London is well endowed with open spaces. The eight Royal Parks of London are former royal hunting grounds which are now open to the public. Green Park, St James’s Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens form a green strand through the West End.

Regents Park is on the northern edge of central London, while Greenwich Park, Bushy Park, and Richmond Park are in the suburbs. Many of the smaller green spaces in central London are garden squares which were built for the private use of the residents of the fashionable districts, but in some cases are now open to the public.

Most of London’s council-owned parks were developed between the mid 19th century and the Second World War. Examples include Victoria Park, Alexandra Park and Battersea Park.

Some of the other major open spaces in the suburbs, such as Hampstead Heath, Wimbledon Common and Epping Forest have a more informal, semi-natural character. The leading paid entrance garden in London is the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. Hampton Court Palace also has a celebrated garden.

London is rightly famed for its cultural qualities and when you wander around some of the diverse galleries on offer you’ll see why. From the mainstream to the underground, the dirvesity of shows on offer never fails to impress. Beneath we’ve listed some of galleries where you guaranteed a good show, but the answer probably lies in purchasing a copy of Time Out from a newsagent in the week you intend to go.

Whats hot? Watch out for the new multimedia shows down at the ICA. The fusion of the art, Internet, sounds and light are evident here, and they often take it one stage further with a Friday dance night featuring all of the above and then some. Check with the venue for details of the next bash.

Otherwise look out for galleries opening in the most unlikeliest of venues - front rooms, garages, delapidated spaces, for this is where modern art is truly exploding. It may not be for everyone - but is controversial and imaginative and sure to cause heated debate.

The Barbican
Situated within the impressive Barbican Centre, the Barbican Art Gallery presents a mix of photography, fine art, design and architecture from leading designers and artists of the 20th and 21st… more »

Hayward Gallery
Head to the South Bank for one of London’s most interesting galleries. Unlike most galleries.

ICA Gallery
An important gallery, the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) is renowned for the quality of the works displayed there.

The National Gallery
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.

The National Portrait Gallery
From medieval to present time, the National Portrait Gallery houses over 10,000 portraits of famous men and women throughout British history from as early as Henry VII to the present… more »

The Saatchi Gallery
An impressive and unique venue, The Saatchi Gallery houses one of the most influential collections of contemporary art in London.

The Royal Academy of Arts
Opened in 1768, the Royal Academy of Arts was Britain’s first art school and today features regular displays of works by artists as revered as Rembrandtof.

The Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall, which opened in 1871 as part of a national memorial to Prince Albert, is now one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world.

Serpentine Gallery
Situated in the beautiful surroundings of Kensington Gardens, overlooking Hyde Park,
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For a country so steeped in history, its perhaps unsurprising that the Capital contains such a vast number of museums. Recent proposed legislation will hopefully ensure that a number of the major museums remain free, but where you do have to pay, its often around the £5 mark.

If you’re planning on going to a lot of museums its probably worth purchasing a ‘London White Card’. This is a three or a seven day pass to fifteen of the major museums. Its costs £16 for three days or £26 for seven days. Family cards are available and these cost £32 for three days or £50 for seven days. A family card covers two adults and four children.

The British Museum

The British Museum, Europe’s most famous museum, and London’s most popular attraction is a must see for any visitor to London. Ninety four galleries of archaelogical finds, prints, coins, antiquities.

BT Museum
Note: The BT Museum closed its doors to the public in August 1997. The museum was atribute to the history of telecommunications, as told by British Telecom. Packed with school kids,.

Design Museum
Not one of London’s major museums, but compulsory for fans of modern contemporary design. Located in the Terrence Conran ‘gastrodome’ (he has a number of excellent restaurants in the locale),.

Charles Dickens Museum
The Charles Dickens Museum at 48 Doughty Street is the only surviving London home of Dickens (from 1837 until 1839) and is where Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist. Spread over.

Imperial War Museum
The Imperial War Museum was originally founded in London in 1917 to commemorate those who died or suffered in the First World War.

The Jewish Museum
The Jewish Museum in Camden is home to a huge variety of treasures, paintings and textiles presented and dedicated to celebrating Anglo - Jewish life.

London Transport Museum
The London Transport Museum charts the development of transport, from the first horse drawn bus to the very latest in technology.

London Toy and Model Museum
Note: This museum may now be closed. We are currently trying to versify this.

Museum of the Moving Image
Note: This museum is now closed. We have left this page here to inform people who might still be searching for it that it has now closed. A film buffs haven…. more »
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London’s cultural scene combines the assurance of long-standing tradition with the verve of regained creativity. The sheer breadth of cultural activities on offer in the capital is breathtaking, with over 150 theaters and 300 art galleries. Contemporary figures like Tracy Emin and Zadie Smith complement the rich heritage of Turner and Shakespeare.

