▲▲▲Hop-on, Hop-off Double-Decker Bus Tours
Weekend Tour Packages for Students in London
Fancy Department Stores in West London
Summer Evenings Along the South Bank
Map: London’s Hotel Neighborhoods
Victoria Station Neighborhood (Belgravia)
Map: Victoria Station Neighborhood
“South Kensington,” She Said, Loosening His Cummerbund
Map: South Kensington Neighborhood
Notting Hill and Bayswater Neighborhoods
Map: Notting Hill & Bayswater Neighborhoods
Paddington Station Neighborhood
Map: North London Accommodations
Big, Good-Value, Modern Hotels
Map: London’s Major Train Stations
Map: Public Transportation near London
London is more than 600 square miles of urban jungle—a world in itself and a barrage on all the senses. On my first visit, I felt extremely small.
London is more than its museums and landmarks. It’s the L.A., D.C., and N.Y.C. of Britain—a living, breathing, thriving organism...a coral reef of humanity. The city has changed dramatically in recent years, and many visitors are surprised to find how “un-English” it is. ESL (English as a second language) seems like the city’s first language, as white people are now a minority in major parts of this city that once symbolized white imperialism. Arabs have nearly bought out the area north of Hyde Park. Chinese takeouts outnumber fish-and-chips shops. Eastern Europeans pull pints in British pubs. Many hotels are run by people with foreign accents (who hire English chambermaids), while outlying suburbs are home to huge communities of Indians and Pakistanis. London is a city of nearly eight million separate dreams, inhabiting a place that tolerates and encourages them. With the English Channel Tunnel and discount airlines making travel between Britain and the Continent easier than ever, London is learning—sometimes fitfully—to live as a microcosm of its formerly vast empire.
The city, which has long attracted tourists, seems perpetually at your service, with an impressive slate of sights, entertainment, and eateries, all linked by a great transit system. You’re riding the coattails of a banner year for London—2012—when the city hosted both the Olympics and the Queen’s “Diamond Jubilee” celebration for her 60th year on the throne. Consequently, this already spiffy city is even more spruced up than usual.
With just a few days here, you’ll get no more than a quick splash in this teeming human tidal pool. But with a good orientation, you’ll find London manageable and fun. You’ll get a sampling of the city’s top sights, history, and cultural entertainment, and a good look at its ever-changing human face.
Blow through the city on a double-decker bus, and take a pinch-me-I’m-in-London walk through the West End. Ogle the crown jewels at the Tower of London, hear the chimes of Big Ben, and see the Houses of Parliament in action. Cruise the Thames River, and take a spin on the London Eye. Hobnob with poets’ tombstones in Westminster Abbey, and visit with Leonardo, Botticelli, and Rembrandt in the National Gallery. Enjoy Shakespeare in a replica of the Globe theater and marvel at a glitzy, fun musical at a modern-day theater. Whisper across the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, then rummage through our civilization’s attic at the British Museum. And sip your tea with pinky raised and clotted cream dribbling down your scone.
The sights of London alone could easily fill a trip to Great Britain. It’s a great one-week getaway. But on a three-week tour of Britain, I’d give London three busy days. You won’t be able to see everything, so don’t try. You’ll keep coming back to London. After dozens of visits myself, I still enjoy a healthy list of excuses to return. If you’re flying in to one of London’s airports, consider starting your trip in Bath and making London your finale. Especially if you hope to enjoy a play or concert, a night or two of jet lag is bad news.
Here’s a suggested three-day schedule:
| 9:00 | Tower of London (crown jewels first, then Beefeater tour and White Tower; note that on Sun-Mon, the Tower opens at 10:00). |
| 13:00 | Grab a picnic, catch a boat at Tower Pier, and relax with lunch on the Thames while cruising to Westminster Pier. |
| 14:30 | Tour Westminster Abbey, and consider its evensong service (at 15:00 Sat-Sun, at 17:00 Mon-Fri and Sat in summer). |
| 17:00 | Follow my self-guided walk of Westminster. |
| (or after evensong) | When you’re finished, if it’s a Monday or Tuesday, you could return to the Houses of Parliament and pop in to see the House of Commons in action (until 22:30). |
| 8:30 | Take a double-decker hop-on, hop-off London sightseeing bus tour (from Green Park or Victoria) and hop off for the Changing of the Guard. |
| 11:00 | Buckingham Palace (guards change most days May-July at 11:30, alternate days Aug-April—confirm). |
| 12:00 | Walk through St. James’s Park to enjoy London’s delightful park scene. |
| 13:00 | Covent Garden for lunch, shopping, and people-watching. |
| 14:30 | Tour the British Museum. |
| Evening | Have a pub dinner before a play, concert, or evening walking tour. |
Choose among these remaining London highlights: National Gallery, British Library, Churchill War Rooms, Imperial War Museum, the two Tates (Tate Modern on the South Bank for modern art, Tate Britain on the North Bank for British art), St. Paul’s Cathedral, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Natural History Museum, Courtauld Gallery, or the Museum of London; take a spin on the London Eye or a cruise to Kew Gardens or Greenwich; enjoy a play at Shakespeare’s Globe; do some serious shopping at one of London’s elegant department stores or open-air markets; or take another historic walking tour.
To grasp London more comfortably, see it as the old town in the city center without the modern, congested sprawl. (Even from that perspective, it’s still huge.)
The Thames River (pronounced “tems”) runs roughly west to east through the city, with most of the visitor’s sights on the North Bank. Mentally, maybe even physically, trim down your map to include only the area between the Tower of London (to the east), Hyde Park (west), Regent’s Park (north), and the South Bank (south). This is roughly the area bordered by the Tube’s Circle Line. This four-mile stretch between the Tower and Hyde Park (about a 1.5-hour walk) looks like a milk bottle on its side (see map on next page), and holds 80 percent of the sights mentioned in this chapter.
With a core focus and a good orientation, you’ll get a sampling of London’s top sights, history, and cultural entertainment, and a good look at its ever-changing human face.
The sprawling city becomes much more manageable if you think of it as a collection of neighborhoods.
Central London: This area contains Westminster and what Londoners call the West End. The Westminster district includes Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace—the grand government buildings from which Britain is ruled. Trafalgar Square, London’s gathering place, has many major museums. The West End is the center of London’s cultural life, with bustling squares: Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square host cinemas, tourist traps, and nighttime glitz. Soho and Covent Garden are thriving people-zones with theaters, restaurants, pubs, and boutiques. And Regent and Oxford streets are the city’s main shopping zones.
North London: Neighborhoods in this part of town—including Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia, and Marylebone—contain such major sights as the British Museum and the overhyped Madame Tussauds Waxworks. Nearby, along busy Euston Road, is the British Library, plus a trio of train stations (one of them, St. Pancras International, is linked to Paris by the Eurostar “Chunnel” train).
The City: Today’s modern financial district, called simply “The City,” was a walled town in Roman times. Gleaming skyscrapers are interspersed with historical landmarks such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, legal sights (Old Bailey), and the Museum of London. The Tower of London and Tower Bridge lie at The City’s eastern border.
East London: Just east of The City is the East End—the increasingly gentrified former stomping ground of Cockney ragamuffins and Jack the Ripper.
The South Bank: The South Bank of the Thames River offers major sights (Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe, London Eye) linked by a riverside walkway. Within this area, Southwark (SUTH-uck) stretches from the Tate Modern to London Bridge. Pedestrian bridges connect the South Bank with The City and Trafalgar Square.
West London: This huge area contains neighborhoods such as Mayfair, Belgravia, Pimlico, Chelsea, South Kensington, and Notting Hill. It’s home to London’s wealthy and has many trendy shops and enticing restaurants. Here you’ll find a range of museums (Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Britain, and more), my top hotel recommendations, lively Victoria Station, and the vast green expanses of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.
Outside the Center: The Docklands, London’s version of Manhattan, is farther east than the East End; Olympic Park is just north of the Docklands. Historic Greenwich is southeast of London and across the Thames. Kew Gardens and Hampton Court Palace are southwest of London.
For such a big and important city, it’s amazing how hard it can be to find unbiased sightseeing information and advice in London. You’ll see “Tourist Information” offices advertised everywhere, but most of them are private agencies that make a big profit selling tours and advance sightseeing and/or theater tickets; others are run by Transport for London and are primarily focused on providing public-transit advice.
The only publicly funded (and therefore impartial) “real” TI is the City of London Information Centre (Mon-Sat 9:30-17:30, Sun 10:00-16:00; across the busy street from St. Paul’s Cathedral—around the right side as you face the main staircase, in the modern, angular building just toward the Jubilee Bridge; Tube: St. Paul’s, www.visitthecity.co.uk). While officially a service of The City (London’s financial district), this office also provides information about the rest of the London. It sells Oyster cards, London Passes, and advance “Fast Track” sightseeing tickets (all described later), and stocks various free publications: London Planner (a free monthly that lists all the sights, events, and hours), some walking-tour brochures, the Official London Theatre Guide, a Welcome to London Tube and bus map, the Guide to River Thames Boat Services, and a few brochures describing self-guided walks in The City (various themes, including Dickens, modern architecture, and film locations). They give out a free map of The City, and sell two others (one for £1, or £2 for a mini version of the £2.50 Benson’s map sold at newsstands and bookstores); ask if they have yet another free map with a coupon good for 20 percent off admission to St. Paul’s. I’d skip their room-booking service and theater box office, both of which charge a commission.
Visit London, which serves the greater London area, doesn’t have an office you can visit in person—but does operate a call center and website (tel. 0870-156-6366, www.visitlondon.com).
Fast Track Tickets: To skip the ticket-buying queues at certain London sights, you can buy “Fast Track” tickets in advance—and they’re usually cheaper than tickets sold right at the sight. They’re particularly smart for the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, and Madame Tussauds Waxworks, all of which get very busy in high season. They’re available through various sales outlets around London (including the City of London TI, souvenir stands, and several faux-TIs scattered throughout touristy areas).
London Pass: This pass, which covers many big sights and lets you skip some lines, is expensive but potentially worth the investment for extremely busy sightseers (£46/1 day, £61/2 days, £74/3 days, £99/6 days; days are calendar days rather than 24-hour periods; comes with 160-page guidebook, also sold at major train stations and airports, tel. 0870-242-9988, www.londonpass.com). Among the many sights it includes are the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Windsor Castle, as well as many temporary exhibits and audioguides at otherwise “free” biggies. Think through your sightseeing plans, study their website to see what’s covered, and do the math before you buy.
For more information on getting to or from London by train, bus, and plane, see “London Connections,” near the end of this chapter.
By Train: London has nine major train stations, all connected by the Tube (subway). All have ATMs, and many of the larger stations also have shops, fast food, exchange offices, and luggage storage. From any station, you can ride the Tube or taxi to your hotel. For more info on train travel, see www.nationalrail.co.uk.
By Bus: The main intercity bus station is Victoria Coach Station, one block southwest of Victoria train station (and the Victoria Tube station). For more on bus travel, see www.nationalexpress.com.
By Plane: London has six airports. Most tourists arrive at Heathrow or Gatwick airports, although flights from elsewhere in Europe may land at Stansted, Luton, Southend, or London City airports. For specifics on getting from London’s airports to downtown, see “London Connections,” near the end of this chapter; for hotels near Heathrow and Gatwick, see here.
Theft Alert: Wear your money belt. The Artful Dodger is alive and well in London. Be on guard, particularly on public transportation and in places crowded with tourists, who, considered naive and rich, are targeted. The Changing of the Guard scene is a favorite for thieves. And more than 7,500 purses are stolen annually at Covent Garden alone.
Pedestrian Safety: Cars drive on the left side of the road—which can be as confusing for foreign pedestrians as for foreign drivers. Before crossing a street, I always look right, look left, then look right again just to be sure. Most crosswalks are even painted with instructions, reminding foreign guests to “Look right” or “Look left.” While locals are champion jaywalkers, you shouldn’t try it; jaywalking is treacherous when you’re disoriented about which direction traffic is coming from.
Medical Problems: Local hospitals have good-quality 24-hour-a-day emergency care centers, where any tourist who needs help can drop in and, after a wait, be seen by a doctor. Your hotel has details. St. Thomas’ Hospital, immediately across the river from Big Ben, has a fine reputation.
Getting Your Bearings: London is well-signed for visitors. Through an initiative called Legible London, the city is erecting thoughtfully designed, pedestrian-focused maps around town. In this sprawling city—where predictable grid-planned streets are relatively rare—it’s also smart to buy and use a good map. Benson’s London Street Map (£2.50), sold at many newsstands and bookstores, is my favorite for efficient sightseeing; the City of London TI sells a mini version of the Benson’s map for £2.
Festivals: For one week in February and another in September, fashionistas descend on the city for London Fashion Week (www.londonfashionweek.co.uk). The famous Chelsea Flower Show blossoms in late May (book ahead for this popular event at www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea). During the annual Trooping the Colour in June, there are military bands and pageantry, and the Queen’s birthday parade (www.trooping-the-colour.co.uk). Tennis fans pack the stands at the Wimbledon Tennis Championship in late June to early July (www.wimbledon.org), and partygoers head for the Notting Hill Carnival in late August.
Traveling in Winter: London dazzles year-round, so consider visiting in winter, when airfares and hotel rates are generally cheaper and there are fewer tourists. For ideas on what to do, see the “Winter Activities in London” article at www.ricksteves.com/winteracts.
Internet Access: As nearly all the city’s hotels offer Internet access, and cafés all over town have free Wi-Fi, London now has few actual Internet cafés (if you need one, ask your hotelier).
Travel Bookstores: Located between Covent Garden and Leicester Square, the very good Stanfords Travel Bookstore stocks current editions of many of my books (Mon-Fri 9:00-20:00, Sat 10:00-20:00, Sun 12:00-18:00, 12-14 Long Acre, second entrance on Floral Street, Tube: Leicester Square, tel. 020/7836-1321, www.stanfords.co.uk).
Two impressive Waterstone’s bookstores have the biggest collection of travel guides in town: on Piccadilly (Mon-Sat 9:00-22:00, Sun 12:00-18:00, Costa Café, great views from top-floor bar—see here, 203 Piccadilly, tel. 020/7851-2400) and on Trafalgar Square (Mon-Sat 9:00-21:00, Sun 11:30-18:00, Costa Café on second floor, tel. 020/7839-4411).
Baggage Storage: Train stations have replaced lockers with more secure baggage-storage counters, known locally as “left luggage.” Each bag must go through a scanner (just like at the airport), so lines can be slow. Expect long waits in the morning to check in (up to 45 minutes) and in the afternoon to pick up (each item-£8.50/24 hours, most stations daily 7:00-23:00). You can also store bags at the airports (similar rates and hours, www.excess-baggage.com). If leaving London and returning later, you may be able to store a box or bag at your hotel for free—assuming you’ll be staying there again.
“Voluntary Donations”: Several sights—the Tower of London, Churchill War Rooms, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, and the Banqueting House—automatically add a “voluntary donation” of about 10 percent to their admission fees. The price posted and quoted includes the donation, though it’s perfectly fine to say you want to pay a cheaper price without the donation. If you say nothing, you’ll automatically pay the donation price.
Updates to this Book: Check www.ricksteves.com/update for any significant changes that have occurred since this book was printed.
To travel smart in a city this size, you must get comfortable with public transportation. London’s excellent taxis, buses, and subway (Tube) system make a car unnecessary (see here for details on driving in London—and why it’s a bad idea).
The helpful Welcome to London brochure, produced by the mayor’s office and Transport for London (TFL), includes both a Tube map and a handy schematic map of the best bus routes (available free at TFL offices—such as the one in Victoria Station, the TI, and at museums and hotels all over town). For specific directions on how to get from point A to point B on London’s transit, call TFL’s automated info line at 0843-222-1234.
London has the most expensive public transit system in the world—save money on your Tube and bus rides using a multi-ride pass. You have three options: Pay double by buying individual tickets as you go; buy a £5 Oyster card and top it up as needed to travel like a local for about £1-2 per ride; or get a Travelcard for unlimited travel on either one or seven days.
The transit system has six zones. Since almost all of my recommended accommodations, restaurants, and sights are within Zones 1 and 2, those are the prices I’ve listed here; you’ll pay more to go farther afield. Specific fares and other details change constantly; for a complete and updated list of prices, check www.tfl.gov.uk.
These days in London, individual paper tickets are obsolete; there’s no point buying one unless you’re literally taking just one ride your entire time in the city. Because individual fares (£4.30 per Tube ride, £2.30 per bus ride) are about double the cost of using a pay-as-you-go Oyster card, in just two or three rides you’ll recoup the £5 added deposit for the Oyster. If you do buy a single ticket, avoid ticket-window lines in Tube stations by using the coin-op machines; practice on the punchboard to see how the system works (hit “Adult Single” and your destination). These tickets are valid only on the day of purchase.
A pay-as-you-go Oyster card (a plastic card embedded with a computer chip) is the standard, smart way to economically ride the Tube, buses, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), and Overground. On each type of transport, you simply lay the card flat against the yellow card reader at the turnstile or entrance, it flashes green, and the fare is automatically deducted. (You’ll also tap your card again to “touch out” as you exit the Tube and DLR turnstiles, but not to exit buses.)
With an Oyster card, rides cost about half the price of individual paper tickets (£2 or £2.70 per Tube ride—depending on time of day, £1.35 per bus ride). You buy the card itself at any Tube station ticket window for a refundable £5 deposit, then load it up with as much credit as you want. (For extra peace of mind, ask about registering your card against theft or loss.) When your balance gets low, simply add credit—or “top up”—at a ticket window or machine. (American credit cards always work at the ticketing window, but they might not at the automated top-up stations. To avoid wasting time, look for a top-up station that lets you pay either with a credit card or cash—so if your card doesn’t work, you can just stick in a bill.) A price cap on the pay-as-you-go Oyster card guarantees you’ll never pay more than the One-Day Travelcard price within a 24-hour period.
