F.A.Q.
London Tourist Guide
The city has a truly aristocratic and vivacious atmosphere. London offers so many activities to its visitors, both educational and entertainment ones that you simply will hardly catch up with your time for meals and rest. But the first and foremost venue for all tourists to attend is, of course, the Buckingham Palace, the Queens Residence. Thousands of travellers watch the famed Change of Guards in front of the Palace, the magnificent and spectacular show long since became legendary with all the population of the world. Other tourist attractions can well outnumber the attractions of all the rest of cities of the world: Hyde Park, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, the Westminster Abbey, the Downing Street, St Paul’s Cathedral, to name a few.
Sum it up with seeing the spectacular exhibits in the famous museums of London, such as the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Tate Modern Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, as well as valuable items of fantastically arranged art galleries like the Britain Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. Literary minded tourists will enjoy visiting the awesome exhibits of the Sherlock Holmes Museum and Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition.
For the ultimate evening entertainment experience, go for the dazzling and burlesque shows in the West End part of London. The list of London theatres is thoroughly impressive: tourists prefer visiting theatres with well established international names where they give fantastic performances. The best actors of the world, talented directors and fabulous music is what awaits you upon visiting Royal Opera House, the Barbican Centre, the London Palladium, and the National Theatre or the Royal Albert Hall.
London is over-brimming with high-class restaurants, lounge bars, nightclubs and huge entertainment centres, so your evenings are most likely to give you a lifetime tangy entertainment experience. The list of some of the West End top-notch luxurious restaurants features such cosy places like celebrity-haunted Ivy, Claridge's restaurant, smart and fashionable Nobu with its inimitable exotic atmosphere, all offering some of the world’s best cuisines.
Harrods, Rigby and Peller, Hamley's store for kids, Liberty, and Fortnum and Mason are the names that do ring a bell for all sophisticated shoppers. London is the major destination for such celebrated party animals as Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Sting, Paris Hilton, Stella McCartney and other international stars. For the unique shop-till-you-drop experience, go down one of the London’s most famous shopping areas at Bond Street, Berkeley Square, Oxford Road, and Seville Row. Things to be bought in London range from luxurious designer’s articles of dress and pieces of art with cosmic figures on their price tags to one-of-the-kind hand-made goodies and souvenirs at flea-market for bargain prices.
London is full of contradictory, but harmonically combined gems like ancient castles where every inch evaporates history to the hi-tech architecture of modern sky-scrapers and hotels.
London Restaurants
London is the capital of the world for traditions, royalty, and royalty traditions. These traditions primarily concern food preferences of Londoners. The range of London restaurants is sufficient to satisfy the needs of the most demanding connoisseurs. The number of A-list restaurants reaches cosmic figures, and there remains only one little problem for a London guest: what dining venue to choose? For one, the outrageously popular Ivy restaurant is frequented by celebrities and other cream of the society; therefore it is quite a problem to book a table there if you do not fall in either of these categories. The Ivy is located on West Street in Covent Garden, and if you are lucky enough to manage booking a table there you will certainly not regret the efforts. The menu is brassiere-themed and the chic atmosphere, plus the possibility of meeting a pack of stars ensure that you have the best dining experience of your life.
Nobu is yet another amazing restaurant in London which is nearly as famous as the Ivy and frequented mostly by the rich and famous. The setting is that of authentic royal luxury themed with oaken and maple parquet tables. The bowls for sushi are also made of lacquered wood, and sake flasks are all designed to match the interior and made of bamboo. As is implied by the name, the restaurant specializes in Japanese cuisine, the best in the city. But you can also find there some superb innovative dishes of South American food traditions. You do not need to make a reservation for the sushi bar, but there is no hope of getting yourself a table unless you are an A-list celebrity. Like in all top-notch restaurants, in Nobu chef can offer you omokase - a menu of seven courses chosen by the chef.
