If London has a centre, it's (kind of) here

Westminster district

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Churchill Mohicanized, London Photo - London, England

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If the City is London's financial and commercial centre, Westminster is where its political and spiritual heart beats. The oldest district of the City of Westminster (one of the 33 London boroughs), Westminster has been the seat of the government of England – and later on, the whole of the UK – for close to a millennium. Westminster district (as opposed to the larger entity of the City of Westminster) refers to the area on the north bank of the Thames around the Westminster Abbey and Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament). The district of Westminster stretches south of Trafalgar Square and Mayfair, bordering Covent Garden to the east and Knightsbridge and Chelsea to the west. ...Read More

If the City is London's financial and commercial centre, Westminster is where its political and spiritual heart beats. The oldest district of the City of Westminster (one of the 33 London boroughs), Westminster has been the seat of the government of England – and later on, the whole of the UK – for close to a millennium.

Westminster district (as opposed to the larger entity of the City of Westminster) refers to the area on the north bank of the Thames around the Westminster Abbey and Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament). The district of Westminster stretches south of Trafalgar Square and Mayfair, bordering Covent Garden to the east and Knightsbridge and Chelsea to the west.

Westminster is the part of London with possibly the highest concentration of historical sights and attractions. The main two areas of interest are the Whitehall, a wide street of imperial grandeur housing many government offices that stretches from Trafalgar Square to the Parliament Square and following from that, the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey themselves.

Many of the classic London attractions and photo opportunities stretch along the Whitehall: form the Horse Guards where you can snap the guards in fancy ceremonial outfits (you can take photos here, with both mounted and pedestrian guards). A few yards down the road is the Downing Street where the United Kingdom's Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer live and govern from. The street is now - sadly - barriered off but you can peek down the barriers and try to catch a sight of a political celebrity.

Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum can also be found along the Whitehall while as one gets closer to the river, the Abbey and the Houses of Parliament come into view. The formidable but heavy and somewhat overbearing buildings of imperial government are left behind and the visitor is free to admire two of the best known buildings in London or even the UK.

The Westminster Abbey is the traditional place of coronation and a burial site for English monarchs. It is also a magnificent Gothic church with lovely cloisters and a place of burial for many other notable personages in British history and culture, from Charles Darwin to Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens to Peggy Ashcroft.

The Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster) is a magnificent neo-Gothic edifice gracing the Thames bank, with its famous Clock Tower and the Big Ben. The Houses of Parliament offer paid-for tours in the summer and when the Parliament is in session, visitors can observe the proceedings from the public gallery. Waiting in a public queue is the only way to get access for foreign visitors (outside St Stephen's entrance, up to 2 hours waiting time), while UK residents can get tickets from their MP. The new Portcullis House built to house some of the MPs' offices is also partially open to the public and interesting to fans of modern architecture.

From Westminster one can cross the river to the South Bank via the Westminster Bridge, continue to Victoria and Belgravia along the Victoria Street (past the New Scotland Yard) or walk east along the Victoria Embankment towards Charring Cross. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 7, 2011

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St Giles District: an ex-slum

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St Giles is the area of London situated between Covent Garden Soho and Bloomsbury districts, better known currently by the name of its principal Tube station of Tottenham Court Road. In the early Middle Ages it was a location of a leper colony and later on, a site of a gallows. A village grew on the marshes that abounded in the area, which from the initial 17th century prosperity grew to be a squalid slum.The Great Plague of 1665 started here, and by the early 19th century St Giles was a notorious London rookery (slum), to a degree that St Giles Cellar became a byword for the most foetid slum, a veritable warren full of beggars, vagrants and drunks, prostitutes and criminals, m...Read More

St Giles is the area of London situated between Covent Garden Soho and Bloomsbury districts, better known currently by the name of its principal Tube station of Tottenham Court Road. In the early Middle Ages it was a location of a leper colony and later on, a site of a gallows.

A village grew on the marshes that abounded in the area, which from the initial 17th century prosperity grew to be a squalid slum.