You can see how much credit remains on your card by touching it to the pad at any automatic ticket machine. Oyster card balances never expire (though they need reactivating at a ticket window every two years), so you can use the card whenever you’re in London, or lend it to someone else.
When you’re finished with the card (and if you don’t mind a short wait), you should be able to reclaim your £5 deposit at any ticket window. However, to make it as easy as possible to recoup your deposit, you should always use the same mode of payment: For example, if you pay the deposit in cash, you need to top up with cash. If you pay the deposit in cash and top up with a credit card, or vice versa, it can be more difficult (or impossible) to get your deposit back.
Transfers: You can change from one Tube line to another on the same Oyster journey (as long as you don’t leave the station); however, if you change between buses, or change between bus and Tube, you’ll pay a new fare.
Like the Oyster card, Travelcards are valid on the Tube, buses, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), and Overground. The difference is that Travelcards let you ride as many times as you want within a one- or a seven-day period, for one fixed price.
Before you buy a card, estimate where you’ll be going; there’s a card for Zones 1 and 2, and another for Zones 1-6 (which includes Heathrow Airport). If Heathrow is the only ride you’re taking outside Zones 1-2 (which is likely), you can pay a small supplement to make the Zones 1-2 Travelcard stretch to cover that one ride.
The One-Day Travelcard gives you unlimited travel for a day (Zones 1-2: £8.40, off-peak version £7; Zones 1-6: £15.80, off-peak version £8.50; off-peak cards are good for travel after 9:30 on weekdays and anytime on weekends). This Travelcard works like a traditional paper ticket: Buy it at any Tube station ticket window or machine, then feed it into a turnstile (and retrieve it) to enter and exit the Tube. On a bus, just show it to the driver when you get on.
The Seven-Day Travelcard is a great option if you’re staying four or more days and plan to use the buses and Tube a lot. It’s actually issued on a plastic Oyster card, but gives you unlimited travel anytime, anywhere in Zones 1 and 2 for a week (£29.20 plus the refundable £5 deposit for the Oyster card). As with an Oyster card, you’ll touch it to the yellow pad when entering or exiting a Tube turnstile, or when boarding a bus.
Groups: A gang of 10 or more adults can travel all day on the Tube for £4.30 each (but not on buses). Kids ages 11-17 pay £1.60 when part of a group of 10.
Families: A paying adult can take up to four kids (age 10 and under) for free on the Tube, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), and Overground all day, every day (kids 10 and under are always free on buses). At the Tube station, use the manual gate, rather than the turnstiles, to be waved in. Other child and student discounts are explained at www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets. Or simply show up at a Tube ticket window with your family; the clerk will tell you which deal is best for your needs (for better service and fewer lines, go to a lesser-used Tube station rather than a hub station such as Victoria or Oxford Circus).
River Cruises: A Travelcard gives you a 33 percent discount on most Thames cruises (see “Cruises,” later). If you pay for Thames Clippers (including the Tate Boat museum ferry) with your pay-as-you go Oyster card, you’ll get a 10 percent discount.
Struggling to choose which pass works best for your trip? First of all, skip the individual tickets. On a short visit (three days or fewer), if you think you’ll be zipping around a lot, consider a One-Day Travelcard for each day you’re here (or at least for your busiest days); if you’ll be taking fewer, more focused rides, get an Oyster card and pay as you go. If you’re in London four days or longer, the Seven-Day Travelcard will likely pay for itself.
London’s subway system is called the Tube or Underground (but never “subway,” which, in Britain, refers to a pedestrian underpass). The Tube is one of this planet’s great people-movers and often the fastest long-distance transport in town (runs Mon-Sat about 5:00-24:00, Sun about 7:00-23:00). Two other commuter rail lines, while technically not part of the Tube, are tied into the network and use the same tickets: The Docklands Light Railway (called DLR, runs to the Docklands, 2012 Olympics site, and Greenwich) and the Overground.
Get your bearings by studying a map of the system (free at any station).
Each line has a name (such as Circle, Northern, or Bakerloo) and two directions (indicated by the end-of-the-line stops). Find the line that will take you to your destination, and figure out roughly which direction (north, south, east, or west) you’ll need to go to get there.
You can use an Oyster card, Travelcard, or individual tickets (all explained earlier) to pay for your journey. At the Tube station, touch your Oyster card flat against the turnstile’s yellow card reader, both when you enter and exit the station. If you have a regular paper ticket or a One-Day Travelcard, feed it into the turnstile, reclaim it, and hang on to it—you’ll need it later.
Find your train by following signs to your line and the (general) direction it’s headed (such as Central Line: east). Since some tracks are shared by several lines, double-check before boarding a train: First, make sure your destination is one of the stops listed on the sign at the platform. Also, check the electronic signboards that announce which train is next, and make sure the destination (the end-of-the-line stop) is the direction you want. Some trains, particularly on the Circle and District lines, split off for other directions, but each train has its final destination marked above its windshield.
Trains run roughly every 3-10 minutes. If one train is absolutely packed and you notice another to the same destination is coming in three minutes, wait to avoid the sardine routine. Rush hours (8:00-10:00 and 16:00-19:00) can be packed and sweaty. Bring something to do to make your waiting time productive. If you get confused, ask for advice from a local, a blue-vested staff person, or at the information window located before the turnstile entry.
At most stations, you can’t leave the system without touching your Oyster card to an electronic reader, or feeding your ticket or One-Day Travelcard into the turnstile. (If you have a single-trip paper ticket, the turnstile will eat your now-expired ticket; if it’s a One-Day Travelcard, it will spit out your still-valid card.) Some stations, such as Hampton Court, do not have a turnstile, so you’ll have to locate a reader to “touch out” your Oyster card. If you skip this step and leave the station, the system assumes you’ve ridden to the most remote station, and the highest fare will be deducted from your card. When leaving a station, save walking time by choosing the best street exit—check the maps on the walls or ask any station personnel.
The system can be fraught with construction delays and breakdowns (the Circle Line is notorious for problems). Most construction is scheduled for weekends. Closures are known and publicized in advance (online at www.tfl.gov.uk and with posters in the Tube; Google Maps also has real-time service alerts for the Tube). Pay attention to signs and announcements explaining necessary detours. Closed Tube lines are often replaced by temporary bus service, but it can be faster to figure out alternate routes on the Tube; since the lines cross each other constantly, there are several ways to make any journey. For help, check out the “Journey Planner” at www.tfl.gov.uk.
If you figure out the bus system, you’ll swing like Tarzan through the urban jungle of London (see sidebar for a list of handy routes). Pick up a free bus map; the most user-friendly is in the Welcome to London brochure (mentioned earlier). You can also find thicker, more in-depth maps of various sectors of the city (most useful is the Central London Bus Guide). Bus maps are available at Transport for London offices, the City of London TI, and other tourist spots around town. With a mobile phone, you can find out the arrival time of the next bus by texting your bus stop’s five-digit code (posted at the stop, above the timetable) to 87287 (if you’re using your US phone’s SIM card, text the code to 011-44-7797-800-287).
Buses are covered by Travelcards and Oyster cards. You can also buy individual tickets from a machine at bus stops (no change given), but you can’t buy tickets on board. Any bus ride in downtown London costs £2.30 for those paying cash, or £1.35 if using an Oyster card (with a cap of £4.20 per day). If you’re staying longer, consider the £18.80 Seven-Day bus pass.
The first step in mastering London’s bus system is learning how to decipher the bus stop signs (see photo). In the first column, find your destination on the list—e.g., Paddington. In the next column, find a bus that goes there—the #23. The final column has a letter within a circle (e.g., “H”) that tells you exactly which bus stop you need to stand at to catch your bus. (You’ll find the same letter marked on a neighborhood map nearby.) Make your way to that stop—you’ll know it’s yours because it will have the same letter on its pole—and wait for the bus with your number on it to arrive. Hop on, and you’re good to go.
As you board, touch your Oyster card to the electronic card reader, or, if you have a paper ticket or a One-Day Travelcard, show it to the driver. On “Heritage Routes” #9 and #15 (some of which use older double-decker buses), you may still pay a conductor; take a seat, and he or she will come around to collect your fare or verify your pass. There’s no need to tap your card or show your ticket when you hop off.
If you have an Oyster card or Travelcard, save your feet and get in the habit of hopping buses for quick little straight shots, even just to get to a Tube stop. During bump-and-grind rush hours (8:00-10:00 and 16:00-19:00), you’ll usually go faster by Tube.
London is the best taxi town in Europe. Big, black, carefully regulated cabs are everywhere. (While historically known as “black cabs,” some of London’s official taxis are now covered with wildly colored ads.) Some cabs now run on biofuels—a good way to dispose of all that oil used to fry fish-and-chips.
I’ve never met a crabby cabbie in London. They love to talk, and they know every nook and cranny in town. I ride in a taxi each day just to get my London questions answered (drivers must pass a rigorous test on “The Knowledge” of London geography to earn their license).
If a cab’s top light is on, just wave it down. Drivers flash lights when they see you wave. They have a tight turning radius (on new cabs, the back tires actually pivot), so you can hail cabs going in either direction. If waving doesn’t work, ask someone where you can find a taxi stand. Telephoning a cab will get you one in a few minutes, but costs a little more (tel. 0871-871-8710; £2 surcharge, plus extra fee to book ahead by credit card).
Rides start at £2.20. The regular tariff #1 covers most of the day (Mon-Fri 6:00-20:00), tariff #2 is during “unsociable hours” (Mon-Fri 20:00-22:00 and Sat-Sun 6:00-22:00), and tariff #3 is for nights (22:00-6:00) and holidays. Rates go up about 15-20 percent with each higher tariff. All extra charges are explained in writing on the cab wall. Tip a cabbie by rounding up (maximum 10 percent).
Connecting downtown sights is quick and easy, and will cost you about £6-8 (for example, St. Paul’s to the Tower of London, or between the two Tate museums). For a short ride, three adults in a cab generally travel at close to Tube prices—and groups of four or five adults should taxi everywhere. All cabs can carry five passengers, and some take six, for the same cost as a single traveler.
Don’t worry about meter cheating. Licensed British cab meters come with a sealed computer chip and clock that ensures you’ll get the correct tariff. The only way a cabbie can cheat you is by taking a needlessly long route. Another pitfall is taking a cab when traffic is bad to a destination efficiently served by the Tube. On one trip to London, I hopped in a taxi at South Kensington for Waterloo Station and hit bad traffic. Rather than spending 20 minutes and £2 on the Tube, I spent 40 minutes and £16 in a taxi.
If you overdrink and ride in a taxi, be warned: Taxis charge £40 for “soiling” (a.k.a., pub puke). If you forget this book in a taxi, call the Lost Property office and hope for the best (tel. 0845-330-9882).
London is keeping up its push to become more bike-friendly. Since 2010, it’s operated a citywide bike-rental program similar to ones in other major European cities, and new bike lanes are still cropping up around town. Still, London isn’t (yet) ideal for biking. Although the streets are relatively uncongested, the network of designated bike lanes is far from complete, and the city’s many one-way streets (not to mention the need to bike on the “wrong” side) can make biking here a bit more challenging than it sounds. If you’re accustomed to urban biking, it can be a good option for connecting your sightseeing stops, but if you’re just up for a joyride, stick to London’s large parks.
Barclays Cycle Hire bikes, intended for quick point-to-point trips, are fairly easy to rent and a giddy joy to use, even for the most jaded London tourist. These “Boris Bikes” (as they are affectionately called by locals, after cycle enthusiast and mayor Boris Johnson) are cruisers with big, cushy seats, a bag rack with elastic straps, and three gears.
Approximately 400 bike-rental stations are scattered throughout the city, each equipped with a computer kiosk. To rent a bike, you need to pay an access fee (£1/day or £5/week). The first 30 minutes are free; if you hang on to the bike for longer, you’ll be charged (£1 for 1 hour, £4 for 1.5 hours, £6 for 2 hours, and much steeper beyond that).
When you’re ready to ride, press “Hire a Cycle” and insert your credit card when prompted. You’ll then get a ticket with a five-digit code (using a combination of 1s, 2s, and 3s). Take the ticket to any bike, then wake up the machine by pressing any button on the panel near the front tire. When the light comes on, punch in the number. After the yellow light blinks, a green light will appear: Now you can (firmly) pull the bike out of the slot.
When your ride is over, find a station with an empty slot, then push your bike in until it locks and the green light flashes.
You can hire bikes as often as you like (which will start your free 30-minute period over again), as long as you wait five minutes between each use. There can be problems, of course—stations at popular locations (such as entrances to parks) can temporarily run out of bikes, and you may have trouble finding a place to return a bike—but for the most part, this system works great. To make things easier, get a map of the docking stations—pick one up at any major Underground station. It’s also available online at www.tfl.gov.uk (click on “Barclays Cycle Hire”) and as a free smartphone app (http://cyclehireapp.com).
Helmets are not provided, so ride carefully. Stay to the far-left side of the road and watch closely at intersections for left-turning cars. If riding on crowded streets feels intimidating, stick to parks and quiet back lanes. Be aware that most parks (including Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens) have only certain paths that are designated for bike use—you can’t ride just anywhere. Maps posted at park entrances identify bike paths, and non-bike paths are generally clearly marked.
Some bike tour companies also rent bikes—for details, see here.
If you have a car, stow it—you don’t want to drive in London. If you need convincing, here’s one more reason: A £10 congestion charge is levied on any private car entering the city center during peak hours (Mon-Fri 7:00-18:00, no charge Sat-Sun and holidays, fee payable at gas stations, convenience stores, and self-service machines at public parking lots, or online at www.cclondon.com). Traffic cameras photograph and identify every vehicle that enters the fee zone; if you get spotted and don’t pay up by midnight that day (or pay £12 before midnight of the following day), you’ll get socked with a penalty of at least £60. The system has been effective in cutting down traffic jam delays and bolstering London’s public transit. The revenue that’s raised subsidizes the buses, which are now cheaper, more frequent, and even more user-friendly than before. Today, the vast majority of vehicles in the city center are buses, taxis, and service trucks.
To sightsee on your own, download my series of free audio tours that illuminate some of London’s top sights and neighborhoods (see sidebar on here for details).
Two competitive companies (Original and Big Bus) offer essentially the same two tours of the city’s sightseeing highlights, with nearly 30 stops on each route. Big Bus tours are a little more expensive (£27), while Original tours are cheaper (£22 with this book) and nearly as good.
These two-to-three hour, once-over-lightly bus tours drive by all the famous sights, providing a stress-free way to get your bearings and see the biggies. They stop at the same core group of sights regardless of which overview tour you’re on: Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, St. Paul’s, the Tower of London, Marble Arch, Victoria Station, and elsewhere. With a good guide and nice weather, I’d sit back and enjoy the entire tour. (If you don’t like your guide, you can hop off and try your luck with the next departure.)
Each company offers at least one route with live (English-only) guides, and a second (sometimes slightly different route) comes with recorded, dial-a-language narration. In addition to the overview tours, both Original and Big Bus include the Thames River boat trip by City Cruises (between Westminster and the Tower of London) and three 1.5-hour walking tours.
Pick up a map from any flier rack or from one of the countless salespeople, and study the complex system. Sunday morning—when the traffic is light and many museums are closed—is a fine time for a tour. Unless you’re using the bus tour mainly for hop-on, hop-off transportation, consider saving time and money by taking a night tour (described on the next page).
Buses run about every 10-15 minutes in summer, every 10-20 minutes in winter, and operate daily. They start at about 8:30 and run until early evening in summer or late afternoon in winter. The last full loop usually leaves Victoria Station at about 19:00 in summer, and at about 17:00 in winter (confirm by checking the schedule or asking the driver).
You can buy tickets from drivers or from staff at street kiosks (credit cards accepted at kiosks at major stops such as Victoria Station, ticket good for 24 hours).
Original London Sightseeing Bus Tour—They offer two versions of their basic highlights loop: The Original Tour (live guide, marked with a yellow triangle on the front of the bus) and the City Sightseeing Tour (essentially the same route but with recorded narration, a kids’ soundtrack option, and a stop at Madame Tussauds; bus marked with a red triangle). Other routes include the blue-triangle Museum Tour (connecting far-flung museums and major shopping stops), and green, black, and purple triangle routes (linking major train stations to the central route). All routes are covered by the same ticket. Keep it simple and just take one of the city highlights tours (£26, £22 with this book, limit four discounts per book, they’ll rip off the corner of this page—raise bloody hell if the staff or driver won’t honor this discount; also online deals, info center at 17 Cockspur Street, tel. 020/8877-1722, www.theoriginaltour.com).
Big Bus London Tours—For £27 (up to 30 percent discount online—requires printer), you get the same basic overview tours: Red buses come with a live guide, while the blue route has a recorded narration and a one-hour longer path that goes around Hyde Park. These pricier Big Bus tours tend to have better, more dynamic guides than the Original tours, and more departures as well—meaning shorter waits for those hopping on and off (daily 8:30-18:00, winter until 16:30, info center at 48 Buckingham Palace Road, tel. 020/7233-9533, www.bigbustours.com).
