Two Locals, One Mission
The best way to see a city is by bike, with someone who lives there.
We're Alex and Sam, Barbican residents who have spent years exploring London's streets, parks, and hidden corners on two wheels. The Barbican isn't just our base — it's where we live. We cycle these roads every day, and we know which alley cuts through to which courtyard, which pub has stood on its corner since the seventeenth century, and which Roman ruin hides under the car park on Aldersgate Street.
We started Friends on Bikes after meeting visitors who wanted something more personal than a coach tour and more informative than a self-guided map — people who'd done the museums and wanted to actually understand the city. We designed three routes for them.
Every route has been ridden by us hundreds of times. We refine them on guest feedback, reroute around roadworks, and test every story to make sure it lands. We keep groups to a maximum of 10, because a great tour is a conversation, not a broadcast.