The Great Plague of 1665 started here, and by the early 19th century St Giles was a notorious London rookery (slum), to a degree that St Giles Cellar became a byword for the most foetid slum, a veritable warren full of beggars, vagrants and drunks, prostitutes and criminals, migrant and other poor families living in dank cellars in conditions in which it would be a disgrace to keep animals.

Some of the most famous sketches by William Hogarth, including the notorious Gin Lane as well as scenes from the Stages of Cruelty and Times of Day.

Nowadays the district is centred around the large traffic intersection of St Giles Circus, where Oxford Street, Charing Cross Road, Tottenham Court Road and New Oxford Street meet (the exits from the underground station are also at this intersection).

Despite its fairly respectable surroundings, the district itself still has a wildish, insalubrious vibe to it. Peter Ackroyd argued in his biography of London that the spirit of vagrancy never left the area, and it remains a place where homelessness, drugs and prostitution are a frequent occurrence despite all efforts to gentrify and tame it.

Notable landmarks include the recent Central Saint Giles complex of offices, shops and restaurants designed by Renzo Piano and covered with tiles in shades of virulent green, orange and yellow; the 1960s skyscraper Centrepoint and the 18th century church after which the whole area was named, St Giles in the Fields.

St Giles has some decent pubs, some entertainment venues and the most fascinating bookshop in London, the Foyles at 113–119 Charing Cross Road.

Shaftesbury Avenue that marks the districts southern reaches is the very heart of London's theatre-land and the location of Lyric, Apollo, Gielgud and Queen's theatres.

It's not a particularly lovely area, but it is a lively one that offers an interesting, fairly gritty and realistic mixture that reflects the realities of London well. If you are spending any time in the centre of town, you are likely to at least past through St Giles without even knowing that you are there: the Gin Lane is no more, but a little bit of its shadow still remains. Read Less

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West End of London

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Attraction | "St James's District: the poshest London "

A cheese shop in St James Photo - West End of London, London, England

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St James's is a district in the central London area of West End, within the London borough of the City of Westminster. It is, essentially, a rectangle located north of The Mall and St James's Park and south of Piccadilly, bordered in the west by the Green Park and in the East by The Haymarket.The Piccadilly Circus, one of the most ridiculously overrated icons of London, with its traffic, dirt, noise, neon ads, rushing Londoners and gaping tourists sits in one corner of St James's. In the other corner is the Admiralty Arch, the Admiralty House and, behind them, the mixture of the imperial grandeur and tourist tat around Trafalgar Square. Together with Mayfair which borders St Ja...Read More

St James's is a district in the central London area of West End, within the London borough of the City of Westminster. It is, essentially, a rectangle located north of The Mall and St James's Park and south of Piccadilly, bordered in the west by the Green Park and in the East by The Haymarket.

The Piccadilly Circus, one of the most ridiculously overrated icons of London, with its traffic, dirt, noise, neon ads, rushing Londoners and gaping tourists sits in one corner of St James's. In the other corner is the Admiralty Arch, the Admiralty House and, behind them, the mixture of the imperial grandeur and tourist tat around Trafalgar Square.

Together with Mayfair which borders St James's to the north beyond Piccadilly, this is historically one of the most upmarket areas in London. It was developed in the 17th century from what used to be part of St James's Park as an aristocratic residential area of grid-designed street with St James's Square at the centre.

Nowadays the residential element is much diminished in St James's, but the prestigious character very much remains and the district houses head offices of major global corporations, embassies as well as expensive and exclusive shops, more often of the hand-made to measure variety than flashy designer outfits. Jermyn Street is famous for its cigar shops and shirt makers, King Street and around has a concentration of antique dealers including Christie and there are also many exclusive wine merchants. Fortnum and Mason food emporium is on the St James's side of Piccadilly as is the famous Ritz hotel. There are other grand hotels in St James's, including the Dorchester and Sofitel London St James's.

St James's is also the centre of the London Clubland, with clubs in question being ''the gentlemen's clubs'' gathering the (mostly) male members of the upper and upper middle classes of British society. Some of the most famous London clubs, including The Carlton Club, RAC, Army & Navy Club, The Reform Club and The Athenaeum.

