Rachel Kolsky and Diane Burstein both hold the prestigious London Blue Badge awarded by the Institute of Tourist Guiding. It is the premier guiding qualification for London and you can be assured that a guide wearing the London Blue Badge has passed rigorous written and practical examinations covering all aspects of the life and history of London and Great Britain.
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WHO WE ARE

WHO YOU ARE

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Contact


020 8883 4169
info@goeastlondon.co.uk

Rachel has appeared several times on the Radio. Hear her on The Robert Elms Show, BBC Radio London
May 6 2008

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Public Tour Dates

THE FREUDS IN HAMPSTEAD

Sunday 11th July

STOKE NEWINGTON

Saturday 17th July

SPORTING VISION WITH VISIT TO FORMAN'S

Thursday 5th August

JEWISH WEST END

Sunday 8th August

WHITECHAPEL AT WAR

Thursday 24th June

BATTLING BELLES OF BOW

Wednesday 11th August

MILE END TO VICTORIA PARK

Saturday 21st August

OLD JEWISH EAST END

Sunday 22nd August

(with visit to Sandys Row Synagogue)

Wednesday 25th August

JEWISH WEST END

Sunday 12th September

and more ...

Spend, Spend, Spend

Tooting

Creative Spitalfields

Radicals to Rothschilds

Camden Town

National Portrait Gallery

Full details at

Public Tours

 

 



Who are we

NEW FOR 2010

GO EAST LONDON PRESENTS 'GO JEWISH LONDON'

Public Walking Tours - Bookable in Advance

We are really excited about our new venture ... so many of you contacted us for Jewish themed tours to be run regularly that we have programmed one a month throughout the coming year!

Rachel and Diane are pleased to be joined by Isabelle Seddon for our Go Jewish London tours. You can share our knowledge and passion for Jewish London with 'From Mile End to the West End', a series of four popular walks tracing the journey of the London Jewish Community from Mile End and Stepney in the east to Fitzrovia and Soho in the west.

'FROM MILE END TO THE WEST END'

An East End Village (Mile End and Stepney)

10 January, 9 May, 5 September

Old Jewish East End

7 February, 6 June, 3 October

A Walk of Jewish Firsts (The City)

7 March, 4 July, 7 November

The Jewish West End

11 April, 8 August, 5 December

Full details are on our Jewish Heritage page

All tours are on Sundays and start at 11.00am.

Choose your favourite or book the whole series (there is a discount if you book all four)

£10.00 per person. Book by email or call 020 8883 4169

VIEW THE SPORTING VISION - Full Day

2012 tour with visit to Forman's

22 July 2010 ** SOLD OUT **

** ADDITIONAL DATE ** 5 August 2010

Our walking tour leads you along the tow path that skirts the Olympic site area and also along the Greenway which goes through what will be the Olympic Park and from where you get a marvellous view of the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre, both currently nearing completion. The area has a rich history and en route you will hear about its fascinating industrial past and, of course, the plans for the 2012 Olympic Games themselves, the massive construction and remediation project and also the the legacy that the Games will leave behind. Not forgetting 1908 and 1948, when London also hosted The Games.
Booking in advance essential - via email or call 020 8883 4169
10.30am. £32 to include walking tour, smoked salmon bagel lunch at Formans with coffee and cake, talk on the smoked salmon industry and a tour of the factory with a demonstration of how to slice a side of smoked salmon, swiftly and with no cut fingers!!
Your Go East London Guides - DIANE and RACHEL
Diane Burstein
Rachel Kolsky

Diane has made regular radio broadcasts on the subject of “Secret London” and is the author of “London Then and Now”. She is a qualified Further and Adult Education Teacher and runs “Discovering London” courses for several London colleges including the City Lit and the Bishopsgate Institute.

For over ten years her popular walking tours have introduced visitors and Londoners to the lesser known corners of the capital.

Rachel is a prize winning Blue Badge Guide who worked for over 25 years in the financial services industry as a professional researcher.

Her inquisitive nature soon led her to explore London both east and west, always on the look-out for those buildings and stories that would otherwise remain undiscovered.

Leading tours since 1999 Rachel guides all over London, not just in the East and has also recently starting talking even further afield as a guest cruise lecturer.

We guide in all weathers!
Dunno

What Are They Saying About
Diane's and Rachel's Tours?

We are featured in 'Your Local London' - read about us here!

