Overview

A Tale of the Queen, the Clock and the Tube

With a population of more than 7.5 million representing scores of nationalities, London is undoubtedly Europe's largest city and a crucible of cultures. It is also one of the most emblematic cities with three highly identifiable features – The Queen, The Big Ben and The London Underground.

Spanning more than 620 square miles, the city has a rich history and heritage and a sense of attractive contrasts – brash yet Stiff Upper Lip, cutting edge modern vs. traditional, global center of commerce sharing space with beggars! The city sure has earned a place on the global mindscape, pulling tourists from the four corners.

Since its inception as the Roman settlement of “Londinium” in 43 AD, the city has changed, expanded and elaborated; its physical boundaries have changed and the city has seen several waves of migrations from different continents. It has braved a plague, two fires, several wars and the Blitzkreig to emerge as the financial capital of the world. London is considered the gastronomic Avant-Garde of much of the western world, a center of fine and performing arts and a Mecca for the tourist who likes his history, royalty and his Full Fry. From its epicenter at the River Thames to its farthest outposts, London reverberates with raw energy, pulsating like a huge star, drawing tourists to its core of hundreds of museums, monuments, pubs, clubs, palaces, gardens and its amazing architecture.

The Thames

If one created a device that could collect, decipher and list all the languages being spoken in London in one single minute, the number spewed out would be close to 200! These languages are spoken by people who are first, second and even third generation immigrants from every continent on the earth. London, therefore is unarguably, the most diverse and cosmopolitan city in Europe and despite Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolution, still dominates the natural horizon. London attracts because it is the financial and industrial hub of the country and exudes an aura of success and excitement; two characteristics that also thrill visitors who come to it.

For a tourist, the reasons that make London an enthralling, exciting place are more than these – the city’s fine architecture, its tumultuous history captured in its art and theatre, its markets and its culinary delights are just a few of them. Today, there is even more interest in the city, what with most museums, monuments and galleries having seen renovations and reinvention and the 2012 Olympics beckoning. Right from the Royal Opera House and the British Museum to the Tate Modern and the London Eye, the city now boasts of the world's largest modern art gallery and Ferris wheel, and the first new bridge to cross the Thames for over a hundred years. London's traditional sights – Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London – continue to thrill tourists every year.

London Eye

The city’s glorious past is celebrated by residents and tourists alike in its monuments, its medieval banqueting halls and its imposing churches. London’s eclectic Victorian architecture reminiscent of the triumphant British Empire and its quiet Georgian squares always find a place on a tourist’s checklist. Young tourists and honeymooners find the romance in the narrow, cobbled streets of the City of London and the moonlit boat rides in the Thames as seductive as their counterparts did a few decades ago. Old or young, all tourists find solace and respite from the city’s traffic problems in its large, unexpected expanses of greenery in the historical Hyde Park, Green Park and the St. James Park, all a stone’s throw away from the West End.

City of London Coat of Arms At BlackFriar’s Stations

Shopping in London is a universe in its own right with limitless choices for every pocket. Right from the exclusive Harrods to offbeat weekend markets of Portobello Road, Camden and Greenwich, shopping is a must – do for every tourist. The music, clubbing and gay/lesbian scenes in London are alive with activity as are the mainstream arts. Restaurants are not just ‘the’ attraction in London these days but with a wide array of choices from three-star Michelin establishments to low-cost, high-quality Chinese restaurants and Indian curry houses, they are leading the pack on the continent. Despite all the attractions and all the history, you still cannot have “been” to London and back if you didn’t sample the ubiquitous English Pubs! Let us get you the whole picture on London, its history, getting there and the places you shouldn’t leave without seeing.

History

From the times when the Romans established a largely civilian settlement on the banks of the River Thames, calling it Londinium to the city of today, a commercial power house and a tourist’s dream destination, London has travelled a fascinating journey. In its 2000 years of existence, the city has been ravaged by fires, wars and disease and each time has risen from the ashes like a phoenix to reclaim what it had lost and build on it.

Queen Boudica of Iceni

It all may have started with a small Brythonic settlement in the area around Thames, close to the traditional “City of London”. That would be before AD 43 when the Romans established a small military storage depot here, while on their invasion on Britain. The Romans founded the city at a convenient crossing of the Thames and called the new settlement “Londinium”.

Under the first few decades of Roman rule, Londinium became a flourishing trading city and a thriving trading port before Queen Boudica of the Iceni burned it to the ground in AD 60. The city quickly rebuilt as a planned Roman town and by the 2nd century had attained glorious heights with architectural expansions like temples, bath houses, cathedrals and a large fort for the Roman military. Between 190 and 225 AD, the city also saw the construction of the defensive London Wall and the seven traditional gates of London – Ludgate, Newgate, Aldersgate, Cripplegate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate.

However, by 410 AD, political instability, recession and repeated attacks by the Saxons drove the Romans out and by the start of the 6th century, Londinium had transferred to Anglo-Saxons. The Saxons transformed the city into an important trading center, discarded the walled city and established their own colony roughly where Covent Garden is today.