The hulking concrete mass of the South Bank Center, South Bank, SE1 , is one of the city’s cultural Meccas. It houses theHayward Gallery and three concert halls - the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room. Next door is the flagship Royal National Theater, South Bank, SE1 . Flying the cultural flag north of the river, the labyrinthine Barbican Center, Silk Street, EC2 , is an all-inclusive performing and visual arts venue with a varied all-year program of events.

London Tourist Board’s Visitor Call service and the weekly Time Out magazineprovide details of the week’s entertainment. Ticket agencies include First Call Ticketing and Ticketmaster UK .

Music: The world-famous Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, WC2 , is home to the excellent Royal Opera. However, despite some attempts to cut the price, ballet and opera tickets are still often fairly expensive. More accessible are performances by the English National Opera at the London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, WC2 .

Large-scale concerts are staged at the Royal Festival Hall (see above), home of the London Philharmonic Orchestra , or the Barbican , home of the London Symphony Orchestra . The Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, SW7 , can also stage huge concerts, including London’s annual musical highlight, the summer series of the Proms.

Music connoisseurs should head for the traditional but friendly surroundings of the Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, W1 , to hear impeccable chamber music and solo recitals. More informal concerts take place in halls and churches all over the capital, including St Martin-in-the-Fields , St John’s, Smith Square, SW1, and St James’s, Piccadilly, W1.

Theater: Within the extraordinary diversity of London’s theater scene (there are over 100 theaters in the capital, including 50 in the West End), the Royal National Theater and the Royal Shakespeare Company compete for audiences with commercial West End theaters, repertory companies, ‘off-West End’ productions and fringe theaters. The National Theater’s three auditoria - The Olivier, The Cottesloe and The Lyttleton - allow productions of different scale, from classics to new writing. The Royal Shakespeare Company, performing primarily Shakespeare and based out of Stratford-upon-Avon, did use the Barbican as its London home but will now perform in a range of venues including the Barbican.

The Old Vic, The Cut, Waterloo, SE1 , offers inspired traditional drama. Meanwhile, down the road, at 66 The Cut, the Young Vic presents modern productions of contemporary and classic plays. The Royal Court Theater, Sloane Square, SW1 , continues to foster excellent new writing.

Quality innovative productions can also be expected from ‘off-West End’ theaters, such as the Donmar Warehouse, Earlham Street, WC2 , and the Almeida, Almeida Street, N1 . Fringe theater, ranging from the inspired to the insane, is performed in dozens of local venues, including the King’s Head, 115 Upper Street, N1 , which is the oldest pub-theater in London, and the Finborough Theater, 118 Finborough Road, SW10 .

From May to September, the Globe Theater, New Globe Walk, SE1 , stages open-air productions of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. There are also outdoor summer performances at the Open Air Theater in Regents Park, NW1.

Theater tickets in the West End cost £15-40. They can be purchased in advance from the theater box office. Alternatively, for purchases on the day of the performance, there is a booth on the south side of Leicester Square, formerly called the Half-Price Theater Ticket Booth, now called tkts . It is open Mon-Sat 1000-1900 and Sun 1200-1500. This is the official Society of London Theater’s booth; visitors should avoid touts and other outlets in the area. The booth sells mainly half-price tickets, although some tickets at 25% discount and some full-price tickets. Because of the booking fee, when only full-price tickets are available for that night’s performance, visitors are advised to go to the actual theater box office. There is also a new tkts outlet in Canary Wharf DLR Station (platform 4/5), open Mon-Sat 1130-1800.

Dance: Touring dance companies perform mostly contemporary dance at the Sadler’s Wells Theater, Rosebery Avenue, EC1 . Ticket prices are usually more reasonable than at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, WC2 , which is home to the Royal Ballet .

Film: Local cinemas are less expensive than those in the West End, where tickets cost approximately £10. Two main cinema chains are Odeon and Vue (formerly Warner) , with venues all over London, their biggest in Leicester Square, WC2. Barbican Screen, Silk Street, EC2 , is London’s leading independent cinema showing independent, arthouse and blockbuster movies, along with the National Film Theater, on the South Bank, SE1 . IMAX magic can be experienced at the largest cinema screen in the UK, the new BFI London IMAX Cinema, South Bank, SE1 .

