PRIVATE TOURS

LSO LONDON CUSTOMISED PRIVATE TOURS

TOURS INCLUDE BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

BRITISH MUSEUM
BRITISH MUSEUM KIDS
NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON
NATIONAL GALLERY KIDS
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM: DINO ADVENTURE KIDS
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE: WEST LONDON & WESTMINSTER
ROMAN LONDON: BIRTH OF THE CITY OF LONDON
THE EDGE OF THE CITY: SECRET BACKSTREETS OF LONDON
TATE BRITAIN
TATE MODERN
TATE MODERN KIDS
A DAY OF TATES: TATE BRITAIN AND MODERN (FULL DAY)

MADE-TO-MEASURE WALKS: Any Theme or Route can be worked into a specially-tailored walk designed specifically for you, your group or family.

PREVIOUS WALKS GIVEN:

LITERARY LONDON
ELIZABETH II'S LONDON
BLACK LONDON
JEWISH LONDON
GAY LONDON

PLEASE GIVE ADVANCED NOTICE FOR ANY TAILORED WALK.

Have you ever...

"Have you ever had a tour guide that changed you & your family's whole perspective on museum-goings and history itself? Our family sure hadn't until we had a tour with Dr. Lawrence Owens at the British Museum in London. Lawrence set a bar so high that it would be near impossible for any other tour guide to surpass. not only is his knowledge and expertise truly next-level and in depth, but his ability to connect with kids & keep the whole family engaged is second to none. He was able to keep our 9 and 12 year old boys focused by saying, "...remember this because I'm going to ask you about it later," and he would! His personality and passion for the respective subjects kept all of us on our toes, wanting to learn and savor more. Our experience with Lawrence was sneakily educational and the most fun we have had on any tour. Three hours was truly not enough for a museum tour and I never thought I would say that. We highly recommend him to anyone who is looking for a personal and interesting tour at any museum that lies within his realm of expertise, which seems to be all of them. Next time we visit London, Lawrence will be one of the first people we call to set up another tour and hang out....once again. : )" ~ 2024 Maredith & family

NEW! British Museum Kids - Mummy Treasure Hunt

One of the reasons that ancient Egypt is such a popular topic is that it is just so...bizarre. While much of the western world uses numerical and alphabetical systems, scientific methods, literary structures and even the stem vocabularies of ancient Near Eastern and Mesopotamian nation states, Egypt prided itself in its immense antiquity and cultural continuity from the 4th millennium BC until the arrival of the Romans, remaining largely unchanged while the modern world was being created around her in the Mediterranean and Near East. And there is nothing more uniquely peculiar than the ancient Egyptians' attitudes towards death and burial.

To this end, I have developed a mummies hunt designed for children (and adults!) that takes place against the clock. Kids - perhaps with a parent as a scribe - must get through the mummies section as fast as they can, finding the items on the score sheets, and answering the questions both quickly AND accurately, because every incorrect answer loses you time!

OVATIONS FOR Dr. OWENS

"...an exceptional tour guide. He provided excellent historical and human context to the objects in the British Museum and to the museum itself...was able to bring in his own field archaeological experience to enhance our understanding and appreciation for the amazing objects in the Museum and made our visit wonderful."

"We wanted to share a BIG thank you to Lawrence for our amazing tour at the British Museum. We thoroughly enjoyed the three hours of non-stop information sharing and exploration. Lawrence has the rare ability to keep teenagers engaged! Thanks again for a great experience; we won't go back to the British Museum without him!"

"My boys will easily say that of their time in London, the British Museum tour with you was their absolute favorite!! Your ability to connect with them and engage them in the first 10 seconds of speaking with them was amazing. They learned more historical facts from you in 2 hours than they have in an entire school year."

"In my experience, the more important the museum, the more necessary a guide, and I am officially obsessed with the one we had for the British Museum. Lawrence Owens is a rockstar archaeologist who knows how to keep kids’ attention with gruesome stories about ancient civilizations while imparting more education in a couple of hours than I’ve ingested in years."

"We had a fantastic time with Lawrence! We all learned so much but the kids were especially excited to share their day with our family members that couldn’t make it. Lawrence was so good with the two teens they actually begged me to schedule another museum visit with him! They didn’t want the tour to end! Please extend our gratitude for a great experience to Dr. Owens, he really has a gift of making learning fun!"

