London. The word brings to mind Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London, among many other attractions.  London is a city that begs to be explored.

With its labyrinth of streets, England’s capital is often best seen by foot. “A good way to see parts of London that others miss is by taking a walking tour,” says VRBO owner, Paul Coyer.

Begin your tour of this ancient city by investing in a copy of the invaluable A-Z street finder. If you visit in the fall or winter, be sure to bring an umbrella and several layers of clothing. While London weather is virtually impossible to predict, it is generally mild, and fall often makes for ideal outdoor exploring conditions.

Don’t be afraid to lose yourself in the actual city of London (London proper is 1 square mile of real estate around the Bank of England). Or enjoy walking through one of the city’s many scenic boroughs such as Kensington, Piccadilly Circus, or Covent Garden.

And while the exchange rate may bite, remember that many of London’s biggest and best cultural attractions are free, including the British Museum, Houses of Parliament, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and the Victoria & Albert Museum.  Free concerts, theater and opera are also often available to the public, as are some of the finest parks in the world including Hyde, Green, and St. James’s Parks.

While London may evoke images of history and tradition, the reality is that the British capital is culturally more alive and hip than ever before. Today, it’s a cosmopolitan mix of people, where the city’s fashion, style, art, and dining scenes make headlines around the world.

In that regard, London will engage and play with your senses. It is at once avant-garde, while simultaneously traditional. You will still see the history-steeped streets, the royal pagentry, and the great museums, but you are just as likely to be intrigued by something new and innovative – radical theater, whimsical culinary creations, or British techno music.

^Back to top

Laura Irwin, Property 113426

• Walk to the World famous Portobello market, drink mint tea in the Moroccan tea shops of Golbourne Road, feast on the retail and gourmet extravaganza that is Notting Hill, then meander home along the sweeping curves of the Grand Union Canal just in time for tea.
  
  
• The property’s central location makes accessing any of London’s box of delights quick and painless.
  
  
• In London transports Zone 2, British rail and London Underground stations are three minutes walk from your door with the high-speed Heathrow Express close by.

^Back to top

London on a Budget
London has a reputation for being fearsomely expensive for visitors - but it's perfectly possible to visit, see the best it has to offer, and not spend a fortune. How? Because many of the most important attractions are free, and there is an alternative to ruinously expensive hotels.

• London has six of the world's greatest art collections, each in a stunning building, with unique gallery spaces and superb visitor facilities, and all for FREE!
• The British Museum's African, Asian, European and Ancient World collections include real-life legends like the Rosetta Stone and Easter Island statue.
• The National Gallery's stunning collection offers you masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. You can come face to face with portraits by Rembrandt, Velázquez and Van Dyck.
• The National Portrait Gallery's stunning collection of portraits weaves together 500 years of history, art, biography and fame to offer a fascinating insight into the individuals that together characterise a nation.
• Tate Britain holds the largest collection of British art in the world. The gallery shows work from the last five centuries, including contemporary British art in a series of free changing displays. The Tate's Collection includes masterpieces by British artists such as Hogarth, Gainsborough, Constable, Whistler, Sargent, Turner, Sickert, Hepworth and Bacon.

• A visit to London isn't complete without a trip to Tate Modern. Britain's national museum of modern and contemporary art from around the world is housed in the former Bankside Power Station on the banks of the Thames. The awe-inspiring Turbine Hall runs the length of the entire building and you can see amazing work for free by artists such as Cézanne, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, Giacometti, Rothko, Dalí, Pollock, Warhol and Bourgeois.
• Victoria and Albert Museum is the world's greatest museum of applied and decorative arts. Discover 3000 years' worth of amazing artefacts from many of the world's richest cultures. See ceramics, furniture, fashion, glass, jewellery, metalwork, photographs, sculpture, textiles and paintings, absolutely free, at the V&A.
• The British Library houses one of the greatest collections of the written word in the world. See world famous items like the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Gutenberg Bible, Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623, King John's Magna Carta, Handel's Messiah and original Beatles' manuscripts.
• Most of London's historic churches, for example, St Brides in Fleet Street, the model for the classic wedding cake and St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square charge no admission.
• The Royal Society of Arts is an architectural gem and has recently opened its doors to the public. On the first Sunday of every month, from 1000-1300, visitors can roam the Adam Brothers' historic rooms, dating back to the 1770s - for free, of course.
• The Changing the Guard is a must see event for any visitor to London. The Queens' Guard is changed at 1130 inside the gates of Buckingham Palace and can be viewed from outside. The 40-minute ceremony takes place daily between April and July and on alternate days for the remainder of the year. The Queen's Life Guard at Horse Guards, Whitehall offers a closer look at the pageantry and is changed daily throughout the year at 1100 Mon-Sat and 1000 on Sun.
• Ceremony of The Keys. This 700 year old ceremony of the locking of the main gates of the Tower of London is carried out every night of the year at 2150 by the Chief Yeoman Warder of the Tower accompanied by an escort of Guards. Passes are essential to attend the ceremony and can be obtained free of charge upon written application.
• St Martin-in-the-Fields organise free lunchtime concerts as does the Royal Academy of Music. Be sure to visit the foyers of concert halls, especially the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican Centre for regular free recitals at lunchtimes and in the early evenings.
• The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden has a regular programme of free concerts in the Floral Hall and its studios. Tickets are required and can be picked up from 1000 on the day of the performance.
• Cemeteries provide a who's who to London's past as well as a fascinating wander through Victorian memorial sculpture. Kensal Green is the burial place of Thackeray and Trollope while Highgate Cemetery is the resting place of Karl Marx and George Eliot.

^Back to top

Paul Coyer, Property 39294

London, One of the World’s Most Sought-After Tourist Destinations
With a rich history that goes back 2,000 years to the ancient Roman city of Londinium, London has wonderful architecture, good food, and a stimulating cultural mix.

Most people who come to London spend time seeing the main tourist sites, such as Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, etc. These are all worth seeing. However, London is full of 2,000 years of history, most of it never scratched by the visitor with only a few days to see London.

• A good way to see parts of London that others miss is by taking a walking tour. The best walking tours in London are led by a company called “London Walks”. One of the best of these is the “Jack the Ripper walk” that begins at the Tower Hill tube station, and winds its way around the scenes of each of the Ripper murders, ending at the “Ten Bells” pub, a 250 year old pub that still exists today (where many of the Ripper's victims congregated and where he himself may have sat observing them and planning his killings). Most of the rest of the London Walks tours are worth taking, as well. The Harry Potter and London Ghosts tours are very popular with kids.
• London's culinary reputation has improved in the past 10-20 years, and deservedly so. London has seen a huge influx of very talented chefs, and the result is a large variety of very high quality restaurants. One of these, founded in 1742, is Wiltons, located on Jermyn Street, not far from Picadilly Circus. It serves the best traditional English food, specializing in seafood and game including oysters, smoked salmon, lobsters and grouse.
• One of the things that surprises visitors to London is that there is more curry and Indian food than there is fish and chips in London. A good place to taste a wide variety of different South Asian foods is Brick Lane, in London's east end, which has dozens of South Asian restaurants of all kinds.
• Well over 300 years after he wrote them, the words of the English diarist, Samuel Johnson, remain true - “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford.”

^Back to top

Property ID 7483 London, England	Property ID 50211 London, England	Property ID 80709 London, England
Property ID 96778 London, England	Property ID 111031 London, England	Property ID 123373 London, England