The Ealing Studios in west London presented English eccentricity and black humor in a distinctive London setting in the ‘Ealing Comedies’, such as Passport to Pimlico (1949) and The Ladykillers (1955). Before the war, Alfred Hitchcock established his reputation at Elstree Film Studios, with London-based thrillers such as The 39 Steps (1935), featuring Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) hanging precariously from the clock face of Big Ben. Recently, Sliding Doors (1997), Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Notting Hill (1998) have achieved huge success by combining a London setting with the box-office draw of Hollywood stars. The compelling gangster face of East End London has also been portrayed in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000). Less blockbuster, more critically acclaimed, London has been portrayed in Blow Up (1966), Mona Lisa (1986) and Wonderland (1999). The most recent movies shot in the capital include Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001), Dirty Pretty Things (2002), About a Boy (2002), 28 Days (2002), Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Love, actually (2003). (more…)

Sightseeing Overview

Before setting off sightseeing, it is wise for visitors to study a London Underground map, to get a feel for the straightforward color-coded system. Visitors should also bear in mind, however, that many of the Underground stations are very close to each other and many central areas are easily navigable on foot.

Walking the streets of London, or strolling through its parks, one realises that, in a city hailed for its ability to embrace modernity and change, the past is, however, never far away: there are four world heritage sites in London (the Palace of Westminster, the Tower of London, Maritime Greenwhich and Kew Gardens) and some 40,000 listed buildings and structures. Three of Britain’s top 10 paying attractions and six of the top ten free ones can be found in London. The London Eye, since it made its appearance on the banks of the Thames to mark the turn of the millennium, has since become the most popular attraction for visitors to the capital.

The tourist heart of London lies mainly on the north bank of the River Thames, with the chunk of flat land between South Kensington in the west to Tower Bridge in the east stuffed full of things to do and see. Starting in the west, there are the three major South Kensington Museums - the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum.

Moving eastwards, the next key attraction is Buckingham Palace, back in vogue after the Jubilee Year in 2002. A short walk away, through St James’s Park, is Westminster, with the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. From here, it is another short walk up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery and other attractions. This is where the ‘West End’ starts, heading slightly north to Leicester Square - a busy tourist-infested piazza where many Londoners would not be seen dead - connecting up with Piccadilly Circus to the west and Covent Garden to the east, with the stately old British Museum a little further away to the northeast. In the middle of the West End, Theaterland and Chinatown merge into Soho, with its nightlife and new media offices.

Along the river itself, on the north bank is the Tate Britain gallery in the west, followed by Westminster and then the Embankment. Crossing over the River Thames from the Embankment can by done on the new pedestrian Hungerford Bridge. The south bank of the river now has its own throngs of tourists, at the British Airways London Eye and London Aquarium. This side of the river also dominates culturally, with the South Bank Center and, further east, the Tate Modern and the Globe Theater. Another pedestrian bridge, Lord Foster’s Millennium Bridge, connects the Tate Modern with St Paul’s Cathedral, back on the north bank. From St Paul’s, it is possible for one to walk through the City of London, reaching the Tower of London further east. Tower Bridge connects this ancient seat of power to City Hall, on the south bank, the new state-of-the-art home of London Mayor Ken Livingstone and the London Assembly, designed by Lord Foster (website: www.london.gov.uk).

London’s main tourist information center is the Britain and London Visitor Center (BLVC), 1 Lower Regent St, SW1. Opening hours: 0930-1830 Mon, 0900-1830 Tue-Fri and 1000-1600 Sat-Sun. (Jun-Sep, Sat-Sun 1000-1700).

There are various London Tourist Information Centers (TIC) situated throughout the city, including one at Pepys House, 2 Cutty Sark Gardens, Greenwich, SE10 open daily 1000-1700; and one at Vinopolis, 1 Bank End, SE1 , open Tue-Sun 1000-1800, Mon closed.

Passes

The London Pass (website: www.londonpass.com) allows free access for one child or adult to over 50 attractions (including the London Aquarium, London Zoo, Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace and Buckingham Palace in summer). The ‘with transport’ option also includes free transport on all London buses, Tubes and trains. The price varies depending on whether or not you take the ‘with transport’ option. A pass for one day costs £23 without transport and £27 with transport; for two days £36 or £47, three days £44 or £60 and six days £62 or £94. Children pay £15 or £17 for one day, £25 or £29 for two days, £29 or £38 for three days and £41 or £52 for six days. Add 17.5% tax to all these prices. The London Pass can be purchased at the airport and tourist information offices around London.

Key Attractions:

British Airways London Eye and County Hall

Towering 135m (444ft) into the heavens, right in the heart of London, the BA London Eye is literally an unmissable attraction. The world’s tallest observation wheel has become one of London’s most popular attractions, which usually means a ‘flight’ requires booking in advance and often queuing as well. However, the experience (one revolution of the wheel, lasting approximately 30 minutes) is absolutely worth it - the unparalleled views of the city reach as far away as 40km (25 miles).

