About Us

Daniel McIntyre on a London black cab tour of London outside the Prospect of Whitby

Hello, my name is Daniel McIntyre. I am the Head Tour guide of Traditional London Tours. Myself & my family were born & brought up in London, I have always had a fascination of the city I live in, so in 2013 I decided to study the knowledge of London to become a London Taxi driver.

After intensely learning the many roads and hidden streets and after 4 years of studying, I became a London Taxi driver. I soon realised whilst driving passengers in my cab, that customers would ask many questions about statues, landmarks and historical buildings. Which at the time I never knew the answer, only the street name I was driving on and where I was driving too.

So, 3 years ago, I took it upon myself to start reading up on the history of London. The more and more books I read on the different points of history, people and places, my love for London grew even more stronger.

In 2020, I discovered the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers Official London tour guide course and decided to complete this as soon as possible.

I am happy to say I obtained this badge during one of the most difficult years, in the global pandemic. I hope to share with you my knowledge and experiences of historic London.

First class interior for a London Tour by Black Taxi

Your taxi

The Traditional London Electric taxi for your tour can comfortably seat up to 6 passengers, along with a clear glass roof for a fantastic 360 degree view of London, USB ports are available to keep your phones and electrical items fully charged for those must-see photos and social media updates.

This modern vehicle has fully accessible Air conditioning within the taxi for those hot summer months along with heating for those colder crisp days.

The Knowledge of London

London's taxi service is the best in the world, in part because us cab drivers know the quickest routes through London's complicated road network. There are thousands of streets and landmarks within a 6mile radius of Charing Cross. Anyone who wants to drive an iconic London cab must memorize them all: The Knowledge of London.

The Knowledge was introduced as a requirement for taxi drivers in 1865. In order to Complete the knowledge of London Students must learn:

Learn 320 Set Routes from a booklet known as the Blue Book, these will be Routes from A to B within a 6mile Radius of Charing Cross.

Learn up to 10,000 points of interest including London’s Embassies, parks, squares, restaurants, churches, hotels, public houses and many more places.

Stage 1 Map test – 25 multiple choice questions asking you what is the correct point of interest on a particular street? Also 5 questions of asking you the most direct route. Pass mark will need to be 65% in order to pass and go onto the next stage.

Stage 2 Oral face to face exam – Also known as Appearances, an examiner will ask you 4 questions to take them on a route, from A – B within a 6mile radius of Charing cross in the most direct route possible. You then say every single street name on this route, without any pronunciation mistakes, wrong turns or illegal turns. In order to pass all your Appearances, you have to pass in total 12 Exams. Once you have done this you move onto the final stage.

Stage 3 Suburbs – you are asked to learn a Book of 120 routes known as The Suburbs (outer London areas). Here, you will be ask 6 routes in random order out of these 120 runs, which you have to call out clearly in front of an examiner.

Badge Day – this Day was one of the proudest of my life and any London Cabbie will tell you the same. To have your family there, watching you receive your badge was so important to me. It was one of the happiest moments of my life, other than when my wonderful daughter was born.

About Us

Your taxi

The Knowledge of London

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