London by Night Sightseeing Tour—This tour offers a two-hour circuit, but after hours, with no extras (e.g., walks, river cruises), and at a lower price. While the narration can be pretty lame, the views at twilight are grand—though note that it stays light until late on summer nights, and London just doesn’t do floodlighting as well as, say, Paris (£19, £15 online). From June through late September, open-top buses depart at 19:00, 19:45, 20:15, 20:45, 21:15, and 21:45 from Victoria Station (Jan-May and late Sept-late Dec departs at 19:00 and 20:45 only with closed-top bus, no tours between Christmas and New Year). Buses leave from near Victoria Station (in front of Grosvenor Hotel on Buckingham Palace Road; or you can board at any stop, such as Marble Arch, Trafalgar Square, London Eye, or Tower of London; tel. 020/8545-6109, www.london-by-night.net). For a memorable and economical evening, munch a scenic picnic dinner on the top deck. (There are plenty of take-away options within the train stations and near the various stops.)
Several times a day, top-notch local guides lead (sometimes big) groups through specific slices of London’s past. Look for brochures at TIs or ask at hotels, although the latter usually push higher-priced bus tours. Time Out, the weekly entertainment guide (£3 at newsstands), lists some, but not all, scheduled walks. Check with the various tour companies by phone or online to get their full picture.
To take a walking tour, simply show up at the announced location and pay the guide. Then enjoy two chatty hours of Dickens, Harry Potter, the Plague, Shakespeare, Legal London, the Beatles, Jack the Ripper, or whatever is on the agenda.
Essential London Walk—Blue Badge Tourist Guides offer their basic two-hour Essential London walk to Rick Steves readers for £6 (otherwise £9, tours depart 365 days a year at 10:00 from the Eros statue on Piccadilly Circus—look for the guide with the Blue Badge umbrella, www.guidelondon.org.uk). Tours go rain or shine, and there’s no need to pre-book—just show up. With the discount, this is the best deal going, as you know you’ll get a well-trained guide leading you through the historic core of London (from Piccadilly, you walk to Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and the Thames, and end at Buckingham Palace—just in time for the last part of the Changing of the Guard).
London Walks—This leading company lists its extensive and creative daily schedule in a beefy, plain London Walks brochure. Pick it up at St. Martin-in-the-Fields’ Café in the Crypt on Trafalgar Square, or check their website. Just perusing their fascinating lineup of tours inspires me to stay longer in London. Their two-hour walks, led by top-quality professional guides (ranging from archaeologists to actors), cost £9 (cash only, walks offered year-round, private tours for groups-£130, tel. 020/7624-3978 for a live person, tel. 020/7624-9255 for a recording of today’s or tomorrow’s walks and the Tube station they depart from, www.walks.com).
London Walks also offers day trips into the countryside, a good option for those with limited time and transportation (£12-16 plus £10-46 for transportation and any admission costs, cash only: Stonehenge/Salisbury, Oxford/Cotswolds, Cambridge, Bath, and so on). These are economical in part because everyone gets group discounts for transportation and admissions.
Sandemans New London “Free Royal London Tour”—This company employs students (rather than licensed guides) who recite three-hour spiels covering the basic London sights. While the fast-moving, youthful tours are light and irreverent, and can be both entertaining and fun, it’s misleading to call the tours “free,” as tips are expected (the guides actually pay the company for the privilege of asking for tips). With the Essential London Walk (listed earlier) offered daily at a reasonable price by professional Blue Badge guides, taking this “free” tour makes no sense to me (daily at 11:00 and 13:00, meet at Wellington Arch, Tube: Hyde Park Corner, Exit 2). Sandemans also has other guided tours for a charge, including a Pub Crawl (£15, nightly at 19:30, meet at Verve Bar at 1 Upper St. Martin’s Lane, Tube: Leicester Square, www.newlondon-tours.com).
Beatles Walks—Fans of the still-Fab Four can take one of three Beatles walks (London Walks has two that run 5 days/week; Big Bus includes a daily walk with their bus tour; both listed earlier). For more on Beatles sights, see here.
Jack the Ripper Walks—Each walking tour company seems to make most of its money with “haunted” and Jack the Ripper tours. Many guides are historians and would rather not lead these lightweight tours—but, in tourism as in journalism, “if it bleeds, it leads” (which is why the juvenile London Dungeon is one of the city’s busiest sights).
Two reliably good two-hour tours start every night at the Tower Hill Tube station exit. London Walks’ leave nightly at 19:30 (£9, pay at the start, tel. 020/7624-3978, recorded info tel. 020/7624-9255, www.jacktheripperwalk.com). Ripping Yarns, which leaves earlier, is guided by off-duty Yeoman Warders—the Tower of London “Beefeaters” (£7, pay at end, nightly at 18:45, no tours between Christmas and New Year, mobile 07813-559-301, www.jack-the-ripper-tours.com). After taking both, I found the London Walks tour more entertaining, informative, and with a better route (along quieter, once-hooker-friendly lanes, with less traffic), starting at Tower Hill and ending at Liverpool Street Station rather than returning to Tower Hill. Groups can be huge for both, but there’s always room—just show up.
Private Walks with Local Guides—Standard rates for London’s registered Blue Badge guides are about £135-160 for four hours and £210-230 or more for nine hours (tel. 020/7611-2545, www.touristguides.org.uk or www.britainsbestguides.org). I know and like four fine local guides: Sean Kelleher (tel. 020/8673-1624, mobile 07764-612-770, seankelleher@btinternet.com), Britt Lonsdale (£190/half-day, £290/day, great with families, tel. 020/7386-9907, mobile 07813-278-077, brittl@btinternet.com), and two others who work in London when they’re not on the road leading my Britain tours, Tom Hooper (mobile 07986-048-047, tomh@ricksteves.net) and Gillian Chadwick (mobile 07889-976-598, gillianc@ricksteves.net).
Driver-Guides—These two guides have cars or a minibus (particularly helpful for travelers with limited mobility): Robina Brown (£310/half-day, £455/day, tel. 020/7228-2238, www.driverguidetours.com, robina@driverguidetours.com) and Janine Barton (£350/half-day, £450/day within London, £550 outside London, tel. 020/7402-4600, http://seeitinstyle.synthasite.com, jbsiis@aol.com).
A bright-yellow amphibious WWII-vintage vehicle (the model that landed troops on Normandy’s beaches on D-Day) takes a gang of 30 tourists past some famous sights on land—Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus—then splashes into the Thames for a cruise. All in all, it’s good fun at a rather steep price. The live guide works hard, and it’s kid-friendly to the point of goofiness. Beware: These book up in advance (£21, April-Sept daily, first tour 9:30 or 10:00, last tour usually 18:00, shorter hours Oct-March, 1-4/hour, 1.25 hours—45 minutes on land and 30 minutes in the river, £3 booking fee by phone or online, departs from Chicheley Street—you’ll see the big, ugly vehicle parked 100 yards behind the London Eye, Tube: Waterloo or Westminster, tel. 020/7928-3132, www.londonducktours.co.uk).
London, like Paris, is committed to creating more bike paths, and many of its best sights can be laced together with a pleasant pedal through its parks. A bike tour is a fun way to see the sights and enjoy the city on two wheels.
London Bicycle Tour Company—Three tours covering London are offered daily from their base at Gabriel’s Wharf on the South Bank of the Thames. Sunday is the best, as there is less car traffic (Central Tour—£19, daily at 10:30, 6 miles, 2.5 hours, includes Westminster, Covent Garden, and St. Paul’s; West End Tour—£19, April-Oct daily at 14:30, none Nov-March, 7 miles, 2.5 hours, includes Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Soho, and Covent Garden; East Tour—£22, April-Oct Sat-Sun at 14:00, Nov-March only on Sat at 12:00, 9 miles, 3.5 hours, includes south side of the river to Tower Bridge, then The City to the East End; book ahead for off-season tours). They also rent bikes (£3.50/hour, £20/day; office open daily April-Oct 10:00-18:00, Nov-March 10:00-16:00, west of Blackfriars Bridge on the South Bank, 1a Gabriel’s Wharf, tel. 020/7928-6838, www.londonbicycle.com).
Fat Tire Bike Tours—Daily bike tours cover the highlights of downtown London, on two different itineraries (£2 discount with this book): Royal London (£20, daily March-Nov at 11:00, mid-May-mid-Sept also at 15:30, 7 miles, 4 hours, meet at Queensway Tube station; includes Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and Trafalgar Square) and River Thames (£30, March-Nov Thu-Sat at 10:30, nearly daily in summer, 5 hours, meet at Waterloo Tube station—exit 2; includes London Eye, St. Paul’s, Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, and boat trip on the Thames). The spiel is light and irreverent rather than scholarly, but the price is right. Reservations are easy online, and required for River Thames tours and kids’ bikes (off-season tours can be arranged, mobile 078-8233-8779, www.fattirebiketourslondon.com). Confirm the schedule online or by phone.
Andy Steves (Rick’s son) runs Weekend Student Adventures, offering experiential three-day weekend tours for €250 designed for American students studying abroad (see www.wsaeurope.com for details on tours of London and other great European cities).
Boat tours with entertaining commentaries sail regularly from many points along the Thames. The options are plentiful, with several companies offering essentially the same trip. Your basic options are to use the boats either for a scenic joyride cruise within the city center, or for transportation to an outlying sight (such as Greenwich or Kew Gardens).
Boats come and go from several docks in the city center (see sidebar on the next page). The most popular places to embark are Westminster Pier (at the base of Westminster Bridge across the street from Big Ben) and Waterloo Pier (at the London Eye, across the river).
Buy boat tickets at the kiosks on the docks. If you’d like to compare your options in one spot, head to Westminster Pier, where all of the big outfits have ticket kiosks. While individual Tube and bus tickets don’t work on the boats, a Travelcard can snare you a 33 percent discount on most cruises (just show the card when you pay for the cruise; no discount with the pay-as-you-go Oyster card except on Thames Clippers). Because different companies vary in the discounts they offer, always ask. Children and seniors generally get discounts. You can purchase drinks and scant, pricey snacks on board. Clever budget travelers pack a picnic and munch while they cruise.
Round-trip fares are only a bit more than one-way. Still, for pleasure and efficiency, consider combining a one-way cruise (to Kew, Greenwich, or wherever) with a Tube or train ride back.
London offers many made-for-tourist cruises, most on slow-moving, open-top boats accompanied by commentary about passing sights.
City Cruises runs boats from Westminster Pier across the river to Waterloo Pier, then downriver to Tower Pier and on to Greenwich (tel. 020/7740-0400, www.citycruises.com). If you want just a sample, hop on their 30-minute cruise only as far as Tower Pier (£9 one-way, £10.50 round-trip, daily April-Oct roughly 10:00-19:00, until 21:00 in mid-July-mid-Sept, until 18:00 in winter, 2/hour). City Cruises also offers a £15.50 River Red Rover ticket good for all-day hop-on, hop-off travel—though the line’s limited stops in the city center make this a lesser deal than it might seem.
Thames River Services runs a similar trip with even fewer stops: Westminster to St. Katharine’s Pier to Greenwich (tel. 020/7930-4097, www.thamesriverservices.co.uk). They have classic boats and feel a little friendlier and more old-fashioned. For more details, see “Cruising Downstream, to Greenwich and the Docklands” on the facing page.
The Circular Cruise offered by Crown River Services is a handy hop-on, hop-off route with stops at the Westminster, Festival, Embankment, Bankside, London Bridge, and St. Katharine’s piers (£3 to go one stop, £8.50 one-way for a longer trip, £11 round-trip, daily 11:00-18:30, every 30 minutes late May-early Sept, fewer stops and less frequent off-season, tel. 020/7936-2033, www.crownriver.com).
The London Eye operates its own river cruise, offering a 40-minute live-guided circular tour from Waterloo Pier. As it’s much pricier than the alternatives for just a short loop, it’s a poor value (£12.50, reservations recommended, 10 percent discount if you pre-book online, no Travelcard discounts, departures daily generally at :45 past the hour, April-Oct 10:45-18:45, Nov-March 11:45-16:45, closed mid-Jan-mid-Feb, tel. 0870-500-0600, www.londoneye.com).
Careening at Top Speed Along the Thames: Two competing companies invite you aboard a small, 12-person, high-speed rigid inflatable boat (RIB—similar to a Zodiac) for an adrenaline-fueled tour of the city (London RIB Voyages: stand-up comedian guides, £42/50 minutes, £49/1.25 hours, tel. 020/7928-8933, www.londonribvoyages.com; Thames RIB Experience: £34/50 minutes, £48/1.25 hours, tel. 020/7930-5746, www.thamesribexperience.com).
Away from the Thames, on Regent’s Canal: Consider exploring London’s canals by taking a cruise on historic Regent’s Canal in north London. The good ship Jenny Wren offers 1.5-hour guided canal boat cruises from Walker’s Quay in Camden Town through scenic Regent’s Park to Little Venice (£9.50; Aug daily at 10:30, 12:30, and 16:30, Sat-Sun also at 14:30; April-July and Sept-Oct daily at 12:30 and 14:30, Sat-Sun also at 16:30; Walker’s Quay, 250 Camden High Street, 3-minute walk from Tube: Camden Town; tel. 020/7485-4433, www.walkersquay.com). While in Camden Town, stop by the popular, punky Camden Lock Market to browse through trendy arts and crafts (daily 10:00-18:00, busiest on weekends, a block from Walker’s Quay, www.camdenlockmarket.com).
Thames Clippers, which uses fast, sleek, 220-seat catamarans, is designed for commuters rather than sightseers. Think of the boats as express buses on the river—they zip no-nonsense through London every 20-30 minutes, stopping at most of the major docks en route: Embankment, Waterloo/London Eye, Blackfriars or Bankside, London Bridge, Tower, Canary Wharf (Docklands), and Greenwich (roughly 20 minutes from Embankment to Tower, 10 more minutes to Docklands, 10 more minutes to Greenwich). However, the boats are less pleasant for joyriding than the cruises described earlier, with no commentary and no open deck up top (the only outside access is on a crowded deck at the exhaust-choked back of the boat, where you’re jostling for space to take photos). Any one-way ride costs £6, and a River Roamer all-day ticket costs £13.60 (33 percent discount with Travelcard, 10 percent off with a pay-as-you-go Oyster card, tel. 020/7001-2222, www.thamesclippers.com).
Thames Clippers also offers two express trips. The Tate Boat ferry service, which directly connects the Tate Britain (Millbank Pier) and the Tate Modern (Bankside Pier), is made for art-lovers (£6 one-way, covered by £13.60 River Roamer day ticket; buy ticket at gallery desk or on board; for frequency and times, see the Tate Britain and Tate Modern listings, later, or www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-boat). The O2 Express runs only on nights when there are events going on at the O2 arena; from Waterloo Pier, £7 one-way, £14 round-trip, 30 minutes).
Greenwich: Both of the big tour companies (City Cruises and Thames River Services, described earlier) head to Greenwich from Westminster Pier. The cruises are usually narrated by the captain, with most commentary given on the way to Greenwich. The companies’ prices are the same (£10.50 one-way, £13 round-trip), though their itineraries are slightly different: City Cruises stops at Waterloo/London Eye Pier and Tower Pier on the way to Greenwich (if you buy their £15.50 River Red Rover ticket, you can hop on and off all day long; daily April-Oct generally 10:00-17:00, less off-season, 2/hour, 1.25 hours from Westminster to Greenwich; cheaper to go from Tower Pier to Greenwich—£8 one-way, £10.50 round-trip, only 30 minutes to Greenwich—but you miss all the scenery in the city center). Thames River Services stops only at St. Katharine’s Pier on the way to Greenwich, making the trip a little faster (April-Oct 10:00-16:00, July-Aug until 17:00, daily 2/hour; Nov-March shorter hours and runs every 40 minutes; 1 hour from Westminster to Greenwich).
The Thames Clippers boats, described earlier, are cheaper, faster, and make more stops downtown, but have no commentary and no seating up top (£6 one-way, £13.60 for an all-day pass, 2-3/hour, about 45 minutes from Westminster to Greenwich).
To maximize both efficiency and sightseeing, I’d take a boat to Greenwich one way, and go the other way on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway), with a stop in the Docklands (Canary Wharf station).
The Docklands: Thames Clippers connects the Docklands’ Canary Wharf Pier to both the city center and Greenwich (£6 one-way, £13.60 for an all-day pass, no commentary, 3/hour, roughly 10 minutes to Tower, 30 minutes to Waterloo, 10 minutes to Greenwich).
Boats operated by the Westminster Passenger Services Association leave for Kew Gardens from Westminster Pier (£12 one-way, £18 round-trip, cash only; 4/day, April-Oct daily at 10:30, 11:15, 12:00, and 14:00; 1.5 hours, about half the trip is narrated, tel. 020/7930-2062, www.wpsa.co.uk). Most boats continue on to Hampton Court Palace for an additional £3 (and another 1.5 hours). Because of the river current, you can save 30 minutes cruising from Hampton Court back into town (depends on the tide—ask before you commit to the boat). Romantic as these rides sound, it can be a long trip...especially upstream.
(See “Westminster Walk” map, here)
Just about every visitor to London strolls along historic Whitehall from Big Ben to Trafalgar Square. This walk gives meaning to that touristy ramble (most of the sights you’ll see are described in more detail later). Under London’s modern traffic and big-city bustle lie 2,000 fascinating years of history. You’ll get a whirlwind tour as well as a practical orientation to London. (You can download a free, extended audio version of this walk to your mobile device; see here.)
Start halfway across 
Westminster Bridge for that “Wow, I’m really in London!” feeling. Get a close-up view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (floodlit at night). Downstream you’ll see the London Eye. Down the stairs to Westminster Pier are boats to the Tower of London and Greenwich (downstream) or Kew Gardens (upstream).
