Walking the streets of London, or strolling through its parks, one realises that, in a city hailed for its ability to embrace modernity and change, the past is, however, never far away: there are four world heritage sites in London (the Palace of Westminster, the Tower of London, Maritime Greenwhich and Kew Gardens) and some 40,000 listed buildings and structures. Three of Britain's top 10 paying attractions and six of the top ten free ones can be found in London. The London Eye, since it made its appearance on the banks of the Thames to mark the turn of the millennium, has since become the most popular attraction for visitors to the capital.
The tourist heart of London lies mainly on the north bank of the River Thames, with the chunk of flat land between South Kensington in the west to Tower Bridge in the east stuffed full of things to do and see. Starting in the west, there are the three major South Kensington Museums – the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. Moving eastwards, the next key attraction is Buckingham Palace, back in vogue after the Jubilee Year in 2002. A short walk away, through St James’s Park, is Westminster, with the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. From here, it is another short walk up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery and other attractions. This is where the ‘West End’ starts, heading slightly north to Leicester Square– a busy tourist-infested piazza where many Londoners would not be seen dead – connecting up with Piccadilly Circus to the west and Covent Garden to the east, with the stately old British Museum a little further away to the northeast. In the middle of the West End, Theatreland and Chinatown merge into Soho, with its nightlife and new media offices. |