposed for themed events and the rest lie completely abandoned.
We were invited to join a tour to explore the depths of the Aldwych tube station. The air is stale and the shelves are dusty. We’re told the lifts don’t work, so as I tightly clutch the handrail as we descended down the steep spiral staircase. In here it’s as if time stood still, I’m immediately transported back to the 1940s.
Aldwych tube station is one of these disused Underground stations. It’s situated on the Strand in London. Opened in 1907 to operate as a shuttle service from Holborn under the name “Strand”, renamed to Aldwych soon after opening as the name caused confusion. The station was closed in 1994 due to the cost of refurbishment after the lifts and mechanics fell into disrepair.
While the station was still operating, parts of the station was used during World Wars I & II to shelter precious artworks from London’s museums and art galleries (incl National Gallery, Portrait Gallery and V&A) from bombing.
The Aldwych tube station has remained on the site due to historical significance but also for the fact that it has become useful. Frequently used as a movie set, the station has been seen in many movies including V for Vendetta, 28 Weeks Later, Atonement and more recently in the TV series, Mr Selfridge.
The Aldwych tube station is now run by the London Transport Museum and opened for tours only a few times a year. Demand is high and tickets go quickly,
The tour starts at the ticket landing, showing original phone booths, ticket counters and signage. Stories are recounted of a time gone by where timber elevators operated lift men took ladies in hats and gloves and well dressed men in to the warrens of the Underground.
From here you negotiate a few hundred stairs down a spiral staircase to platform level. Further tales are recited of Londoners taking refuge in the alcoves and disused tracks which served as housing for the poor, frightened and sometimes lucky as bombs reigned down on London during the Blitz of 1940 when London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 57 consecutive nights.
Visiting the Aldwych tube station is like stepping back into time. Very little has changed to the station itself, you can conjure up images of a time gone by.
The Essentials
Aldwych tube station
- Due to the station being often used as a movie set, tours are only available a few times a year.
- Access to the Station is only permitted via a tour.
- Duration of a tour is 60-90 minutes.
- Prices range. I’ve seen tours for £15 (which got cancelled). I paid £25.
- There is no lift access so it’s not advised for anyone with mobility issues or vertigo.
- Those on a tour must wear fully enclosed flat shoes. High heels or sandals are not permitted.
- Absolutely no food or drink is allowed on the tour. Apparently Aldwych is the only vermin-free station on the Underground.
- You can take as many photos as you’d like!
Verdict
It’s very cool. The history buffs would just love this kind of thing. My expectations were quite high, I’d waited over a year for this tour since my previous scheduled tour was cancelled. While I thoroughly enjoyed the experience I wouldn’t do it again and I thought the guide needed a bit more experience/training. I rate the whole experience a 7/10.
Abandoned sites are great. Your next challenge should be to visit one that isn’t being operated as a museum. The muddy kind of urban exploring. 🙂
Lovely post! Another great example of something that I’ve neglected to give due attention to as a Londoner – I’ll have go and look at this properly one day now that you’ve inspired me!
Thanks Shikha I’m thrilled to know I have inspired you. It’s why we do what we do right?! Aldwych tours are hugely popular so get in early and it’s safe to say once it’s announced something like Time Out magazine it’s almost sold out.
Good luck and enjoy!
That\\’s really cool! I\\’ll try to get there when I go to London again. By the way, how\\’d you get to work in London? I\\’ve been trying to transfer over there. I\\’m in Los Angeles currently.
Thanks Michelle. Suggest you check the UKBA site for Visa information to work in the UK.
Heard a lot of good things about this tour from folks back in England that have experienced this but you are right when you say that tickets for the tours are limited as they are not always available! You know it’s a good spot when it’s an attraction used in many films.
Great post and hopefully we will get to experience this at some point for ourselves in the future.
Thanks Chris. Tours do go quick. I recommend following London Transport Museum and/or Time Out London. It’s pretty much guaranteed that once it’s in something like Time Out that they’re almost sold out!
How cool that movies are shot there – I\’d be all running down that long pathway shouting something really loud as if I were Nicole Kidman… or maybe not 🙂
There’s nothing wrong with a bit of star struck! Apparently Daniel Radcliffe was filming in London last week. I went for a stroll around the so called area and found nothing. #Disappointed.
Sounds like a great thing to see and do! I love forgotten things of days gone by. It definitely has a historical appeal! BTW, love the photos!
Thanks Constance.
What a cool site to visit! Sorry to hear that you\’ve only rated it 7/10. To wait fir a visit for a year and than have a bad tour guide, it\’s such a shame. Lovely photos!
I love exploring stuff like this! So interesting what they use for movie sets these days, it looks like the scene in Atonement where Kiera Knightleys character is hiding with everyone else from the bombs and… I won\’t spoil the movie.
This is cool. I love history and I love abandoned sites and their stories. Thanks for sharing this one.
This visit of the antique metro station sounds awesome, I love this kind of stuff. In Barcelona there is one station called Gaudi which they never opened for the public, and I always wanted to visit that. However, it is the same like in the case of Aldwych, they only open it for a guided tour a couple of times per year. Great post, always cool to read about places like this!
Wow, I love it!! I am DEFINITELY putting this on my list of things to do and it sounds like it needs some proper planning! Your photos are great and I can imagine all of the people huddling in the tunnels during the Blitz! It’s both eery and yet also beautiful. I love it!!
It’s incredibly popular so keep an eye out for tickets and tours. They’re not run all the time as it’s often booked out for filming.
What a historical treasure! And what photos! How are your legs after all those stairs? ;P
Thanks Erin, I was really excited to go that’s for sure. I’ve never had the opportunity to go before so when it finally did, I jumped at the chance.
I can’t believe how many movies have been shot down there!