For our guided tour we choose to travel the opposite way, that is from Tower Bridge, throughout the first London settlement, the City, to arrive to the elegant victorian boroughs of Chelsea and Kensington: most of the London monuments and places of interest are situated in the upper side of the Thames which curves down in its way west, forming a vast area constituted by the elegant boroughs of Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, Mayfair, Brompton, Chelsea, and Kensington.

By Notscott (Own work)

On the map, you will be able to follow our virtual tour in detail, from Tower Bridge to Kensington Gardens, across the City, Holborn, Bloomsbury,St.Giles, the Strand, Soho, St.James, Westminster, Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens where we will surely need a good rest!

So, let’s start from East London and come with us if you want to enjoy the best of London, though sitting in your comfortable chair!

Let’s imagine we have just left the impressive Millennium Dome (the greatest in the world) behind us and that we turn left and drive a while to reach Greenwich for a quick glance at the Old Royal Observatory, that offers a wonderful view of the London skyline: one of the buildings of the Observatory was built for John Flamsteed, the first astronomer at the Court of Charles II. The Observatory has been used for centuries until 1948. Sailors still check their clocks according to its “Time Ball”; since 1884 an international agreement has established that the Greenwich longitudinal line should mark the border of the two terrestrial hemispheres.

Greenwich real time is valid all around the world and in the courtyard of the observatory an engraved plaque shows the exact longitudinal point.

Foto del cortile con il punto meridiano

Crossing the wonderful Greenwich Park, a masterpiece created by one of the first landscape architects, Le Notre (the architect of Versailles) we reach The Queen’s House along the river’s bank whose elegant cubic shape is flanked by King Charles’ II palace and thegreat Hospital built by Sir Christopher Wren : this old Hospital could admit up to 2700 sailors, injured in battles or rescued from shipwrecks. Today the former hospital is Greenwich University, but tourists are allowed to see the Painted Hall and the Chapel.

The Painted Hall was once the sailors’ dining hall, though rarely used; the Chapel was destroyed during a fire in 1779, but James Stuart ordered a new one to be built and the result is a magnificent classical work with decorations which make the Chapel one of the finest in England.

We walk now towards Trafalgar Tavern ,and Trinity Hospital, to see a famous ship anchored nearby: it is called the “Cutty Sark”, a “clipper” , a remnant of the glorious time of colonial trading when the quickest transportation means could provide the English people with rare tea from China in 99 days, or vice versa could send wool to Australia in only 72 days.

Foto del Cutty Sark

If we have enough time, we can also visit the greatest museum in the world meant to celebrate England at sea: it is the National Maritime Museum: you can admire the beautiful small models of famous ships, old vessels, paintings of sea battles, medals, and records of famous enterprises.

How to get to Greenwich:

by underground, Jubilee Line

by Docklands Railways (stop at Island Garden)

by train (from London bridge Station)

Upon leaving the museum, on our right, there is the Isle of Dogs where a new museum will be soon opened. In the centre of a modern residential and business area, we enter the City, the oldest part of the medieval London, with its ancient boroughs of Whitechapel, Stepney, Bethnal Green and Wapping.

Percorso con freccette

Some famous monuments are: the Tower Bridge, the Tower, St.George-in-the-East,Christ Church Spitalfields and the Whitechapel Art Gallery, near the underground stop having the same name as Whitechapel.

You don’t feel like being really in London, unless you pass under the Tower Bridge, built in 1886 to decrease traffic on the other London bridges.

It is 60 metres wide and 40 metres high, and its gothic style was chosen to match the architectural style of the Tower .Despite its ancient style the idea was to build a modern bridge, to ensure the arrival of big ships into the port. In fact, it is a drawbridge and it takes less than a couple of minutes to be opened up. Now the opening is being done less frequently than in the past, and it happens about 500 times a year, especially for official ceremonies like the arrival of Queen Elizabeth’s ship, the Britannia.

It is possibile to go up the Bridge by means of the lifts to visit the Tower Bridge Experience.

