Published in Destinations

London, Great Britain

Aerial view of the City of London. United Kingdom. Photo: Wikipedia / (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Noisy, vibrant and truly multicultural, London is a megalopolis of people, ideas and frenetic energy. The capital and largest city of the United Kingdom, it is also the largest city in Western Europe. Situated on the River Thames in South-East England, Greater London has an official population of a little over 8 million, but the estimate of between 12 and 14 million people in the greater metropolitan area better reflects its size and importance.

Considered one of the world's leading "global cities", London remains an international capital of culture, music, education, fashion, politics, finance and trade. Among international tourists, London is the most-visited city in the world.

Districts

The name London originally referred only to the once-walled "Square Mile" of the original Roman (and later medieval) city (confusingly called the "City of London" or just "The City"). Today, London has taken on a much larger meaning to include all of the vast central parts of the modern metropolis, with the city having absorbed numerous surrounding towns and villages over the centuries, including large portions of the surrounding "home counties", one of which - Middlesex - being completely consumed by the growing metropolis.

The term Greater London embraces Central London together with all the outlying suburbs that lie in one continuous urban sprawl within the lower Thames valley. Though densely populated, London retains large swathes of green parkland and open space, even within the city centre.

Greater London is all of the area surrounded by the M25 orbital motorway, and consists of 32 London Boroughs and the City of London that, together with the office of the Mayor of London, form the basis for London's local government. The Mayor of London is elected by London residents and should not be confused with the Lord Mayor of the City of London.

Central London

Bloomsbury. Vibrant historic district made famous by a group of turn-of-the-century writers and for being the location of the British Museum, the University of London and numerous historic homes, parks, and buildings. Part of the Borough of Camden.

City of London. The City is where London originally developed within the Roman city walls and is a city in its own right, separate from the rest of London. It is now the most important financial centre in the world, but an area where modern skyscrapers stand next to medieval churches on ancient street layouts.

Covent Garden. One of the main shopping and entertainment districts. Incorporates some of London's theatreland. Part of the City of Westminster and Borough of Camden.

Holborn-Clerkenwell. Buffer zone between London's West End and the City of London financial district, home to the Inns of Court.

Leicester Square. West End district comprising Leicester Square, Chinatown, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus and the centre of London's cinema and theatre land.

Mayfair-Marylebone. Some extremely well-heeled districts of west central London and most of the city's premier shopping street.

Notting Hill-North Kensington. Lively market, interesting history, the world famous carnival and a very ethnically diverse population.

Paddington-Maida Vale. Largely residential district of northwest central London with lots of mid-range accommodation, famous for its canal and houseboats.

Soho. Dense concentration of highly fashionable restaurants, cafés, clubs and jazz bars, as well as London's gay village all mixed in with a cluster of sex shops and seedier adult entertainment venues. Soho is also home to many TV production facilities.

South Bank. The name South Bank is usually used to refer specifically to the complex around the National Theatre near Waterloo and the London Eye. The wider area South of the Thames, including Bankside (Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre) and up to Borough, was historically the location of the activities frowned on by the Puritans who exiled theatre, cock-fighting and bear fights from the original walled City of London to the south of the river.

South Kensington-Chelsea. An extremely well-heeled inner London district with famous department stores, Hyde Park, many museums and the King's Road.

Westminster. A city in its own right, the seat of government and an almost endless list of historical and cultural sights, such as Buckingham Palace, The Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and Westminster Abbey.

Inner London

Camden. A diverse area of north London that includes eclectic Camden Town.

East End. A traditional working class heartland of inner London to the east of The City, made famous by countless movies and TV shows, and home to trendy bars, art galleries and parks, especially in the Shoreditch, Hoxton, and Old Street area.

Greenwich. On the pretty southern banks of the Thames; location of the Greenwich Meridian, Observatory, and the National Maritime Museum.

Hackney. Hackney has become fashionable in recent decades and is home to a thriving arts scene as well as many trendy cafés, bars, and pubs.

Hammersmith and Fulham. Borough in west London with a diverse population and the home of the BBC, plus a hotbed for professional football.

Hampstead. Literary north London and the wonderful open spaces of Hampstead Heath.

