Jack The Ripper Tour London

Has anyone been on a "Jack The Ripper" tour in London?  We have a friend visiting from the states in April and we are taking him to London for the usual "postcard photo" trip of London, but we are trying to think of a good way to end the day.

Any thoughts??

I have been on that walk several times with family, in-laws, and what-not.  Each time it was hosted by Donald Rumblelow, who wrote a book on the subject.

I think London Walks rocks.  Unreseveredly recommended.

I've never done it. I understand the most interesting parts of Whitechapel were flattened during the Blitz, so I never bothered -- despite being a Ripperphile. Someone who's actually taken the tour may have a different opinion.

If you're after gruesome, the Houses of Detention and the Old Operating Theatre were both fascinating and creepy. Looks like the Houses of Detention may not be open to the public any more.

Each time it was hosted by Donald Rumblelow, who wrote a book on the subject.

This is the one I have been looking at.  The same company also do a Sweeny Todd tour and a general ghost walk.

If you're after gruesome, the Houses of Detention and the Old Operating Theatre were both fascinating and creepy. Looks like the Houses of Detention may not be open to the public any more.

These look good too! To be honest..the more gruesome, gory and creepy..the better!  I love that kinda stuff 

My husband took the Jack the Ripper tour twice.  Once with Donald Rumbelow, once with someone else.  He much preferred the first one.  As Stoatula says, there's not much left, but you still get some interesting info, I'm told.

We found it interesting.

This is a total hijack, but I have a funny story to tell about the love of the gruesome.

When I did a semester in Germany, we took a two week trip to see the sights of the country on the whole - which of course included many castles.

Having spent nearly all of my childhood vacations visiting England, I asked my professor "where are all the torture chambers?"

His reply was a bemused..."Zat is ze British..."

I have taken it twice with Donald Rumbelow a well.  There are a few of the locations left, but I am not sure after the Olympic regeneration thing, if that will affect anything. 

I took it once when my mom visited, but we bailed on the tour when they stopped at the Ten Bells for an enforced experience of "a real British pub!"  (this was a few years ago, before it became ultra trendy). I can't remember who our guide was, but I'd seen a couple Discovery Channel-esque tv documentaries on the subject and didn't really feel like I learned much from the tour that I couldn't see just walking around on my own.

It was also pretty embarrassing for me since I work just off Brick Lane and I pass by that stuff every single day. I often see the tour groups on my walk home! Which I don't mind, as long as the herd isn't blocking the entire pavement for the rest of us (the people loitering around Aldgate East Station are the worst!!).

My hubby and I just did the Donald Rumbelow JtR tour a couple of weeks ago.  I knew almost nothing about JtR before the tour, and (this is going to sound a little sick and twisted) I was a little disappointed that it wasn't really that horrifying to me.  My honest reaction was "5 victims, that's it?"

I know, I'm a sicko clearly desensitized to real tragedy by Hollywood movies. 

IMHO, the tour was more interesting for pointing out the very real (and still very clearly demarcated) boundary between money London and poverty London.  The tour was more of a brief little social history of the period told through the story of Jack the Ripper, which was interesting in and of itself.

If you're looking for a ghoulish, Halloween-y type scarefest, this doesn't really do it, but I was glad we did it and found it interesting in other ways. 

That's what I liked about it - the social history.

I enjoyed it, personally, although I wouldn't need to go on another one.

I asked my professor "where are all the torture chambers?"

His reply was a bemused..."Zat is ze British..."

The Germans have had torture chambers all right, but they weren't in old castles.

They had torture chambers all right, but they weren't in old castles.

I have memories of going to Warwick Castle in the late 70's and seeing the implements of torture.  It never occured to me that they might be on display for show rather than historical fact.   In retrospect, it does seem unlikely...