Private 3 Hour Spy Taxi Tour of London

Duration 3 hours Languages Available Human tour guide - English Points of Interest Stop At: 105 Victoria St 105 Victoria Street England SW1E 6QT Our tour begins with a drive by the site of the first headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the Intelligence Service (MI5) on Victoria Street. Founded in 1909 opposite what was the Army and Navy store this headquarters was so secretive that the head of the organisation could receive no guests letters or even phone Duration: Not Available Stop At: 54 Broadway 54 Broadway England SW1H 0RG 54 Broadway in the heart of St James was the headquarters of MI6 during its most difficult period of operation the Second World War. Tasked with defeating the Nazi regime and Germany's allies MI6 at this time was not only responsible for foreign intelligence but also the code code-breaking code-making and running what would become the most famous code-breaking organisation in the world Bletchley Park. Originally taking up a whole floor of this building and known as 'The Government Code & Cypher School' or as 'GC & CS' they led Western code-breaking efforts during the Second World War and laid the foundations for modern intelligence organisations such as GCHQ and the American NSA.While here at 54 Broadway you will learn all about how signals intelligence became vital to the Allies during World War II and how today signals intelligence organisations and more broadly signals intelligence are becoming a major source of intelligence and concern for spy agencies across the world. Duration: 10 minutes Stop At: 23 Queen Anne's Gate 23 Queen Anne's Gate England SW1H 9BU 23 Queen Anne's Gate was the home of Adml Sir Hugh Sinclair the one-time director of Naval intelligence and second head of MI6. Responsible for the purchase of Bletchley Park which became synonymous with the Allied attempts to break the Enigma and Lorenz cyphers Sinclair supposedly paid for the costs of purchasing Bletchley Park himself. But is all as it seems when it comes to this purchase? Find out on this tour. Duration: 10 minutes Stop At: St. James's Park Horse Guards Road The Storeyard London No public space in London is so closely associated with espionage spies and their handlers as St James Park. Notorious during the Cold War as the location where Soviet assets within the British government and civil service would meet their handlers or leave dead drops St James's Park was a safe and convenient place to meet. Why were British traitors and defectors able to meet their KGB bosses with such ease in such a central London location and could you follow in their footsteps? Find out at this location.During your time in St James Park you will also discover why MI5 GCHQ and MI6 are all warning government workers to avoid this park which was once a safe place for spies. Duration: 10 minutes Stop At: Victoria Palace Theatre 79 Victoria Street Westminster London The St Erman's hotel in central London is linked to one of Britain's most secretive spy organisations the Special Operations Executive. Founded by Sir Winston Churchill to set Europe ablaze train resistance fighters and assassinate high-level Nazis the Special Operations Executive or SOE as it is more widely known was a highly effective organisation that is linked with the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Czechoslovakia and the destruction of the Nazi atomic programme in Norway. While we only catch a brief glimpse of where the organisation was founded as the tour continues the impressive history of SOE will be revealed to you including how the organisation was established due in part to a major failure by MI6. Duration: Not Available Stop At: 1 Bessborough Gardens 1 Bessborough Gardens England SW1V 2JQ We will not be visiting Victoria Palace Theatre but we will be driving past it as this theatre is the closest publicly known landmark to the new headquarters of the British National Cyber Security Centre the NCSC. Part of the Government Communication Headquarters or GCHQ the NCSC is responsible for ensuring that national critical infrastructure the public sector and industry are protected from online threats including malware attacks ransom attacks and blackouts which could cripple the nation or one of our major pieces of infrastructure such as the NHS or air traffic control.As we drive by your guide will point out the building which houses the NCSC and you can see if you can spot a spy or as they are known in the UK a 'Spook'. Duration: Not Available Stop At: 12 Millbank 12 Millbank England SW1P 4QP 1 Bessborough Gardens is widely believed to have been the former home of the British Spy School. Owned by the UK Government Communications Bureau who also own the building that houses MI6.Opened by the then Prince of Wales Prince Charles it is said that whilst this building was used spy school local people made multiple complaints that their