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London Highlights for May, 2008
by Burlington Bertie
What's on in London. Highlights for May, 2008. Offtolondon's guide to London's attractions, ticketed highlights and events, Heritage, Performing Arts, festivals, fairs, exhibitions and museums; compiled by Burlington Bertie, OfftoLondon's Man About Town.
Royal Heritage & Pageantry
For general information about background and ticketed entry to London's royal palaces, see Burlington Bertie's Royal Palaces & Attractions. Check out details for free viewing of London's museums and art galleries, historic pageantry displays, Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace, etc., at Shophound Alexia's Free London.
Hampton Court Palace Gardens Exhibition
Venue: Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, KT8, 9AU. Tel: 0870 751 5175
Date: Ongoing.
Tickets: Book online.
Great Hall, Hampton Court. Photo credit: Historic Royal Palaces. | London Transport: Nearest Tube: Richmond.
Description: Situated adjacent to the East Front Gardens, this exhibition will help visitors understand the evolution of the historic royal gardens at Hampton Court, from their Tudor beginnings in the early 16th century right up to the present day. See the replanted Privy Garden restored to its original 1702 glory.
Hampton Court Palace: Tudor Kitchens, Cookery and Recipes
Date: 11am - 3pm First Saturday and Sunday of each month through September. 2008.
Venue: Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, KT8, 9AU. Tel: 0870 751 5175.
Tickets: Live event admission included in Palace admission ticket.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Richmond.
Description: Lecture and demonstration. Watch and hear 'Historia' food archaeologists researching Tudor cookery and ingredients, making traditional Tudor recipes which you can later sample in the Palace's Tiltyard Cafe.
Venue Hire You can hire Henry VIII's magnificent Great Hall and other Palace venues with costumed guides, etc., for entertaining, conferences, wedding and civil partnership receptions, your own sumptuous banquets, functions or film location. Check Venue Hire at Hampton Court Palace for details and bookings.
Banqueting House Lunchtime Concerts
Date: No April concert. Next concerts are scheduled for 7, 19 May; 9, 23 June. See website for details. 2008.
Venue: Banqueting House, Whitehall, SW1A 2ER, Tel: +44 (0)870 751 5187.
Tickets: 17.50 inc. light buffet lunch at 12.15pm preceding performance at 1pm. Tickets available from the Banqueting House or by telephone 0203 166 6153 or 0870 751 5187
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Westminster; Embankment.
Description: The renowned monthly lunchtime concerts of chamber music and song recitals. The perfect way to admire the Rubens ceiling, a pictorial paean to the Stuart belief in the 'Divine right of Kings', a concept that cost Charles I his head. See website for concert details.
Venue Hire You can hire the historic and impressive Banqueting House for entertaining, conferences, wedding and civil partnership receptions, functions or film location. Check Venue Hire for details and bookings.
The Golden Hinde
Venue:Pickfords Wharf/Clink St., London SE1 9DG. Tel: 020 7407 7056.
Date:Daily 10am 5.30pm, 2008.
Tickets: 6. (Concessions).
London Transport: Nearest Tube: London Bridge.
Description: This is an exact working replica of Sir Francis Drake's Naval Flagship the Tudor warship Golden Hinde in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world 1577-1580. This exact reconstruction, a fully working ship, was launched in Devon in 1973. Since then she has circumnavigated the globe and sailed over 140,000 miles many more than the original. Her present berth is the St Mary Overie Dock on Thames South Bank, just a short walk from the Clink Prison Museum, Shakespeare's Globe and Tate Modern. This is a living history experience of particular interest to maritime history buffs. Explore the 5 decks and the 22 canons.
Venue Hire You can hire the Golden Hinde for entertaining, conferences, wedding and civil partnership receptions, functions or film location. Check website for details and bookings.
London Walks and London Eye
Photo credit: Richard Jones, London Walking
Tours. | London Walking Tours
Venue: Various, depending on the City Walk itinerary. Check website.
Date: Daily. 11am, 2pm or 7pm, depending on the itinerary. Check website.
Tickets: 7. Online Booking or telephone 020 8530-8443.
London Transport: Check website.
