Life & Style | Travel
All eyes on London
This great capital city, at once jumbled and stylish, welcomes international guests with open arms
- By Chris Erskine, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
- Published: 23:23 June 26, 2009
- Image Credit: Supplied photo
- The London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Hungerford Bridge and River Thames
This was my first trip to this city of lords and chimney sweeps. London was as rumpled and comfy as old corduroy (which I like) and as stylish and smug as the sassiest fashionistas (which I don't).
But what a buzz fest. London is a city on the verge of a nervous breakdown and yet so sated on its own glories that nothing seems to bother it.
Perfect contrast
At this crossroads, my 25-year-old daughter, Jessica, and I found the mad pace and the musty masterpieces a perfect contrast.
Just when you can't take another minute of London's streets, you can slip into some spectacular ancient hall and spend an afternoon seeking Anne Boleyn's bones.
Or you can take a day and just sample the cafés, which are everywhere. These cafés are like lighthouses placed around the city, drawing folks together.
You can also ride the river, admire the views from that crazy-slow Ferris wheel, wander the markets till your knee bones click — how British.
Wonderfully odd
Pick your passion. Indulge your pleasure centres. Take a million photos. Around every corner we found an intriguing attraction.
During the Changing of the Guard, for example, the regimental band broke into Dancing Queen by Abba. It was whimsical and wonderful.
My maiden voyage was filled with such moments. I liked how unconventional everything seemed, the authenticity of most sights, the lilt in the locals' voices.
I can't wait to go back. But till then, here is a first-timer's guide to many of the things a traveller needs to know to enjoy an initial visit there:
This city moves elbow-to-elbow, jowl-to-jowl. It's about 2,000 years old, so its interior streets are best suited to bony supermodels and sleek Italian scooters — of which I am neither.
There is, fortunately, great mass transit above and below the pavement. To rent a car would be a form of self-torture. If you take one thing from this piece, let it be this: Never, ever rent a car in London.
To get our bearings, we started with a basic half-day tour aboard a lumbering Evan Evans coach bus. Sounds nightmarish — all crunched in there — but for a quick London briefing, the four-hour tour proved worthwhile.
Day of sightseeing
Our half-day tour passed quickly, hitting major sites and monuments — Piccadilly, Parliament, Westminster, Downing Street, Wellington Arch, Trafalgar Square — and finishing at the mall that leads to Buckingham Palace.
More dynamic was the next day's trip, the Original London Sightseeing Tour. This was more free-form.
The Original London buses make dozens of stops on a circuit around the city's sights and a two-hour Thames cruise is included in the price ($36 or Dh132).
The first time you look at the map for the London Underground, or Tube, you'll think you are studying the wiring grid for a fax machine. The colour-coded subway routes have few reference points.
Ancient history
But London has subways instead of freeways, which reach almost everywhere. And like freeways, you start with a few main ones, then branch out.
To appreciate London, you have to soak up more than just its malty refreshments and spicy curries.
The Romans founded London between the years 50 and 200. It grew as a trading post along the Thames and was also the target of raids by the Vikings and the Saxons.
In 1066, William the Conqueror led an epic French takeover, known as the Battle of Hastings.
A series of odd monarchies followed.
In 1215, the Magna Carta was signed, a precursor to the US Declaration of Independence. In 1815, Wellington stopped Napoleon, preserving the empire.
In the 1940s, German bombers torched much of the city, particularly along the river. The 1950s-era buildings you see today are replacements for those destroyed.
Oh, I suppose I've left out a few things. There was this guy Shakespeare, who changed the language, and Charles Dickens walked these damp, wonderful streets — as did London's most famous creep, Jack the Ripper.
To this day, London is a restless troupe of actors and writers, wits and anarchists.
One last note: Every church seems to have a dozen geniuses buried in the basement.
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What to see
- Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London are musts, as is a day prowling the streets around Leicester Square. Grab one of the free Londontown.com maps.
Tube training
- The Piccadilly line takes you to and from Heathrow, although on a virgin visit with lots of luggage, it might be best to take a shuttle ($30 or Dh110) or a cab ($60, or Dh220, and up).
- The Circle line, which dates back to 1884, is the main line to most tourist sights. Once you learn the Circle line, you can get anywhere.
- A pay-in-advance Oyster card allows you to hop on and off the subway and buses and is cheaper than paying cash each time. Put $30 (Dh110) on the card in advance and you won't have to think about it for days.
London highlights
1. Tower of London: Creepy and beautiful at once. The brilliant guides, the Beefeaters, might well be the best entertainers in town; houses the crown jewels.
2. Westminster Abbey: Profoundly moving site of coronations and funerals. On weekdays, catch the youth choirs at late-afternoon services.
3. Portobello Market: Best lunch in London? Gets our vote. On Saturdays, this Notting Hill market is a crazy, cool, cultural mobfest. Try the Ghanaian stew ($9or Dh33).
4. St Paul's Cathedral: Charles and Di married here. If you're fit, climb the narrow stairway to the Whispering Gallery, where secrets spin round the walls.
5. London theatres: The Italians make art. The British make theatre ... in opulent venues surrounding wonderful Leicester Square.
6. Buckingham Palace: Changing of the Guard, 11.30am most days, draws insane crowds, like some sort of British Disneyland. Go anyway.
7. Tate Modern: In a city of museums, this art venue is a standout. Lively riverside setting. Like most other London museums, it's free.
8. London Eye: Not technically a Ferris wheel, because the cabs are on the outside of the giant hoop. Whatever. Pricey, at $25 (Dh92), but unforgettable views.
9. Covent Garden Market: This hypertouristy old market is worth a stop for its shops, cafés and street entertainers. Royal Opera House is steps away.
10. Hyde Park: Henry VIII's former hunting grounds are the ideal spot for a Sunday stroll; a living period piece. Be sure to check out the rental rowboats.
11. British Museum: The Rosetta Stone resides here, as do miles of Middle Eastern antiquities. But after the mummies, it's all a bit of a slog.
12. Thames tour: More relaxing than the land-based tours; city's chill seeps up through the hull. On chilly days, grab an inside seat. Photo ops galore.
13. Harrods: Maybe the timing is just bad but this shopping cathedral may seem not of the moment: $50 (Dh184) for a dozen oysters?
14. Oxford Street/Piccadilly Circus: Lively, youth-oriented shopping district with world-class buzz. One of the city's main traffic snarls, so be prepared to walk.
15. Royal Albert Hall: Perhaps a winner during a concert. But as a tour stop, not so much. The Albert Memorial across the street helps elevate the experience.
16. Jack the Ripper tour: Despite a game and active guide — he even sang — this walking tour is a dud. Maybe it's because some of the 19th-century sites are gone.
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