DESTINATION LONDON: Attractions & Culture

With the rise of England to first European, then global prominence, the city became a great centre of government, industry and culture. London's long association with the theatre, for example, can be traced back to the English Renaissance (witness the Rose Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe and great playwrights, like Shakespeare, who made London their home.

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DISCOVER LONDON: ATTRACTIONS, CATHEDRALS & CHURCHES, MUSEUMS & GALLERIES,
MUSIC & THEATRE, PALACES & STATELY HOMES, PARKS & GARDENS, PUBS & BARS, SQUARES & STREETS,

MUSEUMS & GALLERIES OF LONDON London is home to many museums and galleries which are major tourist attractions. The Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum are clustered in South Kensington's museum quarter, while the British Museum houses historic artefacts from around the world ...

LONDON'S MUSIC & THEATRE London is one of the major classical and popular music capitals of the world and is home to major music corporations, such as EMI, as well as countless bands, musicians and industry professionals. The city is also home to many orchestras and concert halls, such as the Barbican Arts Centre, Cadogan Hall and the Royal Albert Hall ...

PALACES & STATELY HOMES Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a rallying point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and crisis. Originally known as Buckingham House ...

PARKS & GARDENS OF LONDON The largest parks in the central area of London are the Royal Parks of Hyde Park and its neighbour Kensington Gardens at the western edge of central London and Regent's Park on the northern edge. This park contains London Zoo, the world's oldest scientific zoo, and is located near the tourist attraction of Madame Tussauds ...

PUBS & BARS OF LONDON Within the City of Westminster, the entertainment district of the West End has its focus around Leicester Square, where London and world film premieres are held, and Piccadilly Circus, with its giant electronic advertisements. London's theatre district is here, as are many cinemas, bars, clubs and restaurants ...

SQUARES & STREETS OF LONDON Squares have long been a feature of London. A few, such as Trafalgar Square, were built as public open spaces, like the city squares found in many cities, but most of them originally contained private communal gardens, sometimes known as garden squares, for use by the inhabitants of the surrounding houses ...

BIG BEN Big Ben is the colloquial name of the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster in London, and an informal name for the Great Bell of Westminster, the largest bell in the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. The clock tower is located at the north-western end of the building, the home of the Houses of Parliament ...

THE LONDON EYE The London Eye, sometimes called the Millennium Wheel, is the largest observation wheel in the world (though often erroneously called a Ferris wheel), and has been since its opening at the end of 1999. It stands 135 metres (443 feet) high on the western end of Jubilee Gardens ...

TOWER BRIDGE Tower Bridge is a bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, which gives it its name. It is occasionally incorrectly referred to as London Bridge, which is in fact the next bridge upstream. Construction of the bridge started in 1886 and took 8 years ...

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, England and the seat of the Bishop of London. The present building dates from the 17th century, and is generally reckoned to be London's fifth St Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral is one of London's most visited sites ...

TEMPLE CHURCH The Temple Church is a late 12th century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built for and by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. In modern times, two Inns of Court (Inner Temple and Middle Temple) both use the church, which is famous for its effigy tombs ...

WESTMINSTER ABBEY The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster (Westminster Abbey), a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. It is located in Westminster, London, just to the west of Westminster Palace ...

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