Description: Delve into the city's hidden past with Richard Jones the noted author, master story teller and social historian; film and TV producer Mark Ubsdell, and Jenny Phillips the London historian and researcher. They will describe the lives and legends of old London. Join them as they open the doors to the historic London of Shakespeare, Wren, Dickens, Jack the Ripper and more. Discover ancient hostelries, taverns and the old coaching inns from a time before the advent of rail and automobile when the Thames was still London's major thoroughfare. A comprehensive list of DVDs including Shakespeare in London, Dickens' London, Jack the Ripper, Haunted City, Secret City are available at special discount price with each booking. Both walks and DVDs are strongly recommended. Tours are wheelchair accessible but require a fit companion. Seek advice when pre-booking your walk.
Jack the Ripper Walk
Venue: Aldgate, Whitechapel, Spitalfields. EC. Tel: 020 8530 8443
Date: Daily. 7pm-9pm. Closed 23-27, 30/31 December, 2007. Check website for 2008 dates.
Tickets: 6.50. Online Booking
London Transport: Aldgate East, (District, Hammersmith and City Lines).
Description: Guided Exploration of the Whitechapel and Spitalfields alleys and pubs where serial killer Jack the Ripper murdered at least five and possibly many more prostitutes in a reign of terror during 1888. Your guide, Richard Jones, author of the much acclaimed DVD Jack the Ripper looks as if he has stepped straight out of a Dickens novel. He will lead you on the bloody trail of London's most infamous murderer. Strongly recommended as the spookiest of all the London Walks.
London Ghost Walks
Venue: Departs from Bank or Blackfriars Underground station.. EC. Tel: 020 8530 8443
Date: Tues/Fri/Sats. 7pm-9pm. Check website for 2008 dates.
Tickets: 7. Online Booking
London Transport: Aldgate East, (District, Hammersmith and City Lines).
Description: Alleyways and Shadows; Ghosts, Ghouls and Graveyards; the titles of these walks, painstakingly researched by author and historian Richard Jones, perfectly conjure the haunting atmosphere of these deliciously spooky tours that venture beyond the busy main roads and twist their eerie way through forgotten medieval and Victorian London. Let Richard Jones lead you to places where the disembodied voices from London's eerie past may just whisper in your ear, as their icy fingers stroke lightly down the back of your neck.
Jack The Ripper's Sinister London
Venue: Selected departure points by coach.
Date: Fridays, Sundays. from 6.40pm
Tickets: From $50.13 per person. Pay online.
Description:Tread in the footsteps of the infamous Jack The Ripper down the dark, narrow, gas-lit alleyways immortalized in such films as "From Hell". Led by one of the renowned London Blue Badge Guides, you will visit four murder sights. Your "Ripperologist" will run through some of the suspects who sparked a Victorian Whodunit that will leave you as gripped as its victims. Approx. 4 hours.
Fairs & Festivals
160th Royal Caledonian Ball
Venue: Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, W.1.
Date: 2 May, 2008.
Tickets: 95. 165 inc. champagne reception and dinner.<"http://www.royalcaledonianball.com/applicationform/applicationform08.pdf">Download Booking form.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Marble Arch; Hyde Park Corner.
Description: One of the better connected, (Patron The Queen), and probably the oldest established of the London season's tiara-bedecked charity balls, with a strongly committed Scottish flavour. If you can't dance the set Reels, don't own or won't hire full formal evening dress, (preferably Highland dress), Mess Dress or Hunt livery, this evening is not for you. An occasional sedate waltz is on the card but you will be primarily expending considerable energy on Eightsome and Foursome Reels, Dashing White Sergeants, Speed the Plough and other esoteric gyrations from north of the border. You can brush up on all these by attending London Reels, (St.Columba's, Pont Street, Knightsbridge) at their social reeling evenings; an ideal, and probably necessary, opportunity to master the required dances before attending the ball. And you can hire Highland evening dress at Jakes of London.
The Kensington Dolls House Festival
Venue: Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, W8.
Date: 16-18 May, 2008. Times vary by day.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: High Street, Kensington, (Circle & District Line).
Tickets: 10, Friday, $8 Saturday, Sunday. (Concessions). 18 for 3-day ticket.Book online, (recommended), or buy at the door.