En route to Parliament Square, you’ll pass a 
statue of Boadicea, the Celtic queen defeated by Roman invaders in A.D. 60.
For fun, call home from near Big Ben at about three minutes before the hour to let your loved one hear the bell ring. You’ll find four red phone booths lining the north side of 
Parliament Square along Great George Street—also great for a phone-box-and-Big-Ben photo op.
Wave hello to Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square. To Churchill’s right is Westminster Abbey, with its two stubby, elegant towers. The white building (flying the Union Jack) at the far end of the square houses Britain’s new Supreme Court.
Head north up Parliament Street, which turns into 
Whitehall, and walk toward Trafalgar Square. You’ll see the thought-provoking 
Cenotaph in the middle of the boulevard, reminding passersby of the many Brits who died in the last century’s world wars. To visit the Churchill War Rooms, take a left before the Cenotaph, on King Charles Street.
Continuing on Whitehall, stop at the barricaded and guarded 
#10 Downing Street to see the British “White House,” home of the prime minister. Break the bobby’s boredom and ask him a question. The huge building across Whitehall from Downing Street is the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the “British Pentagon.”
Nearing Trafalgar Square, look for the 17th-century 
Banqueting House across the street and the 
Horse Guards behind the gated fence.
The column topped by Lord Nelson marks 
Trafalgar Square. The stately domed building on the far side of the square is the National Gallery, which has a classy café in the Sainsbury wing. To the right of the National Gallery is St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church and its Café in the Crypt.
To get to Piccadilly from Trafalgar Square, walk up Cockspur Street to Haymarket, then take a short left on Coventry Street to colorful Piccadilly Circus (see map on here).
Near Piccadilly, you’ll find a number of theaters. Leicester Square (with its half-price “tkts” booth for plays—see here) thrives just a few blocks away. Walk through seedy Soho (north of Shaftesbury Avenue) for its fun pubs. From Piccadilly or Oxford Circus, you can take a taxi, bus, or the Tube home.
▲▲Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster)
Other Sights on Trafalgar Square
Map: British Library Highlights
These sights are listed roughly in geographical order from Westminster Abbey to Trafalgar Square, and are linked by my self-guided Westminster Walk, above.
The greatest church in the English-speaking world, Westminster Abbey is where the nation’s royalty has been wedded, crowned, and buried since 1066. Indeed, the histories of Westminster Abbey and England are almost the same. A thousand years of English history—3,000 tombs, the remains of 29 kings and queens, and hundreds of memorials to poets, politicians, scientists, and warriors—lie within its stained-glass splendor and under its stone slabs.
Cost and Hours: £16, £32 family ticket (covers 2 adults and 1 child), cash or credit cards accepted (line up in the correct queue to pay), ticket includes audioguide and entry to cloisters and Abbey Museum; abbey—Mon-Fri 9:30-16:30, Wed until 19:00 (main church only), Sat 9:30-14:30, last entry one hour before closing, closed Sun to sightseers but open for services; museum—daily 10:30-16:00; cloisters—daily 8:00-18:00; no photos, café in solarium, Tube: Westminster or St. James’s Park, tel. 020/7654-4834, www.westminster-abbey.org. It’s free to enter just the cloisters and Abbey Museum (through Dean’s Yard, around the right side as you face the main entrance), but if it’s too crowded inside, the marshal at the cloister entrance may not let you in.
When to Go: The place is most crowded every day at midmorning and on Saturdays and Mondays. Visit early, during lunch, or late to avoid tourist hordes. Weekdays after 14:30 are less congested; come after that time and stay for the 17:00 evensong. The main entrance, on the Parliament Square side, often has a sizable line. Of the two queues (cash or credit) at the admissions desk, the cash line is probably moving faster.
Music and Services: Mon-Fri at 7:30 (prayer), 8:00 (communion), 12:30 (communion), 17:00 evensong (except on Wed, when the evening service is generally spoken—not sung); Sat at 8:00 (communion), 9:00 (prayer), 15:00 (evensong; June-Sept it’s at 17:00); Sun services generally come with more music: at 8:00 (communion), 10:00 (sung Matins), 11:15 (sung Eucharist), 15:00 (evensong), 18:30 (evening service). For more on evensong, see here. Services are free to anyone, though visitors who haven’t paid church admission aren’t allowed to linger afterward. Free organ recitals are usually held Sun at 17:45 (30 minutes). For a schedule of services or recitals on a particular day, look for posted signs with schedules or check the Abbey’s website.
Self-Guided Tour: You’ll have no choice but to follow the steady flow of tourists circling clockwise through the church. My tour covers the Abbey’s top stops.
• Walk straight in, through the north transept and into the center of the church.
North Transept and View of Nave: The “high” (main) altar (which usually has a cross and candlesticks atop it) sits on the platform up the five stairs. This is the culminating point of the long, high-ceilinged nave. In the opposite direction, nestled in the nave, is the elaborately carved wooden seating of the choir (a.k.a. “quire” in British churchspeak), where monks once chanted their services and where, today, the Abbey boys’ choir sings the evensong. The Abbey’s 10-story nave is the tallest in England. The north transept is nicknamed “Statesmen’s Corner” and specializes in tombs and memorials of famous prime ministers.
• Turn left and follow the crowd. Stop at the wooden staircase on your right.
Tomb of Edward the Confessor: Step back and peek over the dark coffin of Edward I to see the tippy-top of the green-and-gold wedding-cake tomb of King Edward the Confessor—the man who built Westminster Abbey. God had told pious Edward to visit St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. But with the Normans thinking conquest, it was too dangerous for him to leave England. Instead, he built this grand church and dedicated it to St. Peter. It was finished just in time to bury Edward and to crown his foreign successor, William the Conqueror, in 1066. After Edward’s death, people prayed at his tomb, and, after getting good results, Pope Alexander III canonized him. This elevated, central tomb—which lost some of its luster when Henry VIII melted down the gold coffin-case—is surrounded by the tombs of eight kings and queens.
• At the top of the stone staircase, veer left into the private burial chapel of Queen Elizabeth I.
Tomb of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary I: Although there’s only one effigy on the tomb (Elizabeth’s), there are actually two queens buried beneath it, both daughters of Henry VIII (by different mothers). Bloody Mary—meek, pious, sickly, and Catholic—enforced Catholicism during her short reign (1553-1558) by burning “heretics” at the stake.
Elizabeth—strong, clever, and Protestant—steered England on an Anglican course. She holds a royal orb, symbolizing that she’s queen of the whole globe. When 26-year-old Elizabeth was crowned in the Abbey, her right to rule was questioned (especially by her Catholic subjects) because she was the bastard seed of Henry VIII’s unsanctioned marriage to Anne Boleyn. But Elizabeth’s long reign (1559-1603) was one of the greatest in English history, a time when England ruled the seas and Shakespeare explored human emotions. When she died, thousands turned out for her funeral in the Abbey. Elizabeth’s face on the tomb, modeled after her death mask, is considered a very accurate take on this hook-nosed, imperious “Virgin Queen.”
• Continue into the ornate, flag-draped room up a few more stairs, directly behind the main altar.
Chapel of King Henry VII (a.k.a. the Lady Chapel): The light from the stained-glass windows; the colorful banners overhead; and the elaborate tracery in stone, wood, and glass give this room the festive air of a medieval tournament. The prestigious Knights of the Bath meet here, under the magnificent ceiling studded with gold pendants. The ceiling—of carved stone, not plaster (1519)—is the finest English Perpendicular Gothic and fan vaulting you’ll see (unless you’re going to King’s College Chapel in Cambridge). The ceiling was sculpted on the floor in pieces, then jigsaw-puzzled into place. It capped the Gothic period and signaled the vitality of the coming Renaissance.
• Go to the far end of the chapel and stand at the banister in front of the modern set of stained-glass windows.
Royal Air Force Chapel: Saints in robes and halos mingle with pilots in parachutes and bomber jackets. This tribute to WWII flyers is for those who earned their angel wings in the Battle of Britain (July-Oct 1940). A bit of bomb damage has been preserved—look for the little glassed-over hole in the wall below the windows in the lower left-hand corner.
• Exit the Chapel of Henry VII. Turn left into a side chapel with the tomb (the central one of three in the chapel).
Tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots: The beautiful, French-educated queen was held under house arrest for 19 years by Queen Elizabeth I, who considered her a threat to her sovereignty. Elizabeth got wind of an assassination plot, suspected Mary was behind it, and had her first cousin (once removed) beheaded. When Elizabeth—who was called the “Virgin Queen”—died heirless, Mary’s son, James VI, King of Scots, also became King James I of England and Ireland. James buried his mum here (with her head sewn back on) in the Abbey’s most sumptuous tomb.
• Exit Mary’s chapel. Ahead of you, at the foot of the stairs, is the...
Coronation Chair: The gold-painted oak chair waits here—with its back to the high altar—for the next coronation. For every English coronation since 1308 (except two), it’s been moved to its spot before the high altar to receive the royal buttocks. The chair’s legs rest on lions, England’s symbol.
• Turn left into the south transept. You’re in...
Poets’ Corner: England’s greatest artistic contributions are in the written word. Here the masters of arguably the world’s most complex and expressive language are remembered—Geoffrey Chaucer (Canterbury Tales), Lord Byron, Dylan Thomas, W. H. Auden, Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), T. S. Eliot (The Waste Land), Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, and Charles Dickens. Many writers are honored with plaques and monuments; relatively few are actually buried here. Shakespeare is commemorated by a fine statue that stands near the end of the transept, overlooking the others.
• Return to the center of the church in front of the high altar. (You may have to peek over a row of chairs.)
The Coronation Spot: The area immediately before the high altar is where every English coronation since 1066 has taken place. Royals are also given funerals here. Princess Diana’s coffin was carried to this spot for her funeral service in 1997. The “Queen Mum” (mother of Elizabeth II) had her funeral here in 2002. This is also where most of the last century’s royal weddings have taken place, including the unions of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (1947), Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson (1986), and Prince William and Kate Middleton (2011).
• Exit the church (temporarily) at the south door, which leads to the...
Cloisters and Abbey Museum: The buildings that adjoin the church housed the monks. Cloistered courtyards gave them a place to meditate on God’s creations. The small Abbey Museum, formerly the monks’ lounge, is worth a peek for its fascinating and well-described exhibits. Look into the impressively realistic eyes of Elizabeth I, Charles II, Admiral Nelson, and a dozen others, part of a compelling series of wax-and-wood statues that, for three centuries, graced coffins during funeral processions. The once-exquisite, now-fragmented Westminster Retable, which decorated the high altar in 1270, is the oldest surviving altarpiece in England.
• Go back into the church and stand in the...
Nave: On the floor near the west entrance of the Abbey is the flower-lined Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, one ordinary WWI soldier buried in soil from France with lettering made from melted-down weapons from that war. Think about that million-man army from the empire and commonwealth, and all those who gave their lives. Their memory is so revered that, when Kate Middleton walked up the aisle on her wedding day, by tradition she had to step around the tomb (and her wedding bouquet was later placed atop this tomb, also in accordance with tradition).
This Neo-Gothic icon of London, the royal residence from 1042 to 1547, is now the meeting place of the legislative branch of government. The Houses of Parliament are located in what was once the Palace of Westminster—long the palace of England’s medieval kings—until it was largely destroyed by fire in 1834. The palace was rebuilt in the Victorian Gothic style (a move away from Neoclassicism back to England’s Christian and medieval heritage, true to the Romantic Age) and completed in 1860.
Visitors are welcome to view debates in either the bickering House of Commons or the genteel House of Lords. You’re only allowed inside when Parliament is in session, indicated by a flag flying atop the Victoria Tower, at the south end of the building (generally Mondays through Thursdays). This isn’t really intended as a tourist attraction—it’s about letting British citizens observe their leaders at work. Though the actual debates are generally quite dull, it’s still a thrill to be inside and see the British government inaction. If you’re more interested in the building than the proceedings, join a guided tour (see below).
Cost and Hours: Free, both Houses usually in session and open to visitors Mon-Tue 14:30-22:30, Wed 11:30-22:00, Thu 10:30-19:00, closed Fri-Sun and most of Aug-Sept, generally less action and no lines after 18:00, Tube: Westminster, tel. 020/7219-4272, see www.parliament.uk for schedule.
Houses of Parliament Tours: Though Parliament is in recess during much of August and September, you can get a behind-the-scenes peek at the royal chambers of both houses during these months with a tour (£15, 1.25 hours, generally Mon-Sat, times vary, so confirm in advance; book ahead through www.ticketmaster.co.uk). The same tours are offered Saturdays year-round.
Visiting the Houses of Parliament (HOP): Enter the venerable HOP midway along the west side of the building (across the street from Westminster Abbey) through the Visitor Entrance (with the tourist ramp, next to the St. Stephen’s Entrance—if lost, ask a guard). As you enter, you’ll be asked if you want to visit the House of Commons or the House of Lords. The House of Lords has more pageantry, shorter lines, but less lively debates (tel. 020/7219-3107 for schedule, visit www.parliamentlive.tv for a preview). Inquire about the wait—an hour or two is not unusual. If there’s a long line for the House of Commons and you just want a quick look inside the grand halls of this majestic building, start with the House of Lords. Once inside, you can switch if you like. If you have questions, ask one of the attendants (wearing yellow ties).
Just past security (where you’ll be photographed and given a badge to wear around your neck), you enter the vast and historic Westminster Hall, which survived the 1834 fire. The cavernous hall was built in the 11th century, and its famous self-supporting hammer-beam roof was added in 1397. Racks of brochures here explain how the British government works, and plaques describe the hall. The Jubilee Café, open to the public, has live video feeds showing exactly what’s going on in each house. Just seeing the café video is a fun experience (and can help you decide which house—if either—you’d like to see). Walking through the hall and up the stairs, you’ll enter the busy world of government with all its high-powered goings-on.
Jewel Tower: Across the street from the Parliament building’s St. Stephen’s Gate, the Jewel Tower is a rare remnant of the old Palace of Westminster, used by kings until Henry VIII. The crude stone tower (1365-1366) was a guard tower in the palace wall, overlooking a moat. It contains a fine little exhibit on Parliament and the tower (£3, daily March-Oct 10:00-17:00, Nov-Feb 10:00-16:00, tel. 020/7222-2219). Next to the tower (and free) is a quiet courtyard with picnic-friendly benches.
Big Ben: The 315-foot-high clock tower at the north end of the Palace of Westminster is named for its 13-ton bell, Ben. The light above the clock is lit when the House of Commons is sitting. The face of the clock is huge—you can actually see the minute hand moving. For a good view of it, walk halfway over Westminster Bridge.
▲▲▲Churchill War Rooms—This excellent sight offers a fascinating walk through the underground headquarters of the British government’s fight against the Nazis in the darkest days of the Battle for Britain. It has two parts: the war rooms themselves, and a top-notch museum dedicated to the man who steered the war from here, Winston Churchill. For details on all the blood, sweat, toil, and tears, pick up the excellent, essential, and included audioguide at the entry, and dive in.
Cost and Hours: £16.50 (includes 10 percent optional donation), £5 guidebook, daily 9:30-18:00, last entry one hour before closing; on King Charles Street, 200 yards off Whitehall, follow the signs, Tube: Westminster, tel. 020/7930-6961, www.iwm.org.uk/churchill. The museum’s gift shop is great for anyone nostalgic for the 1940s.
Cabinet War Rooms: The 27-room, heavily fortified nerve center of the British war effort was used from 1939 to 1945. Churchill’s room, the map room, and other rooms are just as they were in 1945. As you follow the one-way route, be sure to take advantage of the audioguide, which explains each room and offers first-person accounts of wartime happenings here (it takes about 45 minutes, not counting the Churchill Museum). Be patient—it’s well worth it. While the rooms are spartan, you’ll see how British gentility survived even as the city was bombarded—posted signs informed those working underground what the weather was like outside, and a cheery notice reminded them to turn off the light switch to conserve electricity.
Churchill Museum: Don’t bypass this museum, which occupies a large hall amid the war rooms. It dissects every aspect of the man behind the famous cigar, bowler hat, and V-for-victory sign. It’s extremely well-presented and engaging, using artifacts, quotes, political cartoons, clear explanations, and high-tech interactive exhibits to bring the colorful statesman to life; this museum alone deserves an hour. You’ll get a taste of Winston’s wit, irascibility, work ethic, passion for painting, American ties, writing talents, and drinking habits. The exhibit shows Winston’s warts as well: It questions whether his party-switching was just political opportunism, examines the basis for his opposition to Indian self-rule, and reveals him to be an intense taskmaster who worked 18-hour days and was brutal to his staffers (who deeply respected him nevertheless).
A long touch-the-screen timeline lets you zero in on events in his life from birth (November 30, 1874) to his first appointment as prime minister in 1940. Many of the items on display—such as a European map divvied up in permanent marker, which Churchill brought to England from the postwar Potsdam Conference—drive home the remarkable span of history this man lived through. Imagine: Churchill began his military career riding horses in the cavalry and ended it speaking out against the proliferation of nuclear armaments. It’s all the more amazing considering that, in the 1930s, the man who would become my vote for greatest statesman of the 20th century was considered a washed-up loony ranting about the growing threat of fascism.
Eating: Get your rations at the Switch Room café (in the museum), or for a nearby pub lunch, try Westminster Arms (food served downstairs, on Storey’s Gate, a couple of blocks south of the museum).
