Travel Destination: London
About London
London is England’s and United Kingdom’s capital and is a major centre of finance, business, history, arts and culture. It is the biggest cosmopolitan area in European Union and one of the top favourites as a tourist destination, both by domestic and overseas travellers.
This capital’s beauty lies in its architecture, some old, some new, juxtaposed to charm and to represent its history that goes way back, from the Romans to Tudors to Victorian era. The central part is where the activities are concentrated. Most of top 100 listed companies in the UK hold office here and more than a hundred of Europe’s top 500 largest companies are headquartered in the City.
The Greater London area is 609 square miles or 1,579 square kilometres in size. The Thames cuts through it and has been instrumental in the development of the city. Up until the 18th century, the London Bridge was the only bridge close to the city and activities had been concentrated on the northern part of the Thames. When additional bridges were built in the 18th century, the city sprawled in all directions.
Despite being a melting pot, London has remained British. All the cultures, peoples and religions that encompass the area exude the character and warmth of its traditions.
There are plenty of activities to do in London. Before you go, make a list of places to see and things to do because it is such a big place that it’s natural for first timers to get overwhelmed.
If you want to mix pleasure with business, head to the Docklands area, the emerging financial and commercial hub located east of the City. The booming location contains the Canary Wharf, a large shopping and business development in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets right on the centre of the old West India Docks. The place is too good to pass up because the three tallest buildings in UK are found there, the One Canada Square (some call it Canary Wharf Tower), 8 Canada Square and Citigroup Centre. The UK national government is located in the City of Westminster and businesses are also aplenty that side.
For shopping, clubbing and cultural tours, the West End is waiting to be explored. Include in your itinerary the popular tourist places such as the Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, Leicester Square and Oxford Street (Europe’s busiest and world’s longest shopping street that is nearly 1 mile or 1.6-km long). Bars, restaurants, cinemas and specialty shops even the Chinatown district, are found here as well as the department store, Selfridges. To the southwest is Knightsbridge, where Harrods Department Store is located.
Feeling cultural? London teems with many opportunities to enrich your knowledge in that department as well. There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in this City: the site where Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint’s Margaret’s Church are found; the Greenwich settlement; the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (referred simply as Kew Gardens); and the Tower of London.
London is looking to accommodate thousands of visitors on top of regular tourists as they host the Summer Olympics for the third time in 2012 (the City previously hosted the spectacular sports event in 1908 and 1948).
If you want to sing, swing, drink or simply be merry, London is the place to be.