Places you absolutely HAVE to see in/around london?

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samanthajanecaroline

There's lots to see.and visit. Here's a brief list of the main attractions.

Palaces - Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace. All of these are open to visitors.

Museums and Galleries - Natural History Museum, Science Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, The Tate and Tate Modern, British Museum, Imperial War Museum.

Famous Buildings and Monuments etc - The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Whitehall and Downing Street, Clarence House, St James Palace, Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Marble Arch, Monument, Tower Bridge, London Eye.

Churches - Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, St Clement Dane, Temple Church, Saint Martin in the field.

There's such a lot to see I can't possibly list them all here. I'd recommend an Eyewitness Travel Guide as they're very comprehensive and include attractions, opening times, photos and maps.

Try the website for The Original London Walks as they do loads of guided tours around the city, They're very cheap and you can take Jack the Ripper, Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code, Charles Dickens, Museum and Ghost walks. They are very good indeed and you get to see the places lots of tourists don't eve know about.

Travel by tube or bus, It's cheaper than by taxi and very convenient. You can get travel cards from your nearest tube station.

The main shopping streets are Oxford and Regent Street. You can try New Bond Street for Designer labels. Camden for alternative clothing. There's a big mall in Brent Cross also.

As for food, there are places to eat everywhere. China Town in Soho is good and Brick Lane for Indian Food in particular.

There are lots of public parks and green areas in London. I'd recommend lunch al fresco if it's fine.
Have fun.

messiry86

hyde park & london eye & harrods & buckingam palace & oxford street & primrose hill

dinodino

I would add -- St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Hampton Court Palace and see at least one play or show.

happyjumpyfrog

The London Eye is really good, well worth the money. Don't bother with Madam Tussuad's it is really crowded and very expensive. The museums are all free. The best thing we visited was a replica of the original Globe Theatre ( Shakespeare's theatre). It was really interesting and off the usual tourist route. Have fun.

Sybaris

Take a map and plan your visit as you only have a few days. Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament are in the same area, so you can do those in one go.

In addition to the main sights, when you're at St Paul's, walk across the Millennium Bridge (not wobbling any more, much to my chagrin!) to the Tate Modern. On that south side of the river, the South Bank, there's also Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Clink jail, Borough Market (open Fridays and Saturdays - not sure about Sundays) where you can taste all kinds of foods, and the Golden Hinde ship. Walk in the other direction, and you pass the Oxo Tower, Gabriel's Wharf (where there are places to eat, in addition to the pubs that you pass), the National Theatre and Hayward Gallery, second-hand books under Waterloo Bridge and the Festival Hall. A bit further and there's the Dali exhibition and the London Eye. That will take the good part of a day.

Buy Time Out or the Evening Standard on the Thursday, and they will tell you of exhibitions that are on, shows, museums, etc.

Then come back another time and see all the things you didn't see this time! Have a lovely time!

EyasOo

London's vast urban area is often divided into a large set of districts (e.g. Bloomsbury, Mayfair, Whitechapel, among dozens of others). These are for the most part informal designations which have become commonplace through tradition, with no official boundaries. One area of London which does have a strict definition is the City of London (usually just called The City), the principal financial district of the UK. The City has its own governance and boundaries, giving it a distinctive status as a the only completely autonomous borough in London. London's other financial hub is the Docklands area in the east of the city, dominated by the Canary Wharf complex, whilst many other businesses locate in the City of Westminster which is the home of the UK's national government.

The West End (actually in Central London, in the City of Westminster) is London's main entertainment and shopping district, with locations such as Oxford Street, Leicester Square, Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus acting as tourist magnets. The West London area, further out from the centre, is now known for fashionable and expensive residential areas such as Notting Hill, Kensington and Chelsea â€” where properties sell on average for over Â£800,000.[5]

Meanwhile, the eastern side of London contains the East End â€” the area closest to the original Port of London, known for its high immigrant population, as well as for being one of the poorest areas in London. The surrounding East London area, of which the East End is seen to form a part, saw much of London's early industrial development, and is currently part of the Thames Gateway regeneration that includes the 2012 Olympics. North London and South London are informal divisions of the capital made by the River Thames, although they can define varying areas.

Source(s):

http://www.answers.com/london

poppet

one museum that we enjoyed so much that it seems like most tourists don't know about is the Imperial War Museum. It was fascinating! The Halocaust exhibit is larger and actually better than the one in Washington DC, I thought. There are interactive parts in the museum where you see what it was like to be in an airraid shelter during the bombings, and more. We thoroughly enjoyed it and found it to be one of the most interesting museums we've ever been to. We also enjoyed Churchill's War Rooms. I'm really not a huge war history fan but I found both of these really great.

China Town is fun, along with Notting Hill and Covent Gardens for shopping. So many of the "regular" stores, like all the designer ones, the upscale ones, are the same as we have in the US so they weren't that special to us. We enjoyed seeking out the smaller markets. And grocery stores! We love going in the grocery stores to see what's different!

Carnaby Street is a must see, and you must go to a play on the West End.

High Jack

mrs. t

Buckingham Palace, London Eye, British Museums, Tower of London, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and Houses of Parliament. These are the places you should see in London....I have been there last year.....enjoy your tour.

absolutely_fabulous_78

You cannot leave London without visiting Hyde Park - if you do you will regret it.

lollipoppett2005

Hope this helps.

http://www.london-tourist-information.com/

nickieca

The British History Museum.Can't be missed!

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