Islington. Area to the north of Clerkenwell that has undergone huge gentrification since 1990.

Lambeth. A diverse Caribbean-flavoured district to the south of the Thames, which includes the buzzing, bright-lights of Brixton.

Southwark-Lewisham. Inner southern districts of London; traditionally residential, with a large melting pot of communities. The area retains some leftfield, quirky attractions. You can find a restaurant from just about any ethnic group in the world.

Wandsworth. Grand Thames-side areas and open green parks in the north, and dense housing in south.

Outer London

North. Largely made up of lush green middle-class/bourgeois suburbs, many of which were formerly part of the counties of Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire before being absorbed into Greater London.

South. Containing many commuter suburbs with housing in varying styles, as well as the buzzing urban centres of Sutton, Kingston upon Thames, Croydon and Bromley, all four having cultural facilities in their town centres with leafy residential neighbourhoods fanning out from them.

East. Mostly originally part of the county of Essex, taking in former industrial areas on the upper Thames Estuary such as Beckton, Barking and Dagenham. To the North East lies the gateway to the affluent Epping Forest area.

West. Taking in much of the ancient English county of Middlesex (which many local residents still identify with rather than "London") and former parts of Buckinghamshire. Heathrow Airport is located in this part of the city.

Wimbledon. Home to the annual tennis Championships and wombling Wimbledon Common.

Richmond-Kew. Leafy Thames-side scenery, Hampton Court Palace, the botanical gardens and some major parklands.

The City and Westminster

If you ask a Londoner where the centre of London is, you are likely to get a wry smile. This is because historically London was two cities: a commercial city and a separate government capital.

The commercial capital was the City of London. This had a dense population and all the other pre-requisites of a medieval city: walls, a castle (The Tower of London), a cathedral (St Paul's), a semi-independent City government, a port and a bridge across which all trade was routed so Londoners could make money (London Bridge).

About an hour upstream (on foot or by boat) around a bend in the river was the government capital (Westminster). This had a church for crowning the monarch (Westminster Abbey) and palaces. As each palace was replaced by a larger one, the previous one was used for government, first the Palace of Westminster (better known as the Houses of Parliament), then Whitehall, then Buckingham Palace. The two were linked by a road called The "Strand", old English for riverbank.

London grew both west and east. The land to the west of the City (part of the parish of Westminster) was prime farming land (Covent Garden and Soho for example) and made good building land. The land to the east was flat, marshy and cheap, good for cheap housing and industry, and later for docks. Also the wind blows 3 days out of 4 from west to east, and the Thames (into which the sewage went) flows from west to east. So the West End was up-wind and up-market, the East End was where people worked for a living.

Modern-day London in these terms is a two-centre city, with the area in between known confusingly as the West End.

Climate

Despite a perhaps unfair reputation for being unsettled, London enjoys a dry and mild climate on average. Only one in three days on average will bring rain and often only for a short period. In some years, 2012 being an example, there was no rain for several weeks.

Extreme weather is rare. Occasionally there may be heavy rain that can bring localised flooding or strong winds that may down trees, but overall you are unlikely to encounter anything too lively. See: Weather in London

See

Landmarks

• The London Eye is the world's largest observation wheel, standing at 135 metres over London's Southbank. A full rotation of the wheel takes 30 minutes, and costs £23 per person.

• The Shard offers London in its entirety, with an 72nd floor observation platform offering a 40 mile view of the city and beyond. It costs £25.95 (if booked online, £30.95 on the day) to reach this platform, with a second visit free if bad weather ruins your view. Situated in London Bridge, the Shard is a landmark in its own right as one of London's foremost futuristic skyscrapers.

• The Monument. Built as a memorial to the rebirth of the city following the catastrophic Great Fire of London in 1666, The Monument is perhaps the least well known of the city's views. Designed by Christopher Wren, its 62m pillar can be climbed by a series of 311 steps, leading to a viewing deck offering great views of the surrounding City of London. It is not as high as either the Shard or London Eye, but at £4 is also a fraction of the price, and equally fun to scale.

• Buckingham Palace. The London residence of the Queen, in Westminster. Open for tours during the summer months only, but a must-see sight even if you don't go in.

• Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument designed by John Nash. It is located in the middle of a huge traffic island at one of the busiest intersections in central London where Oxford Street meets Park Lane in Mayfair.

• Piccadilly Circus is one of the most photographed sights in London. The Shaftesbury Memorial, topped by the statue of Anteros (now popularly identified as Eros), stands proudly in the middle of Piccadilly Circus while the north eastern side is dominated by a huge, iconic neon advertising hoarding. Occasionally there will be scaffolding or fencing around the Eros statue in order to protect it during times when large crowds are anticipated.

• St Paul's Cathedral, also in the City, is Sir Christopher Wren's great accomplishment, built after the 1666 Great Fire of London - the great dome is still seated in majesty over The City. A section of the dome has such good acoustics that it forms a "Whispering Gallery". There is also a viewing area that offers views of the surrounding area including the Millennium Bridge that lies nearby.

• Tower Bridge. The iconic 19th century bridge located by the Tower of London near the City. It is decorated with high towers featuring a drawbridge. The public are allowed access to the interior of the bridge via the Tower Bridge Exhibition, tickets for which can be purchased on the website or at the bridge.

• Tower of London. Situated just south east of the City, is London's original royal fortress by the Thames. It is over 900 years old, contains the Crown Jewels, is guarded by Beefeaters, and is a World Heritage site. It is also considered by many to be the most haunted building in the world. If you are interested in that sort of thing its definitely somewhere worth visiting. Sometimes there are guided ghost walks of the building. You can even have a good meal in one of the buildings on the property.

• Trafalgar Square. Home of Nelson's Column and the lions, and once a safe haven for London's pigeons until the recent introduction of hired birds of prey. The "Fourth Plinth" has featured a succession of artworks since 1999. Overlooked by the National Gallery, it's the nearest London has to a "centre", and has been pedestrianised.

• Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster, including the Queen Elizabeth II Tower (the clock tower commonly known as the name of its bell, Big Ben) and the Houses of Parliament, in Westminster. The seat of the United Kingdom parliament and World Heritage site, as well as setting for royal coronations since 1066, most recently Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The Palace of Westminster is open to the public only for viewing parliamentary debates, tours of the building are available in July – August when Parliament is away on summer recess. Westminster Abbey also has a restaurant and a café that both serve good food.

• 30 St Mary Axe or The Gherkin, a peculiarly-shaped 180 m (590 ft) building in the City. There is no public access to the building itself but it can be viewed from the roads and small paved areas directly in front of and behind the building. Security guards can be overzealous in this area and you may be asked to move on or stop taking photographs if you are doing so (although this may seem overbearing, it is private land and they can ask you to leave if they wish).

Museums and galleries

Central London hosts an outstanding collection of world-class museums and galleries, several of truly iconic status.

Even better, London is unique among global capitals in that the majority of the museums have no entrance charges, allowing visitors to make multiple visits with ease. Special or temporary exhibitions usually attract an admission charge. London museums and galleries with no general admission charge (free entry!) include:

• British Museum — a treasure trove of world cultures from across the ages, on a par with the Paris Louvre and New York's Metropolitan Museum.

• National Gallery — houses the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries.

• National Portrait Gallery

• Victoria and Albert Museum

• Natural History Museum

• Science Museum

• Tate Modern

• Tate Britain

• Wallace Collection

and most museums in Greenwich.

In contrast to this, independent museums will usually charge you to enter. This is also true of temporary exhibitions at the free-to-enter museums above. Although amounts differ, it is usually around £10-£15. However, the money-conscious tourist can see a significant number of masterpieces without having to spend a penny.

At the British Museum (London's most popular museum and the second most-visited in the world) for example, visitors can see the Parthenon marbles, the Rosetta Stone and one of the world's biggest collections of mummies all for free. And that is just some of the 80,000 objects on display in the museum at any given time.

Alongside this museum and other renowned collections are over 250 art galleries. Although some require an appointment and/or have limited opening hours, most are open to the public and free to visit. From the classical to the contemporary, all forms of art imaginable can be seen in London. Work from famous artists from Da Vinci to Damien Hirst can be seen in the city, alongside thousands of other world-famous works and the famous works of the future.