Horse Guards—The Horse Guards change daily at 11:00 (10:00 on Sun), and a colorful dismounting ceremony takes place daily at 16:00. The rest of the day, they just stand there—terrible for video cameras (on Whitehall, between Trafalgar Square and #10 Downing Street, Tube: Westminster, www.changing-the-guard.com). Buckingham Palace pageantry is canceled when it rains, but the Horse Guards change regardless of the weather.
▲Banqueting House—England’s first Renaissance building (1619-1622) is still standing. Designed by Inigo Jones, built by King James I, and decorated by his son Charles I, the Banqueting House came to symbolize the Stuart kings’ “divine right” management style—the belief that God himself had anointed them to rule. The house is one of the few London landmarks spared by the 1698 fire and the only surviving part of the original Palace of Whitehall. Today it opens its doors to visitors, who enjoy a restful 20-minute audiovisual history, a 30-minute audioguide, and a look at the exquisite banqueting hall itself. As a tourist attraction, it’s basically one big room, with sumptuous ceiling paintings by Peter Paul Rubens. At Charles I’s request, these paintings drove home the doctrine of the legitimacy of the divine right of kings. Ironically, in 1649—divine right ignored—King Charles I was famously executed right here.
Cost and Hours: £5 (includes 10 percent optional donation), includes audioguide, Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00, closed Sun, last entry at 16:30, may close for government functions—though it usually stays open at least until 13:00 (call ahead for recorded information about closures), aristocratic WC, immediately across Whitehall from the Horse Guards, Tube: Westminster, tel. 020/3166-6155, www.hrp.org.uk.
London’s central square—at the intersection of Westminster, The City, and the West End—is the climax of most marches and demonstrations, and a thrilling place to simply hang out. A recent remodeling of the square has rerouted car traffic, helping reclaim the area for London’s citizens. At the top of Trafalgar Square (north) sits the domed National Gallery with its grand staircase, and to the right, the steeple of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, built in 1722, inspiring the steeple-over-the-entrance style of many town churches in New England. In the center of the square, Lord Horatio Nelson stands atop his 185-foot-tall fluted granite column, gazing out toward Trafalgar, where he lost his life but defeated the French fleet. Part of this 1842 memorial is made from his victims’ melted-down cannons. He’s surrounded by spraying fountains, giant lions, hordes of people, and—until recently—even more pigeons. A former London mayor decided that London’s “flying rats” were a public nuisance and evicted Trafalgar Square’s venerable seed salesmen (Tube: Charing Cross).
Displaying Britain’s top collection of European paintings from 1250 to 1900—including works by Leonardo, Botticelli, Velázquez, Rembrandt, Turner, Van Gogh, and the Impressionists—this is one of Europe’s great galleries. You’ll peruse 700 years of art—from gold-backed Madonnas to Cubist bathers.
Cost and Hours: Free, but suggested donation of £2, temporary (optional) exhibits extra, floor plan-£1; daily 10:00-18:00, Fri until 21:00, last entry to special exhibits 45 minutes before closing; no photos, on Trafalgar Square, Tube: Charing Cross or Leicester Square.
Information: Helpful £1 floor plan available from information desk; free one-hour overview tours leave from Sainsbury Wing info desk daily at 11:30 and 14:30, plus Fri at 19:00; excellent £3.50 audioguides—choose from one-hour highlights tour, several theme tours, or tour option that lets you dial up info on any painting in the museum; ArtStart computer terminals help you study any artist, style, or topic in the museum, and print out a tailor-made tour map (mostly in the Espresso Bar, and a few more non-printing ones on first floor of the Sainsbury Wing); info tel. 020/7747-2885, switchboard tel. 020/7839-3321, www.nationalgallery.org.uk.
Eating: Consider splitting afternoon tea at the excellent-but-pricey National Dining Rooms, on the first floor of the Sainsbury Wing. The National Café, located near the Getty Entrance, also has afternoon tea (see here for more info on both).
Self-Guided Tour: Go in through the Sainsbury Entrance (in the smaller building to the left of the main entrance), and approach the collection chronologically.
(See “National Gallery” map, here)
Medieval and Early Renaissance: In the first rooms, you see shiny paintings of saints, angels, Madonnas, and crucifixions floating in an ethereal gold never-never land.
After leaving this gold-leaf peace, you’ll stumble into Uccello’s Battle of San Romano and Van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait, called by some “The Shotgun Wedding.” This painting—a masterpiece of down-to-earth details—was once thought to depict a wedding ceremony forced by the lady’s swelling belly. Today it’s understood as a portrait of a solemn, well-dressed, well-heeled couple, the Arnolfinis of Bruges, Belgium (she likely was not pregnant—the fashion of the day was to gather up the folds of one’s extremely full-skirted dress).
Renaissance: In painting, the Renaissance meant realism. Artists rediscovered the beauty of nature and the human body, expressing the optimism and confidence of this new age. Look for Botticelli’s Venus and Mars, Michelangelo’s The Entombment, Raphael’s Pope Julius II, and Leonardo’s The Virgin of the Rocks.
Hans Holbein the Younger’s The Ambassadors depicts two well-dressed, suave men flanking a shelf full of books, globes, navigational tools, and musical instruments—objects that symbolize the secular knowledge of the Renaissance. So what’s with the gray, slanting blob at the bottom? If you view the blob from the right-hand edge of the painting (get real close, right up to the frame), the blob suddenly becomes...a skull, a reminder that—despite the fine clothes, proud poses, and worldly knowledge—we will all die.
In The Origin of the Milky Way by Venetian Renaissance painter Tintoretto, the god Jupiter places his illegitimate son, baby Hercules, at his wife’s breast. Juno says, “Wait a minute. That’s not my baby!” Her milk spurts upward, becoming the Milky Way.
Northern Protestant: Greek gods and Virgin Marys are out, and hometown folks and hometown places are in. Highlights include Vermeer’s A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal and Rembrandt’s Belshazzar’s Feast.
Rembrandt painted his Self-Portrait at the Age of 63 in the year he would die. He was bankrupt, his mistress had just passed away, and he had also buried several of his children. We see a disillusioned, well-worn, but proud old genius.
Baroque: The museum’s outstanding Baroque collection includes Van Dyck’s Equestrian Portrait of Charles I and Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus. In Velázquez’s The Rokeby Venus, Venus lounges diagonally across the canvas, admiring herself, with flaring red, white, and gray fabrics to highlight her rosy white skin and inflame our passion. This work by the king’s personal court painter is a rare Spanish nude from that ultra-Catholic country.
British: The reserved British were more comfortable cavorting with nature than with the lofty gods, as seen in Constable’s The Hay Wain and Turner’s The Fighting Téméraire. Turner’s messy, colorful style influenced the Impressionists and gives us our first glimpse into the modern art world.
Impressionism: At the end of the 19th century, a new breed of artists burst out of the stuffy confines of the studio. They donned scarves and berets and set up their canvases in farmers’ fields or carried their notebooks into crowded cafés, dashing off quick sketches in order to catch a momentary...impression. Check out Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces such as Monet’s Gare St. Lazare and The Water-Lily Pond, Renoir’s The Skiff, Seurat’s Bathers at Asnières, and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.
Cézanne’s Bathers are arranged in strict triangles. Cézanne uses the Impressionist technique of building a figure with dabs of paint (though his “dabs” are often larger-sized “cube” shapes) to make solid, 3-D geometrical figures in the style of the Renaissance. In the process, his cube shapes helped inspire a radical new style—Cubism—bringing art into the 20th century.
▲▲National Portrait Gallery—Put off by halls of 19th-century characters who meant nothing to me, I used to call this “as interesting as someone else’s yearbook.” But a selective walk through this 500-year-long Who’s Who of British history is quick and free, and puts faces on the story of England.
Some highlights: Henry VIII and wives; portraits of the “Virgin Queen” Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir Walter Raleigh; the only real-life portrait of William Shakespeare; Oliver Cromwell and Charles I with his head on; portraits by Gainsborough and Reynolds; the Romantics (William Blake, Lord Byron, William Wordsworth, and company); Queen Victoria and her era; and the present royal family, including the late Princess Diana.
The collection is well-described, not huge, and in historical sequence, from the 16th century on the second floor to today’s royal family on the ground floor.
Cost and Hours: Free, but suggested donation of £5, temporary (optional) exhibits extra, audioguide-£3, floor plan-£1; daily 10:00-18:00, Thu-Fri until 21:00, first and second floors open Mon at 11:00, last entry to special exhibits 45 minutes before closing, no photos, basement café and top-floor view restaurant; entry 100 yards off Trafalgar Square (around the corner from National Gallery, opposite Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields), Tube: Charing Cross or Leicester Square, tel. 020/7306-0055, recorded info tel. 020/7312-2463, www.npg.org.uk.
▲St. Martin-in-the-Fields—The church, built in the 1720s with a Gothic spire atop a Greek-type temple, is an oasis of peace on wild and noisy Trafalgar Square. St. Martin cared for the poor. “In the fields” was where the first church stood on this spot (in the 13th century), between Westminster and The City. Stepping inside, you still feel a compassion for the needs of the people in this neighborhood—the church serves the homeless and houses a Chinese community center. The modern east window—with grillwork bent into the shape of a warped cross—was installed in 2008 to replace one damaged in World War II.
A freestanding glass pavilion to the left of the church serves as the entrance to the church’s underground areas. There you’ll find the concert ticket office, a gift shop, brass-rubbing center, and the recommended support-the-church Café in the Crypt.
Cost and Hours: Free, but donations welcome, £3.50 audioguide at shop downstairs; hours vary but generally Mon-Fri 8:30-13:00 & 14:00-18:00, Sat 9:30-13:00 & 14:00-18:00, Sun 15:30-17:00; Tube: Charing Cross, tel. 020/7766-1100, www.smitf.org.
Music: The church is famous for its concerts. Consider a free lunchtime concert (suggested £3 donation; Mon, Tue, and Fri at 13:00), an evening concert (£8-28, several nights a week at 19:30), or Wednesday night jazz at the Café in the Crypt (£5.50 or £9, at 20:00). See the church’s website for the concert schedule.
To explore this area during dinnertime, see my recommended restaurants on here-here.
▲Piccadilly Circus—Although this square is slathered with neon billboards and tacky attractions (think of it as the Times Square of London), the surrounding streets are packed with great shopping opportunities and swimming with youth on the rampage.
Nearby Shaftesbury Avenue and Leicester Square teem with fun-seekers, theaters, Chinese restaurants, and street singers. To the northeast is London’s Chinatown and, beyond that, the funky Soho neighborhood (described next). And curling to the northwest from Piccadilly Circus is genteel Regent Street, lined with the city’s most exclusive shops.
▲Soho—North of Piccadilly, seedy Soho has become trendy—with many recommended restaurants—and is well worth a gawk. It’s the epicenter of London’s thriving, colorful youth scene, a fun and funky Sesame Street of urban diversity.
Soho is also London’s red light district (especially near Brewer and Berwick Streets), where “friendly models” wait in tiny rooms up dreary stairways, voluptuous con artists sell strip shows, and eager male tourists are frequently ripped off. But it’s easy to avoid trouble if you’re not looking for it. In fact, the sleazy joints share the block with respectable pubs and restaurants, and elderly couples stroll past neon signs that flash Licensed Sex Shop in Basement.
▲▲Covent Garden—This large square teems with people and street performers—jugglers, sword swallowers, and guitar players. London’s buskers (including those in the Tube) are auditioned, licensed, and assigned times and places where they are allowed to perform.
The square’s centerpiece is a covered marketplace. A market has been here since medieval times, when it was the “convent” garden owned by Westminster Abbey. In the 1600s, it became a housing development with this courtyard as its center, done in the Palladian style by Inigo Jones. Today’s fine iron-and-glass structure was built in 1830 (when such buildings were all the Industrial Age rage) to house the stalls of what became London’s chief produce market. Covent Garden remained a produce market until 1973, when its venerable arcades were converted to boutiques, cafés, and antiques shops. A market still thrives here today (for details, see here).
The “Actors’ Church” of St. Paul, the Royal Opera House, and the London Transport Museum (described next) all border the square, and theaters are nearby. The area is a people-watcher’s delight, with cigarette eaters, Punch-and-Judy acts, food that’s good for you (but not your wallet), trendy crafts, sweet whiffs of marijuana, two-tone hair (neither tone natural), and faces that could set off a metal detector. For better Covent Garden lunch deals, walk a block or two away from the eye of this touristic hurricane (check out the places north of the Tube station, along Endell and Neal Streets).
▲London Transport Museum—This modern, well-presented museum, located right at Covent Garden, is fun for kids and thought-provoking for adults (if a bit overpriced). Whether you’re cursing or marveling at the buses and Tube, the growth of Europe’s third-biggest city (after Moscow and Istanbul) has been made possible by its public transit system.
After you enter, take the elevator up to the top floor...and the year 1800, when horse-drawn vehicles ruled the road. Next, you descend to the first floor and the world’s first underground Metro system, which used steam-powered locomotives (the Circle Line, c. 1865). On the ground floor, horses and trains are replaced by motorized vehicles (cars, taxis, double-decker buses, streetcars), resulting in 20th-century congestion. How to deal with it? In 2003, car drivers in London were slapped with a congestion charge, and today, a half-billion people ride the Tube every year.
Cost and Hours: £13.50, ticket good for one year, Sat-Thu 10:00-18:00, Fri 11:00-18:00, last entry 45 minutes before closing, pleasant upstairs café with Covent Garden view, in southeast corner of Covent Garden courtyard, Tube: Covent Garden, switchboard tel. 020/7379-6344, recorded info tel. 020/7565-7299, www.ltmuseum.co.uk.
▲Courtauld Gallery—While less impressive than the National Gallery, this wonderful and compact collection of paintings is still a joy. The gallery is part of the Courtauld Institute of Art, and the thoughtful descriptions of each piece of art remind visitors that the gallery is still used for teaching. You’ll see medieval European paintings and works by Rubens, the Impressionists (Manet, Monet, and Degas), Post-Impressionists (such as Cézanne), and more. Besides the permanent collection, a quality selection of loaners and temporary exhibits are often included in the entry fee. The gallery is located within the grand Somerset House; enjoy the riverside eateries and the courtyard featuring a playful fountain.
Cost and Hours: £6, free Mon until 14:00; open daily 10:00-18:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing, occasionally open Thu until 21:00—check website; café; at Somerset House along the Strand, Tube: Temple or Covent Garden, recorded info tel. 020/7848-2526, shop tel. 020/7848-2579, www.courtauld.ac.uk.
Three palace sights require admission: the State Rooms (Aug-Sept only), Queen’s Gallery, and Royal Mews. You can pay for each separately, or buy a combo-ticket. A combo-ticket for £32 admits you to all three sights; a cheaper version for £16 covers the Queen’s Gallery and Royal Mews. Many tourists are more interested in the Changing of the Guard, which costs nothing at all to view.
▲State Rooms at Buckingham Palace—This lavish home has been Britain’s royal residence since 1837. When the Queen’s at home, the royal standard flies (a red, yellow, and blue flag); otherwise, the Union Jack flaps in the wind. The Queen opens her palace to the public—but only in August and September, when she’s out of town.
Cost and Hours: £18 for lavish State Rooms and throne room, includes audioguide; Aug-Sept only, daily 9:30-18:30, last admission 16:15; only 8,000 visitors a day by timed entry; come early to the palace’s Visitor Entrance (opens 9:15), or book ahead in person, by phone, or online (£1.25 extra); Tube: Victoria, tel. 020/7766-7300, www.royalcollection.org.uk.
Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace—A small sampling of Queen Elizabeth’s personal collection of art is on display in five rooms in a wing adjoining the palace. Her 7,000 paintings, one of the largest private art collections in the world, are actually a series of collections, which have been built upon on by each successive monarch since the 16th century. The Queen rotates the paintings, enjoying some privately in her many palatial residences while sharing others with her subjects in public galleries in Edinburgh and London.
In addition to the permanent collection, you’ll see temporary exhibits and a small room glittering with the Queen’s personal jewelry. Compared to the crown jewels at the Tower, it may be Her Majesty’s bottom drawer—but it’s still a dazzling pile of diamonds. Temporary exhibits change about twice a year and are lovingly described by the included audioguide.
Because the gallery is small and security is tight (involving lines), I’d suggest visiting this gallery only if you’re a patient art lover interested in the current exhibit.
While admission tickets come with an entry time, this is only enforced during rare days when crowds are a problem.
Cost and Hours: £7.50-9.25 depending on exhibit, daily 10:00-17:30, last entry one hour before closing, Tube: Victoria, tel. 020/7766-7301—but Her Majesty rarely answers. Men shouldn’t miss the mahogany-trimmed urinals.
Royal Mews—Located to the left of Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s working stables, or “mews,” are open to visitors. The visit is likely to be disappointing unless you follow the included audioguide or the hourly guided tour (April-Oct only, 45 minutes), in which case it’s thoroughly entertaining—especially if you’re interested in horses and/or royalty. You’ll see a few of the Queen’s 30 horses, a fancy car, and a bunch of old carriages, finishing with the Gold State Coach (c. 1760, 4 tons, 4 mph). Queen Victoria said absolutely no cars. When she died, in 1901, the mews got its first Daimler. Today, along with the hay-eating transport, the stable is home to five Bentleys and Rolls-Royce Phantoms, with one on display.
Cost and Hours: £8.25, April-Oct daily 10:00-17:00, Nov-March Mon-Sat 10:00-16:00, closed Sun, last entry 45 minutes before closing, guided tours on the hour, Buckingham Palace Road, Tube: Victoria, tel. 020/7766-7302.