Gordon Ramsay is a restaurant named after its internationally renowned chef, Gordon Ramsay. For the ultimate dining experience go to Claridges on Brook Street and taste some of the dishes prepared by this superb chef. Gordon Ramsay is undoubtedly the most sophisticated eatery one can possibly find in London. The setting of the restaurant is authentic art deco themed, but Thierry Despont, the celebrated New York architect, was also involved into design of the restaurant to add some of his indigenous ideas. The food is second-to-none, and the quality of services leaves the impression that you are treated like a member of the royal family.
Another superb eatery in Covent Garden is Rules situated in Maiden Lane. The restaurant steals the limelight for being the oldest restaurant in London. The history of the restaurant goes back to 1798 and till present-day the restaurant has managed to keep all of its Belle Epoque traditions and its porter, pies and oysters philosophy. The main distinctive feature of the Rules is that the game on which the menu is based all comes from the owner’s estate.
Gourmets can head for a truly Gallic cuisine to the City, namely West Smithfield, to Club Gascon. The distinctive feature of this restaurant is that there they do offer neither starters nor main courses, still connoisseurs can always find what to savour with their sophisticated seafood menu as well as many other themed menus to meet every taste. The restaurant offers the so-called five-course 'taster' menu which is a true sumptuous and chic dining experience. Keep in mind that Club Gascon with its savoury cuisine in the best traditions of the West of France and extravagant setting is extremely popular among the rich and famous; therefore booking a table here may be a real problem and require quite a while.
Clarke's eatery is named after its great chef, Sally Clarke. The originality of Clarke's is that there is never a stable menu, and the chef cooks whatever she feels like cooking. This makes every dish very special and done to a turn as it is prepared with great care. The restaurant was started in 1984, and for almost quarter of a century now it's been an absolute hit with those who like spontaneity combined with homely but chic interiors and freshly cooked meals and innovative recipes.
London Pubs and Bars
English pubs are famous in the entire world, and there is no better place to go for an A-list beer and a good homely atmosphere than a cosy London pub. London brims with some stylish watering holes, and the only problem you can face is choosing the venue to go. The Lamb and Flag housed comfortably on Rose Street is perhaps the oldest pub of London; few other clubs can boast such visitors as Charles Dickens. The pub is outrageously popular both among Londoners and guests of the city. Cask bitter is an absolute hit with Lamb and Flag guests, and if you are in for some good snack you are welcome to go upstairs and order yourself a roast lunch.
Soho district, one of the most trendy and bohemian areas of the city, boasts the Dog and Duck pub. The atmosphere of the pub is strongly reminiscent of Victorian interiors with its original tiled walls; the beers are extremely diverse and brought from every corner of the country. You can learn from new offers from an advertisement on a special board. The crowd consists mainly of students and artists or designers. The club is not very spacious and has pleasantly air of cosiness.
Another London pub where they serve history to go with beers is the famed George Inn on Borough High Street. The pub was built back in 1676 and was dubbed the National Trust Heritage site in 1937. The pub is now the only galleried coaching inn that is left in the city. The pub sports a truly Victorian atmosphere with its wooden beams, window lattices and wood-panelled walls. A perfect place to have a beer of two while relishing the step-back-in-time atmosphere of the pub.
The Dove is said to own the smallest bar in the country; nevertheless, you will not feel obstructed in any sense once you’ve stepped into the stylish pub. This drinking venue is situated on the Upper Mall of Hammersmith and according to the sincere reports of visitors it is the closest thing to a perfect pub you have ever seen! The pub boasts a terrace with a breath-taking riverside view, so that you can sip on your beer and enjoy tranquil scenery of the Thames.
London brims with wine bars, too. You are sure to find the bar exactly to your liking if you walk for a while down the streets of London. There are plenty of both bars for general public and posh bars with strict dress-codes for you to choose from. The most hip and chic dinking venue is the luxurious Zbrano cocktail bar owned by Zebrano Brewing Company. It is a perfect place for a romantic date with its intimate booths made of black wood. The bar sports an Asian-theme venue and offers a vast range of spirits and liquors as well as beers brewed right in the bar.
