Dave the Taxi Driver's
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Dave the Taxi Driver's | |
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London’s Top Sights
It is better if you book any tours and entrance tickets in advance or online as you have a chance of significant discounts. |
1. Buckingham Palace/Changing of the Guard
The Changing of the Guard Ceremony often with marching bands, takes place at 11.30am sharp every day from April to July and every other day August -March. Although if the weather is terrible they give it a miss. Get there well in time because it is packed with people every day. Tel:+44 (0)2077667300 |
2. London Eye
Open 10.00-20.00. From June -September 10.00-21.00. |
3. Houses of Parliament/ Big Ben
This is where the political decisions of the Realm are made in the House of Commons and House of Lords (Tel: +44 (0)2072193107). I recommend taking a tour. You walk through hundredsof years of Parliamentary History with great art work and carvings all around you. You can actually stand on the spot in Westminster Hall where King Charles I, Sir Thomas More, Guy Fawkes and William Wallace (Braveheart) were tried. Of course Big Ben is probably the most famous London landmark. Big Ben is actually the enormous bell inside St. Stephen’s Tower. Open during the summer parliamentary recess for tours from August-October until Parliament reconvenes. Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday 9.15am and 4.30pm. Tours also take place in the mornings before Parliament sits when in session. |
4. Westminster Abbey
For guided tours telephone +44 (0)2072227110. |
5. Piccadilly Circus (Tube)
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6. National Gallery/Portrait Gallery/ Trafalgar Square/Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a fascinating historical area centred around its Piazza with lots of interesting little streets around. Plenty of restaurants, shopping and street entertainment. (Tube: Charing Cross) |
7. British Museum
Open every day 09.00 -17.30. 09.00- 20.30. Thursday& Friday. Great Court open 09.00-18.00 Sunday-Wednesday. 09.00-23.00 Thursday-Saturday. (Tube: Tottenham Court Road/Russell Square) |
8. St. Paul’s Cathedral
Open 08.30-17.00 Monday to Saturday. This is subject to certain events that may disrupt normal tourism such as a Royal or Political memorial service or wedding. Tel: +44(0)207736 4128 |
9. Tower of London
Open March- October- Sunday/Monday 10.00-18.00 |
10. Tower Bridge
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11. Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
The old Globe closed in 1642. The New Globe has been built in the original style using the traditional materials, with no regard for the ‘softy’ modern public, as it has retained the ‘groundling’ open area where you will get wet if it rains while you are watching the play. There is also the year round Globe Exhibition open 10.00-17.30. Open May to October for performances. |
12. Madame Tussauds/Stardome
Opening times-Peak 09.00-19.30. The Planetarium or Stardome is a fascinating audio and visual display of the heavens. |
13. Natural History Museum/ Victoria & Albert Museum/ Science Museum
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14. Tate Modern/Tate Britain
Open 10.00-6.00 Sunday-Thursday. 10.00-10.00 Friday & Saturday.
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15. Royal Albert Hall & Albert Memorial
We went to see the Cirque du Soleil here in 2005. We were seated so high up that my wife could not bring herself to look down so she ‘watched the show’ with her eyes closed and then bought the video. I just thought I would warn you. Tel:+44(0)2075898212
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16. Regent’s Park and London Zoo
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17. Hyde Park
18. Kensington Palace & Kensington Gardens
It is
worth taking a stroll through Kensington Gardens to see the Sunken
Garden, the Round Pond and the large conservatory The Orangery, where
you can have tea. For the children there is The Princess Diana Memorial
Playground and for everybody, the statue of Peter Pan in the setting
where the story took place. 19. Museum of London
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20. River Thames Boat Trip
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21. Take a Walk on the South Bank
(Tube: Westminster/Waterloo & National Rail) |
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Any questions? E-mail me For tours, transfers and other taxi services see Dave's Taxi Page |
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Here are the most visited
sights in London. These are the ones where you need to be photographed
to convince your folks back home that you have actually been to London.
If you are new to London or on a short visit, just pick any of these
that you can manage to see. Be aware that it can take longer than you
might think to get to where you want to go and that you are likely to
spend more time there once you have arrived. Allow half a day for each
museum or maybe all day. After you have been to all these you can come
back again and start on the rest. London is infinite.
Buckingham
Palace has been the official residence of the sovereign since Queen
Victoria moved here in 1837.The Palace has over 600 rooms and beautiful
gardens. A small section, which includes the State Dining Room, Drawing
Rooms and Ballroom, is open from 09.30 -16.30 from the end of July till
late September, while the Queen takes her annual break at Balmoral,
Scotland. This keeps the vast majority of the rooms away from the
public gaze but it will give you a interesting flavour of what we are
all missing. There are also private tours of the State Rooms.