▲▲Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace—This is the spectacle every visitor to London has to see at least once: stone-faced, red-coated, bearskin-hatted guards changing posts with much fanfare, in an hour-long ceremony accompanied by a brass band.
It’s 11:00 at Buckingham Palace, and the on-duty guards (the “Queen’s Guard”) are ready to finish their shift. Nearby at St. James’s Palace (a half-mile northwest), a second set of guards is also ready for a break. Meanwhile, fresh replacement guards (the “New Guard”) gather for a review and inspection at Wellington Barracks, 500 yards east of the palace (on Birdcage Walk).
At 11:15, the tired St. James’s guards head out to the Mall, and then take a right turn for Buckingham Palace. At 11:30, the replacement troops, led by the band, also head for Buckingham Palace. Meanwhile, a fourth group—the Horse Guard—passes by along the Mall on its way back to Hyde Park Corner from its own changing-of-the-guard ceremony on Whitehall (which just took place at Horse Guards Parade at 11:00, or 10:00 on Sun).
At 11:45, the tired and fresh guards converge on Buckingham Palace in a perfect storm of Red Coat pageantry. Everyone parades around, the guard changes (passing the regimental flag, or “colour”) with much shouting, the band plays a happy little concert, and then they march out. At noon, two bands escort two detachments of guards away: the tired guards to Wellington Barracks and the fresh guards to St. James’s Palace. As the fresh guards set up at St. James’s Palace and the tired ones dress down at the barracks, the tourists disperse.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily May-July at 11:30, every other day Aug-April, no ceremony in very wet weather; exact schedule subject to change—call 020/7766-7300 for the day’s plan, or check www.changing-the-guard.com or www.royalcollection.org.uk (click “Visit,” then “Changing the Guard”); Buckingham Palace, Tube: Victoria, St. James’s Park, or Green Park. Or hop into a big black taxi and say, “Buck House, please.”
Sightseeing Strategies: Most tourists just show up and get lost in the crowds, but those who know the drill will enjoy the event more. The action takes place in stages over the course of an hour, at several different locations. The main event is in the forecourt right in front of Buckingham Palace (between Buckingham Palace and the fence) from 11:30 to 12:00. To see it close up, you’ll need to get here no later than 10:30 to get a place right next to the fence.
But there’s plenty of pageantry elsewhere. Get out your map and strategize. You could see the guards mobilizing at Wellington Barracks or St. James’s Palace (11:00-11:15). Or watch them parade with bands down The Mall and Spur Road (11:15-11:30). After the ceremony at Buckingham Palace is over (and many tourists have gotten bored and gone home), the parades march back along those same streets (12:10).
Pick one event and find a good, unobstructed place from which to view it. The key is to get either right up front along the road or fence, or find some raised elevation to stand or sit on—a balustrade or a curb—so you can see over people’s heads.
If you get there too late to score a premium spot right along the fence, head for the high ground on the circular Victoria Memorial, which provides the best overall view (come before 11:00 to get a place). From the memorial, you have good (if more distant) views of the palace as well as the arriving and departing parades along The Mall and Spur Road. The actual Changing of the Guard in front of the palace is a nonevent. It is interesting, however, to see nearly every tourist in London gathered in one place at the same time.
If you arrive too late to get any good spot at all, or you just don’t feel like jostling for a view, stroll down to St. James’s Palace and wait near the corner for a great photo-op. At about 12:15, the parade marches up The Mall to the palace and performs a smaller changing ceremony—with almost no crowds. Afterward, stroll through nearby St. James’s Park.
Simply put, this is the greatest chronicle of civilization...anywhere. A visit here is like taking a long hike through Encyclopedia Britannica National Park. While the vast British Museum wraps around its Great Court (the huge entrance hall), the most popular sections of the museum fill the ground floor: Egyptian, Assyrian, and ancient Greek, with the famous frieze sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens. The museum’s stately Reading Room—famous as the place where Karl Marx hung out while formulating his ideas on communism and writing Das Kapital—sometimes hosts special exhibits.
Cost and Hours: Free, but a £5, US$7, or €6 donation requested; temporary exhibits usually extra (and with timed ticket); daily 10:00-17:30, Fri until 20:30 (selected galleries only), least crowded weekday late afternoons; Great Russell Street, Tube: Tottenham Court Road.
Information: Information desks offer a standard museum map (£1 suggested donation) and a £2 version that highlights important pieces; the Visitor’s Guide (£3.50) offers 15 different tours and skimpy text. Free 30-minute eyeOpener tours are led by volunteers, who focus on select rooms (daily 11:00-15:45, generally every 15 minutes). Free 45-minute gallery talks on specific subjects are offered Tue-Sat at 13:15. The £5 multimedia guide offers dial-up audio commentary and video on 200 objects, as well as several theme tours (must leave photo ID). There’s also a fun children’s audioguide (£3.50). And finally, you can download a free Rick Steves audio tour of the museum (see here). General info tel. 020/7323-8299, ticket desk tel. 020/7323-8181, collection questions tel. 020/7323-8838, www.britishmuseum.org.
Self-Guided Tour: From the Great Court, doorways lead to all wings. To the left are the exhibits on Egypt, Assyria, and Greece—the highlights of your visit.
(See “British Museum Overview” map, here)
Egypt: Start with the Egyptian section. Egypt was one of the world’s first “civilizations”—a group of people with a government, religion, art, free time, and a written language. The Egypt we think of—pyramids, mummies, pharaohs, and guys who walk funny—lasted from 3000 to 1000 B.C. with hardly any change in the government, religion, or arts. Imagine two millennia of Eisenhower.
The first thing you’ll see in the Egypt section is the Rosetta Stone. When this rock was unearthed in the Egyptian desert in 1799, it was a sensation in Europe. This black slab caused a quantum leap in the study of ancient history. Finally, Egyptian writing could be decoded. It contains a single inscription repeated in three languages. The bottom third is plain old Greek, while the middle is medieval Egyptian. By comparing the two known languages with the one they didn’t know, translators figured out the hieroglyphics.
Next, wander past the many statues, including a seven-ton Ramesses, with the traditional features of a pharaoh (goatee, cloth headdress, and cobra diadem on his forehead). When Moses told the king of Egypt, “Let my people go!” this was the stony-faced look he got. You’ll also see the Egyptian gods as animals—these include Amun, king of the gods, as a ram, and Horus, the god of the living, as a falcon.
At the end of the hall, climb the stairs to mummy land (use the elevator if it’s running). To mummify a body, disembowel it (but leave the heart inside), pack the cavities with pitch, and dry it with natron, a natural form of sodium carbonate (and, I believe, the active ingredient in Twinkies). Then carefully bandage it head to toe with hundreds of yards of linen strips. Let it sit 2,000 years, and...voilà! The mummy was placed in a wooden coffin, which was put in a stone coffin, which was placed in a tomb. The result is that we now have Egyptian bodies that are as well-preserved as Joan Rivers. Many of the mummies here are from the time of the Roman occupation, when they painted a fine portrait in wax on the wrapping. X-ray photos in the display cases tell us more about these people. Don’t miss the animal mummies. Cats were popular pets. They were also considered incarnations of the goddess Bastet. Worshipped in life as the sun god’s allies, preserved in death, and memorialized with statues, cats were given the adulation they’ve come to expect ever since.
Assyria: Long before Saddam Hussein, Iraq was home to other palace-building, iron-fisted rulers—the Assyrians, who conquered their southern neighbors and dominated the Middle East for 300 years (c. 900-600 B.C.). Their strength came from a superb army (chariots, mounted cavalry, and siege engines), a policy of terrorism against enemies (“I tied their heads to tree trunks all around the city,” reads a royal inscription), ethnic cleansing and mass deportations of the vanquished, and efficient administration (roads and express postal service). They have been called “The Romans of the East.”
Standing guard over the Assyrian exhibit halls are two human-headed winged lions. These lions guarded an Assyrian palace. Carved into the stone between the bearded lions’ loins, you can see one of civilization’s most impressive achievements—writing. This wedge-shaped (cuneiform) script is the world’s first written language, invented 5,000 years ago by the Sumerians (of southern Iraq) and passed down to their less-civilized descendants, the Assyrians.
The Nimrud Gallery is a mini version of the throne room of King Ashurnasirpal II’s palace at Nimrud. It’s filled with royal propaganda reliefs, 30-ton marble bulls, and panels depicting wounded lions (lion-hunting was Assyria’s sport of kings).
Greece: During their civilization’s Golden Age (500-430 B.C.), the ancient Greeks set the tone for all of Western civilization to follow. Democracy, theater, literature, mathematics, philosophy, science, gyros, art, and architecture, as we know them, were virtually all invented by a single generation of Greeks in a small town of maybe 80,000 citizens.
Your walk through Greek art history starts with pottery, usually painted red and black and a popular export product for the sea-trading Greeks. The earliest featured geometric patterns (eighth century B.C.), then a painted black silhouette on the natural orange clay, then a red figure on a black background. Later, painted vases show a culture really into partying.
The highlight is the Parthenon Sculptures, taken from the Parthenon—the temple dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom and the patroness of Athens, which was the crowning glory of an enormous urban-renewal plan during Greece’s Golden Age. These are the so-called Elgin Marbles, named for the shrewd British ambassador who had his men hammer, chisel, and saw them off the Parthenon in the early 1800s. Though the Greek government complains about losing its marbles, the Brits feel they rescued and preserved the sculptures. These much-wrangled-over bits of the Parthenon (from about 450 B.C.) are indeed impressive. The marble panels you see lining the walls of this large hall are part of the frieze that originally ran around the exterior of the Parthenon (under the eaves). The statues at either end of the hall once filled the Parthenon’s triangular-shaped pediments and showed the birth of Athena. The relief panels known as metopes tell the story of the struggle between the forces of human civilization and animal-like barbarism.
The Rest of the Museum: Be sure to venture upstairs to see artifacts from Roman Britain that surpass anything you’ll see at Hadrian’s Wall or elsewhere in the country. Also look for the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial artifacts from a seventh-century royal burial on the east coast of England (room 41). A rare Michelangelo cartoon (preliminary sketch) is in room 90 (level 4).
▲▲▲British Library—The British Empire built its greatest monuments out of paper; it’s through literature that England has made her lasting contribution to history and the arts. Here, in just two rooms, are the literary treasures of Western civilization, from early Bibles, to the Magna Carta, to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
You’ll see the Lindisfarne Gospels transcribed on an illuminated manuscript, as well as Beatles lyrics scrawled on the back of a greeting card. Pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook show his powerful curiosity, his genius for invention, and his famous backward and inside-out handwriting, which makes sense only if you know Italian and have a mirror. A Beowulf manuscript from A.D. 1000, The Canterbury Tales, and Shakespeare’s First Folio also reside here. (If the First Folio is not out, the library should have other Shakespeare items on display.)
Exhibits change often, and many of the museum’s old, fragile manuscripts need to “rest” periodically in order to stay well-preserved. If your heart’s set on seeing that one particular rare Dickens book or letter penned by Gandhi, call ahead to make sure it’s on display.
Cost and Hours: Free, but £2 suggested donation, admission charged for some (optional) temporary exhibits, Mon-Fri 9:30-18:00, Tue until 20:00, Sat 9:30-17:00, Sun 11:00-17:00, 96 Euston Road, Tube: King’s Cross St. Pancras or Euston, tel. 019/3754-6060 or 020/7412-7676, www.bl.uk.
Tours: While the British Library doesn’t offer an audioguide or guided tours, you can download a free Rick Steves audio tour that describes its highlights (see here).
▲Wallace Collection—Sir Richard Wallace’s fine collection of 17th-century Dutch Masters, 18th-century French Rococo, medieval armor, and assorted aristocratic fancies fills the sumptuously furnished Hertford House on Manchester Square. From the rough and intimate Dutch lifescapes of Jan Steen to the pink-cheeked Rococo fantasies of François Boucher, a wander through this little-visited mansion makes you nostalgic for the days of the empire. While this collection would be a big deal in a mid-sized city, it’s small potatoes here in London...but enjoyable nevertheless.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily 10:00-17:00, £4 audioguide, free guided tours or lectures almost daily—call to confirm times, just north of Oxford Street on Manchester Square, Tube: Bond Street. Tel. 020/7563-9500, www.wallacecollection.org.
▲Madame Tussauds Waxworks—This waxtravaganza is gimmicky and expensive, but dang good...a hit with the kind of travelers who skip the British Museum. The original Madame Tussaud did wax casts of heads lopped off during the French Revolution (such as Marie-Antoinette’s). She took her show on the road and ended up in London in 1835. Now it’s all about squeezing Tom Cruise’s bum, gambling with George Clooney, and partying with Beyoncé, Britney, and Brangelina. In addition to posing with all the eerily realistic wax dummies—from Johnny Depp to Barack Obama to the Beatles—you’ll have the chance to tour a hokey haunted-house exhibit; learn how they created this waxy army; hop on a people-mover and cruise through a kid-pleasing “Spirit of London” time trip; and visit with Spider-Man, the Hulk, and other Marvel superheroes. A nine-minute “4-D” show features a 3-D movie heightened by wind, “back ticklers,” and other special effects.
Cost: £30, 10 percent discount and no waiting in line if you buy tickets on their website (also consider combo-deal with London Eye, sold cheaper online), £25.50 Fast Track ticket (see here), often even bigger discount—up to 50 percent—if you get “Late Saver” ticket online for visits later in the day. Kids also get a discount, and those under 5 are free.
Hours: Mid-July-Aug and school holidays daily 9:00-20:00, Sept-mid-July Mon-Fri 9:30-19:30, Sat-Sun 9:00-20:00, last entry two hours before closing; Marylebone Road, Tube: Baker Street, tel. 0871-894-3000, www.madametussauds.com.
Crowd-Beating Tips: This popular attraction can be swamped with people. To avoid the line, buy a Fast Track ticket or reserve online. If you wait to buy tickets at the attraction, you’ll discover that the ticket-buying line twists endlessly once inside the door (believe the posted signs warning you how long the wait will be—an hour or more is not unusual at busy times). If you buy your tickets at the door, try to arrive after 15:00.
▲Sir John Soane’s Museum—Architects love this quirky place, as do fans of interior decor, eclectic knickknacks, and Back Door sights. Tour this furnished home on a bird-chirping square and see 19th-century chairs, lamps, and carpets, wood-paneled nooks and crannies, and stained-glass skylights. (Note that some sections may be closed for restoration through 2014, but the main part of the house will be open.) The townhouse is cluttered with Soane’s (and his wife’s) collection of ancient relics, curios, and famous paintings, including Hogarth’s series on The Rake’s Progress (read the fun plot) and several excellent Canalettos. In 1833, just before his death, Soane established his house as a museum, stipulating that it be kept as nearly as possible in the state he left it. If he visited today, he’d be entirely satisfied. You’ll leave wishing you’d known the man.
Cost and Hours: Free, but donations much appreciated, Tue-Sat 10:00-17:00, open and candlelit the first Tue of the month 18:00-21:00, closed Sun-Mon, last entry 30 minutes before closing, long entry lines on Sat and first Tue, good £1 brochure, £10 guided tour Sat at 11:00, free downloadable audio tours on their website, 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, quarter-mile southeast of British Museum, Tube: Holborn, tel. 020/7405-2107, www.soane.org.
Cartoon Museum—This humble but interesting museum is located in the shadow of the British Museum. While its three rooms are filled with British cartoons unknown to most Americans, the satire of famous bigwigs and politicians—including Napoleon, Margaret Thatcher, the Queen, and Tony Blair—shows the power of parody to deliver social commentary. Upstairs, you’ll see pages spanning from Tarzan to Tank Girl, and Andy Capp to the British Dennis the Menace—interesting only to comic-book diehards.
Cost and Hours: £5.50, Tue-Sat 10:30-17:30, Sun 12:00-17:30, closed Mon, 35 Little Russell Street—go one block south of the British Museum on Museum Street and turn right, Tube: Tottenham Court Road, tel. 020/7580-8155, www.cartoonmuseum.org.
Pollock’s Toy Museum—This rickety old house, with glass cases filled with toys and games lining its walls and halls, is a time-warp experience that brings back childhood memories to people who grew up without batteries or computer chips. Though the museum is small, you could spend a lot of time here, squinting at the fascinating toys and dolls that entertained the children of 19th- and early 20th-century England. The included information is great. The story of Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a bear cub while on a hunting trip was celebrated in 1902 cartoons, resulting in a new, huggable toy: the Teddy Bear. It was popular for good reason: It could be manufactured during World War I without rationed products; it coincided with the new belief that soft toys were good for a child’s development; it was an acceptable “doll for boys”; and it was the toy children kept long after they’d grown up.
Cost and Hours: £6, kids-£3, generally Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00, closed Sun, last entry 30 minutes before closing, 1 Scala Street, Tube: Goodge Street, tel. 020/7636-3452, www.pollockstoymuseum.com. A fun retro toy shop is attached.
Beatles Sights—London’s city center is surprisingly devoid of sights associated with the famous ’60s rock band. To see much of anything, consider taking a guided walk (see here).
For a photo op, go to Abbey Road and walk the famous crosswalk pictured on the Abbey Road album cover (Tube: St. John’s Wood, get information and buy Beatles memorabilia at the small kiosk in the station). From the Tube station, it’s a five-minute walk west down Grove End Road to the intersection with Abbey Road. The Abbey Road recording studio is the low-key, white building to the right of Abbey House (it’s still a working studio, so you can’t go inside). Ponder the graffiti on the low wall outside, and...imagine. To re-create the famous cover photo, shoot the crosswalk from the roundabout as you face north up Abbey Road. Shoes are optional.