Next to the Borough Market there is a popular Vinopolis Wine Wharf located in Stoney Street. This drinking venue adjoins Vinopolis exhibition located in Bank End, a true museum of viticulture. On the bar menu visitors can always find a plethora of wines and some twenty different champagnes served by glass. The building itself was originally designed to house a part of railway engineering works, but after giving the matter a better consideration the owners decided to make it what it is now in 2000. The interior of the bar sports an extremely cosy and homely atmosphere enhanced by leather-theme décor with couches and wooden tables. An electric selection of audio tracks is there to give the visitors the ultimate entertainment experience. The bar setting is beyond doubt up-to-date and trendy, but the Victorian roots can still be traced here.
Oxo Tower Wharf is yet another popular bar located in the chic Westminster area of London. The history of the bar goes back to 1928. An iconic feature of the bar is that Oxo Company used to advertise their meat stock using letters reminiscent of the tower windows to spell Oxo. Today visitors can enjoy visiting numerous shops, an art gallery, a bar and a brassiere in Oxo Wharf Tower. Located to give the guests a wonderful vantage view over the Thames and London sceneries, Oxo Tower Wharf is one of the major tourist attractions. Add to the picture 320 different items on the menu and live jazz music and you will get the exact atmosphere of this swinging place.
London Nightclubs
London at night is quite a fantastic sight with its millions of neon lights flooding the streets and its tangy and vibrant atmosphere of hundreds of nightclubs and entertainment venues, including clubs of international partying centres, such as Fabric on Charterhouse Street which is a renowned dancing venue considered to be the best in London. Fabric is a 24/7 dancing venue, which makes it the one of the kind dancing club of London. The club occupies three rooms with perfect acoustic isolation, so that the partying folks could dance in either of them choosing the music they prefer.
Stringfellows of Upper St Martin’s Lane is another partying venue of London which is notoriously famous for zesty lap dancers featured in the club. If you feel like rubbing shoulders with the cream of the society, go to this vibrant beat-thumping venue and enjoy tableside lap dances that go alongside with best quality cocktails and groovy beats.
Ministry of Sound is an iconic night club that coins and mixes some of the world’s most groovy dance anthems. Located on Gaunt Street, the club offers its guest till-dawn partying to the beats of house and garage rhythms. DJ’s of Electric Ballroom on Camden High Street spin funk and disco on Saturdays and rock on Fridays. In Fridge clubbers can party till 6 am to techno and house tunes.
Another place for having a wild hang out in London is 333 Mother Club on 333 Old Street. As is implied by the name, the nightclub occupies 3 floors; distributed between the floors, the club DJs spin drum n bass, funky soul and hip-hop disks. Brewer Street is famed among regular party-goers for Madame Jo-Jo’s nightclub which is the best drag club of London. Heaven London on Villiers Street a bit further from Charing Cross Station is an internationally famed gay nightclub; the club boasts several hip bars and fashionable dance floors where they play various electric beats. If you fancy moving your feet to drum n bass, techno, house or funk beats you should go down West Central Street in fashionable Soho district and drop into The End nightclub.
Yet another groovy place in Soho is called Café de Paris nestled comfortably on Coventry Street. Café de Paris is a trendy night entertainment spot with a luxurious restaurant and a dance floor where world’s famous DJs play disco. A place for all gays and lesbians to have a chill-out is, of course, G-A-Y Club; the club gives wild parties on weekdays except Tuesdays and Wednesdays and on weekends except Sundays. The club is located at London Astoria right on Charing Cross Road. Even if you are perfectly natural, you simply must pay a visit to G-A-Y to see some of the world’s celebrities and rock stars giving their concerts there. There is a common belief that if an artist’s steals limelight at G-A-Y, he or she will be further accepted anywhere. The club released a CD featuring the tracks of stars that have ever performed for the G-A-Y clubbers a while ago. Fun, pop and Party? Is the club’s motto, and for sure you will have handfuls of all the three components of the hip slogan!
For all rock lovers Astoria opens its doors on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For sure, there is no better place to go if you fancy listening to a popular rock band in a place that used to be a home to a theatre and has retained all of its bohemian atmosphere though the years.
The Brixton Academy down Stockwell Road is a dance-cum-theatre venue that regularly hosts famous bands that entertain the trendy crowd with live music in a huge club hall that can give shelter to 4 thousand clubbers. But not to worry, the club boasts a perfect view of the scene from any angle of the dance floor.
