Westminster Abbey was built by Edward the Confessor and completed just before his death in 1065. Since William the Conqueror all the kings & queens of England have been crowned here.
The first national lottery was held in 1569, and the result was announced at the west door of (the old) St.Paul’s cathedral. It is unknown if the winner let it change him.
The lion sculpture was once painted red and stood over the Red Lion Brewery on the South Bank in the 18th century. When the area was redeveloped in the 1950s the lion was saved and moved here.
Really nice shops. It isn't for everyone, but still nice to look around and dream a little!
This place is named after a cross put here by Edward I in 1290. He erected 12 crosses in all, each marking where his queen’s body rested overnight, en route from Lincoln to burial at Westminster.
Yeah, it looks all shiny now, but go back 230 years and you'd be watching graverobbed corpses being dissected by the Hunter brothers. How quickly people forget.
Hyde Park was a favourite venue for duellists in the 18th and 19th century, including the brutal 1712 duel between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun in which they hacked each other to death.
In the 18th century the park was notorious for highwaymen and Horace Walpole was one of many robbed here. Handel’s ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’ was composed for an event here in 1749.
Until 1993 the location of Telecom Tower was an official secret, having or taking any photos of the tower was a breach of the Official Secrets Act, it was even omitted from all maps.
If the till person in the cafe asks 'are you staff', say "Yes," without hesitation, to receive a discount. They don't check.
The original bridge here was a suspension foot bridge by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opened in 1845. When it became a rail bridge, the chains were reused to complete his Clifton Suspension Bridge.
A lovely place to go on a summers day. It does quite busy with all the students nearby though. There is also a little fountain in the middle.
Another of London’s lost rivers, the Westbourne runs through the Long Water in Hyde Park, under Knightsbridge, over Sloane Sq station and into the river near Chelsea Bridge.
Second plus haut gratte-ciel du Royaume-Uni, il domine le Canary Wharf du haut de ses 235 m. Prenez du recul pour l'avoir en entier. ;)
Where the Clash and Bob Marley recorded their debut records. It's been known as Basing Street Studios and Island Studios. 'Do they know it's Christmas' was also recorded there. Read more.
At 11 Alma Square used to be the Heroes of Alma pub which was frequented by the Beatles, The Hollies, Manfred Mann, Pink Floyd and Queen when they were recording at Abbey Road round the corner.
The inspiration for the Small Faces' most famous song, 'Itchycoo Park'. Read more.
Get into the enclosed bar right at the top during a gig for a super-cheap, super-strong cocktail. £3.50 goes a long way in here. After more than a couple, however, you'll struggle to go a short way. Read more.
From Old Street station you can walk down Great Eastern Street towards Brick Lane, ducking down Rivington Street, Curtain Road and Redchurch Street en route. Check out the walls by Village Underground
Great for shopping, eating and drinking. Check out the Wholefoods Market especially ;-)
You can find wide range of restaurant, cafe, bars and pubs for locals around this charming street.
29 November: Wander the streets by gaslight. Pall Mall was the first street to be gaslit, in 1807. There are still around 2,000 gas-powered street lights in London, offering added atmosphere.
4 December: The Webb Patent Sewer Gas Lamp as found here was invented in the 19th C as a way to draw off smells from underground sewers. Over the years, the lane has been nicknamed Farting Lane.
12 December: As well as the Sunday flower market, it boasts many independent shops. In the weeks before Christmas, the traders offer late-night shopping evenings, with festive events, food & music.
Designed by Charles Barry, the Palace of Westminster – which comprises the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben - is now a wonderful mish-mash of styles, dominated by Gothic buttresses, towers and arches. Read more.
18 July: Find Nelson Mandela on his birthday. When he unveiled the statue in 2007, he recalled how he & Oliver Tambo had joked in the 60s that one day a black person would join the statue of Jan Smuts
26 July: The Pagoda was built in 1985, after the monks of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order came to London and lived within Battersea Park.
Used as a film location for Eastern Promises, Batman Begins and Inception. Was recently turned into Vienna for The Secret Cinema. The restaurant next door was the bar in Lock Stock & re-make of Alfie
Opened as the Queen’s Theatre in 1705 by playwright and architect Sir John Vanbrugh, in 1986 it hosted the world premiere of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, and it’s been on ever since.
The concrete-clad, 1960s modernist grandmother of them all: no theatrical tour of London is complete without a visit to the National. Read more.
Walk amongst a massive collection of real graves and abandoned grave stones, and visit the disused church.
6 December: The only cemetery to be owned by the Crown, it was opened in 1836 during the Victorian cemetery boom. It contains 35,000 monuments, based around a central avenue and a magnificent chapel.
12 January: Winter never comes to the Palm House, which since 1848 has been home to exotic palms and plants collected from around the world. Down in the darkened basement there is a marine display.
The name of this place has nothing to do with birds, but with the exotic goods that were once brought here from the Canary Islands. Canary comes from the Latin ‘canaria’, so ‘Islands of the dogs’.
7 November: Search for Fagin's lair. In Dickens' Oliver Twist, the criminal Fagin's bases his gang of youths in a lair off Saffron Hill, where 18th C tenements became an infamous rookery.
The mansion was originally built in 1616 and remodelled for William Murray, who made the pivotal court ruling in 1772 that made it illegal to own slaves in England. Read more.
11 February: Since the 1990s, a T-34 tank has occupied this spot. Built for the Russian Army, it was probably used in Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring in 1968. It was imported for use in films.