Foto del ponte di Londra

The Tower, London medieval fortress is very near the bridge and its long history of jewels and prisoners fascinates tourists from all over the world. Indeed, within the walls of the fortress we will see the palace, the prison, the scaffold, some chapels and museums.

The Tower was founded by William the Conqueror, in 1066 and it is still under the Queen’s rule.

Its walls, 27m high and 4 m wide, were meant as a protection from the City merchants and other improvements were made by the successive monarchs, such as Henry II who provided the fortress with a kitchen and the prison. Henry III ordered to paint the White Tower, Edward I completed the external wall, including Byward Tower and the famous Traitors’ Gate, the passage entered by the prisoners (arriving on boats across the Thames) who had very few chances to save their life. The Crown Jewels were transferred here from Westminster to be better protected, and we can still admire the most precious stones in the world.

Under the Tudor dynasty, Tower Green House was built and it is where two of Henry VIII’s wives were sentenced to death, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. The last execution was in 1747 .

You need a whole day to visit the Tower, with a nice lunch break on the Tower Wharf or at the nearby S. Katharine Dock. Enter the Tower by the Traitors’ Gate and lift your head, imagining those Elizabethan times when the heads of the executed people were hanging from some sticks above the Gate. You can visit the Tower walking on your own or guided by the Yeomen Warders, called Beefeaters, who have been the Tower’s Guardians since 1485.

Map of the Tower

If you have extra time, after your visit is over, you can visit the crowded market area of Spitalfields, a real ethnic melting pot, where most people from Bangladesh live and sell their goods, or enjoy a quiet walk a bit northwards, across Victoria Park, which is very close to the Whitechapel Art Gallery, an art community center.

Here we are, back from our pleasant walk and ready to enter the “City”that has been for centuries London’s financial heart and pulse.

Let’s suppose we have come here by tube, and have just stopped at the Monument: from London Bridge take a picture of the wonderful view you can see from there; then on the right, in Monument Street, you can go up the Monument (built to recall the great fire in 1666) ;if you walk a little further, there’s Lloyd’s Building, an original design by Richard Rogers: though built in the eighties, its modern architecture has provided external staircase and services, showing its visitors. one of the most significant examples of elegant and functional design.

Lloyd’s building and the Monument (pictures)

On the left of the building, there’s Leadenhall Market, London’s great food marketplace with its lively porch.

Leadenhall (picture)

Cross Gracechurch Street and Cornhill Street and you arrive at Mansion House Square, the City’s financial heart , with Mansion House the official residence of London’s Mayor, the Royal

Exchange and the Bank of England.

(pictures)

We are in the very centre of “The Square Mile” (the familiar name of this borough) that 2000 years ago the Romans must have seen in all its beauty,extending on the two little hills of Ludgate (where now S.Paul’s Cathedral is situated) and Cornhill(where the Roman Forum was built);the place was pleasant , there’s was plenty of water and could be easily defended; in front of the Mansion House, in Victoria Street, you can see some ruins of an ancient religious temple, erected in 240 A.D. in honour of Mithras, the pagan God of mysteries. Now walk up Threadneedle Street, to see the impressive International Financial Centre, (NatWest Tower), a work by Richard Seifert built in 1981 and 180 m. high.

picture

Nearby, you will find St.Helen’s Bishopsgate, monuments dating back to medieval times. Walk westwards now, through Lothbury and Gresham Street, as your next stop is the Guildhall, the official seat of the City Governors, that is the City Mayor and the Aldermen: the famous hall of the historical building was restored after the Great Fire in 1666 and the Second World War, and the City Guilds are represented with their flags hanging on the walls.

Picture

This area includes most of the churches by Christopher Wren, whose St.Paul’s is the most famous.

There were 51 churches ,built starting from 1670, but only 23 have survived time and the World War II bombs. St.Lawrence Jewry is just in front of the Guildhall, while the others are here and there scattered throughout a square mile: St.Mary-at-Hill and St.Stephen Walbrook, St.Bride, St.Magnus the Martyr, St.Margaret Lothbury, St.Mary Abchurch, St. Margaret Pattens, St Martin at Ludgate and St. Mary Aldemary deserve a careful visit to admire their precious baroque wooden details.