Nearby is Paul McCartney’s current home (7 Cavendish Avenue): Continue down Grove End Road, turn left on Circus Road, and then right on Cavendish. Please be discreet.
The Beatles Store is at 231 Baker Street (Tube: Baker Street). It’s small—some Beatles-logo T-shirts, mugs, pins, and old vinyl like you might have in your closet—and has nothing of historic value (open eight days a week, 10:00-18:30, tel. 020/7935-4464, www.beatlesstorelondon.co.uk; another rock memorabilia store is across the street).
Sherlock Holmes Museum—A few doors down from the Beatles Store, this meticulous re-creation of the (fictional) apartment of the (fictional) detective sits at the (real) address of 221b Baker Street. The first-floor replica (so to speak) of Sherlock’s study delights fans with the opportunity to play Holmes and Watson while sitting in authentic 18th-century chairs. The second and third floors offer fine exhibits on daily Victorian life, showing off furniture, clothes, pipes, paintings, and chamber pots; in other rooms, models are posed to enact key scenes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous books.
Cost and Hours: £6, daily 9:30-18:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing, large gift shop for Holmes connoisseurs, Tube: Baker Street, tel. 020/7935-8866, www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk.
When Londoners say “The City,” they mean the one-square-mile business center in East London that 2,000 years ago was Roman Londinium. The outline of the Roman city walls can still be seen in the arc of roads from Blackfriars Bridge to Tower Bridge. Within The City are 23 churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren, mostly just ornamentation around St. Paul’s Cathedral. Today, while home to only 7,000 residents, The City thrives with nearly 300,000 office workers coming and going daily. It’s a fascinating district to wander on weekdays, but since almost nobody actually lives there, it’s dull in the evenings and on Saturday and Sunday.
You can download a free Rick Steves audio tour of The City, which peels back the many layers of history in this oldest part of London (see here).
Sir Christopher Wren’s most famous church is the great St. Paul’s, its elaborate interior capped by a 365-foot dome. There’s been a church on this spot since 604. After the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed the old cathedral, Wren created this Baroque masterpiece. And since World War II, St. Paul’s has been Britain’s symbol of resilience. Despite 57 nights of bombing, the Nazis failed to destroy the cathedral, thanks to the St. Paul’s volunteer fire watchmen, who stayed on the dome.
Cost and Hours: £15, includes church entry, dome climb, crypt, tour, and audioguide; Mon-Sat 8:30-16:30, last entry for sightseeing 16:00 (dome opens at 9:30, last entry at 16:15), closed Sun except for worship, sometimes closed for special events, no photos, café and restaurant in crypt, Tube: St. Paul’s.
Music and Services: Communion is Mon-Sat at 8:00 and 12:30. Sunday services are held at 8:00, 10:15 (Matins), 11:30 (sung Eucharist), 15:15 (evensong), and 18:00. Additional evensong services are held Tue-Sat at 17:00 (40 minutes, free to anyone—though visitors who haven’t paid admission aren’t allowed to linger after the service). For more on evensong, see here. If you’re here for evensong worship and sitting under the dome, at 16:40 you may be able to grab a big wooden stall in the choir, next to the singers.
Information: Admission includes an audioguide as well as a 1.5-hour guided tour (Mon-Sat at 10:45, 11:15, 13:30, and 14:00; confirm schedule at church or call 020/7246-8357). Free 15-minute talks are offered throughout the day, and a stand-up, wrap-around film program titled Oculus: An Eye into St. Paul’s gives some historical background and shows the view from atop the dome (find it near Nelson’s tomb). You can also download a free Rick Steves audio tour of St. Paul’s (see here). Recorded info tel. 020/7236-4128, reception tel. 020/7246-8350, www.stpauls.co.uk.
(See “St. Paul’s Tour” map, here)
Self-Guided Tour: Even now, as skyscrapers encroach, the 365-foot-high dome of St. Paul’s rises majestically above the rooftops of the neighborhood. The tall dome is set on classical columns, capped with a lantern, topped by a six-foot ball, and iced with a cross. As the first Anglican cathedral built in London after the Reformation, it is Baroque: St. Peter’s in Rome filtered through clear-eyed English reason. Often the site of historic funerals (Queen Victoria and Winston Churchill), St. Paul’s most famous ceremony was a wedding—when Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.
Inside, this big church feels big. At 515 feet long and 250 feet wide, it’s Europe’s fourth largest, after Rome (St. Peter’s), Sevilla, and Milan. The spaciousness is accentuated by the relative lack of decoration. The simple, cream-colored ceiling and the clear glass in the windows light everything evenly. Wren wanted this: a simple, open church with nothing to hide. Unfortunately, only this entrance area keeps his original vision—the rest was encrusted with 19th-century Victorian ornamentation.
The dome you see, painted with scenes from the life of St. Paul, is only the innermost of three. From the painted interior of the first dome, look up through the opening to see the light-filled lantern of the second dome. Finally, the whole thing is covered on the outside by the third and final dome, the shell of lead-covered wood that you see from the street. Wren’s ingenious three-in-one design was psychological as well as functional—he wanted a low, shallow inner dome so worshippers wouldn’t feel diminished.
Do a quick clockwise spin around the church. In the north transept (to your left as you face the altar), find the big painting The Light of the World (1904), by the Pre-Raphaelite William Holman Hunt. Inspired by Hunt’s own experience of finding Christ during a moment of spiritual crisis, the crowd-pleasing work was criticized by art highbrows for being “syrupy” and “simple”—even as it became the most famous painting in Victorian England.
Along the left side of the choir is the modern statue Mother and Child, by the great modern sculptor Henry Moore. Typical of Moore’s work, this Mary and Baby Jesus—inspired by the sight of British moms nursing babies in WWII bomb shelters—renders a traditional subject in an abstract, minimalist way.
The area behind the altar, with three bright and modern stained-glass windows, is the American Memorial Chapel—honoring the Americans who sacrificed their lives to save Britain in World War II. In colored panes that arch around the big windows, spot the American eagle (center window, to the left of Christ), George Washington (right window, upper-right corner), and symbols of all 50 states (find your state seal). In the carved wood beneath the windows, you’ll see birds and foliage native to the US. The Roll of Honor (a 500-page book under glass, immediately behind the altar) lists the names of 28,000 US servicemen and women based in Britain who gave their lives during the war.
Around the other side of the choir is a shrouded statue honoring John Donne (1621-1631), a passionate preacher in old St. Paul’s, as well as a great poet (“never wonder for whom the bell tolls—it tolls for thee”).
In the south transept are monuments to military greats Horatio Nelson, who fought Napoleon, and Charles Cornwallis, who was finished off by George Washington at Yorktown.
Climbing the Dome: During your visit, you can climb 528 steps to reach the dome and great city views. Along the way, have some fun in the Whispering Gallery (257 steps up). Whisper sweet nothings into the wall, and your partner (and anyone else) standing far away can hear you. For best effects, try whispering (not talking) with your mouth close to the wall, while your partner stands a few dozen yards away with his or her ear to the wall.
Visiting the Crypt: The crypt is a world of historic bones and interesting cathedral models. Many legends are buried here—Horatio Nelson, who wore down Napoleon; the Duke of Wellington, who finished Napoleon off; and even Wren himself. Wren’s actual tomb is marked by a simple black slab with no statue, though he considered the church itself to be his legacy. Back up in the nave, on the floor directly under the dome, is Christopher Wren’s name and epitaph (written in Latin): “Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you.”
▲Old Bailey—To view the British legal system in action—lawyers in little blonde wigs speaking legalese with an upper-crust accent—spend a few minutes in the visitors’ gallery at the Old Bailey, called the “Central Criminal Court.” Don’t enter under the dome; continue down the block about halfway to the modern part of the building—the entry is at Warwick Passage.
Cost and Hours: Free, generally Mon-Fri 9:45-13:00 & 14:00-16:00 depending on caseload, last entry at 15:40, closed Sat-Sun, fewer cases in Aug; no kids under 14; no bags, mobile phones, cameras, iPods, or food, but small purses OK; you can check bags at the Capable Travel agency just down the street at Old Bailey 4—£5/bag, £1 per phone or camera; 2 blocks northwest of St. Paul’s on Old Bailey Street, follow signs to public entrance, Tube: St. Paul’s, tel. 020/7248-3277.
▲Museum of London—This museum tells the fascinating story of London, taking you on a walk from its pre-Roman beginnings to the present. It features London’s distinguished citizens through history—from Neanderthals, to Romans, to Elizabethans, to Victorians, to Mods, to today. The museum’s displays are chronological, spacious, and informative without being overwhelming. Scale models and costumes help you visualize everyday life in the city at different periods. In the last room, you’ll see the museum’s prized possession: the Lord Mayor’s Coach, a golden carriage pulled by six white horses, looking as if it had pranced right out of the pages of Cinderella. There are enough whiz-bang multimedia displays (including the Plague and the Great Fire) to spice up otherwise humdrum artifacts. This regular stop for the local school kids gives the best overview of London history in town.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily 10:00-18:00, galleries shut down 30 minutes before closing, see the day’s events board for special talks and tours, on London Wall at Aldersgate Street, Tube: Barbican or St. Paul’s plus a five-minute walk, tel. 020/7001-9844, www.museumoflondon.org.uk.
The Monument—Wren’s 202-foot-tall tribute to London’s Great Fire was recently restored. Climb the 331 steps inside the column for a view of The City that is still monumental.
Cost and Hours: £3, daily 9:30-17:30, last entry at 17:00, junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, Tube: Monument, tel. 020/7626-2717, www.themonument.info.
The Tower has served as a castle in wartime, a king’s residence in peacetime, and, most notoriously, as the prison and execution site of rebels. You can see the crown jewels, take a witty Beefeater tour, and ponder the executioner’s block that dispensed with Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas More, and troublesome heirs to the throne.
Cost and Hours: £21, family-£55 (both prices include a 10 percent optional donation), entry fee includes Beefeater tour (described later), skip the £4 audioguide and the £5 guidebook; March-Oct Tue-Sat 9:00-17:30, Sun-Mon 10:00-17:30; Nov-Feb Tue-Sat 9:00-16:30, Sun-Mon 10:00-16:30; last entry 30 minutes before closing; cafeteria, Tube: Tower Hill, switchboard tel. 0844-482-7777, www.hrp.org.uk.
Advance Tickets: To avoid the long ticket-buying lines at the Tower, buy your ticket at the Trader’s Gate gift shop, located down the steps from the Tower Hill Tube stop (tickets here are generally slightly cheaper than at the gate; similar, discounted “Fast Track” tickets are sold at various locations throughout London). You can also buy tickets, with credit card only, at the Tower Welcome Centre to the left of the normal ticket lines—though on busy days, it can be crowded here as well. It’s easy to book online (www.hrp.org.uk, £1 discount, no fee) or by phone (tel. 0844-482-7799 within UK or tel. 011-44-20-3166-6000 from the US; £2 fee), then pick up your tickets at the Tower.
More Crowd-Beating Tips: It’s most crowded in summer, on weekends (especially Sundays), and during school holidays. Any time of year, the line for the crown jewels—the best on earth—can be just as long as the line for tickets. For fewer crowds, arrive before 10:00 and go straight for the jewels, then tour the rest of the Tower. Crowds die down after 16:30.
Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) Tours: Today, while the Tower’s military purpose is history, it’s still home to the Beefeaters—the 35 Yeoman Warders and their families. (The original duty of the Yeoman Warders was to guard the Tower, its prisoners, and the jewels.) The free, worthwhile, 1-hour Beefeater tours leave every 30 minutes from inside the gate (first tour at 10:00, last one at 15:30—or 14:30 in Nov-Feb). The boisterous Beefeaters are great entertainers, and their talks include lots of bloody anecdotes about the Tower and its history, and they relish telling corny jokes.
Sunday Worship: For a refreshingly different Tower experience, come on Sunday morning, when visitors are welcome on the grounds—for free—to worship in the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula. You get in without the lines, but you can only see the chapel—no sightseeing (9:15 Communion or 11:00 service with fine choral music, meet at west gate 30 minutes early, dress for church, may be closed for ceremonies—call ahead).
Visiting the Tower: William I, still getting used to his new title of “the Conqueror,” built the stone “White Tower” (1077-1097) to keep the Londoners in line. Standing high above the rest of old London, the White Tower provided a gleaming reminder of the monarch’s absolute power over subjects. If you made the wrong move here, you could be feasting on roast boar in the banqueting hall one night and chained to the walls of the prison the next. The Tower also served as an effective lookout for seeing invaders coming up the Thames.
This square, 90-foot-tall tower was the original structure that gave this castle complex of 20 towers its name. William’s successors enlarged the complex to its present 18-acre size. Because of the security it provided, the Tower of London served over the centuries as a royal residence, the Royal Mint, the Royal Jewel House, and, most famously, as the prison and execution site of those who dared oppose the Crown.
You’ll find more bloody history per square inch in this original tower of power than anywhere else in Britain. Inside the White Tower is a museum with exhibits re-creating medieval life and chronicling the torture and executions that took place here. In the Royal Armory, you’ll see some suits of armor of Henry VIII—slender in his youth (c. 1515), heavy-set by 1540—with his bigger-is-better codpiece. On the top floor, see the Tower’s actual execution ax and chopping block.
The actual execution site, however, in the middle of the Tower Green, looks just like a lawn. It was here that enemies of the crown would kneel before the king for the final time. With their hands tied behind their backs, they would say a final prayer, then lay their heads on a block, and—shlit—the blade would slice through their necks, their heads tumbling to the ground. Tower Green was the most prestigious execution site at the Tower. Henry VIII axed a couple of his ex-wives here (divorced readers can insert their own joke), including Anne Boleyn and his fifth wife, teenage Catherine Howard (for more on Henry, see the sidebar on the next page).
The Tower’s hard stone and glittering crown jewels represent the ultimate power of the monarch. The Sovereign’s Scepter is encrusted with the world’s largest cut diamond—the 530-carat Star of Africa, beefy as a quarter-pounder. The Crown of the Queen Mother (Elizabeth II’s famous mum, who died in 2002) has the 106-carat Koh-I-Noor diamond glittering on the front (considered unlucky for male rulers, it only adorns the crown of the king’s wife). The Imperial State Crown is what the Queen wears for official functions such as the State Opening of Parliament. Among its 3,733 jewels are Queen Elizabeth I’s former earrings (the hanging pearls, top center), a stunning 13th-century ruby look-alike in the center, and Edward the Confessor’s ring (the blue sapphire on top, in the center of the Maltese cross of diamonds).
The Tower was defended by state-of-the-art walls and fortifications in the 13th century. Walking along them offers a good look at the walls, along with a fine view of the famous Tower Bridge, with its twin towers and blue spans (described next).
After your visit, consider taking the boat to Greenwich from here (see cruise info on here).
Tower Bridge—The iconic Tower Bridge (often mistakenly called London Bridge) has been recently painted and restored. The hydraulically powered drawbridge was built in 1894 to accommodate the growing East End. While fully modern, its design was a retro Neo-Gothic look.
You can tour the bridge at the Tower Bridge Exhibition, with a history display and a peek at the Victorian engine room that lifts the span. It’s overpriced at £8, though the city views from the walkways are spectacular (daily 10:00-18:00 in summer, 9:30-17:30 in winter, last entry 30 minutes before closing, enter at the northwest tower, Tube: Tower Hill, tel. 020/7403-3761, www.towerbridge.org.uk).
The bridge is most interesting when the drawbridge lifts to let ships pass, as it does a thousand times a year, but it’s best viewed from outside the museum. For the bridge-lifting schedule, check the website or call (see above for contact info).
Nearby: The best remaining bit of London’s Roman Wall is just north of the Tower (at the Tower Hill Tube station). The chic St. Katharine Dock, just east of Tower Bridge, has private yachts, mod shops, a recommended medieval banquet, and the classic Dickens Inn, fun for a drink or pub lunch. Across the bridge, on the South Bank, is the upscale Butlers Wharf area, as well as City Hall, museums, the Jubilee Walkway, and, towering overhead, the Shard. Or you can head north to the Liverpool Street Station, and stroll London’s East End (described next).
▲East End—This formerly industrial area just beyond Liverpool Street Station has turned into one of London’s trendy spots. It boasts a colorful mix of bustling markets, late-night dance clubs, the Bangladeshi ghetto (called “Banglatown”), and tenements of Jack the Ripper’s London, all in the shadow of glittering new skyscrapers. Head up Brick Lane for a meal in “the curry capital of Europe,” or check out the former Truman Brewery, which now houses a Sunday market, cool shops, and Café 1001 (good coffee). This neighborhood is best on Sunday afternoons, when the Spitalfields, Petticoat Lane, and Backyard markets thrive (for more on these markets, see here).
▲Geffrye Museum—This low-key but well-organized museum—housed in an 18th-century almshouse—is located north of Liverpool Street Station in the hip Shoreditch area. Walk past 11 English living rooms, furnished and decorated in styles from 1600 to 2000, then descend the circular stairs to see changing exhibits on home decor. In summer, explore the fragrant herb garden.
Cost and Hours: Free, fees for (optional) special exhibits, Tue-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 12:00-17:00, closed Mon, garden open April-Oct, 136 Kingsland Road, tel. 020/7739-9893, www.geffrye-museum.org.uk.
Getting There: Take the Tube to Liverpool Street, then ride the bus 10 minutes north (bus #149 or #242). Or take the East London line on the Overground to the Hoxton stop, which is right next to the museum (Tube tickets and Oyster cards also valid on Overground).
