London Quest: Chasing Dickens Through Victorian London
Description
You came to London to write, but the words won't come. Then on a foggy evening walk, you spot him: a man in a black top hat who looks impossibly like Charles Dickens. Dead for over 150 years, but real enough to follow. You set off after him. This self-guided literary quest takes you on a walk through the Victorian heart of London. Using the Questo app on your smartphone, you follow the figure at 12 stops through Clerkenwell, Holborn, and Fleet Street: from the Charles Dickens Museum on Doughty Street and the buried Fleet River to Fagin's haunt on Saffron Hill, and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, where Dickens drank with fellow writers. Decode hidden messages, solve literary puzzles, and piece together the story of Victorian London's most famous writer. Start whenever you like and explore 3.5 kilometres of London's most storied streets at your own pace. Best experienced during the day. Perfect for history lovers, literature fans, and curious explorers. No knowledge of Dickens required.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The Charles Dickens Museum is an author's house museum at 48 Doughty Street in Holborn, London Borough of Camden. It occupies a typical Georgian terraced house which was Charles Dickens's home from 25 March 1837 (a year after his marriage) to December 1839. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
It was laid out around 1686 and originally ran further, along what is now the Man in the Moon Passage. John Rocque's Map of London, 1746 shows Vine Street extending from Piccadilly northeast to Warwick Street. In 1720, the main properties on the street were a brewery and a carpenter's yard. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
This stylish inn dates to 1759, but its moment of fame came in 1838, when Charles Dickens changed its name to the Three Cripples and made it Bill Sykes' watering hole of choice in Oliver Twist. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Staple Inn dates from 1585. The building was once the wool staple, where wool was weighed and taxed. It survived the Great Fire of London, was extensively damaged by a Nazi German Luftwaffe aerial bomb in 1944 but was subsequently restored. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
The Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre was located in the Fields from 1661 to 1848, when it was demolished. This, originally called the Duke's Theatre, was created by converting Lisle's Tennis Court in 1695. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Following a £35m renovation designed by Gaunt Francis Architects, the Maughan is the largest new university library in the United Kingdom since World War II. Designed by Sir James Pennethorne and constructed in 1851, with further extensions made between 1868 and 1900, it is a Grade II* listed building. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
The house now known as Dr Johnson's House was probably originally built for a City merchant. Its most famous resident, and one of the most distinguished figures in English literary history, Samuel Johnson (1709-84), rented it from 1748 to 1759. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
Originally, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was built in the 1530's, although the original pub was lost in The Great Fire of London in 1666. The current pub dates from 1667 – having been one of the first London buildings reconstructed after the Great Fire. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.
It was consecrated on 16 April 1863 as "The Church of St Peter of all Nations". At the time of consecration, it was the only basilica-style church in the UK. Its organ was built in 1886 by Belgian Anneesen. During World War II, when Italian immigrants were interned, Irish Pallottines made use of the church.
The Royal College of Surgeons has a long history. Its earliest origins lie in the 1540s when the Company of Barbers and the Fellowship of Surgeons joined together to form the Company of Barber-Surgeons. In the 1700s medicine became an academic discipline and surgeons demanded more recognition for their expertise.
Romanian Orthodox chapel St Dunstan-in-the-West is one of the churches in England to share its building with the Romanian Orthodox community (St. George church). The chapel to the left of the main altar is closed off by an iconostasis, formerly from Antim Monastery in Bucharest, dedicated in 1966.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(6)
What a wonderful experience meandering the Backstreets of London. I really enjoyed the challenges within the quest and the puzzles to be solved. The only reason I got four stars is two of the 12 locations on the quest in order to solve the puzzles you needed the places to be open in two places out of 12 or closed on Sunday. I would not recommend trying to do this on a Sunday.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. We’re delighted that you enjoyed exploring the backstreets of London and uncovering Charles Dickens’ world through our puzzles. Your feedback about Sunday openings is very valuable, and we’ll make sure to clarify this better so future players know what to expect. We’re glad the rest of the quest made for a memorable journey, and we hope to welcome you on another adventure soon.
What a wonderful way to spend a sunny fall afternoon in London. Although I've watched some of these streets, I never really appreciated the history that this quest shared. I really enjoyed the puzzles and the challenges that were presented as part of the quest. My only suggestion is for this quest let people know that several of the clues aren't accessible on Sunday because the businesses associated with them are closed
Thank you so much for your thoughtful review! We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed exploring Dickens’s London in such a fun and puzzle-filled way. It’s wonderful that the quest added a new layer of history to streets you already knew. We also really appreciate your helpful feedback about Sunday access—we’ll make sure to highlight this more clearly so future players can plan accordingly. We hope to see you on another adventure soon, whether in London or beyond!
Really great way to see London . Lots of info learned and gives you the opportunity to pause and stop for a pint or bite to eat...we all loved it!
Great to see that you enjoyed exploring London with Questo. Thank you for sharing your review. Hope to see you explore more games with us.
Great concept and a very enjoyable day, went at our own pace and stopped at several pubs! Lovely sunny day and in the heart of the City all was beautiful & quiet. Very atmospheric and clues were not too easy but also not too difficult! Loved 🥰 looking for the Man in Black!
Thank you for sharing positive experience with Questo. We are grateful that you enjoyed the game. Hope to see you explore more games with us.
All of it, , make sure your phone is fully charged, be prepared to walk stairs, will definitely use this app again and we found the man in black.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It's a great feeling that you have enjoyed the game. See you soon with your next game with Questo.
As a Charles Dickens fan, I found this game huge fun and a great way to explore the hidden rivers and forgotten alleyways of Clerkenwell, Mount Pleasant and Hatton Garden in Dickensian London. Amazing to think so much still exists from the chase in Oliver Twist, to the Bleak House law courts and Pickwickian taverns near Fleet Street. The app was easy to use although some of the puzzles were a bit challenging, but the clues worked and this actually made the experience even more enjoyable. A great way to combine a walk with teasing brain puzzles - for Londoners and visitors alike.
