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Central & Inner London

Central London, as you would expect is the nucleus of the UK’s political, religious and regal power as well as much of its commercial clout. So. It goes without saying that it is extremely busy, noisy and, for most of the year, full of tourists.

Westminster and Whitehall are the seat of government and home to such ubiquitous English monuments as Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square. The City of Westminster has a resident population of around 230,000, whilst tourists and other commuters raise this to almost one million each day with over half a million people arriving here to work daily.

The shopping areas around the above famous London landmarks are also justly famous, the likes of Regent Street, Bond Street and Oxford Street are legend in the chronicles of retail therapy! For gastronomes, no visit to London would be complete without a visit to Soho. The restaurants and night clubs of Soho have been influenced by successive waves of immigrants, including Greeks, Germans, Italians, Eastern Europeans and Chinese. These communities have all had a distinctive cultural and gastronomic influence on the area.

Covent Garden and the Strand are grand spaces filled with noble buildings, The Royal Opera House, The Savoy, Somerset House and the Courtauld Gallery number among this areas illustrious residents. London’s theatreland is, for the most part, based in and around Covent Garden and Shaftesbury Avenue offering musical or drama to suit almost everyone.

Holborn marks the beginning of the ‘City of London’ whose population varies from an average 7,900 overnight to a massive daytime occupation of around 320,000. Here the commercial, financial and legal life of the capital is played out. The Royal Courts of Justice sit on the Strand and the Inns of Court, around the network of tiny medieval streets, leafy squares and alleyways is home to London’s barristers; then into Fleet Street, traditionally the home of the UK press (now mostly located in Wapping); and on to St Paul’s Cathedral, just one of the City’s over forty churches; the Guildhall, Bank of England and the Barbican. To the north of Holborn is Bloomsbury, home to one of London’s most popular collections, the British Museum.

On the other side of Tower Bridge from the City, the south bank of the river was once infamous as a seedy and dangerous place to frequent. It is now a cultural mecca as visitors can visit Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Old and New Vic’s, the South Bank Centre, and the London Aquarium and get a spectacular view of the whole city from the London Eye. The south bank is traversed in its entirety by the Thames Path which follows the river and is free of traffic noise and fumes.

From the green oases of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, fashionable Kensington and Chelsea stretch out in an expensive, polished manner along the river and to the north west of Westminster. With over 70 embassies, some very exclusive housing areas and pubs, restaurants, cinemas and clubs this area is THE place to be. Kensington High Street and Knightsbridge are designer heaven to the well-heeled ladies who either live here or travel for miles to shop here. Notting Hill is home to the annual festival and the fabulous Portbello Road antiques market. Many of London’s most well known museums are situated in sumptuous Victorian buildings in this area, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. Chelsea is the place to be if you have ever owned a frilly-collared blouse or have leanings towards a large Range Rover, otherwise known as a ‘Chelsea Tractor’. This area is home to wealthy and arty types who live in luxury apartments and expensive mews houses and shop for individual ‘vintage’ luxury goods on the King’s Road.

The River Thames runs like an artery through the city. After a long time in the doldrums, the Thames is now clean enough for salmon (and the odd whale) to swim in and it is well used to carry commercial freight and pleasure craft linking the West and East of the capital with its centre. Its bridges are famous in their own right from children’s rhymes to popular culture, to name but a few, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and the Millenium Bridge, will evoke memories for everyone. The river is a good way to see London, from Canary Wharf in the east, the Thames unveils The Tower of London, Shakespeare’s Globe, Tate Modern, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament alsong to the stylish waterfront cafes and restaurants of Chelsea Embankment and Chealsea Harbour in the West.

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