LONDON
About the city
London is situated in south-eastern England at the head of the River Thames estuary. Settled by the Romans as an important shipping point for crops and minerals, it gradually developed into the wealthy capital of a thriving industrial and agricultural nation. The expansion in the 19th century of the British Empire increased London's influence still further. Since World War II the city's prominence on the international stage has diminished, but it remains a flourishing financial centre and home to one of the world's most important stock exchanges. In addition, it is the foremost tourist destination in Britain, a centre of academic excellence, and one of the cultural capitals of the world. The term “City of London”, or “the City”, is applied only to a small area known as the Square Mile that was the original settlement (ancient Londinium) and is now part of the financial and business district of the metropolis. The City of London and 32 surrounding boroughs constitute the Greater London metropolitan area, which covers some 1,580 sq km (620 sq mi).
Population
In 1995 the population of Greater London was estimated at 7,007,100 with two thirds resident in outer London. Although the population is no longer as large as in mid-century it has recently been increasing, rising at an average of 20,000 per year since 1984. London's population is heavily concentrated (at about 4,409 people per sq km/11,238 per sq mi) relative to other metropolitan areas in the country. The arrival of immigrants has contributed considerably to the variations in population figures, and the capital is the most ethnically diverse region in the United Kingdom. Ethnic minority communities account for over a third of the population in the boroughs of Brent, Hackney, Newham, and Tower Hamlets.
Colleges and Universities
London University was founded in 1837 and is the largest university in Britain, comprising many prominent colleges, institutes, and schools. These include the medical schools attached to London's teaching hospitals and other renowned centres of educational excellence, including University College London; King's College; the Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine; and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Other universities located in the capital include the City University, the University of East London, the University of Greenwich, Kingston University, London Guildhall University, Middlesex University, the University of North London, South Bank University, Thames Valley University, and the University of Westminster. The Royal College of Art, next to the Royal Albert Hall, awards postgraduate degrees. London is also the home of the British Academy, which promotes historical, philosophical, and philological studies; the Royal Academy; the Royal Academy of Engineering; and the Royal Society, devoted to the encouragement of the sciences.
Parks
Two thirds of London is intensively built up, yet the capital is well endowed with parks and open spaces. Hyde Park, adjoining Kensington Gardens, was formerly known as the “lung of London”. Regent's Park, to the north of the West End, is surrounded by elegant buildings designed by John Nash for the Prince Regent (hence its name) and contains the Zoological Gardens (the London Zoo). Other important open spaces in London, some of them royal parks, include Green Park, St James's Park, Hampstead Heath, Holland Park, Battersea Park, Parliament Hill Fields, and Primrose Hill. In outer London there are some extended green areas such as Richmond Park, Bushey Park, Kew Gardens (incorporating the famous Royal Botanic Gardens), and Greenwich Park.
History
London experienced several disasters in the 17th century. The first was political. Growing tensions between the early Stuart kings and Parliament provoked from 1641 a chain of events that led to the Civil War. After the City gave refuge in January 1642 to five Members of Parliament whom Charles I had tried to arrest, the bonds between Parliament and London became cemented. In August 1642 the king raised his standard in Nottingham. His flight from London left the way open for radicals to take over the city. With war declared, Charles's first priority was to capture the unruly city, which would have won the war at a stroke. His chance came early, before the parliamentary army was organized. On November 12, 1642, royalists overwhelmed the parliamentary troops at Brentford; to parry the inescapable attack, London gathered its trained bands in a force of 24,000 at Turnham Green, to the west by Chiswick Common; Charles hesitated, retired to Reading, and missed his golden chance of seizing the mutinous capital. London then threw up an impressive defence system, ringing the City with a vast system of ditches and fortifications. Thereafter, during the remaining four years of civil war, London remained securely in parliamentary hands, and the city's wealth ensured ultimate parliamentary victory.
