About us
A bespoke tour company with a conscience
A La Carte Tours & Events delivers unique tours, creative corporate events & incentives, and truly special VIP experiences, all with our accredited Blue Badge tourist guides.
It is our mission to give you a personal experience, made with heart. From food and drink tours to private events, we are a London Tour Company that brings the spirit of London to life.
All of our London tours and events are private and exclusive for you, with tastings hand picked to ensure a high-quality experience based on the local area and its history, alongside seasonal variations to showcase the best of British produce.
Learn more about who we are, and how our friendly, creative company began, below.
Why are we a company with a conscience?
Our founder and director, Alex Lacey, is an eco-warrior and community champion. She has created a London tour company that not only offers creative experiences for visitors and locals alike, but one that is also a force for good.
At A La Carte Tours & Events, we believe:
We should work locally
We champion local producers and companies who embrace the slow food movement, or who are actively driving change. We employ qualified Blue Badge Tourist Guides who are local to the area, who not just know facts about places to provide the best food and drink tours, but have got a true feel of them too.
We should be mindful of our impact on the planet
We’ve invested a lot of time and effort in minimising our environmental impact, and we’re always looking at how we can reduce it even further. We want to keep offering more and more eco-friendly and carbon neutral food and drink tours, experiences and events, and we use electric vehicles where possible.
We should give back to the community
We give a percentage of our profits to our local food bank, which means that every booking you make with us helps to feed people in need.
People should be paid properly
We don’t hammer down prices to get the ‘best deal’, we work with our suppliers to foster trusted relationships with them, and make sure they’re properly compensated for their work.
Everyone is equal
We believe in equality for everyone, and that goes for our employees as well as our event attendees at our London tours. We will never discriminate against anyone based on race, gender, sexuality, physical ability, or anything else that makes someone who they are.
What is a Blue Badge Tourist Guide?
Blue Badge Tourist Guides are qualified, registered tour guides in the UK. The Blue Badge is the industry standard, and it ensures that you have a professional, trained guide for your London tours. Blue Badge Guides train for up to two years, and are the experts on everything local in a particular area. They are personable, flexible, and are the only external guides who have the honour of guiding in sites like the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and other significant historical sites. Green Badge guides operate the same way, but in a much smaller area, such as the City of London, or Westminster specifically. We work exclusively with Blue Badge Guides & Green Badge Guides for guided London tours, to make sure you get the best possible experience.
Get in touch to find out more.
The Founder – About Alex Lacey
Alex started her career in the tourism industry over 20 years ago. Before qualifying as a Blue Badge Tourist Guide, she first worked in the Champagne industry in France, then as a professional tour director, as well as spending time in the corporate events and team building industry. She guides in English, French and Dutch, and has worked with people and companies from all over the world, with groups ranging from 1 person to groups of 600+.
As well as a passion for tourism, she is a fierce believer in giving back to the world. She has worked for several years with a homeless charity, and is a staunch advocate for reducing our impact on the planet, and she’s carried these values over into A La Carte Tours & Events.
Her background in the private and corporate tourism world, as well as leading wine tours around the world for many years, means she’s uniquely placed to deliver you a tour made with love, heart, experience and, most importantly, tailor made for you. If you want to talk to us about any of our bespoke London food and drink tours, and corporate events, get in touch.
Why us?
We are a company with a conscience.
Community minded
Everything we do keeps the community in mind, investing in the local areas that we work in, and being conscious of the very many special historic sites within the city of London. We give a percentage of our profits to our local food bank, which means that every booking you make with us helps to feed people in need.
To see how we’re giving back to our community, visit here.
Local focus
The Best of British suppliers are at the heart of our London food and drink tours. Whether it is a melting cheese dish in London’s Borough Market, or the delicious wheelcakes in Spitalfields Market. Find out how we champion local producers and local talent here.
You can find recent food adventures on our Instagram here.
Low impact
All of our London food and drink tours are as planet-conscious as possible. We want to keep offering more and more eco-friendly and carbon neutral experiences and events, and we use electric vehicles where possible.
Learn how we’re minimising our impact on the planet here.
Equal opportunities
We believe in equality for everyone, and that goes for our employees as well as our event attendees. We will never discriminate against anyone based on race, gender, sexuality, physical ability, or anything else that makes someone who they are.
Read about our commitment to equality for all here.
Enquire today
It is our mission to give you a personal experience, made with heart.
All of our London food tours are designed to showcase the very best treasures within each area. Simply fill in your details and we’ll get back to you.
Get in touch
Would you like to ask a different question or make a booking? Just fill in your details and we’ll get back to you.