London Art Galleries
London is a modern Mecca for those who love art as the city literally brimming with all sorts of artistic venues and art galleries, each and every of which is housed in fashionable building which is a masterpiece in itself. Some astounding places like the internationally famed Trafalgar Square with its National Gallery housing more than 2 thousand exhibits which range from the artworks of the early Renaissance period to more recent art pieces by Impressionists. Collected by John Julius Angerstein in the early XIX century, the collection of masterpieces of international value had been inherited by the British Government back in 1824. Ever since 1838 the collection has been housed in a miraculously fashionable building at Trafalgar square. The list of gems of The National Gallery features masterpieces of such internationally recognized great artists of the past as Leonardo da Vinci (Virgin and Child with St Anne and John the Baptist), Monet (Bathers at La Grenouillière), Botticelli (Mystic Nativity) and Diego Velázquez (Rokeby Venus). There is simply much more to see in The National Gallery than can be possibly seen during a brief visit to the museum and see the above mentioned artists as well as Vermeer, Caravaggio, Rembrandt and a great multitude of others.
An outstanding collection of portraits depicting famous people of the British history, influential or historical persons, is housed in the marvellous National Portrait Gallery in St. Martin's Place. The Gallery first opened its doors in 1856. The scope of artists presented in the Gallery ranges from painters of the early Tudor period to the photography of the present-day. The list of persons who had seated for the portraits collected in the Gallery features the monarchs of all the British dynasties, starting with Richard II and finishing with Elizabeth II. The gallery organizes thematic exhibits and the entire collection is never shown to the public. Nevertheless, tourists are much attracted by the Gallery's great shows featuring the exhibition of such legendary persons like William Shakespeare or Lord Byron, Alfred Tennyson, Queen Elizabeth I (The Virgin Queen), and Henry VIII. Some other persons portrayed in the pictures of The National Portrait Gallery includes the famed commodore Horatio Nelson, the Brontë sisters, one of the first feminists Germaine Greer and the incoercible prime-minister lady Margaret Thatcher.
The Tate Modern is a perfect place for massive artworks thanks to its ultimately enormous housing: the gallery is accommodated in the Bankside Power Station. The building of the Station was converted into the Tate Modern art gallery as we know it now and arranged to exhibit some world's precious items by Rodin, Picasso, Dali and Matisse in 88 galleries. Much disputed works by present-day artists are the hit of the Tate Modern as well, the extremely famed Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe series under the title of Marilyn Dyptich. A vast number of modern art pieces like Pop Art urinal Fountain by Marcel Duchamp, the innovative Light Red over Black by Rothko, Summertime No. 9A by Jackson Pollock known for his extravagant technique of pouring paint directly to the canvases, the so-called Action Painting, and Forms Without Life by David Hirst.
Another superb art gallery of London is located in the Millbank district, and it is much famed Tate Britain. The history of this gallery goes back to 1897 when it was opened by Henry Tate whose name it inherited to become a home to many important pieces of the indigenous British art. The oldest masterpieces of the gallery are dated as early as 1500. The Tate group often shifts its artworks between its galleries, therefore it is nigh impossible to see the entire collection gathered in one place; nevertheless, the gallery offers its visitors marvellous exhibitions to explore. In The Tate Britain tourists can enjoy watching at some masterpieces by William Turner (Norham Castle and Sunrise), John Sargent (Carnation, Lily, Rose), William Blake and numerous works by Francis Bacon, including Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion.
The last but not the least, The Courtauld Gallery is housed in the North Block of Somerset House on the much famed Strand. The span of this gallery embraces many styles and epochs of the world art, and its vast collection is really some sight. The gallery was opened in 1932, and the majority of its exhibits was collected by textile millionaire Samuel Courtauld the focus around Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Gaugin's and Fra Angelico’s works are on display in The Courtauld Gallery as well as Self Portrait with bandaged ear by Van Gough and Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Monet. This one-of-the-kind collection represents a history of the European art and a visit to this gallery is worth visiting a few others.
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