After World War I, London continued to thrive and sprawl. Electric trams, the underground railway system, the building of new arterial roads, the motor bus, and eventually the rise of car ownership led to the mushrooming of outer suburban dormitory areas 15 to 25 km (10 or 15 mi) from the centre. Some became employment centres in their own right. The Empire Exhibition of 1924 boosted Wembley, while air travel led to the construction of London Airport (later called Heathrow), which gave a lasting boost to the economy of west London. A new suburban culture highlighted the semi-detached house, built in huge numbers from the 1920s, affordable by the lower middle classes with the aid of cheap mortgages. It was not to everyone's taste. “The life of the suburb,” declared Sir Walter Besant, one of London's most eminent historians, was life “without any society; no social gatherings or institutions; as dull a life as mankind ever tolerated.” So long as the British Empire remained powerful, London's economy boomed, overriding the disruptions of World War I. The City's finance-houses, merchant banks, and insurance companies had no equal, and the port handled immense quantities of trade from all over the world. London also remained a major manufacturing centre, particularly for high-quality goods, becoming an early home of the motor-car and electrical industries.
Theaters and Museums
London is one of the world's leading centres for theatre, and there are about 100 theatres in the capital. These include the three auditoriums of the Royal National Theatre in the South Bank Centre; the two auditoriums in the London base of the Royal Shakespeare Company at the City's Barbican Centre; and the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square, home of the English Stage Company, which stages work by new playwrights. The largest concentration of commercial theatres is in the West End, around Shaftesbury Avenue, Charing Cross Road, and the Strand. In 1989 the partial remains of the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare acted, and the Rose Theatre, where his plays were performed during his lifetime, were excavated on the south bank of the Thames in central London: a modern reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, near its original site, was unveiled in 1996.
London's museums and art galleries contain some of the most comprehensive collections of objects of artistic, archaeological, scientific, historical, and general interest. The British Museum in Bloomsbury is one of the biggest and most famous museums in the world. Its collections range from Egyptian and Classical antiquities through Saxon treasures to more recent artefacts. The Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington is an assembly of fine and decorative art collections from all over the world. There are magnificent examples of porcelain, glass, sculpture, fabrics and costume, furniture, and musical instruments, all set in a building of Victorian grandeur. Nearby are the Museum of Natural History and the Science Museum. On the other side of London, in the City itself, is the Museum of London, which has exhibits dealing with the development of the capital from its origins to the present day.
A Tour in London
London straddles the River Thames, 80 km (50 mi) upriver from its mouth at the Nore, where the English Channel joins the North Sea. Most of London, including its central districts and the majority of its famous landmarks, lies to the north of the river. The original settlement that gave London its name was the Roman fort of Londinium, founded in the first century AD. The City of London is on the site where this stood, and the description of the Roman town as “a busy emporium for trade and traders” by the Roman historian Tacitus seems equally apt today. St Paul's Cathedral stands on the western edge of the City, and the Tower of London, the Norman fortress built by William the Conqueror to defend his new lands late in the 11th century (and now listed as a conservation site in the World Heritage List), lies to the south-east. Spanning the river to Southwark (west of Tower Bridge) is London Bridge, a modern replacement of the only bridge over the Thames in London until the 18th century. To the east and north-east of the City are the predominantly working-class districts of the East End, home to successive waves of immigrants from Ireland, continental Europe, and the former British Empire. Lively and industrious, the East End continues to have many thriving small businesses. The area known as Docklands comprises (on the north bank of the Thames) the districts of Wapping and Poplar, the Isle of Dogs, the Royal Docks, and (to the south of the Thames) Surrey Docks. Docklands is the site of a massive inner city regeneration project. West of the City lie the ancient Inns of Court (Lincoln's Inn, Middle Temple, Inner Temple, and Gray's Inn), the legal district occupied by barristers and firms of solicitors; and Fleet Street, once the home of Britain's national press (which has now relocated to other parts of the capital). Further to the north-west is Bloomsbury, the haunt in the 1920s of a renowned group of literary intellectuals (the Bloomsbury Group), thanks to its proximity to London University and the British Museum.
Why London
I've chosen this destination because I've already been there and I love it. From my point of view London is the perfect city to spend a weekend. The numerous museums to visit, musicals to see, the beauty of the city or the different ethnic groups living together makes me wanna go back.