Since
the Millennium Wheel as it was called, opened in 2000 it has become one
of the most visited attractions. I have been on it twice. The views are
fantastic. If the weather is clear you can see up to 25 miles and at
night the lights of London are spread before you like a jewelled
tapestry. The capsules, or pods, hold up to 25 people. They are all air
conditioned and move very slowly until your 30 minute revolution is
complete. They are very stable. If you suffer from vertigo, acrophobia,
claustrophobia, agoraphobia or even xenophobia or all five of them try
and forget them for half an hour, it will be worth it.
The
fabulous neo- gothic of the Palace of Westminster, to use its correct
name is amazing. It was redesigned by Charles Barry and Augustus Welby
Pugin and rebuilt after fire had destroyed the previous building in
1834.
The
Gothic, Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Westminster, Westminster
Abbey, was originally built by Edward the Confessor in 1065. The
present building dates from 1245. Edward’s coronation took place here
after which he only lived eight more days. He is buried in the altar
chapel. Westminster Abbey has seen the coronations of virtually every
sovereign since William the Conqueror. For almost five hundred years,
beginning in 1272 the Kings and Queens of England were buried here. The
Abbey has always been regarded as the symbolic home of the spirituality
of the nation. There are those who have achieved high esteem are also
buried here in their own separate sections. There is Poets’ Corner,
Scientists’ Corner and Musician’s Aisle plus the 900 year old Cloister
Garden and the Abbey Museum.
The
Statue of Eros, the memorial to the philanthropist Lord Shaftesbury,
has stood at one of the busiest traffic junctions in the world since
1893 (apart from a couple of temporary removals). One of the favourite
meeting places in the capital. Once you have taken your photos you can
move on to somewhere much more interesting like……
These are very close to each other. Visit the National Gallery (Tel +44 (0)2077472885), open daily10.00 -18.00, on Fridays 10.00 -21.00. with its thousands of paintings
by the masters, pop in to Covent Garden for lunch then visit the National Portrait Gallery (Tel: +44
(0)2077360055) open daily 10.00- 18.00 /10.00 -21.00 on Thursdays and
Fridays and admire the 10.000 specimens of faces from the last 500
years. You can also lunch in the National Dining Rooms which are in the
Sainsbury Wing or lunch with a difference in the Crypt of St. Martin in
the Fields.
Trafalgar Square is famous for its
fountains and Lord Nelson standing on his column surrounded by Lions.
The Statue of King Charles I on his horse is where all the distances to and from
London are measured. Trafalgar Square has always been known as the
’people’s square’. This is where a lot of concerts, political rallies
and protests take place and where the New Year Celebrations happen, so
don’t expect to stroll across around midnight on 31st December.
This
is a must visit. It is enormous. The fantastic Norman Foster designed
Great Court in the central area creates a surreal feeling of protection
over the most precious of exhibits from prehistory and world
civilisations which have long since disappeared. The Rosetta Stone,
Elgin Marbles, massive heads of the Egyptian Pharaohs, Assyrian Kings,
poor old Lindow Man and thousands more. One visit will probably not be
enough to what may be the world's greatest museum.
Built
by Sir Christopher Wren the St. Paul’s that you see today, is much
smaller than its predecessor which was destroyed in the Great Fire of
1666. There is a rule that nothing is allowed to be built that will
obscure the view of St. Paul’s from certain vantage points around
London. That is why the familiar mass of its famous dome still stands
out against the many new glass structures in the City. The Duke of
Wellington and Admiral Nelson are buried here. Winston Churchill’s
funeral took place here. There is another fantastic view of London from
the very top of the Dome which you reach after climbing 530 steps but
you can stop around half way in the Whispering Gallery. If you whisper
close to the wall you can be heard on the curving wall on the other
side.
You
cannot miss this even if you go nowhere else. The history of this
bastion is a theatre of power, imprisonment, violence, execution,
torture, secret murders, political intrigue and ghostly comings and
goings. Where Royals and traitors have met their deaths by beheading or
even more gruesome methods. Some suffered just because they disagreed
with the King, or were a threat to Royal Ascent and some because they
were merely foreign.
Fortifications were added to the
original Great Tower built by William the Conqueror from 1078. Now
there are 21 towers. See the Crown Jewels in the Waterloo Barracks, the
Ceremony of the Keys which takes place every evening, hear the Legend
of the Ravens, the Mystery of the Princes in the Tower and see the
graffiti of the condemned on the stone walls. Take a tour guided by a
Yeoman Warder also known as a Beefeater. There is an incredible amount
to see.