Aside from these world famous establishments, there is an almost unbelievable number of minor museums in London covering a very diverse range of subjects. Although the big museums and galleries like the V&A, Tate and British Museum are not to be missed, many of London's quirkier or lesser known museums are well worth your time.

From the handheld fan to Sigmund Freud, many subjects have surprisingly fascinating museums all of their own, with Greenwich's Fan Museum and the Freud Museum in Hampstead just two of the many exhibition spaces that fit that description.

Dental equipment, Sherlock Holmes, gardening ...all three of these things have museums dedicated to them in the capital, their sites sitting alongside the museums and galleries you might expect in a big city, like the Natural History Museum or Museum of London. And with so many of them free, there really is no excuse but to explore them whilst in London.

Aside from these world famous establishments, there is an almost unbelievable number of minor museums in London covering a very diverse range of subjects. The British Government lists over 240 genuine museums in the city.

Notable smaller museums

• London Transport Museum
• Museum of London
• Museum of London Docklands

Parks

The "green lungs" of London are the many parks, great and small, scattered throughout the city including Hyde Park, St James Park and Regent's Park. Most of the larger parks have their origins in royal estates and hunting grounds and are still owned by the Crown, despite their public access.

• Hyde Park and adjoining Kensington Gardens make up a huge open space in central London and are very popular for picnics.

• Regent's Park is wonderful open park in the northern part of central London.

• St James's Park has charming and romantic gardens ideal for picnics and for strolling around. St. James's Park is situated between Buckingham Palace on the west and Horse Guards Parade on the east.

• Hampstead Heath is a huge open green space in north London. It's mot a tended park as such and is remarkably wild for a metropolitan city location. The views from the Parliament Hill area of the heath overlooking the city skyline are quite stunning.

• Richmond Park also is a huge green space, but has a thriving deer population that is culled in the spring. Excellent place for cycling.

• Bushy Park, near to Hampton Court Palace, is the second-largest park in London. More low-key than its larger cousin, Richmond Park, it too has a large deer population. Bushy Park contains numerous ponds, bridleways, two allotments, and at its northern edge, the National Physical Laboratory.

Of these, Richmond Park is by far the largest, at more than double the size of even the second biggest park in London, Wimbledon Common. Slightly out of Central London, its 955 hectares are the perfect place for a day trip. As well as great cycling routes, it is famous for its deer population. Richmond Park has been home to a herd of 600 deer since around the 16th Century, and as long as you keep a respectful distance (the recommendation is 50 metres) from them you are welcome to wander amongst them.

Perhaps most famous of the parks is Hyde Park and the Kensington Gardens that back onto them. Although they feature less to catch the eye than many of London's parks, their large expanses and central location makes them a popular picnic spot for tourists visiting popular nearby attractions like the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum.

In fact, many of these Royal Parks can be found near major tourist attractions, making them ideal for a spot of lunch or just to get away from the bustle around these venues. St James' Park, for example, is just off of Buckingham Palace, and features a beautiful garden walkway as well as a family of swans.

Regent's Park can be found in front of the London Zoo, with visitors from the park being able to see a large part of the south side of the zoo for free from the park, including the giraffes. It also has some of the best formal gardens of all the London parks, enclosed by hedges and bursting to life with flowers and fountains.

Hampstead Heath is another popular choice a little out of the centre. Not a tended park as such, it is remarkably wild for a metropolitan city location. The views from the Parliament Hill area of the heath south over the city are quite stunning. It also features a famous outdoor swimming pool for those fancying a dip on a hot day -- or for braver souls, you can join the Hampstead Heath Winter Swimming Club.

Bushy Park, near to Hampton Court Palace, is the second-largest park in London. More low-key than its larger cousin, Richmond Park, it too has a large deer population. Bushy Park contains numerous ponds, bridleways, two allotments, and at its northern edge, the National Physical Laboratory.

There are also many parks in London not part of the Royal Parks well worth exploring. Principal among these is Victoria Park in Hackney. Though a fair walk from either Mile End or Homerton stations, it rewards the walk. Featuring a boating lake and a Chinese Pagoda amongst other sights, it is less well known than the other parks and so tends to be quieter, and offers great walks along the lake and the canal.