Description: Some 175 craftsmen make this the world's top international show for quality dolls' houses, miniatures & models. Visitors can also attend the free lecture programme on dolls' house topics. A series of workshops are also planned for 2008. See website for details.
Lily. Photo credit: RHS. | The RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Venue: The Royal Hospital, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, SW3 4SR.
Date: 20 & 21 May, Members only. Public Days 22 - 24 May. 2008.
Tickets: 18 - 46, Online booking or telephone essential. No tickets sold at gate.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Sloane Square, (Circle & District Line).
Description: The gardening highlight and traditionally the start of London's social season. Usually visited on Opening Day by The Queen and green fingered members of the Royal Family, a royal tradition started by Queen Mary in the 1920s. Prince Charles sometimes exhibits. The show gardens display everything from modern sculptured exhibits to wild rambling and water fantasies, while the pavilions provide award winning blooms and plants of every conceivable variety. The first two days are for RHS members only. Daily live coverage on BBC TV.
Theatre, Dance and Music
ROH Opera: The Minotaur
Date: Ends 3 May, 2008.
Venue: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, WC2. Tel: 020 7304 4000
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Covent Garden.
Tickets: 5 - 65. Book Online.
Description: The world premiere of a new work commissioned by The Royal Opera brings to the stage a famous character of Greek myth. Part man, part beast, the Minotaur is trapped in a labyrinth and constrained by his violent role there, yet he longs to discover his own identity and his own voice. Among the innocents of a blood sacrifice Athens must pay to Crete is Theseus, who has come to challenge the violent Minotaur, but also attracts the attention of Ariadne and it is her help that ensures his success in the labyrinth.
ROH: Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauty
Date: Ends 6 May, 2008.
Venue: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, WC2. Tel: 020 7304 4000
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Covent Garden.
Tickets: 5 - 90. Book Online.
Description: The much loved fairy tale that has become a staple of the Royal Ballet's classical repertoire.
Rambert's Carnival of Animals | Sadlers Wells: Rambert's Carnival of Animals
Date: 20 - 24 May, 7.30pm. 2008.
Venue: Sadler's Wells Theatre, Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TN.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Angel.
Tickets: 8 - 38. Book Online, in person at Box Office, or Tel: +44 (0)870 737 7737. Early booking advisable.
Description: Britain's premier contemporary dance company shows its stylistic genius in a new production of Carnival of the Animals, choreographer Siobhan Davies' most popular and endearing work set to Saint-Sans' beautiful and melodic music. Re-invigorated for the 21st century, the work re-unites Rambert's dancers with this outstanding artist. Rambert Dance Company's drama, scale and spectacle continue to thrill and inspire audiences of all ages from across the UK and throughout the world in their programme of three ballets.
New London Theatre: Gone With The Wind
Date: Booking until 27 September, Tues-Sats 7.30pm; Matinees Weds, Sats 2.30pm. 2008.
Venue: New London Theatre, Drury Lane, WC2B 5PW. Tel: 0870 890 0141.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Covent Garden.
Tickets: 27.50 - 60.
Description: London Premiere of Trevor Nunn's much awaited stage musical adaptation of the most successful film of all time. The musical is based on Margaret Mitchell's original novel, rather than the 1939 film, (surely a hard act to follow). Music and lyrics are by Margaret Martin, who jumps in at the deep end with this, her first ever, stage musical. No news at time of writing but, given the remarkable stage facilities at this theatre, (remember Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hit Cats which ran here for 20 years?), we can be assured that the production and sets will be fabulous, so we shall at least come out whistling the scenery - if not Dixie! Check the GWTW website for news updates.
Shakespeare's Globe: 2008 Summer Season
Date: 23 April - 5 October, 2008.
Venue: 21 New Globe Walk, SE1 9ED. Tel: 020 7401 9199.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Southwark.
Tickets: 5 - 35.
Description: This summer's 'Totus Mundus' season features new productions of 'King Lear', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'Timon of Athens' and 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' plus world premieres of three new plays and a return of John Dove's production of 'The Winter's Tale'. Step into Tudor London at the Globe and join in the hearty audience participation! Dine before or after the performance, at the nearby Oxo Tower Restaurant or the Yakitori. Venue Hire You can hire the Swan at the Globe with its view overlooking the Thames for entertaining, conferences, wedding and civil partnership receptions and functions or film location. Check website for details and bookings.
