Explore London on a budget

Chancellor Alistair Darling's first Mansion House Speech, last night, was eclipsed by news that the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir John Gieve, will step down from his position with the Bank next year. Sir John's reputation suffered after the Northern Rock crisis last autumn, which led to the first run on a bank in the UK since 1866.

During straightened economic times, the optional extras - like gym memberships and expensive foreign holidays - are often the first thing people ditch in a bid to reign in costs. Sightseeing in London need not cost the earth, as independent travellers listening to Walk Talk Tours' five audio downloadable walking tours of the capital will discover.

Each Walk Talk Tour, London travel guide costs just £5.95 and can be typically completed in two hours (with the exception of the longer City & South Bank Circular podcast guided tour). Customers purchasing two or more tours simultaneously will receive a twenty per cent discount, buy three tours simultaneously and receive a thirty per cent discount.

The five Walk Talk Tour London iPod travel guides are available in English, French, German and Spanish. Each professionally researched and recorded city guide comes complete with clear instructions providing directions from A to B and a downloadable map for you to print off, so you won't miss a thing!

The area the Mansion House has a rich heritage, which independent travellers in the capital can enjoy with The City & South Bank Circular audio walking tour or The City & the Tower, London city guide will discover how Elizabeth Fry campaigned tirelessly for the welfare of Britain's prisoners in the nineteenth century. Fry lived in St Mildred's Court, opposite the Mansion House, for many years. Fry died in 1845. It is estimated that more than 1,000 people paid their silent respects at her burial.

Fry's image can still be seen on the back of English five pound notes today.

Tourists in London can admire the Bank of England's Headquarters on Threadneedle Street. Listeners to The City & the Tower mp3 guided tour can hear how the Bank's HQ was christened the 'Old Lady of Threadneedle Street'. Listeners to The City & the Tower audio travel guide or The City & South Bank Circular mp3 guided tour will discover how some con men have attempted to defraud the Bank of England down the years.

To hear an audio sample from The City & the Tower podcast guided tour please click here.

Tourists or curious Londoners are free to stop and start as they see fit. No need to stick out like a sore thumb with a guidebook in your hands, or struggle to follow - let alone hear - the man with the umbrella. With a Walk Talk Tour audio downloadable travel guide you're in charge.