City of London

Not to be confused with London as a whole, or Greater London, the City of London is in fact a very small area of central London, from which along with the City of Westminster, London as we now know it sprung.

The oldest part of London and yet with its towering sky scrapers the most modern, the City of London also known as 'The City' and 'The Square Mile' is now London's chief financial district and along with Tokyo and New York City forms the world's three most important financial centres. London is by far the largest foreign exchange trading centre in the world, handling around one third of all forex trading.

Historically the City of London is ancient, founded in AD43-50 by the Romans. Throughout its colourful history, London has seen at least fifteen major fires. The worst of all, and the most famous - the Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed many historic buildings, but in fact enabled a new better planned London to be rebuilt with superior buildings and wider streets. Nearly three hundred years later during the Second World War, more of London was again destroyed in the Blitz, but the number of buildings that survived both catastrophes is impressive.

As London expanded through the centuries, so people moved out of the City and the City is now almost exclusively given over to business. Though some 300,000 people work there each week day, its resident population is a tiny 8,000.

St Pauls Cathedral (St Pauls tube) is the most visited spot in the City. Built after the Great Fire to replace the Church that had previously stood there, it's galleries (with the infamous Whispering gallery) and crypt are legendary.

Leadenhall Market

A Victorian glass and iron covered marketplace interspersed with numerous cafe's, bars and shops.

The Lloyds of London building (Bank tube) designed by Richard Rogers is worth a visit. Resembling a space rocket ready to lauch, the building is a marked contrast to the classically designed buildings next door. (Rogers also designed an equally controversial complex in Paris, the Pompidou centre) You'll either love or hate it's garish construction, but there's no denying it's impact.

The Old Bailey (St Pauls Tube) is England's most infamous court house, and has witnessed most of London's most serious criminal cases. Trials taking place are open to the public.

Tower Bridge (Tower Hill tube), built in 1894 is one of the finest, most recognisable bridges in the World and enjoys breathtaking views over London.

The Tower of London (Tower Hill tube), founded nearly a millennium ago has transmuted from castle to prison to palace, and for many was their last sight on Earth. The history of the Tower of London is both fascinating and diverse and today houses the Crown Jewels, William the Conqueror's White Tower, the Traitor Gate and the Bloody Tower. Allow the best part of a morning or an afternoon to take it all in.

Covent Garden

is one of the top shopping and entertainment areas in London. Filled with exquisite restaurants and big fashion labels, it has become a popular venue for tourists to visit. It is also the home for the Royal Opera House and the London Transport Museum.

Its history can be traced back to the reign of King John where the monks of the Convent of St. Peter maintained 40 acres of land in the then Middlesex countryside, for their daily food supplies. It then became the primary source of food for London to be maintained over the next few centuries by a succession of leaseholders under contract to the Abbot of Westminster.

During the 17th century it was redeveloped by Italian architect, Inigo Jones, to which there is currently a restaurant which bears his name. After the Great Fire on London had destroyed other markets, its strategic importance increased and exotic crops from all over the world were brought up the Thames to be sold here. The main covered square then became known as the 'long acre', surrounded by architecture which could otherwise be found in Rome or Florence.

Samuel Pepys recorded one of the first Punch and Judy shows to be performed there in 1662.

Right up to the 1960s, Covent Garden was the main fruit and vegetable market for London where grocers and caterers arrived at the crack of dawn to purchase their daily stock. Unfortunately it became a victim to increasing traffic congestion and the market was forced to move to its current site in Nine Elms, Vauxhall.

After a public outcry at the future of the site, the Home Secretary stepped in to give the Italian piazza-style buildings a listed status to save them from demolition.

Houses of Parliament

For nearly 1000 years The Palace of Westminster, also known as The Houses of Parliament, is where new laws have been debated and agreed by the Chambers of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

Not to be confused with Government, though Members of the Government are usually members of Parliament too, the responsibilities of Parliament are to:

- to examine proposals for new laws;
- to scrutinise government policy and administration;
- to debate the major issues of the day

So while the Government use Parliament to bring new laws into force, Parliament also acts as a platform to scrutinise what the Government does.

The Palace itself is one of London's most spectacular buildings, especially when lit up at night and is well worth a visit. It has over 1,000 rooms, 100 staircases and over 2 miles of passages. Though most of the Palace had to be reconstructed after a fire on 16th October 1834, some of the original rooms are still present, the oldest and most notable of which is the Westminster Hall, which dates back to 1097.

The Palace has several towers including the famous Clock Tower, more commonly known as Big Ben. This is in fact a misnomer - in fact Big Ben is the informal name of the largest of the bells in the tower (officially, the Great Bell of Westminster), which weighs 13 tons and strikes every hour.

Visitors can enroll on a tour of the House of Lords or the House of Commons by joining the queue at the public entrance to the Palace, leading back from the visitors gallery through St Stephen's entrance in Old Palace Yard.

Also don't leave the area before witnessing Westminster Abbey (Every King and Queen has been crowned here since William the Conqueror in 1066) and the Cathedral (the principal Roman Catholic church in England)

The London Eye is one of London's newest landmarks specially-built to open the 21st century, although it was not open for the New Millennium celebrations as planned.