Offtolondon Theatre Breaks and Offers
Date: Ongoing.
Venue: West End and City theatres
Tickets: Online booking for all seats, accommodation, etc.
Description: Your guide to London's theatre programme, concert and events with online booking facility.
Fine Art & Cultural Exhibitions
Tate Britain: Modern Painters - The Camden Town Group
Date: Ends 4 May, 2008. 10am-5.40pm.
Venue: Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG. Tel: 020 7887 8888
Tickets: 9. (Concessions), Online booking or at the door.
London transport: Nearest Tube: Embankment. Also Riverbus between Tate Britain and Tate Modern via Westminster.
Description: Your last opportunity to see the Camden Town Group, who introduced Post-Impressionism to Britain, inspired by the work of Van Gogh and Gauguin on the continent. Modern Painters focuses on the key themes in their work: life in the city, people, style, sex, and the infamous Camden Town murder. Fascinated by the changing ways of life in the capital, the Group captured the mood of this transitional period in British history, around the time of World War I; images of London buses, audiences enjoying light entertainment and gritty urban interiors evoke the atmosphere of a city and a country moving into the modern era, whilst nudes painted in dingy North London homes explore the changing sexual mores described in the contemporary writing of HG Wells, DH Lawrence, and Rebecca West. The exhibition concentrates on the core of the Group - Spencer Gore, Harold Gilman, Robert Bevan, Charles Ginner with Walter Sickert as a key player. Works have come from numerous different collections in this first exhibition of the Camden Town Group for over twenty years.
See also the remarkable FREE Tate Britain collection of British Art 1500 - 2006, including the stunning Turner Room, and the current William Blake exhibition.
National Gallery: Pompeo Batoni 1708 - 1787
Venue: Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN. Getty Entrance.
Date: 20 February - 18 May, 10am-6pm. Weds 10am-9pm. 2008.
Tickets: Standard Timed entry 8, (Concessions); Unlimited entry: 20. Advance booking online recommended to guarantee day and time of choice.
London transport: Nearest Tube: Charing Cross; Leicester Square.
Description: In his day, Pompeo Batoni was the most celebrated painter in Rome. For nearly half a century, Batoni recorded international travellers' visits to Italy on the Grand Tour in portraits that remain among the most memorable artistic accomplishments of the period. Equally gifted as a history painter, his religious and mythological works were eagerly acquired by the greatest patrons and collectors in Britain and mainland Europe. This exhibition, marks the tercentenary of Batoni's birth, and is the first comprehensive presentation of his work in forty years, with many works not previously exhibited.
National Portrait Gallery: Vanity Fair - Photos 1913-2008
Date: 10am-6pm. Thurs/Fri 10am-9pm. Ends 26 May, 2008.
Venue: Wolfson Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Place, WC2 0H3.
Tickets: 10.(Concessions). Book online or at door.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Charing Cross, Leicester Square.
Description: Some of the greatest portrait photographs of the twentieth century were taken for, or published in, Vanity Fair. This exhibition features 150 classic images from both the magazine's first period (1913-36) and subsequent re-birth in 1983 of significant people in art, film, music, sport, business and politics. Works by legendary photographers such as Edward Steichen and Cecil Beaton are shown alongside those of celebrated modern-day photographers such as Annie Leibovitz and Mario Testino. With subjects as diverse as Claude Monet, Cary Grant and Madonna, this exhibition presents an exceptional range of photographic portraiture from the early years of the twentieth century to the present day.
See also the permanent collection at the NPG, (FREE).
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs
Date: Daily, 10am-5pm. Ongoing. Ends 30 August, 2008.
Venue: O2 Exhibition Centre, Millennium Way, SE10.
Tickets:
15, timed entry. (Concessions). Book online - Weekend tickets are the first to sell out. Book Hotel & Tutticket Break from 63.50.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. North Greenwich. Thames travel: Riverline O2 Express to Queen Elizabeth II Pier.
Description: For more than 3,000 years Tutankhamun's treasures lay unseen beneath the Egyptian sands until unearthed by Howard Carter in 1922/23. When they were shown at the British Museum in 1972 they were the ultimate 'must see' event. Now Tutankhamun returns in a spectacular new exhibition of 130 priceless treasures from the tomb and other Valley of the Kings royal burials, under the auspices of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and its ebullient Director, Dr. Zahi Hawass.