Such a recognisable
feature of the London landscape often mistaken for London Bridge as in the song, which is actually the next bridge upstream which has itself been mistaken for the bridge that some American millionaire dismantled and reassembled in the desert somewhere in Arizona. Tower Bridge, with a bascule mechanism
so it can lift and clear the way for tall ships, was completed in 1894.
See the exhibition which is open April to October from 10.00-18.30 and
November to March 09.30-18.00.
I
love this place. For lovers of Shakespeare it doesn’t get any better.
Thank you Sam Wanamaker for your great efforts to recreate this fine
old theatre. Even though you never lived to see its completion, the
world will be eternally grateful for your determination.
Some
of the longest queues are outside the waxworks every day of the year
apart from Christmas Day. Tussauds arrived in London over 200 years ago
and it is amazingly popular. It is a very fluid exhibition of
historical figures and celebrities, in that if someone has been
fortunate enough to have stimulated the public eye thorough sustained
media coverage and moreover, actually possess some talent, then it is
likely that their wax figure will be created and displayed until their
sun finally sets. For example you can no longer find Bill Clinton, with his larger than life head, carrousing at the celebrity cocktail party, but as you can see Barack Obama is happily portrayed in the oval office. But where is George Bush? There is the Chamber of Horrors in the basement and perhaps he is down there learning what the line is between torture and enhanced interrogation in case he is ever hauled before the World Court. Don't miss the simulated Spirit of London Taxi Ride which travels through London History.
I
have grouped these together because they are close together. You might
have a preference or you might want to see all three. The Natural History Museum is one of the most beautiful buildings in London. It
contains thousands of examples from the natural world. It is
particularly popular with children, especially the Dinosaur Gallery. 
The Science Museum is also great for
children. It brings to life the past engineering achievements going
back to the early years of steam power and has simulators, an IMAX
cinema and many hands on exhibits, plus the Apollo 10 Space Command
Module. This is also the place where you see the things you were using
when you were yourself a child which have now become museum exhibits
especially if you are as old as I am. Make sure you see Charles Babbage's 'Difference Engine' a steam powered computer designed in the early 19th century!
The Victoria & Albert Museum has
visible shrapnel damage from World War II. It is dedicated to the
appreciation of art, design and fashion throughout the ages. It has 150
galleries displaying 4 million objects. Architecture, Elizabethan
Costumes, Islamic Textiles, Oriental Swords, Sculptures, Carpets,
Ceramics and the other 3 million, plus a large collection of around
500.000 photographs dating back over 150 years.
The
Tate Modern Art Gallery is inside former Bankside Power Station on the
South Bank and is devoted, as you would expect to modern and
contemporary art, with around 60.000 exhibits. The conversion of
building itself from the old power station was a tremendous achievement
and I think that is the biggest success. I am left cold much of the
time by the style of art within but with over 5 million visitors per
year maybe I am missing the point.
If you prefer more traditional art
then the Tate Britain stands quite a way away
opposite Vauxhall Bridge on Millbank. It houses among others
Gainsborough, Constable and Reynolds collections and the Clore Gallery
holds the works of Turner. There are some modern displays however those
of Francis Bacon and David Hockney and Lucien Freud to name but three.
The
unique Royal Albert was dedicated to Prince Albert, the deceased
husband of Queen Victoria as a centre for the arts and sciences in 1871 but it
became a concert hall. To its detriment, unfortunately its main assets
were its terrible acoustics. To rectify this problem a massive
refurbishment installed enormous upside down mushrooms on the ceiling.
This was completed in 2004. It is most famous for the annual Promenade
Concerts which take place every summer culminating in the greatcelebratory ‘Last Night’ in September. 
There are also many Rock Concerts and performances of long established singers such as Andy
Williams. This is where in 1969 Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold performed Jon Lord's Concerto for Group and Orchestra for the BBC which to some people is Deep Purple's finest album and an amazing fusion of rock and classical music. Cream played their two farewell concerts here. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones played the only concert they ever did together here in 1963. The Jimi Hendrix Experience with Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchel played their first European concert,
Pink Floyd were banned for life for setting off two cannons in the hall, and Led Zeppelin's concert that was filmed for a video in 1970 took thirty years to be released because it took that long for the technology to develop far enough to fix the terrible sound quality. 
The Albert Memorial is just across
the road in Kensington Gardens. It was completely refurbished in the
late 1990s and is particularly attractive when the elaborate gold,
which adorns it shines in the morning sun and at night when it is
illuminated. But was it worth the estimated eleven and a half million
pounds? Please let me know your opinion.