The South Bank of the Thames is a thriving arts and cultural center, tied together by the riverfront Jubilee Walkway.
▲Jubilee Walkway—This riverside path is a popular, pub-crawling pedestrian promenade that stretches all along the South Bank, offering grand views of the Houses of Parliament and St. Paul’s. On a sunny day, this is the place to see Londoners out strolling. The Walkway hugs the river except just east of London Bridge, where it cuts inland for a couple of blocks. It was recently expanded into a 60-mile “Greenway” circling the city, including the 2012 Olympics site.
This giant Ferris wheel, towering above London opposite Big Ben, is the world’s highest observational wheel and London’s answer to the Eiffel Tower. Riding it is a memorable experience, even though London doesn’t have much of a skyline, and the price is borderline outrageous. Whether you ride or not, the wheel is a sight to behold.
The experience starts with a brief (four-minute) and engaging show combining a 3-D movie with wind and water effects. Then it’s time to spin around the Eye. Designed like a giant bicycle wheel, it’s a pan-European undertaking: British steel and Dutch engineering, with Czech, German, French, and Italian mechanical parts. It’s also very “green,” running extremely efficiently and virtually silently. Twenty-five people ride in each of its 32 air-conditioned capsules for the 30-minute rotation (you go around only once). Each capsule has a bench, but most people stand. From the top of this 443-foot-high wheel even Big Ben looks small.
Cost: £19, or pay roughly twice as much for a combo-ticket with Madame Tussauds Waxworks (sold cheaper online), other packages are available. Buy tickets at the box office (in the corner of the County Hall building nearest the Eye), in advance by calling 0870-500-0600 or save 10 percent by booking online at www.londoneye.com.
Hours: Daily July-Aug 10:00-21:30, April-June 10:00-21:00, Sept-March 10:00-20:00, these are last-ascent times, closed Dec 25 and a few days in Jan for annual maintenance, Tube: Waterloo or Westminster. Thames boats come and go from Waterloo Pier at the foot of the wheel.
Crowd-Beating Tips: The London Eye is busiest between 11:00 and 17:00, especially on weekends year-round and every day in July and August. When it’s crowded, you might have to wait up to 30 minutes to buy your ticket, then another 30-45 minutes to board your capsule. If you plan to visit during a busy time, call ahead or go online to pre-book your ticket, then punch your confirmation code into the automated machine in the ticket office (otherwise, you can pick up your ticket in the short “Groups and Ticket Collection” line at desk #5; if you pre-reserve, there’s rarely a wait to pick up your ticket, but you’ll still wait to board the wheel). You can pay an extra £10 for a Fast Track ticket that lets you jump the queue, but the time you save is probably not worth the expense.
By the Eye: The area next to the London Eye has developed a cotton-candy ambience of kitschy, kid-friendly attractions. There’s an aquarium, game arcade, and London Film Museum dedicated to movies filmed in London, from Harry Potter to Star Wars (not to be confused with the far-superior British Film Institute, a.k.a. the BFI Southbank, just to the east).
This impressive museum covers the wars of the last century—from World War I biplanes, to the rise of fascism, to Montgomery’s Africa campaign tank, to the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the wars in Iraq, and terrorism. Rather than glorify war, the museum does its best to shine a light on the 100 million deaths of the 20th century. It shows everyday life for people back home and never neglects the human side of one of civilization’s more uncivilized, persistent traits.
Allow plenty of time, as this powerful museum—with lots of artifacts and video clips—can be engrossing. The highlights are the main WWI and WII area, the “Secret War” section, and the Holocaust exhibit. War wonks love the place, as do general history buffs who enjoy patiently reading displays. For the rest, there are enough interactive experiences and multimedia exhibits and submarines for the kids to climb in to keep it interesting.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily 10:00-18:00, last entry 17:45, temporary exhibits extra, £3.50 audioguide, guided tours usually Sat-Sun at 11:30 and 13:30—confirm at info desk, Tube: Lambeth North or Elephant and Castle; buses #3, #12, and #159 all come here from Westminster area; tel. 020/7416-5000, www.iwm.org.uk.
Visiting the Museum: From the entrance, head downstairs to the core of the permanent collection, which takes you step-by-step through World Wars I and II. From the bottom of the stairs, turn left into the chronological exhibit, starting with World War I’s various theaters, then follow the war at sea, the home front, and the Treaty of Versailles and interwar years. The Trench Experience lets you walk through a dark, chaotic, smelly WWI trench. Then head into the WWII section that explains Blitzkrieg and its effects (see an actual Nazi parachute bomb like the ones that devastated London). The Blitz Experience is a walk-through simulator that assaults the senses with the noise and intensity of a WWII air raid on London (begins every 10 minutes). End with a visit to a special exhibit celebrating Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, and the displays about conflicts since 1945.
The cinema on the ground floor shows a rotating selection of films. Up on the first floor, you’ll get the best view of the entry hall’s large exhibits—including Monty’s tank, several field guns, and, dangling overhead, vintage planes. Imagine the awesome power of the 50-foot V-2 rocket (towering up from the ground floor)—the kind the Nazis rained down on London, which could arrive silently and destroy a city block.
Near the first-floor stairwell is the “Secret War” exhibit, which peeks into the intrigues of espionage, and poses challenging questions about the role of secrecy in government.
The second floor has temporary exhibits and the John Singer Sargent room, an art gallery of military-themed works; hiding behind the entryway is Sargent’s Gassed (1919) and other giant canvases. Across the hall is a provocative 30-minute film about genocide, Crimes Against Humanity. The third-floor section on the Holocaust, one of the best on the subject anywhere, tells the story with powerful videos, artifacts, and fine explanations.
The museum (which sits in an inviting park equipped with an equally inviting café) is housed in what had been the Royal Bethlam Hospital. Also known as “the Bedlam asylum,” the place was so wild that it gave the world a new word for chaos. Back in Victorian times, locals—without reality shows and YouTube—paid admission to visit the asylum on weekends for entertainment.
These sights are in Southwark (SUTH-uck), the core of the tourist’s South Bank. Southwark was for centuries the place Londoners would go to escape the rules and decency of the city and let their hair down. Bearbaiting, brothels, rollicking pubs, and theater—you name the dream, and it could be fulfilled just across the Thames. A run-down warehouse district through the 20th century, it’s been gentrified with classy restaurants, office parks, pedestrian promenades, major sights (such as the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe), and a colorful collection of lesser sights. The area is easy on foot and a scenic—though circuitous—way to connect the Tower of London with St. Paul’s.
▲▲Tate Modern—Dedicated in the spring of 2000, the striking museum across the river from St. Paul’s opened the new century with art from the previous one. Its powerhouse collection of Monet, Matisse, Dalí, Picasso, Warhol, and much more is displayed in a converted powerhouse.
The permanent collection is on the third and fifth floors. Paintings are arranged according to theme, not chronologically or by artist. Paintings by Picasso, for example, are scattered all over the building. Don’t just come to see the Old Masters of modernism. Push your mental envelope with more recent works by Pollock, Miró, Bacon, Picabia, Beuys, Twombly, and others.
Of equal interest are the many temporary exhibits featuring cutting-edge art. Each year, the main hall features a different monumental installation by a prominent artist—always one of the highlights of the art world. The Tate is constructing a new wing to the south, which will double its exhibition space. While the performance halls may open by late 2012, the rest of the complex is set to open in 2014.
Cost and Hours: Free, but £4 donation appreciated, fee for special exhibitions, audioguide-£4, daily 10:00-18:00, Fri-Sat until 22:00, last entry to temporary exhibits 45 minutes before closing, especially crowded on weekend days (crowds thin out on Fri and Sat evenings), free 45-minute guided tours are offered about four times daily (ask for schedule at info desk), no photos beyond entrance hall, several cafés, tel. 020/7887-8888, www.tate.org.uk.
Getting There: Cross the Millennium Bridge from St. Paul’s; take the Tube to Southwark, London Bridge, or Mansion House and walk 10-15 minutes; or catch Thames Clippers’ Tate Boat ferry service from the Tate Britain (£6 one-way or £13.60 for day ticket, 33 percent discount with Travelcard, buy ticket at gallery desk or on board, departs every 40 minutes from 9:55 to 17:00, 18 minutes, check schedule at www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-boat).
▲Millennium Bridge—The pedestrian bridge links St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern across the Thames. This is London’s first new bridge in a century. When it opened, the $25 million bridge wiggled when people walked on it, so it promptly closed for repairs; 20 months and $8 million later, it reopened. Nicknamed the “blade of light” for its sleek minimalist design (370 yards long, four yards wide, stainless steel with teak planks), its clever aerodynamic handrails deflect wind over the heads of pedestrians.
▲▲Shakespeare’s Globe—This replica of the original Globe Theatre was built, half-timbered and thatched, as it was in Shakespeare’s time. (This is the first thatched roof constructed in London since they were outlawed after the Great Fire of 1666.) The Globe originally accommodated 2,200 seated and another 1,000 standing. Today, slightly smaller and leaving space for reasonable aisles, the theater holds 800 seated and 600 groundlings. Its promoters brag that the theater melds “the three A’s”—actors, audience, and architecture—with each contributing to the play. The working theater hosts authentic performances of Shakespeare’s plays with actors in period costumes, modern interpretations of his works, and some works by other playwrights. For details on attending a play, see here.
Visiting the Globe: The complex has three parts: the theater itself, the box office, and a museum. The Globe Exhibition ticket includes both a tour of the theater and the museum.
Museum: First, you browse on your own (with the included audioguide) through displays of Elizabethan-era costumes and makeup, music, script-printing, and special effects. There are early folios and objects that were dug up on site. A video and scale models help put Shakespearean theater within the context of the times. (The Globe opened one year after England mastered the seas by defeating the Spanish Armada. The debut play was Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.) You’ll also learn how they built the replica in modern times, using Elizabethan materials and techniques. Take advantage of the touchscreens to delve into specific topics.
Theater: You must tour the theater at the time stamped on your ticket, but you can come back to the museum afterward; tickets are good all day. A guide (usually an actor) leads you into the theater to see the stage and the various seating areas for the different classes of people. You take a seat and learn how the new Globe is similar to the old Globe (open-air performances, standing-room by the stage, no curtain) and how it’s different (female actors today, lights for night performances, concrete floor). It’s not a backstage tour—you don’t see dressing rooms or costume shops or sit in on rehearsals, though you may see workers building sets for a new production. You mostly sit and listen. The guides are energetic, theatrical, and knowledgeable, bringing the Elizabethan period to life.
When matinee performances are going on, you can’t tour the theater. But you can see the museum, then tour the nearby (and less interesting) Rose Theatre instead.
Cost and Hours: £13.50 includes museum and 40-minute tour, £10 when only the Rose Theatre is available for touring, tickets good all day; complex open daily 9:00-17:00; exhibition and tours: May-Sept—Globe tours offered mornings only with Rose Theatre tours in afternoon; Oct-April—Globe tours run all day, tours start every 15-30 minutes; on the South Bank directly across Thames over Southwark Bridge from St. Paul’s, Tube: Mansion House or London Bridge plus a 10-minute walk; tel. 020/7902-1400 or 020/7902-1500, www.shakespearesglobe.com.
New Indoor Theater: Plans are well underway to build and open a new, indoor Jacobean Theatre (possibly as early as fall 2013). This new facility, attached to the back of the current Globe complex, will allow performances to continue through the winter.
Eating: The Swan at the Globe café offers a sit-down restaurant (for lunch and dinner, reservations recommended, tel. 020/7928-9444), a drinks-and-plates bar, and a sandwich-and-coffee cart (daily 9:00-closing, depending on performance times).
Vinopolis: City of Wine—While it seems illogical to have a huge wine museum in beer-loving London, Vinopolis makes a good case. Built over a Roman wine store and filling the massive vaults of an old wine warehouse, the museum offers an excellent audioguide with a light yet earnest history of wine to accompany your sips of various mediocre reds and whites, ports, and champagnes. Allow some time, as the audioguide takes an hour and a half—and the sipping can slow things down pleasantly. This place is popular. Booking ahead for Friday and Saturday nights is a must.
Cost and Hours: Self-guided tour options range from £22.50 to £40—each includes about five wine tastes and an audioguide. Other options are available for guided tours. Some packages also include whiskey (the new wine), other spirits, or a meal. Open Thu-Fri 14:00-22:00, Sat 12:00-22:00, Sun 12:00-18:00, closed Mon-Wed, last entry 2.5 hours before closing, between Shakespeare’s Globe and Southwark Cathedral at 1 Bank End, Tube: London Bridge, tel. 020/7940-3000, www.vinopolis.co.uk.
The Clink Prison Museum—Proudly the “original clink,” this was, until 1780, where law-abiding citizens threw Southwark troublemakers. Today, it’s a low-tech torture museum filling grotty old rooms with papier-mâché gore. Unfortunately, there’s little that seriously deals with the fascinating problem of law and order in Southwark, where 18th-century Londoners went for a good time.
Cost and Hours: Overpriced at £7; July-Sept daily 10:00-21:00; Oct-June Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat-Sun until 19:30; 1 Clink Street, Tube: London Bridge, tel. 020/7403-0900, www.clink.co.uk.
Golden Hinde Replica—This is a full-size replica of the 16th-century warship in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe from 1577 to 1580. Commanding this ship, Drake earned his reputation as history’s most successful pirate. The original is long gone, but this boat has logged more than 100,000 miles, including a voyage around the world. While the ship is fun to see, its interior is not worth touring.
Cost and Hours: £6, daily 10:00-17:30, sometimes closed for private events, Tube: London Bridge, ticket office just up Pickfords Wharf from the ship, tel. 020/7403-0123, www.goldenhinde.com.
▲Southwark Cathedral—While made a cathedral only in 1905, it’s been the neighborhood church since the 13th century, and comes with some interesting history. The enthusiastic docents give impromptu tours if you ask.
Cost and Hours: Free, but donation requested (you’ll likely be approached about the donation, so be prepared with at least £1 or a simple “No”), daily 8:00-18:00—though only the back of the nave is open to discreet sightseers during frequent services, last entry 30 minutes before closing, £3.50 guidebook, no photos without permission, Tube: London Bridge. Tel. 020/7367-6700, http://cathedral.southwark.anglican.org.
Music: The cathedral hosts services weekdays at 17:30 and Sat at 16:00—sometimes spoken, sometimes evensong, so call or check the website for details; Sun choral Eucharist at 11:00 and evensong at 15:00. They also host organ recitals Mon at 13:10 and music recitals Tue at 15:15 (call to confirm both).
▲Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret—Climb a tight and creaky wooden spiral staircase to a church attic where you’ll find a garret used to dry medicinal herbs, a fascinating exhibit on Victorian surgery, cases of well-described 19th-century medical paraphernalia, and a special look at “anesthesia, the defeat of pain.” Then you stumble upon Britain’s oldest operating theater, where limbs were sawed off way back in 1821. The museum occasionally offers “demonstrations.” While fun and interesting to some, they can be distressing to those who are squeamish or have a vivid imagination.
Cost and Hours: £6, cash only, borrowable laminated descriptions, ask about planned audioguide, daily 10:30-16:45, closed Dec 15-Jan 5, 9a St. Thomas Street, Tube: London Bridge, tel. 020/7188-2679, www.thegarret.org.uk.
The Shard—Rocketing dramatically 1,020 feet above the south end of the London Bridge, this brand-new addition to London’s skyline is the tallest building in all of Europe (for now). Much as the Eiffel Tower instantly became an unavoidable landmark, the Shard seems visible from virtually anywhere along the Thames. Designed by Renzo Piano (best known as the co-architect of Paris’ Pompidou Center), the glass-clad building shimmers in the sun and glows like the city’s nightlight after dark. The tip houses a 15-story stack of (enclosed) observation platforms, scheduled to open to visitors in February of 2013 (extremely pricey at £30, daily 9:00-22:00, last entry at 20:30, save £5 and skip lines by booking online at least 24 hours in advance, tel. 0844-499-7111, www.theviewfromtheshard.com).
HMS Belfast—“The last big-gun armored warship of World War II” clogs the Thames just upstream from the Tower Bridge. This huge vessel—now manned with wax sailors—thrills kids who always dreamed of sitting in a turret shooting off their imaginary guns. If you’re into WWII warships, this is the ultimate. Otherwise, it’s just lots of exercise with a nice view of the Tower Bridge.
Cost and Hours: £12.70, or £14 with voluntary donation, includes audioguide, daily March-Oct 10:00-18:00, Nov-Feb 10:00-17:00, last entry one hour before closing, Tube: London Bridge, tel. 020/7940-6300, www.iwm.org.uk/visits/hms-belfast.
City Hall—The glassy, egg-shaped building near the south end of Tower Bridge is London’s City Hall, designed by Sir Norman Foster, the architect who worked on London’s Millennium Bridge and Berlin’s Reichstag. Nicknamed “the Armadillo,” City Hall houses the office of London’s mayor—the blonde, flamboyant, conservative former journalist and author Boris Johnson. He consults here with the Assembly representatives of the city’s 25 districts. An interior spiral ramp allows visitors to watch and hear the action below in the Assembly Chamber—ride the lift to floor 2 (the highest visitors can go) and spiral down. On the lower ground floor is a large aerial photograph of London and a handy cafeteria. Next to City Hall is the outdoor amphitheater called The Scoop (see here for info on performances).
Cost and Hours: Free, open to visitors Mon-Thu 8:30-18:00, Fri 8:30-17:30, closed Sat-Sun; Tube: London Bridge station plus 10-minute walk, or Tower Hill station plus 15-minute walk; tel. 020/7983-4000, www.london.gov.uk.