About the city
London is situated in south-eastern England at the head of the River Thames estuary. Settled by the Romans as an important shipping point for crops and minerals, it gradually developed into the wealthy capital of a thriving industrial and agricultural nation. The expansion in the 19th century of the British Empire increased London's influence still further. Since World War II the city's prominence on the international stage has diminished, but it remains a flourishing financial centre and home to one of the world's most important stock exchanges. In addition, it is the foremost tourist destination in Britain, a centre of academic excellence, and one of the cultural capitals of the world. The term “City of London”, or “the City”, is applied only to a small area known as the Square Mile that was the original settlement (ancient Londinium) and is now part of the financial and business district of the metropolis. The City of London and 32 surrounding boroughs constitute the Greater London metropolitan area, which covers some 1,580 sq km (620 sq mi).
Population
In 1995 the population of Greater London was estimated at 7,007,100 with two thirds resident in outer London. Although the population is no longer as large as in mid-century it has recently been increasing, rising at an average of 20,000 per year since 1984. London's population is heavily concentrated (at about 4,409 people per sq km/11,238 per sq mi) relative to other metropolitan areas in the country. The arrival of immigrants has contributed considerably to the variations in population figures, and the capital is the most ethnically diverse region in the United Kingdom. Ethnic minority communities account for over a third of the population in the boroughs of Brent, Hackney, Newham, and Tower Hamlets.
Colleges and Universities
London University was founded in 1837 and is the largest university in Britain, comprising many prominent colleges, institutes, and schools. These include the medical schools attached to London's teaching hospitals and other renowned centres of educational excellence, including University College London; King's College; the Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine; and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Other universities located in the capital include the City University, the University of East London, the University of Greenwich, Kingston University, London Guildhall University, Middlesex University, the University of North London, South Bank University, Thames Valley University, and the University of Westminster. The Royal College of Art, next to the Royal Albert Hall, awards postgraduate degrees. London is also the home of the British Academy, which promotes historical, philosophical, and philological studies; the Royal Academy; the Royal Academy of Engineering; and the Royal Society, devoted to the encouragement of the sciences.
Parks
Two thirds of London is intensively built up, yet the capital is well endowed with parks and open spaces. Hyde Park, adjoining Kensington Gardens, was formerly known as the “lung of London”. Regent's Park, to the north of the West End, is surrounded by elegant buildings designed by John Nash for the Prince Regent (hence its name) and contains the Zoological Gardens (the London Zoo). Other important open spaces in London, some of them royal parks, include Green Park, St James's Park, Hampstead Heath, Holland Park, Battersea Park, Parliament Hill Fields, and Primrose Hill. In outer London there are some extended green areas such as Richmond Park, Bushey Park, Kew Gardens (incorporating the famous Royal Botanic Gardens), and Greenwich Park.
History
London experienced several disasters in the 17th century. The first was political. Growing tensions between the early Stuart kings and Parliament provoked from 1641 a chain of events that led to the Civil War. After the City gave refuge in January 1642 to five Members of Parliament whom Charles I had tried to arrest, the bonds between Parliament and London became cemented. In August 1642 the king raised his standard in Nottingham. His flight from London left the way open for radicals to take over the city. With war declared, Charles's first priority was to capture the unruly city, which would have won the war at a stroke. His chance came early, before the parliamentary army was organized. On November 12, 1642, royalists overwhelmed the parliamentary troops at Brentford; to parry the inescapable attack, London gathered its trained bands in a force of 24,000 at Turnham Green, to the west by Chiswick Common; Charles hesitated, retired to Reading, and missed his golden chance of seizing the mutinous capital. London then threw up an impressive defence system, ringing the City with a vast system of ditches and fortifications. Thereafter, during the remaining four years of civil war, London remained securely in parliamentary hands, and the city's wealth ensured ultimate parliamentary victory.
