For the traveller, London is a high point.
The pageantry of Buckingham Palace is in marked contrast to the Dickensian London of the London Dungeons or the ficticious trail of Sherlock Holmes along Baker Street.
Winter, Summer, Autumn or Spring, there is enough going on in London to keep even the most sceptical tourist on their toes.
In all, London is made up of about 2 dozen Boroughs – or regions – each with its own character. For the short term or weekend visitor, the most interesting of these Boroughs to visit are the areas around the City, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.
Westminster is where you will find the West End Theatres, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Oxford Circus and the upmarket shopping street of Bond Street. You can actually walk all of these areas in a day if you’re energetic and stop at the many cafes along the way for timely breaks.
The City is the banking area of London and houses the Stock Exchange and The Bank of England. The distinctive architecture of the City becomes almost incidental after a while, because what begins to strike the first time visitor is the sense of hundreds of years of Global trade sitting within one square mile.
Try to avoid visiting this area on a Saturday, Sunday or Evening because there is hardly anyone there at those times – and you don’t want to miss all those stockbrokers in their grey pin stripe suits, Jermyn Street shirts and Oxford brogues.
Kensington and Chelsea is the highly affluent suburb of West London and home to Rock Stars and wealthy City Stockbrokers! This area is also where you’ll find Knightsbridge, Harrods and the Kings Road.
These are just 3 areas where you can spend the large part of any day if you want to.
Most travellers to London however prefer to use a taxi or for extra fun – the London Undergroud called locally – the Tube.
By travelling around a bit you get to take in the Houses of Parliament, The Tower of London, Madame Tussauds and the popular – London Eye.
Further out of town to the East is Greenwich with its famous observatory – where you can straddle one leg on either side of 0 degrees longtitude. Or towards Richmond in the South West, a visit to Kew Gardens brings with it a real sense of England, its pubs and its life.
London is so rich in history and diversity that the list goes on and one.
So here’s a suggestion – just go there!
