London, as only a cabbie knows it.

From the piazza
to Piccadilly

Luigi grew up in Italy, in a family where stories were told around the dinner table and every old building had a history worth knowing. As a young man he came to London with little more than a suitcase and a love of the city he had read about. He never left.

He set his heart on the one job that would let him know London better than anyone: driving a black cab. That meant the Knowledge, the hardest test of any taxi driver in the world. For years he rode the streets on a moped in every kind of weather, learning every road, every square and every landmark within six miles of Charing Cross, until the city was mapped in his head.

That was more than thirty-five years ago. Since then Luigi has carried thousands of passengers and collected thousands of stories: the hidden courtyards, the cabmen's shelters, the pubs where history was made, and the quiet corners of Italian London that most visitors never find.

Now he shares it all on private tours, told with Italian warmth and a Londoner's wit, from the back seat of a black cab.

1. Chapter one An Italian upbringingFamily, food and a fascination with history that never faded.
2. Chapter twoA new life in LondonArriving in the capital and falling for its streets, its people and its past.
3. Chapter threeThe KnowledgeYears of study on a moped, learning 25,000 streets by heart to earn the green badge.
4. Chapter four35 years behind the wheelA lifetime of London, now shared with guests on private heritage tours.