World Country Guide

London

London Tourist Board & Convention Bureau (tel: (020) 7234 5800; fax: (020) 7378 6225; website: www.visitlondon.com).
London has no obvious centre, because it grew out of two formerly distinct cities. The City of London was the site of the original Roman settlement and, later, commercial and trading centre. Meanwhile, Westminster became the seat of government after transfer of England’s administrative capital from Winchester in the 11th century. Over the centuries, they fused, and engulfed surrounding villages and hamlets. Not until ‘Green Belt’ legislation of the 1950s did expansion slow. Today, 33 London boroughs and the City of London cover an area of nearly 385 sq km (148 sq miles), but contain a great deal of open parkland, common land and even woods. A wide range of guided walking, bus and car tours is available in London. For further details, contact the Tourist Board.
Roughly bounded by the Underground Circle Line, this area includes the West End, Westminster and the City. The West End contains many of the principal theatres, cinemas, restaurants, cafes, hotels and nightclubs, as well as the best-known shopping areas, like Oxford, Regent and Bond Street, as well as Covent Garden.
Places of interest include Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, the buildings of the Horse Guards and Downing Street in Whitehall, and the Tate Britain gallery on Millbank. The London Theatre Museum is in Russell Street.
The Royal Opera House, home of both Royal Ballet and Royal Opera, is in Covent Garden. Backstage tours are available. The London Transport Museum is also in this area, whose former fruit and vegetable market is now filled with cafes, pubs, restaurants and shops.
Rock Circus, by Piccadilly Circus, brings the story of rock and pop music to life. The Courtauld Institute paintings are on display at Somerset House (which formerly housed records of births, marriages and deaths).
A short distance to the north is Baker Street, location of Madame Tussauds, and the adjacent London Planetarium. The Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street contains a representation of the fictional detective’s apartment.
Further west, in Kensington and Chelsea, are several other famous shopping streets (King’s Road, Knightsbridge – site of Harrods – and Portobello Road, with its antiques market). Three of London’s largest museums (the Victoria & Albert, Science and Natural History), and the Royal Albert Hall, home of the summer Promenade Concerts, are also here. The British National Army Museum is in Chelsea’s Royal Hospital Road.
Central London also contains four parks: Hyde Park (by far the largest), St James’ Park, Green Park and, slightly further north, Regent’s Park, location of London Zoo.
The City, with a resident population of less than 5000, is, during the day, the workplace of over 500,000 people. It covers just 259 hectares (1 sq mile), hence its nickname of the ‘Square Mile’.
Its best-known building is Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral, completed in 1711. The Museum of London, near St Paul’s, tells the story of London from prehistoric times to the present day. On permanent display is the famous Lord Mayor of London’s coach, which carries the Lord Mayor through the City streets during the annual Lord Mayor’s Show. Close to the City is the Tower of London, built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century. Near here is Tower Hill Pageant, which tells London’s history in relation to the River Thames. The Bank of England, the Stock Exchange, Lloyd’s of London (the world’s leading insurance market), Mansion House (official residence of the Lord Mayor) and the Central Criminal Court (‘The Old Bailey’) all stand within the City boundaries.
Dr Johnson’s House is close to Fleet Street, former centre of London’s newspaper industry. The Monument (to the Great Fire of 1666) and the Royal Exchange are other famous landmarks; a more recent addition is the Barbican Centre, which contains a major arts complex – used by the Royal Shakespeare Company and home to the London Symphony Orchestra.
Tower Bridge, although little over 100 years old, is one of the world’s most famous such structures, and it is possible to visit the control room containing the machinery for raising and lowering the central section and to walk along the overhead walkway. Moored on the South Bank close to the bridge is World War II battleship HMS Belfast, also open to visitors.
Immediately at the southern end of Westminster Bridge stands the former County Hall, now redeveloped to include the London Aquarium, one of Europe’s largest.
The South Bank Arts Centre, near Waterloo Station, is among the most famous attractions south of the river. It comprises the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Festival Hall.
Nearby is The Old Vic, one of London’s best known theatres. Southwark Cathedral, near London Bridge, is one of the finest Gothic churches in the city. Also in Southwark is an authentic reconstruction of the famous Shakespeare Globe Theatre, now open to visitors, and the site of the similar Rose Theatre. The brave may also be tempted to visit the ghoulish London Dungeon, which dwells upon less pleasant aspects of the capital’s history.
The redeveloped Bankside Power Station houses the Tate Modern gallery. Its collection includes major works by Monet, Picasso and Warhol, among many others. For lovers of even more contemporary and controversial artwork, the Saatchi Gallery hosts works by modern artists such as Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and the Chapman Brothers. Also along the South Bank is the Dali Universe, a celebration and gallery of the surrealist legend's works. The pedestrianised Millenium Bridge by Norman Foster connects the two riverbanks, beginning outside the Tate Modern gallery and ending across the river near to St Paul’s Cathedral.
By Bankside Quay is Vinopolis City of Wine, while another attraction in the area is the overwhelmingly popular London Eye ferris wheel which, at 137m (450 ft), is the world’s tallest, offering stunning views from its enclosed capsules.
