London Sightseeing Bus
by Cammel11
The best way to get to know the city and see all of the popular sites is the sightseeing bus! This is the perfect thing to do on your first day visiting. Prices are from 16 pounds and the ticket is good for 24 hours! You can hop on/ off anytime you want.
webpage: http://www.theoriginaltour.com/
City of London and London Boroughs
by Airpunk
The City of London, sometimes just called “the square mile”, is the heart of historic London. However, only few people live here as it has become a business district dominated by office buildings. Some of the best known are Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and Camden. Everywhere in the city, you still find signs of this divisions. It may be just a street sign, but especially in the City of London, you may find sculptures or other larger items showing you the border. The dragon of this picture is located at Victoria Embankment, between Temple Lane and Temple tube station.
Although there are many small details to be spotted, only one of London’s original city gates has survived. It is Temple bar gate which is now located at Paternoster Square. Its original location was at the Strand. For more information about Temple Bar gate, please check out my “Things to do” tip about it.
Long boats and relaxed atmosphere
by bzh
Little Venice, as is known the area along the canals west of Edgware Road, is a surprising oasis of tranquility in the midst of the big city. The quiet water reflects the bright colours of the long boats, while the people who live on them seem oblivious of the bustle a few streets away.
All the world's a...
by rickyvilla81
Nestled comfortably beside Tate Modern and the futuristic but wobbly Millennium Bridge is Sheakespeare's Globe theatre, a perfect working reconstruction of the Wooden O in which the Bard gave the world his drama. The original burnt down in 1613, though it reopened only to be finally closed by the Puritans in the 1650s. Sam Wanamaker, the actor and father of Zoe, made it his lifelong task to get the Gobe rebuilt on the original site (or near as may be) in Southwark, and it finally opened in 1997 (after his death), showing not only Shakespeare and other Eliizabethan and Jacobean classics, but much brand new drama too, all al fresco as in the early 1600s. Members of the audience ar not to act as they do in modern theatres today; they can eat and drink and cheer and boo as much as in Will's day.
Of course the reason that the Globe (and the rose) theatre was here in the first place, and not within the bounds of the city, is that theatres were banned in London, with actors deemed ungodly and dirty creatures - which is why women were not allowed on the stage to mingle with them. The first theatre in fact to be built within the borders of The City was the Mermaid, as late as the 1950s.
But if you want to see Hamlet as Shakespeare truly intended, come Bankside.
Royal College of Music
by Imbi
ADDRESS
Prince Consort Road, SW7
Nearest Tube: South Kensington
The Royal College of Music, founded in 1882, is one of Britain's leading music colleges. Some famous past students include Benjamin Britten, Vaughan Williams and Clara Butt.
During term-time there is usually at least one concert held daily, usually held at around 1pm. Many of these concerts are open to the public and are free, offering you a great opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow without paying a penny.
There is also a museum with an excellent collection of musical instruments from the 15th to the 20th centuries. The museum is open on Wednesday afternoons during term-time, admission is approximately £1.50.