I qualified as a Camden Tour Guide in 2022 and since then have been leading walks with US Study Abroad students. The areas I most enjoy covering are King’s Cross and Bloomsbury – there’s so much to say about both areas and you can amend each walk to mirror what the students are studying.
Prior to tour guiding I worked for 16 years with the mayor of London’s office and GLA to promote London internationally, working with the first two mayoral administrations of Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. This involved travelling extensively around the world to promote London to attract international tourists, international students and foreign direct investment (FDI).
My tours veer towards the economic and social history of London, including the people who campaigned for change. Back in the 1990s I did an MA in London Studies at Birkbeck, University of London and I draw a lot of my knowledge from that course.
To support work I have previously done in China, I manage a Sina Weibo account (@Kevin_McCarthy) which has just under 200,000 followers. More recently I set up an Instagram account to support my London walks called @londonwalkingguides.
I was born in London and have spent most of my life living in the city. More recently, I split my time between London and Scotland, where I’ve started leading tours of Edinburgh and the ‘new’ ancient city of Dunfermline with US students.