Other attractions near the river include the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth. Portraying the history of 20th-century conflict, its features include the Blitz Experience and a section dedicated to the Holocaust. Lambeth Palace, official home of the Archbishop of Canterbury; the Florence Nightingale Museum, at St Thomas’ Hospital; Battersea Park; and the Design Museum are all in the vicinity.
A short tube ride to the east is Greenwich, with the National Maritime Museum, the clipper Cutty Sark, the Royal Naval College and the Royal Observatory, through which runs the Greenwich Meridian, zero degrees longitude. The Queen’s House, recently restored to its 17th-century glory, is also in Greenwich, as is the Fan Museum, with its collection of over 2000 fans.
At the Woolwich site of the former Royal Arsenal, a new interactive exhibition, Firepower, has opened in the Museum of the Royal Artillery Regiment.
Further south, London attractions include the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre and the All England Tennis Club and Lawn Tennis Museum at Wimbledon. Dulwich Village has England’s oldest art gallery, while Brunel’s Engine House at Rotherhithe is site of the world’s first underwater tunnel.
Further west are the Botanical Gardens (and palace) at Kew, and Richmond Park, where thousands of deer graze freely.
London’s two major exhibition centres, Earl’s Court and Olympia, stand slightly to the west of the central area. The Boat Show and the Ideal Home Exhibition are among their principal events. Not far away, Whiteley’s of Bayswater is an Edwardian shopping centre comprising over 80 shops, restaurants and a multi-screen cinema.
Chiswick House in Chiswick is a superb Italian-style villa. In Fulham, Chelsea Football Club offers tours of its redeveloped Stamford Bridge stadium. Further west are Syon Park in Brentford (which includes a beautiful 16th-century house) and the London Butterfly House; nearby is the Musical Museum, the Living Steam Museum and the Waterman’s Arts Centre.
South of Brentford and Chiswick is Hampton Court Palace, former official royal residence before Buckingham Palace, built by Cardinal Wolsey in the early 16th century and added to by Henry VIII, Charles I, Charles II and William III. Other local houses include the Orleans House Gallery, Ham House and Marble Hill House.
Wembley Arena and Conference Centre is in northwest London, and the new 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium is scheduled for completion in early 2006. The late August holiday weekend is marked in the Notting Hill area with the famous Carnival.
North London contains fashionable Hampstead, set on a steep hill. Hampstead Heath is one of the largest expanses of parkland in any big city anywhere in the world. Hampstead itself has narrow twisting streets and numerous cafes, restaurants, wine bars and shops. Places to visit include Burgh House, Kenwood House (a Georgian country house, which contains a fine collection of paintings, set in parkland) and Keats’ House (the poet’s former home, now a museum). To the east, and also on a hill, is Highgate, another attractive former village best known for its cemetery which holds the graves of Karl Marx and George Eliot. In St John’s Wood, visitors can tour Lords’ Cricket Ground. Camden Town is home to a well-known weekend market at Camden Lock – the Jewish Museum is also in this area. Further out of town at Hendon is the Royal Air Force Museum with its collection of historic aircraft.
The East End (Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, Mile End and Bow) is in many ways the ‘real’ London, although this part of the capital suffered badly both during the World War II Blitz and at the hands of 1960s urban planners. This is where the Cockneys hail from (it is said that to be a true Cockney, one must be born within earshot of the bells in Bow Church).
Cockney traditions linger here: ‘Pearly Kings and Queens’ make occasional appearances, and there are plenty of ‘pie and mash’ shops still in evidence.
In the heart of the ‘old’ East End, the Whitechapel Art Gallery is a source of local pride. Another major attraction is the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Middlesex Street, on the City boundary, is location of Petticoat Lane Market. Within walking distance from Petticoat Lane is the lively and trendy Spitalfields Market which has an excellent organic food and arts and crafts market on Sundays. Today the City is encroaching on the traditional East End areas. But its success has indirectly led to London’s biggest regeneration project – transformation of Docklands from 22 sq km (8.5 sq miles) of dereliction to an important business area and leisure attraction.
Renovated St Katharine’s Dock, close to Tower Bridge, is now an attractive marina surrounded by wine bars and restaurants, and at Wapping there are many old warehouses, the majority of which have been converted into homes and leisure amenities – a process underway throughout East London. The Prospect of Whitby pub on the Wapping foreshore is a tourist attraction in itself. Nearby Tobacco Dock is a large leisure complex with shops, restaurants and entertainment. Moored at the quayside are two replica 18th-century pirate ships.The whole area has undergone intensive redevelopment along its 88km (55 miles) of waterfront, and the Docklands Light Railway opened in 1987, providing easy access from the City. The Canary Wharf development boasts a 245m- (800ft-) high office tower, Britain’s tallest building. London City Airport provides quick connections to short-haul destinations. Walks along the river and in the former docks areas are rewarding, offering unexpected glimpses of 18th- and 19th-century London.
The new Docklands Museum, which highlights the history of London’s river and port industry and communities, occupies a listed warehouse on West India Quay.
Elsewhere in East London, Lea Valley Park stretches from Hertfordshire to Bromley-by-Bow in the East End and offers extensive recreational facilities. Attractions include the 16th-century Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge in Chingford and the 11th-century Waltham Abbey. Hackney’s Victoria Park is another green space in the heart of urban sprawl.
Boat trips are available to the Thames Flood Barrier, situated down-river from Greenwich.