At 135 metres, it is the tallest wheel of its kind and sits on the South Bank of the
River Thames, opposite the Houses of Parliament.
Rotating at a speed of 1 mph, it takes 30 minutes to go through a complete 360°.

People ride the Eye in one of 32 oval-shaped glass bubbles. Famous landmarks visible in the panorama include The Embankment, Charings Cross and Waterloo stations, the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, Whitehall and many more!

The Eye has provoked other countries to challenge its size. There are plans to build a 175m wheel on the Las Vegas Strip and the Chinese have countered this bid with plans for a 200m wheel in Shanghai.

Madame Tussauds

A long wait to get in, and lots of visitors inside make this one of Europe's busiest attractions. Madame Tussaud, she of the French Revolution who, in 1802, brought her collection of waxworks over from Paris and the fascination with wax dummies has continued ever since.

The collection is regularly updated, with new pop stars, politicians and those in the limelight getting the full make over. The highlight is a fantastic ride called 'The Spirit of London' which takes visitors on an animated ride through London's history, the model architecture evolving through the centuries, finishing up with a snapshot of Carnaby Street in the 60's followed by modern London and some paparazzi wax models taking your photo (which you can collect for a fee).

The Millenium Dome

Situated in Docklands, the Millenium Dome is one of London's most recognisable and controversial landmarks. Designed by Richard Rogers and funded by successive UK governments, the Dome was constructed as part of London's Millenium celebrations, along with the Millenium Bridge and the London Eye.

As the name suggests, it is a dome-shaped white marquee supported by twelve towers and is the world's largest single-roof structure.

When the Dome opened to the public in the year 2000 it was divided into zones which included 'Faith', 'Body', 'Money', 'Mind' and 'Learning' as well as a central staging area. Here the Millenium was welcomed by the music of Peter Gabriel backed by a team of more than 150 acrobats, and a specially made short film about a time-travelling Blackadder was shown throughout the year in an on-site cinema.

The Dome also makes a cameo appearance in The World Is Not Enough and may even appear as one of the event venues should London be selected to host the 2012 Olympics.

Situated on the north side of Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery has been the home for the National Collection of Art from the thirteenth to the twentieth century. All art after 1900 is kept in the Tate Modern on the South Bank.

The gallery contains more than 2,300 paintings - all of which are owned by the British public. There is no admission charge to the main collection, although there is a collection box to allow donations to support the upkeep of the gallery. There are special exhibitions from time to time which do charge an admission fee. One of the three mainstream 'must-see' galleries for any visitor to London.

Oxford Street

In the heart of central London's busiest shopping district lies Oxford Street, which runs from Marble Arch to St Giles' Circus, crossing Tottenham Court Road and Charing Cross Road on the way.

For 500 years up until the late 18th century Oxford Street was known as Tyburn Street, a name that struck fear into the hearts of condemned prisoners of the time. This was the final road for men on their way to the gallows at Tyburn from the nearby Newgate Prison.

The street's present name comes from the Earl of Oxford who, in the 18th century, bought up much of the surrounding land in order to develop it. This development continued until the early 20th century and resulted in the thriving shopping area we see now.

Oxford Street also takes it's place on the Monopoly board as part of a set with Bond Street and Regent Street.

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is London's answer to New York's Times Square. Ablaze with neon advertisments, noise and traffic, Piccadilly Circus is a popular meeting place for all and sundry. Traffic swirls around the Statue of Eros, oblivious to passing pedestrians - be advised to use the subways where possible.

With neon excess abounding the area is a commericial hive of activity and there are plenty of establishments ready to take your hard earned cash off you.

The Trocadero, a complex built on a lost eighties promise, continues to pull them in. Go inside if video games, cinema and (mainly) noisy hi tech family entertainment is your thing, avoid like the plague if it isn't.

Appropriately Planet Hollywood stands next door. You'll also find the Rock Circus (a musical Madame Tussauds) in the locale. Beyond Piccadilly is Leicester Square, the epicentre of all things hollywood in London. Click on 'Film' in the listings panel for more information.

Regent Street
 
Famously part of the green set in Monopoly, along with Oxford Street and Bond Street, Regent Street is a Mecca for shoppers. Home of Hamley's, which once held the title of largest toy-shop in the world, the street curves majestically away from Piccadilly Circus joining to Oxford Circus, playing host to D H Evans and Liberty among others.

The street was originally created as part of John Nash's town plan in 1811, and was named after the then- Prince Regent.

Regent Street can be a draw for the crowds for a variety of reasons, from the switching-on of the Christmas lights by the big-name celebrity of the time to the annual Regent Street Festival.

Last year, five hundred thousand people are thought to have turned out to see a selection of Formula 1 cars drive the length of Regent Street, an event which has ignited interest in the idea of a London Grand Prix.

Soho

In the midst of Piccadilly Circus to the south and Oxford Street to the north, and Regent Street to the west and Charing Cross road to the east, lies Soho and Chinatown. Soho has always been an area associated with controversy.

Sleazy strip joints nestle next to designer clothes shops. There's a bohemian, buzzy atmosphere to be found here; behind the scenes drug trafficking and prostitution.

Relatively safe to wander around at night, you'll find good restaurants, nightclubs and cafes. Soho is also home to London's gay community, with Old Compton Street virtually given over to gay businesses. Click on 'Gay' in the listings panel for more information.