However, London also offers all sort of other park spaces both small and large worth exploring. Well-known green areas include both Wimbledon and Clapham Common as well as Holland Park, but there are many where the pleasure lies in discovering them out of the blue in an otherwise urban environment.

Do

• Take a walk through London's Royal Parks. A good walk would start at Paddington station, and head through Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park (passing Buckingham Palace) and St James Park before crossing Trafalgar Square and the River Thames to the South Bank and Waterloo Station. At a strolling pace this walk would take half a day, with plenty of places to stop, sit, drink, eat en-route. A good pictorial description of this walk can be found online at Trips By Trains Royal Parks Walk.

• Live Music. London is one of the best cities in the world for concerts, spanning from new musical trends to well known bands. Popular classical concerts at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square.

• Theatre. The West End, especially the areas concentrated around Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Shaftesbury Avenue and Haymarket, is one of the world's premier destinations for theatre, including musical theatre.

• Watch a movie As well as the world-famous blockbuster cinemas in the West End, London has a large number of superb art house cinemas. In the summer months, there are often outdoor screenings at various venues, such as Somerset House and in some of the large parks.

• Watch football Take in a home match of one of the city's 15+ professional football clubs for a true experience of a lifetime as you see the passion of the "World's Game" in its mother country.

• Open House London Weekend lets you explore many of the city's most interesting buildings during the London Open House Weekend - usually held on the third weekend of September. During this single weekend, several hundred buildings which are not normally open to the public are opened up. See website for details of buildings opening in any given year - some buildings have to be pre-booked in advance - book early for the popular ones!

• Winter Skating. London has a number of outdoor ice rinks that open in the winter months. Considered by some to be somewhat overpriced and overcrowded, they nonetheless have multiplied in recent years, easing congestion and increasing competition. Most charge from £10-12 (adults) for an hour on the ice, including skate hire. See the district articles for the City of London, East End and Leicester Square.

• Summer Skating. In summer (and also in winter, for the more dedicated) there is also a thriving roller skating (on inline and traditional "quad" skates) scene in London, catering to many disciplines including street hockey, freestyle slalom, dance, general recreational skating (including three weekly marshalled group street skates) and speed skating. This mostly centres around Hyde Park (on the Serpentine Road) and Kensington Gardens (by the Albert Memorial). See the district articles for Mayfair-Marylebone and South West London.

• Do-it-yourself bus tour. If you don't feel like splashing out on one of the commercial bus tours, you can make your own bus tour by buying an Oyster card and spending some time riding around London on the top deck of standard London buses. Of course you don't get the open air or the commentary, but the views are very similar. You will likely get lost but that is half the fun; if it worries you go for a commercial tour.

• London Explorer Pass A London Explorer Pass is a multi-attraction pass that includes admission to your choice of 3, 4, or 5 London attractions for one low price. Pay nothing at the gate and choose as you go from over 10 included attractions, including Madame Tussauds London, SEA LIFE London Aquarium, Coca-Cola London Eye, The London Dungeon, and more. Get your Pass instantly via email and print it out or use it right on your phone.

• Changing the Guard, Buckingham Palace SW1A 1AA. Buckingham Palace: alternate days 11:30 (except daily May-Jul). Horse Guards Arch: M-Sa 11:00, Su 10:00. The 45 min ceremony which occurs every morning outside Buckingham palace often features Guards regiments with bearskins and red tunics together with military bands.

Eat

Following is a rough guide to what you might get, should you fancy eating out:

• Up to £5 - you can get a good English pub or cafeteria breakfast with a rack of bacon, beans in tomato sauce, egg, sausage, orange juice and coffee or tea. Most pubs stop this offer at 11:00, but there are literally hundreds of backstreet cafes (colloquially known as "greasy spoons") which will serve this sort of food all day. Most supermarket chains offer a "meal deal", consisting of a sandwich, a drink and a bag of crisps or fruit for £3 together, while buying the sandwich only can be the same price. If you are going to be on a budget for several days, the supermarkets are a good option.

