London Destination Guide

So you’re “doing” London. You want to see all the sights (and sites) and sounds. You want to watch the Beefeaters, and you want to eat beef wellington. You’re willing to spare no cliché, and will sup on tea and crumpets on top of the Eye of London, while Big Ben chimes at high noon, if that is what it takes to get the ultimate London tourist experience. Well, if you’re going to do it right, and get the most for your money, you need to do a little bit of preparation and planning. Here are a few ways to optimize your London excursion.

The number one item on the agenda for anybody coming into London is to hail a cabbie. Tourist attractions in themselves, these men spend years mastering the street geography of London, and are probably your best resource in visiting places both well-known and obscure. Not only will he have a set route for tourism, he will also be reliable in letting you know what on your list is really worth visiting, what is a waste of time, what is too busy, and might even have a few suggestions you may have not even considered. It is well worth the few extra pounds.

Speaking of transportation, you can get a solid grip on London with the famous double-decker bus tours. These typically red busses are a classic London institution. While the first double-deckers originated in France, they gave up on them in the early 19th century. London, however, took the idea and ran with it. Originally serving an exclusively practical purpose for teeming throngs needing rides, the busses are now exclusively running on a couple of “heritage routes,” and are packed mainly with tourists.

When William the Conqueror conquered England, one of the first things he did was to build the Tower of London, which became the center around which the royal court began to gravitate. As the years went by the Tower’s function shifted variously, most famously as a prison for high-profile enemies of the crown. Today you can enter the tower without fear of decapitation. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in England, and is very well kept and run. Of the myriad royal artifacts therein, the most popular and beautiful would have to be the Crown Jewels, which are worth a visit in themselves.
The walk through the Tower and environs may have left you somewhat parched. Fear not, traveller, for London is laden with multitudinous purveyors of quenching liquids. The most popular would be Ale, of course, and there are several famous destinations where tourists are known to acquire it. One with a very poetic name, Dirty Dick’s in Bishopgate, is said to have pre-fire walls in the fabric of its structure. Another one, the Angel on the Thames, is said to be built on pre-Norman foundations.

There are hundreds of pubs like these, and the best resource in locating the unique one that will round out your experience will be that old reliable with whom your vacation literally begins and ends; the London cabbie.

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