Thus, the walled city became the “City of London” of today and ‘Westminster’ the London we know now. The Saxons introduced London to Christianity when St. Augustine appointed a Bishop. Mellitus, the first post-Roman bishop founded the first St. Paul’s Cathedral. The 9th century London bore the brunt of several Viking invasions and may have come under Viking control for some time. Several Rune Stones still extant bear testimony to this occupation.

Viking Rune Stone in London

Finally in 878 AD, English forces led by King Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings and reclaimed control of the city. The old Roman walls were re-established and Ethelred, Alfred’s Son –in-law, was appointed governor. By the time the Normans took over from the Saxons, London was well on its way to becoming a commercial town; a charter of citizens’ rights and a confederation of tradesmen was already in place. London had transformed into an important trading port in Western Europe and merchants from Italy, the Netherlands, France and Germany were calling it home.

Norman Rule in London saw the reign of William the Conqueror (Right) and his son William Rufus who built the Tower of London, Baynard’s Castle and Montfichet’s Castle and the Westminter Hall which was to become the basis of the Palace of Westminster and the prime royal residence throughout the medieval period.

London achieved great heights and became the true capital under Edward III during the 14th century when the King placed the royal administrative center at Westminster. During his reign, the city also saw a huge influx of immigrants from other parts of Britain as well as The Black Death of 1348-49 which killed nearly two-thirds of the population. The reasons for the plague were the usual unhygienic conditions that were left un-remedied and brought on several more plagues and cholera epidemics.

London, despite all its trials and tribulations, continued its journey forward to becoming a city of repute under the rule of the Tudors from 1485 to 1603. This was perhaps the most dramatic period in the history of London as Henry VII, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I propelled the country from an important but localized trading city into a powerful state that would dominate much of the world in the coming centuries.

The Tudor period saw the end of the War of the Roses, the English Reformation and the tumultuous Elizabethan era. England became a largely Protestant nation; its small industries saw culmination into monopoly trading as the British East India Company was established helping Britain become the largest ruling country in the world. Tudor London also saw the plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed more than 60,000 people and razed a good part of the city to ground.

Elizabeth I

The late 16th century saw London at its cultural zenith with William Shakespeare and his contemporaries decorating the literary scene. Performing arts flourished having found a patron in Queen Elizabeth I and London’s wealthier citizens started the Villa Movement building country residences in Middlesex, Essex and Surrey.

Much of the public architecture of London built in the Georgian and Victorian periods covering the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was propelled into motion by the twin calamities of the plague and the great fire of London. Grand structures like the Bank of England building, and most of the bridges across Thames were raised. This wave of property development is in motion even today and the Victorian transformations of building a sewage system and underground & overground railways are still being fine – tuned.

During the early 1900s, the West End of London (Left) started taking its present shape with hotels, theatres, restaurants and shops dotting its landscape.

The Westminster Abbey came into its own having reclaimed its stature of a pilgrimage point from being the favorite haunt of criminals in the 1850s. In all, London, by the start of the 20th century was well on its way to becoming a truly modern city. Bust just as London seemed to be picking up the pieces of its tumultuous past, the two World Wars happened and brought with them unprecedented destruction. London once again showed its resilience by starting a post-war reconstruction in the late 1940s, though it is considered by many to be the Dark Age of architecture in the city. The wave of architectural monstrosities ended in 1979 after the completion of the Lloyd’s Building by Sir Richard Rogers but the landscape that loomed on the horizon after that consisted mostly of functional glass and concrete buildings.

Despite this development and other socio – political changes, London continues to thrill tourists who are pulled in each year by the city’s intriguing past and its resonating present.

When to go

Groucho Marx once said of London, “I am leaving because the weather is too good. I hate London when it’s not raining.” That quote just about sums up the weather in the city; not that it deters many tourists. London is one of the top vacation destinations, world over and people visit the city at all times of the year, sometimes even packing for an ‘English Summer’.

Few of the city’s attractions close down or reduce their opening hours in the winters but London is best viewed at the height of summer in July and August. Although rain gods may play their cards even during summers and sunshine may be scant, London is full of tourists paying exorbitant rates for everything during these times. January is usually a pleasant month and good for shopping since the Christmas sales are still on but February may be unpleasant with a dull weather and cloudy skies. March and April are better though often wet and windy and it may not be a lot of fun to go sight seeing.

The darling buds of May spring up every Londoner’s hopes but weather plays hooky again as in most other months. However, May brings treats like May Day Celebrations and the Chelsea Flower Show (Top). If those events don’t interest you, plan your trip for June to soak in the City of London Festival and some thrilling volleys at Wimbledon. August is the month when even Londoners want to take a vacation to a dry, sunny place so it is usually best to skip it unless you desire to see the English countryside in full bloom.

September is the best time for tourists to be in London and few miss the spoils of a good weather. London’s theatre scene is in full swing and the Soho Jazz Festival beckons music lovers during this month which is warm and usually dry. It is also pleasant to walk around the city or use the bus to travel the city. The last three months have little to give to the tourists except middling good weather, Guy Fawkes Night and a lot of Christmas sales when you can make a killing.