Imperial War Museum: For Your Eyes Only
Date: 28 April, 2008 - 1 March 2009.
Venue: Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, SE1 6HZ. Tel: 0207 416 5320.
London Transport: Nearest Tube. Lambeth, Elephant and Castle.
Tickets: 8.(Concessions). Book online. The rest of the museum is FREE.
Description: A celebration of the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth with a fascinating exhibition devoted to his James Bond, the 007 gizmos and gadgetry, and Fleming's own remarkable life and wartime experiences. A special book is available to accompany the exhibition.
Sport & Recreation
The Royal Windsor Horse Show
Date: 7 - 11 May, 2008.
Venue: Home Park, Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, SL$ 1UT
Tickets: 13, (Concessions). Book online for discounted tickets, enclosure, carparking, etc., (recommended), or 16 at gate.
Getting There: Trains run from London/Paddington to Windsor Town Centre station, (50 mins). The London/Waterloo - Windsor Riverside, (40 mins), is closer to the showground.
Description: Practically every known equestrian activity is represented here. The Queen is Patron and the Duke of Edinburgh is President, and they attend with other Royal Family members. Events take place in two arenas and two rings each day, as well as in Windsor Great Park, (the British Horse Driving Association's three-day event), so you would be severely challenged to do justice to this show in a single day.
Dress: Dress is smart, particularly on Sunday.
Burlington Bertie's Accommodation Choice: The Castle Hotel. This 17th century hotel's Georgian frontage looks onto Windsor High Street in the castle's shadow. Excellent restaurant and four-poster bedrooms will delight visitors.
F.A. Cup Final
Date:17 May, 3pm. 2008.
Venue: Wembley Stadium, Empire Way, Wembley, HA9.
Tickets: Book online, (recommended), or take your chance at the turnstyles.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Wembley Park.
Description: The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world and is synonymous with Wembley's rich history. It returned to the newly rebuilt stadium in 2007.
Lords. England v. New Zealand
Date:15 - 19 May, 2008.
Venue: Lords Cricket Ground, St. John's Wood, NW8 8QZ. Tel: 020 7432 1000.
Tickets: Book online, (essential), or at gate.
London Transport: Nearest Tube: Wembley Park.
Description: The npower Test Match. At time of writing, (1st February), all tickets for days 1-3 were sold. No advance tickets are sold for day 5. The majority of tickets for 2008 major matches at Lords have already been allocated by public ballot. Check Lords website for full details of fixtures and tickets. Lord's is the setting for some of the best cricket in the world. It hosts npower Test matches and NatWest-sponsored one-day internationals plus most of Middlesex's home games, some historic fixtures (such as Oxford v Cambridge) and the village and club finals. Test Matches are normally televised live.
Amora Sex Academy
Date: Daily, Mon-Thurs: 1pm-12 midnight; Fri-Sun,11am - midnight. 2008.
Venue: Trocadero Centre, 13 Coventry Street, Piccadilly.
Tickets: 12. (Concessions). Book online and collect at the door, or pay at door.
London transport: Nearest Tube. Piccadilly Circus. Bus routes: 6, 9, 12, 23, 15, 159, 13, 139, 38, 24.
Description: The new Academy of Sex London attraction where you can learn how to do it a little bit better in the heart of the capital. Amora is the world's first major attraction devoted entirely to sex, where visitors can get a deeper insight into sex and relationships in an open, lively atmosphere. This is a unique exhibition throwing the spotlight on sex in an informative but fun environment; a one stop shop for information on sex, including guest experts, high tech exhibitions and a number of interactive displays, giving visitors the chance to try something new or brush up on existing skills between the sheets. Discover the thrills and spills of a healthy sex life in the world's first sex theme park. A line up of interactive attractions includes an orgasm tunnel, foreplay food games, erogenous zone exploration and fantasy games. A series of special events will be taking place at Amora including sex therapists and relationship counsellors. Mull over what you've learned with an Amora cocktail or two in the Amora Lounge, before visiting the Amora Boutique for the latest and best-selling products and toys before heading home to put it all into practice.