Location on the map

St.Paul’s Cathedral is the Church that is most loved by Londoners and five older churches had been erected previously on the same site. It is the great work by Christopher Wren, and there are no others.

It was completed in 1711. The Church’s great Dome is surmounted by the Golden Gallery that offers you a breathtaking view of the City and the river Thames. Don’t miss the unique view of the Whispering Gallery and the Cripta with the impressive shrines of the great men who have been granted the honour to be buried here: Horatio Nelson and the Duke of Wellington, Turner and Reynolds, the two great artists and Christopher Wren.

Pictures

Before leaving the City to enter Westminster borough, let’s stop and see the most ancient among London’s Churches: St.Bartholomew-the-Great, erected in 1123 and renovated at the end of the 19th century. It is located a further north than St.Paul’s, near Smithfield, the great meat market of the City

And let’s not forget to visit St.Bartholomew, London’s first hospital.

Pictures

Not far from this point, in St.Martin-le-Grand , some staircases take you to the wonderful Museum of London which deserves a careful visit, with all its magnificent treasures, showing the richness and greatness of London History, from Roman times onwards.

Nearby there is the Barbican Centre, an auditorium for cultural events.

You must be tired and you may likely welcome a rest in a quiet pub furnished to look like a medieval tavern.

Get a cup of coffee or a beer, as our visit is to be continued….

Instead, those who are not tired yet, can get the underground northwards and reach Islington, that was once a suburb and it is now a place for enjoyment and shopping of antiques, especially in Chapel Market and Camden Passage.

After a long walk you may need something to eat in a good restaurant nearby, where good food is served at reasonable prices. You can eat at “Le Cafè Du Marchè” in Charterhouse Square: a cozy restaurant, where you can have French food served; an alternative is“Frederick’s” at Islington,in Camden Passage, that offers European food in a traditional atmosphere.

In case you want some cheaper food, Cicada, in St John St. will provide you with a good selection of typical oriental courses.

It’s also time to find a good hotel where to spend the night and rest so to be ready to start a new day in London: you can sleep at The City Hotel, in Osborne St. not so far from Whitechapel.

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On the next day in London, I’ll take you westwards, along the Thames and starting from St Paul’s

Cathedral we’ll cross Southwark bridge to get to the south bank of the Thames, as the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern, are located there and deserve our first visit. South Bank means shows and entertainment, and the reason dates back to the Puritan Age, when plays where banned and theatre actors had to move from the City. The Globe Theatre, Shakespeare’s theatre, was closed in 1642 and destroyed somewhat later. In 1970 a famous American actor decided it should be rebuilt anew and in 1994 his project was completed not so far from the original site of the old Globe.

Close to it, the old Bankside Energy Plant underwent complete restructuring and so becoming the Tate Gallery for modern art, being the first Tate Gallery (Westminster) for classic paintings.

In 1951, South Bank Arts Complex was established, becoming the greatest area for shows and entertainment in western Europe. All day long art is being performed or exhibited: concerts in The Royal Festival Hall, films in the National Film Theatre, plays at the Royal National Theatre. Since 2000, tourists can enjoy a breathtaking view of London from the British Airways London Eye, the great Ferris wheel, where seats are comfortable and cabins are transparent and egg shaped.

The tour along the South Bank can include a visit to the London Acquarius, at the extreme left side of the bank and to the Imperial War Museum, that exhibits weapons and aircrafts but also several historical documents of the last century. Once your visit is over, reach the underground station of Elephant and Castle: the tube will take you to the north bank again, and precisely to the heart of London, that is Westminster. Just a piece of advice: hotels in Westminster are quite expensive: so you had better find a hotel in Southbank , delaying your Westminster tour to the next day: the London County Hall Travel Inn, in County Hall, will suit your needs at a reasonable price. And what about some fish for dinner? In this case go to Livebait, (The Cut) a restaurant much loved by Londoners!