Crowd Beatles
"Combines an excellent knowledge of the subject matter with a friendly and engaging approach"
Emma De Souza, Society of London Theatre

"In spite of being a mixed language group, there was no problem understanding Diane's knowledge and entertaining commentary, due in the main to her precise diction which was favourably commented on by our overseas colleagues"
Susan Ward, Matra Marconi

"Diane's infinite patience, knowledge and kindness will be a cherished part of our trip to England"
Paul Lindblad, Choir Director, Paul Lindblad Choiristers, Chicago

“Rachel's tour evoked warm and pleasant memories and they have not stopped talking about it since their return home”
Balint House, Elderly Care Home

"Rachel's tour was a perfect way to make the day even more memorable”.
Philippa Hamilton, guest on Steve King’s Freedom of the City Tour

“Diane gave our group a super talk. She set a very high standard for our future speakers”
Josephine Offin, Chiswick Townswomens Guild

“Diane’s depth of knowledge always astounds me”
Joan Brown, LBC Listener

“We enjoyed the Old Jewish East End Walk and felt that we had learned a lot about our heritage”
Bernice Monty, Wanstead and Woodford Synagogue

“ A super day. The timing and arrangements were just right”
Pauline Bell, Chandlers Ford U3A

“We learned so much from our tour and our members were unanimous in their praises”
Betty Cossey. Twyford and Ruscombe History Society.

“A great tour host and guide who helped us appreciate this fine country a lot more”
David Judd, Choir Director, W F West High School Choir, Seattle


Who You Are

Let us help you organise your tour

Rachel and Diane have guided every type of group you can imagine – Groups and Families, Students and Seniors, Visitors and Residents – anyone who has an interest in exploring London’s fascinating past.

These are some of the occasions for which tours have been arranged:

Corporate Hospitality
  • Enhance your department with a Team Building Session
  • As part of your Conference a tour will introduce delegates to their host city
  • Include a tour in the Conference Spouse Programme
  • Entertain Local and Overseas Clients with a tour followed by dinner
  • An Employee Area Familiarisation tour will help your staff discover the history of their workplace district
  • Give your team a break from the office with a Departmental Social Outing
  • As one of your Incentive Programme Activities suggest a tour in an area of their choice

Social Groups

All our tours can be tailored to suit the members of your Special Interest Group (eg. family history, local history, industrial archaeology etc)

  • At a Singles Event guests can meet informally and discover London at the same time
  • Women’s Institute or Townswomen’s Guild Outings offer the opportunity to visit London and we can always fit in a leisurely lunch or shopping too!
  • Give your Rotary Club a break in London
  • Retirement Groups can take a trip ‘Down Memory Lane’ – the memories will flood back
  • An educational tour can also be a social outing for groups from the U3A
  • Church and Synagogue Social Groups will learn of their religious heritage

Family and Friends
  • Take a tour to the London of your childhood with a trip ‘Down Memory Lane’
  • Book a tour of your choice as a Birthday Celebration for you or a friend
  • Celebrate your Hen Party with a fun commentary as you go from venue to venue
  • Surprise Outings are always fun, particularly if you get inside one of London’s ‘hidden interiors’
  • Entertain your Wedding Guests from overseas with a tour of their host city
Students of all ages
We can adapt any tour to match your studies.

East London offers wonderful opportunities for students of Social History, Ethnic Diversity, London History, London Literature and Urban Geography to leave your libraries for a while and discover history from the buildings, streets and riverside.

Tourist Groups
If you are staying at a Docklands-based hotel arrange an Area Introduction Tour
  • Diverge from the usual tourist routes and discover Alternative London
  • Sundays offer an opportunity to visit the vibrant Markets of the East End
  • Experience the diversity of cultures in Cosmopolitan London

Up you go
 

To the east of the City the East End of London is a treasure-house of surprises waiting to be explored. Through a series of fascinating guided walks and tours in London our experienced and enthusiastic London Blue Badge guides Rachel Kolsky and Diane Burstein will introduce you to the history, personalities and buildings of the past and present.

All of these areas covered have their own distinct personalities.The history of the East End has been shaped over the centuries by the River Thames and the generations of immigrants who made London their home.

At Go East London we want you to discover the stories of this exciting, ever changing area which is now home to many of the most vibrant artistic and business districts of London.

Our London walks and tours include Docklands walks, Spitalfields walks, riverside walks, tours of the London Olympic sites, Jewish East End walks and many more.

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Conference Guide UK

Council of Christians and Jews

Denis Severs House

Discover Spitalfields


Discover Tower Hamlets

Facing East

Hidden Art


Hotel direct

Inkcities


Island History Trust

Jewish Heritage UK

Jewish Museum

London Eastside Venue Finder

London Hotel toBook

Museum in London Docklands

Ragged School Museum

Sandys Row Synagogue

Spitalfields Festival

Synagogue interiors

A Traveller's Guide To London

Walking Britain

Whitechapel Art Gallery

Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Wilton's Music Hall

Women's Library

Your Local London - Bethnal Green

Your Local London - Bow

Your Local London - Hackney


... and beyond London

Berlin and More

Go East with Asia Paradise

Up you go my lovies