Free London Art and Museum Collections
Permanent collections in many galleries and museums are entry free. Individually mounted temporary exhibitions within specified rooms may carry a ticket charge however, (bookable online or at the door). Shophound Alexia's Free London, May gives full details of London's free museums and art galleries, including address, opening times, getting there and description.
Burlington Bertie's Highlights Memo
Last chance to buy your tickets online for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show public days, (24-26 May, 2007). Book tickets and hotel accommodation for the following 2008 annual events: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, opening June; Hampton Court Palace Music Festival, (3 - 21 June); RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, (8-13 July), and the Charity Gala Preview on 7 July; Holland Park Opera Festival, (3 June - 8 August); Glyndebourne Opera Festival, (18 May - 31 August); Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, (2 June - 13 September).
Choose your Hotel OfftoLondon provides expert advice and secure booking facilities for your overnight, 'City Break' or long term London accommodation requirements; from de-luxe 5-star hotels to comfortable backpacker's hostels.
The Central London congestion charge zone for visitors driving in London now covers all main areas of attraction on the north side of the Thames. It makes sense to travel buy London Transport bus or Tube. Buy a multi-journey London Transport Travelcard or Oyster Card before you arrive, (available in most countries), and save money, time and hassle.
If you have a question, contact us and we will do our best to provide answers.
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Burlington Bertie's Top Tips
A Night 'On the town'
While in London, treat your partner to a superb evening out 'On The Town' with OfftoLondon's theatre and dinner package.
Choose your Hotel
Use OfftoLondon's hassle-free and secure booking facilities to obtain the best internet prices for your overnight, 'City Break' or longer term accommodation requirements; from de-luxe 5-star hotels to comfortable hostels.
Book your tickets online
Book before your visit book all your tickets with Offtolondon.com. This way you will ensure best seats and best prices at the events, exhibitions and shows of your choice without the hassle of price bargaining and queuing on the day.
London Transport Oyster Card
The Central London congestion charge zone for visitors driving in London now covers all main areas of attraction. It makes sense to travel by the safe London Transport bus or Tube. Buy a multi-journey Oyster Card before you arrive, (you can top this up at will), and you will save money, time and hassle.
Something for the Weekend?
Add spice to your London visit with a "Weekender" visit to Paris or Rome. Cheap and speedy travel now brings these city gems within easy reach of all. Day trips via Eurostar to Paris for a morning's shopping, afternoon visit to the Louvre and evening meal on the Seine are now a popular excursion option for Londoners. Or make an overnight stop and hit the January Sales! Offtolondon's associated companies, travel specialists Offtoparis and Offtorome will take care of all your travel and accommodation requirements and show you the sites.
NYC Breaks
The dive in the dollar makes the Big Apple a most attractive option for UK and European visitors. New York has never been better value! Spend time soaking up style on Fifth Avenue at Bergdorf Goodman or Saks Fifth Avenue. Buy your digital cameras and gadgetry for fabulous prices at specialist Adorama on West 18th Street. Take in a Broadway Show, dine superbly and see all the landmark sites. New York! New York! Its a Wonderful Town! Check it all out on our sister site A Traveller's Guide to New York where you will find discount hotels, NYC tours, information on NYC neighborhoods and more.
Discovering London - Full Day London City Tour
8.5 - 9 hours - Drive to Westminster, past Downing Street, home of the Prime Minister, and on to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Stop for a visit inside Westminster Abbey, site of many royal coronations. Visit Poets' Corner and the tombs of many well-known scientists and monarchs. Also see the Chapel of Henry VII.
Stop near Buckingham Palace to see the colourful ceremony of the Changing of the Guard before driving through busy streets and past peaceful parks to Piccadilly, home of London's Theatreland. Pass Trafalgar Square with its impressive Nelson's Column and fountains, before reaching a traditional London pub for lunch.
The afternoon starts with a cruise on the River Thames, during which a Thames Waterman will point out the places of interest along the way. Disembark to visit the Tower of London where you will meet the Beefeaters clad in Tudor uniforms, hear the legend of the ravens and some spine chilling tales from the Tower's 900 year history. You will also see the Crown Jewels, magnificently displayed in the new Jewel House.
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