New age of austerity

The British Government is broke or so the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, told the annual Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham yesterday. Mr Osborne told his Party that: "We built an economy on the engines of finance and housing and government spending, and the government never stopped to think what would happen if the engines stalled. Now the credit has dried up, the engines of the economy have stalled, the party is over."

Regardless of their political persuasion, individuals are having to realign their finances under the gathering clouds of the credit crunch.

However poor the economic outlook is, everyone deserves the chance to take a break.

There are five Walk Talk Tours of London, which are available in English, French, German and Spanish. All of the mp3 guided tours of the British capital cost just £5.95 each. Customers purchasing two tours simultaneously will receive a twenty per cent discount. Customers who buy three tours at the same time will get thirty per cent off.

By way of contrast, an adult ticket for the Original Sightseeing Bus Tour will set you back £22 (£20 online). Buying an adult Big Bus Sightseeing ticket online will cost you £22. A single adult ticket on one of the Duck tours will cost you £19.

Listeners can enjoy a ride on a genuine London icon, a red Routemaster bus, for the price of a London Transport single, on the Ride & Stride iPod travel guide. Listeners begin their journey from Bus Stop F by Trafalgar Square. Hear which other British icons design consultant Douglas Scott helped create. Alight by St Paul's Cathedral. Hear about the trials and tribulations that Sir Christopher Wren overcame in designing and overseeing the construction of the Cathedral.

Then head over the Millennium Bridge to the South Bank. Ponder the meaning of art at the Tate Modern and hear about stagecraft in Shakespeare's day at the new Globe Theatre. Hear about the origins of the term 'in the clink' and discover what 'Winchester geese' were.

See a replica of the Golden Hinde, hear about the importance of the old London Bridge. Enjoy a light refreshment or a spot of retail therapy in Hays Galleria. Then walk past City Hall home to the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly, before crossing back over to the North Bank of the Thames via London's most photographed bridge, Tower Bridge.

The Ride & Stride mp3 guided tour concludes by the once notorious Tower of London. Make the most of your tour by checking out the Ride & Stride's Where & When page, which provides information regrading admission charges and opening times of key attractions along the tour's route.

Enjoy the trappings of royal and monumental London without paying through your nose with the Palace Trail, London travel guide. The Palace Trail, London city walking tour follows the Coronation Procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in reverse.

Hear about the origins of the saying 'robbing Peter to pay Paul,' discover how you can tell if Parliament is in session ('or sitting'), hear about some of the great statesmen commemorated in Parliament Square and more. To hear an audio sample from the Palace Trail podcast guided tour please click here.

Make the most of the Palace Trail by taking a look at the tour's Where & When page.

All of the Walk Talk Tours of London - with the exception of the longer City & South Bank Circular mp3 guided tour - can be completed in two hours, though listeners are free to take as little or as long as they wish to complete the tour. With a Walk Talk Tour audio tour you're in charge. Simply stop, start and replay your tour as you see fit - or as the weather dictates. No need to feel too overtly like a tourist or struggle to keep up with your guide - or break the bank.