Stroll Your Way to City Discovery: Urban Saunters Leads Intimate Walking Tours

When the pandemic halted travel in 2020, Slawek and Shabby saw an opportunity to reimagine tourism in London. The co-founders launched Urban Saunters, an independent walking tour company, in April 2022. Since then, the startup has taken over 10,000 visitors on bespoke walking tours, earning rave reviews and awards along the way.

Slawek, a tourism operations manager, and Shabby, a European tour guide and product developer, were inspired to start Urban Saunters after years working in the industry. They aimed to elevate the typical walking tour experience with a personalized touch.

“We deliver classic itineraries in London – bespoke, private & small group – without herding people around like cattle,”

they said.

Rather than reinventing popular tours, Urban Saunters focuses on delivering them with passion and purpose. They work with local guides and storytellers to lead intimate tours, paying them properly for their expertise and talents.

“We are two people, with zero investment, friendly service from digital to tour, and a dream to present traditional tourism properly, without big tech or big overheads,”

the founders said.

Their dream is paying off. Since launching, Urban Saunters has won Tripadvisor’s Traveller’s Choice Award twice and was named “London Tourism Start Up of the Year” at the UK Start Up Awards 2023. They also collaborate with leading travel platform GetYourGuide, to create a unique tour experiences for guests from all over the world.

Looking ahead, Slawek and Shabby plan to expand Urban Saunters across the UK and Ireland. They also aim to launch England’s first multi-day food tour, enabling visitors to discover the country’s culinary heritage. Despite their early success, the founders remain humbled and focused on their mission.

“We were humbled and pleasantly surprised… it taught us that there really is room left for tourism done traditionally but passionately,”

they said upon winning the Startup Award. Through intimate walking tours led by storytellers, Urban Saunters is helping people discover London and beyond, one step at a time.