• £7 - will buy you a couple of sandwiches and a soft drink, some takeaway fish and chips, or a fast food meal. There are also mostly Chinese restaurants which serve an all-you-can-eat buffet for around this price. These are dotted about the West End and it is well worth asking a member of public or a shopkeeper where the nearest one is. These restaurants make much of their revenue on drinks although these are usually still moderately priced. The food while not being of the finest standard is usually very tasty and the range of dishes available is excellent. There are literally thousands of so-called takeaways in London and are a cheap alternative to a restaurant meal. Check with your hotel management if they allow food deliveries before ordering in. Most takeaways will offer some form of (usually very limited) seating, but not all do.

• £6-10 - will get you a good pub meal and drink or a good Chinese/Indian/Italian/Thai/Vietnamese buffet. Many pubs have a buy-one-get-one-free offer, and you can either order two main dishes for yourself or bring a friend.

• £15 - some more expensive French, Mediterranean and international restaurants do cheaper two or three course lunch menus.

• £25 - offers you a lot more choice. You can have a good meal, half a bottle of wine and change for the tube home. There are plenty of modest restaurants that cater for this bracket.

• £50 (to almost any amount!) - with more money to spend you can pick some of the city's finer restaurants. It may be a famous chef or simply a place that prides itself on using the finest ingredients. Worth the splurge to impress a special someone. These establishments often need to be booked well in advance, and most will enforce a dress code of some sort, like Rules of Covent Garden, the oldest restaurant still extant.

Prices inevitably become inflated at venues closest to major tourist attractions - beware the so-called tourist traps. The worst tourist trap food, in the opinion of many Londoners, is served at the various steak houses. Londoners wouldn't dream of eating here - you shouldn't either! Notorious areas for inflated menu prices trading on travellers' gullibility and lack of knowledge are the streets around the British Museum, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus. Even the major fast food chains charge a premium in their West End outlets - so watch out.

Pubs in the touristy areas of London are usually a poor choice for food although there are some brilliant "gastro-pubs" hidden away. In general avoid all pubs that have graphic-designed and printed menus - it's people's experiences in these kind of places that gives Britain a bad name for food! Look around you - see any locals tucking in? No? - then you shouldn't either. The other rule to follow when avoiding poor food is the same as in any other part of Europe - is the menu available in multiple languages? If yes then start running!

In the suburbs, the cost of eating out is reduced drastically. Particularly in large ethnic communities, there is a competitive market which stands to benefit the consumer. In East London for example, the vast number of chicken shops means that a deal for 2 pieces of chicken, chips (fries) and a drink shouldn't cost you more than £3 especially on Brick Lane. Brick Lane is also known for being home to London's version of the beigel (spelt "bagel" in the United States and Canada, but pronounced the same way), with Brick Lane Beigel Bake and Britain's First & Best Beigel Shop being among the sole remnants of what was once a thriving Jewish community in the neighbourhood. Another good (and cheap) lunch option is a chicken or lamb doner (gyro) at many outlets throughout the city, though meat quality is often poor.

For more authentic Cockney food, try pie and mash, which originates from the working-class in the East End. Usually minced beef and cold water pastry pie served with mashed potato, mushy peas and "liquor" gravy, it tastes a lot better than it sounds. Some of the best pie houses are M. Manze in Peckham or F. Cooke in Hackney Broadway Market. Water Souchet and London Particular (green-pea and ham) are classic Cockney soups, though hard to find on menus. For those game, jellied eels, pickled-cockles and whelks are all traditional London seafood.

Central London's Borough Market offers wholesale produce as well as individual stalls that sell small bites and drinks for a casual and cheap meal. Kappacasein Dairy has a popular stand in the market famous for their grilled cheese which has earned the praise of Giada De Laurentiis and Ruth Reichl.

Of course, the quintessential British dish fish and chips is widely available in London, but the standards can be pretty disappointing in the tourist trap pubs. The best-rated fish and chips shops in London are generally located in the suburbs, away from all the tourist fare in central London.

Tipping may also be different than what you're used to. All meals include the 20% VAT tax and some places include a service fee (10-12%). The general rule is to leave a tip for table service, unless there's already a service charge added or unless the service has been notably poor. The amount tipped is generally in the region of 10%, but if there's a figure between 10-15% which would leave the bill at a conveniently round total, many would consider it polite to tip this amount. Tipping for counter service, or any other form of service, is unusual - but some choose to do so if a tips container is provided.

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