Although the London Eye is the focus of the area, sitting right next door and directly across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament, County Hall, the former home of the Greater London Council (abolished by Margaret Thatcher in 1986), comes a close second. The enormous building is home to the London Aquarium, the Dali Universe and, most recently, The Saatchi Gallery, majestically situated on the first floor above the rabble.

Here, Charles Saatchi’s extensive collection of modern British art is displayed, with a permanent exhibition and a changing temporary exhibition. The 3,716sq meters (40,000sq feet) of County Hall that make up the gallery have been restored to their original splendor and much of the art is hung in former offices among the oak panelling. The central conference hall contains the most (in)famous pieces, such as Marcus Harvey’s portrait of Myra Hindley, Tracey Emin’s Unmade Bed and Damien Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, better known as ‘the shark in formaldehyde’.

For live sharks in tanks, visitors should go to the London Aquarium, home to over 350 different aquatic species from around the world, including a touch area where visitors can stroke the friendly rays. The Dali Universe meanwhile contains over 500 works of art by the famous surrealist, including the painting, Spellbound, which was created specially for the set of the 1945 Hitchcock thriller, and the sofa in the shape of Mae West’s lips. County Hall is also home to two hotels (Marriott and Travel Inn), numerous bars and restaurants and a Namco Station, a vast entertainment center offering video games, ten-pin bowling, bumper cars, a pool hall, as well as a licensed bar and lounge with big TV screens.

South Bank, SE1

Transport: London Underground Waterloo, Westminster or Embankment.

Tate Gallery of Modern Art and Bankside

Opened in 2000, the Tate Modern is a £130-million project that is regarded as a model of urban regeneration, with the disused Bankside power station transformed into an avant-garde space dedicated to 20th-century art. The permanent exhibition changes biannually so that much of the Tate Gallery’s collection of modern work can be on show, displayed thematically rather than chronologically. This includes major works by Matisse, Picasso, Rothko and Warhol, as well as contemporary pieces. The Turbine Hall displays changing pieces of artwork, specially commissioned to fit the enormous space. The last artist to exhibit here was Olafur Eliasson with his huge ‘Sun’ installation.

The Bankside area itself is becoming one of the most exciting corners of the capital, especially now the £14-million Millennium Bridge has opened. Designed by Lord Foster, it provides a pedestrian link from the Tate Modern to St Paul’s Cathedral on the north bank. Bankside’s cultural regeneration is enhanced by the beautifully reconstructured Shakespeare’s Globe Theater and Exhibition, which is open all year round, although plays are only performed at the outdoor venue during the summer. Other attractions along the river, past Southwark Bridge towards London Bridge, include Vinopolis, an interactive celebration of wine, and the Golden Hinde, a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s flagship. Southwark Cathedral, with its Visitor Center and Exhibition, is nestled under London Bridge, on the edge of the nearby Borough Market (website: www.boroughmarket.org.uk), a heaven for gourmets.

Bankside, SE1

Transport: London Underground Southwark, Blackfriars or London Bridge.

Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster contains the Houses of Parliament, part of which is one of the city’s most famous landmarks- Big Ben. Big Ben is actually the name of the huge bell, whose tolling tune is instantly recognizable, while the clock tower itself, which rises above the seat of British government, is called St Stephen’s. The most ancient part of the whole Palace, Westminster Hall, is 900 years old. After almost total destruction by fire, the rest of the palace was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style, during the 19th century, to designs by Charles Barry.

All year round, free tours of the Palace of Westminster are available to UK residents, if they contact their MP who can arrange them. It is no longer possible to provide overseas visitors with small group tours. However, during late July/August and mid September/early October, Parliament is in recess and the Summer Opening of the Palace of Westminster takes place. Extensive guided tours are offered for all visitors; these last about 75 minutes and include the Royal Robing Rooms, the House of Lords and the House of Commons and Westminster Hall. These are not free and they must be booked in advance (in person or from Firstcall). All visitors who want to watch Parliament at work, rather than tour the Palace, can watch from the Strangers’ Gallery. When Parliament is in session, there are two long queues (one for the Lords and one for the Commons) outside the Palace.

Westminster Abbey

Across Parliament Square is Westminster Abbey - a magnificent Gothic structure where innumerable members of the British royal family have been christened, married, crowned and interred. Consecrated under Edward the Confessor, in the 11th century, it was rebuilt over the next four centuries in Gothic style. Highlights include Henry VII’s Chapel, Poet’s Corner and the Coronation Chair.

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