Here
you have the opportunity to relax and take a walk through a beautiful
London Park. London’ s attractions are not confined to the interiors of
museums and the like. There are lots of green spaces to take a
breather. In Regent’s Park there is the Open Air Theatre where you can
see Shakespearean Plays performed in summer. The tranquillity of the
Grand Union Canal winds its way around the north side and much of the
rest of its horseshoe shape are palatial Regency Buildings. The London
Mosque is at Hanover Gate. There is also the ornamental lake, tennis
courts and restaurant.
London Zoo began to repackage itself
in the 1990s. This is an ongoing process and has brought into being a
more modern approach compared to the old attitudes of locking animals
up, and has created a more open environment for the species. Highlights
are Gorilla Kingdom, the Clore Rainforest where allsorts of animals are
wandering around, the Penguin Pool, Butterfly Paradise and Meet the
Monkeys.
London
wouldn’t be London if it wasn’t for Hyde Park. If you want to escape
the hustle and bustle, you can chill out here for hours. Where once the
population took doubtable refuge from the Great Plague and where Henry
VIII hunted his prey, you can wander through the gardens and fields,
cycle, jog, go boating on the Serpentine, swim in the Serpentine Lido
(open July & August) or enjoy a quiet picnic, lie back on you deck
chair and sleep, perchance to..…..not just for picnics though, the Lido
Café is situated near the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. The
Serpentine Bar and Kitchen is at the eastern end of the Serpentine by
the Dell and there is a small café at the Hyde Park Tennis Centre near
the Alexandra Gate. You can see the Household Cavalry leave the Hyde
Park Barracks on their way to Whitehall for the changing of the Guard.
Hyde Park is a fantastic open air concert venue. The open air BBC Last
Night of the Proms is broadcast from here and the Albert Hall in
September, linking to cities all over the UK. There is the Winter
Wonderland Funfair at Christmas. And who can forget the Park’s Rock and
Roll history? You might see yourself here in your mind’s eye as a long
haired hippie, when you were here at one of the concerts all those
years ago( but have you told your children?). If you have something on
your mind you want to shout about, you can do it at Speakers’ Corner at
Marble Arch on your soapbox on Sunday morning.
Of
course just across the road from Hyde Park is Kensington Gardens.
Kensington Palace was built in 1605. Although Buckingham Palace became
the principal Royal Residence Kensington Palace has played a
significant role in Royal History for over 300 years. It was the home
of William III and Queen Mary of Orange and successive monarchs until
George III. Princess Victoria was born here in 1819. She was baptised
in the beautiful Cupola Room, where initiations of the Knights of the
Garter used to take place. It was here one morning in 1837 that the
Princess was awakened to be told that she had become Queen. More
recently it was the home of Princess Margaret and Princess Diana. You
can see some of Diana’s dresses in the Royal Ceremonial Dress
Collection. Displayed in the King’s Long Gallery are paintings from the
Royal Art Collection. 
The
Museum is located in the City at the St. Paul’s end of London Wall.
This is a museum for all ages with great exhibits, things to do and to
play with. The museum traces the history of London from prehistoric
times through Pre-Roman and Roman London ,the Danes, the Vikings, to
the Great Fire in 1666. From 2010 the new galleries will be open which
will complete the time journey into the present. The fabulous three
tonne ornate Coach of the Lord Mayor of London is on display here.
This
is a great way to get a different perspective of the city and will make
your visit much more complete. There are quite a lot of different trips
both up river towards Hampton Court Palace and down river to the Thames
Barrier. You can board at various piers, so check with the company
operator where would be most convenient for you. A favourite is to go
on a sightseeing cruise from Westminster Pier down to the O2 Arena or
beyond to the Thames Barrier. As well as the more well known sights
such as Tower Bridge and Tower of London you will see how London has
changed and is changing as you sail by. The new enormous glass city
buildings, the old wharves once filled with ships goods from all over
the world which now are fashionable apartments, where the Mayflower set
sail for America, the infamous ale houses frequented by smugglers and
pirates and where they where executed, plus an opportunity to stop off
at Greenwich to visit the National Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark and
of course the Greenwich Meridian.
There
are many walks you can take to explore London, but walking the South
Bank will combine lots of sightseeing and you can visit a couple of
Harry Potter locations. Especially at weekends, the South Bank is about
as lively as you can get. The whole area is separated from the roads.
From the South Bank Lion at Westminster Bridge all the way to Tower
Bridge it is crammed with points of interest- the London Aquarium,
Salvador Dali Gallery, London Eye, Royal Festival Hall, the Millennium
Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe and Drake’s ship, the Golden Hinde, to name
just a few and loads of restaurants down by Gabriel’s Wharf. The route
follows the River Thames and gives great views of St. Paul’s and the
City of London. When the tide is low there is a sandy beach as well
mainly for building sand sculptures. And don’t forget you can have your
very own Waterloo Sunset from Waterloo Bridge. Please email me for more detail.