To put it simply, Westminster is the borough of the Queen and of the British Members of Parliament: all the most important buildings are enclosed in this elegant area: Buckingham Palace and the Parliament Houses (Lords and Commons) with the Big Ben Tower; close to the Houses of Parliament, also known as Westminster palace, there is Westminster Abbey, the highest gothic church of the country and built across the centuries from 1245 (the age of Henry III) to 1512 (Henry VII) on the remnants of even older buildings. Here English monarchs are crowned and some of them are buried, Elizabeth I, in particular. The Poets’ Corner is the place in the church where the

Greatest English poets are honoured and remembered; you can also say a prayer in front of the unknown soldier’s shrine. If you are on your first visit don’t confuse Westminster Abbey with Westminster Cathedral, that lies south-west from the abbey, not far fromVictoria Station.

The most relevant difference is that while the former is a Protestant Church ,the latter is a Catholic one.

There are nine parks in London and walking through Westminster, two of them are worth spending

some time across their pounds and paths amidst the green: they are St.James’s Park, with the homonymous St.James’s Palace and Green Park, linked to the much larger Hyde Park, by means of the famous Hyde Park Corner, the famous place where speakers can talk and express their opinions in democratic and free manner.

Before moving to Buckingham Palace, in 1762, St. James’s was the Kings’ official residence: in front of both buildings, you can see, twice a day the changing of the Guards’ parade one of the most

attractive events even in our times where traditions are subjected to sudden change.

Buckingham Palace was formerly the residence of the powerful Duke of Buckingham: nowadays it is possible to visit some rooms of the Palace; the initiative is meant for collecting money after the fire that had destroyed some rooms of Windsor Castle, the other Residence of the Monarch in the London outskirts.

But it’s late and you have to move from Westminster to find a good and inexpensive hotel:

So walk through the Withehall, northwards and you’ll soon be in Trafalgar Square: Horatio Nelson’s statue will look at you from his high column in the centre of the plaza.

I think you will surely be attracted by the idea of visiting the National Portrait Gallery, that is at one side of the Square, or by the idea of sitting a while in Piccadilly Circus, just a few blocks away.

But we suggest that you delay your plan until next day and go straight to the nearest underground stop (Trafalgar or Piccadilly). One or two stops will take you to Leicester Square, where Blue Bistro &Bar (Dean St.) will let you enjoy an elegant American-style atmosphere and all types of salads. As you are bordering the famous Soho area, Chinese cuisine might be an alternative: in this case go to Fung Shing, in Lisle St. You will be a lucky if you happen to find a little apartment in Onion Trafalgar Square, in Northumberland Ave. for a relaxed night in the heart of the swinging London

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If it is your last day in London, you have to carefully consider the places and buildings you cannot miss seeing in the West End of London: if I were you, I would surely go to Kensington

Borough, where you can take a look at Kensington Palace, the place where William III moved with his wife, in 1689, leaving the cold and wet palace of Whitehall. Diana Spencer lived there after divorcing from Prince Charles. If you cross Hyde Park, walking southwards through Queen’s Gate

you’ll soon be in from of the Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial, as Queen Victoria lived in Kensington Palace since her birth until she was crowned Queen of England. In the same area you will find some of the best known museums in the world: the Science Museum, the Museum of Natural History ( skeletons of dinosaurs are exhibited there) and the Victoria and Albert Museum,

where you can see documents and objects that refer to the most important discoveries of the last centuries.

If you are hungry after your long cultural tour, go to the “ Star of India” a restaurant in Brompton road decorated in oriental style.

But the day is nearly over and the best thing to do is to take the underground at South Kensington

(green line): change direction at Earl’s Court and get off at Notting Hill Gate.

There is no place as romantic as Notting Hill, after the famous film in which Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts fall in love. Walk through the lovely streets, where shops sell everything from food to flowers and where the famous Portobello Market is held on Saturdays.

Choose a luxurious place for your last night in London: sleep at Blakes (in Roland Gardens) or at The Gore, in Queen’s Gate, so as to make your London days truly memorable.