"Lawrence is a force of nature, especially with young learners. He is masterful at speaking a teenager's language and using the right mix of gore, surprise, and irreverence to focus on a few key, big points. The result is that the young mind comes away piqued and asking to go deeper. Mission accomplished. Bravo."

"We had a fantastic time with Dr Owens at the museum. It was the highlight of our entire vacation. I’ve never seen my two boys (10&12) more engaged and excited and they learned so much. They loved how interactive and hands on the entire tour was. They continue to spout out historical facts and quiz each other on info from the tour even now a week later. I cannot recommend Dr Owens strongly enough."

"We would without hesitation recommend that anyone travelling to London make time for a tour with Lawrence! It was a top highlight of our trip. Lawrence is an engaging, enthusiastic & exceptional teacher. Not only did we learn a ton but we truly had a blast doing it!” Drew, Taylor, Shannon & Rachel

"I can't say enough positive things about our tour with Lawrence at the British Museum. He was incredibly engaging, super knowledgeable and quite funny. Our girls (ages 12 and 9) had the best time for the entire 2.5-3 hour tour. Suffice to say without Lawrence we would not have had anywhere near such a successful time. INCREDIBLE!!! WORTH EVERY PENNY. Definitely book a tour...if he's available!!!"

"Even the cheekiest monkeys listen attentively to Dr. Owens!"

"Dr. Lawrence Owens was truly a one of a kind guide. He was more than a guide. He was a professor and in the short time we spent with him received an amazing education."

"We saw the British Museum through different eyes, and he even quizzed us at the end! He is a must do for our next visit!"

"It was a privilege to spend time with Dr. Owens and to learn from his experiences and knowledge. The kids were delighted with our tour and are still surrendering to each other in Assyrian style!!"

"Lawrence quickly established a wonderful rapport with our 11-year-old, and led us all on a witty, enlightening tour through what would otherwise have been an overwhelming collection of artifacts. His fascinating personal experiences directly related to the objects on display, as well as his deep (and sometimes irreverent) knowledge of the cultural and historical context surrounding them made everything come to life. Do not miss the Assyrian collection if you are in Lawrence's company!"

"In a word....AMAZING! In retrospect, it’s difficult to say whether it was the kids (9 & 7) or the parents (us) that were more intrigued by our time with Lawrence."

"We’ve all had people in our educational experiences that can make the topic 'come alive', Lawrence excelled in this arena. His mastery of the topics, and his ability to relate it to all ages was superb. Our time with Lawrence was truly one of the highlights of our time in London."

"Nearly a month later we’re all still talking about it (Lawrence, I was listening to the Hardcore History podcast this weekend and they were discussing the Sumerians-thanks for the knowledge!)"

"On our next trip to London, a tour with Lawrence will be one of our priorities. We consider it a must!"

"If you come to London you MUST (book) Lawrence Owens. He is a bioarchaeologist and a London university lecturer. What better person to show you the history of this wonderful city? I came with two 19-year old teens and they can't stop raving about Lawrence and everything he showed and taught them. My daughter's friend was so inspired by his work and passion that she has decided to give college another try. Lawrence is a modern day Indiana Jones. Lawrence tailored our tour to sites he believed would interest us and he captured sites from one end of London to the other. He helped us obtain our Oyster cards and took us on the tube and buses so we would understand how to use them ourselves the rest of the week. If you take only 1 tour- book...Lawrence Owens."

"Lawrence was great! It was so nice having such an expert take us around. He really made an effort to adapt the tour for the kids."

"Lawrence was terrific, A+. He had great energy, his good stories were fun and insightful, and we left with a deeper understanding of art through this period and geographies. We could tell how much he enjoyed talking about the topics. His presentation was fresh, full of interesting details and, at the same time, stitch together a narrative across time and place. I would definitely book Lawrence again."

"Our kids are still talking about the tour of the British Museum and Rosetta Stone. They perfectly recall the answers to the quiz you gave them during our tour. We hope to see you again soon. A bientot!!"

"Lawrence was engaged and engaging, fun and interesting - and was able to tailor the tour to fit our interests (and the interests of our 14-year-old son). We learned a lot about British history and the city of London - even though we have traveled and even lived in London previously, it was a lot of new information. A great morning!"