The architecture of St James's is very attractive, with some major London royal residences including the Tudor Court of St James's, still the official residence of the Sovereign, the Clarence House (official residence of The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry) as well as several other mansions and palaces. The town houses that line the streets of St James's are often along the elegant lines of the late 17th and 18th century architecture that the British do so well (possibly because that period was, historically, their Finest Hour) and the St James's Square Gardens are a welcome oasis of greenery among all the stone.

Despite its lack of the A-list tourist objects and ''attractions'' it's a very good idea to have a stroll around St James's which offers glimpses into the life of the rich and influential, the British class system and the past glories of the Georgian and Regency eras. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on December 7, 2011

West End of London

London, England

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Covent Garden

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Attraction | "Street shows, Opera and Fancy Cheese"

A Covent Garden pub Photo - Covent Garden, London, England

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Covent Garden is an area in central London, in the eastern part of the West End between Drury Lane and St Martin's Lane. It is located on the site of the old fruit and vegetable market, itself built in the 1830s to normalise and tame what was then a notorious theatre and red-light district (as well as an open-air market). The market was relocated east in the mid-seventies and the area re-developed as a fashionable shopping, entertainment and tourist centre.Currently, the Covent Garden is one of the most popular tourist destinations in London and is known for its shops (many of them independent, clustered around Neal's Yard), bars (over sixty pubs are located in Covent Garden) and restaura...Read More

Covent Garden is an area in central London, in the eastern part of the West End between Drury Lane and St Martin's Lane. It is located on the site of the old fruit and vegetable market, itself built in the 1830s to normalise and tame what was then a notorious theatre and red-light district (as well as an open-air market). The market was relocated east in the mid-seventies and the area re-developed as a fashionable shopping, entertainment and tourist centre.

Currently, the Covent Garden is one of the most popular tourist destinations in London and is known for its shops (many of them independent, clustered around Neal's Yard), bars (over sixty pubs are located in Covent Garden) and restaurants on one hand and entertainment on the other.

The entertainment in Covent Garden ranges from the stately splendours of Royal Opera House (whose colloquial name is, in fact, Covent Garden) to the Theatre Royale in Drury Lane (now owned by Andrew Lloyd Weber and devoted to staging musicals) to other theatre venues (Adelphi, Aldwych, Lyceum Fortune and Vaudeville Theatres) to numerous street performers that have their designated areas (North Hall, West Piazza, and South Hall Courtyard) and time slots.

The district has its own church (Inigo Jones' St Paul's, commonly known as the Actors' Church) and a popular museum (London Transport Museum).

It's hard to judge whether Covet Garden is just a tourist trap or a more genuine place with a life of its own. As most freshly-designed redevelopments of older, less salubrious or industrial areas, it started out as pretty sterile and manufactured, but over the years developed a bit more of a real personality and life. Many of the shops and bars are popular with Londoners as much as with the tourists and other visitors and the theatrical life of the area is very much a genuine thing.

Covent Garden sits somewhat on a cusp between the City and the West End, where the tourists, bankers, actors and shop assistants rub shoulders if not always exactly mingle with each other. It's worth a visit during the day for the street performances and a quick browse round the shops (although it's very easy to spend too much on fancy artisanal products from cheese to dress up costumes) as well as for a drink or a theatre show in the evening.

If you look carefully, you might see a shadow of Eliza Doolitle's, the flower seller from Pygmalion lurking around the Opera House; or somebody who remembers John Logie Baird's first television transmission of a Covent Garden ventriloquist's dummy. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on December 7, 2011

Covent Garden
Covent Garden
London, England WC2
+44 20 7836 9136

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I don't quite get the Chinatown hype

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Chinatown dining Photo - London, England

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I don't quite understand the fascination with Chinatown of London people have – and it's not just because I have seen quite a few of such districts in my life (the best of which was probably the Toronto one so far) – because I remember visiting here when I first came to London in the early 1990's and was then also a bit underwhelmed. The Chinatown is not an official district, but rather an area (or really, just a few streets) located in the very centre of London, in the City of Westminster borough, near many landmarks and popular touristy areas. It is actually a part of Soho and stretches mostly around Gerrard Street where the well-known Chinese arch is located. There are many ...Read More

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