After World War I, London continued to thrive and sprawl. Electric trams, the underground railway system, the building of new arterial roads, the motor bus, and eventually the rise of car ownership led to the mushrooming of outer suburban dormitory areas 15 to 25 km (10 or 15 mi) from the centre. Some became employment centres in their own right. The Empire Exhibition of 1924 boosted Wembley, while air travel led to the construction of London Airport (later called Heathrow), which gave a lasting boost to the economy of west London. A new suburban culture highlighted the semi-detached house, built in huge numbers from the 1920s, affordable by the lower middle classes with the aid of cheap mortgages. It was not to everyone's taste. “The life of the suburb,” declared Sir Walter Besant, one of London's most eminent historians, was life “without any society; no social gatherings or institutions; as dull a life as mankind ever tolerated.” So long as the British Empire remained powerful, London's economy boomed, overriding the disruptions of World War I. The City's finance-houses, merchant banks, and insurance companies had no equal, and the port handled immense quantities of trade from all over the world. London also remained a major manufacturing centre, particularly for high-quality goods, becoming an early home of the motor-car and electrical industries.
Theaters and Museums
London is one of the world's leading centres for theatre, and there are about 100 theatres in the capital. These include the three auditoriums of the Royal National Theatre in the South Bank Centre; the two auditoriums in the London base of the Royal Shakespeare Company at the City's Barbican Centre; and the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square, home of the English Stage Company, which stages work by new playwrights. The largest concentration of commercial theatres is in the West End, around Shaftesbury Avenue, Charing Cross Road, and the Strand. In 1989 the partial remains of the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare acted, and the Rose Theatre, where his plays were performed during his lifetime, were excavated on the south bank of the Thames in central London: a modern reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, near its original site, was unveiled in 1996.
London's museums and art galleries contain some of the most comprehensive collections of objects of artistic, archaeological, scientific, historical, and general interest. The British Museum in Bloomsbury is one of the biggest and most famous museums in the world. Its collections range from Egyptian and Classical antiquities through Saxon treasures to more recent artefacts. The Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington is an assembly of fine and decorative art collections from all over the world. There are magnificent examples of porcelain, glass, sculpture, fabrics and costume, furniture, and musical instruments, all set in a building of Victorian grandeur. Nearby are the Museum of Natural History and the Science Museum. On the other side of London, in the City itself, is the Museum of London, which has exhibits dealing with the development of the capital from its origins to the present day.
A Tour in London
London straddles the River Thames, 80 km (50 mi) upriver from its mouth at the Nore, where the English Channel joins the North Sea. Most of London, including its central districts and the majority of its famous landmarks, lies to the north of the river. The original settlement that gave London its name was the Roman fort of Londinium, founded in the first century AD. The City of London is on the site where this stood, and the description of the Roman town as “a busy emporium for trade and traders” by the Roman historian Tacitus seems equally apt today. St Paul's Cathedral stands on the western edge of the City, and the Tower of London, the Norman fortress built by William the Conqueror to defend his new lands late in the 11th century (and now listed as a conservation site in the World Heritage List), lies to the south-east. Spanning the river to Southwark (west of Tower Bridge) is London Bridge, a modern replacement of the only bridge over the Thames in London until the 18th century. To the east and north-east of the City are the predominantly working-class districts of the East End, home to successive waves of immigrants from Ireland, continental Europe, and the former British Empire. Lively and industrious, the East End continues to have many thriving small businesses. The area known as Docklands comprises (on the north bank of the Thames) the districts of Wapping and Poplar, the Isle of Dogs, the Royal Docks, and (to the south of the Thames) Surrey Docks. Docklands is the site of a massive inner city regeneration project. West of the City lie the ancient Inns of Court (Lincoln's Inn, Middle Temple, Inner Temple, and Gray's Inn), the legal district occupied by barristers and firms of solicitors; and Fleet Street, once the home of Britain's national press (which has now relocated to other parts of the capital). Further to the north-west is Bloomsbury, the haunt in the 1920s of a renowned group of literary intellectuals (the Bloomsbury Group), thanks to its proximity to London University and the British Museum.
Why London
I've chosen this destination because I've already been there and I love it. From my point of view London is the perfect city to spend a weekend. The numerous museums to visit, musicals to see, the beauty of the city or the different ethnic groups living together makes me wanna go back.
Costs
25Premier Travel Inn Heathrow Bath Road
Photos
Windsor/Heathrow Airport AreasHounslow, GB
Travelocity Rating
14 Reviews
8.93 mi / 14.37 kmfrom London
The Premier Travel Inn Heathrow Bath Road is situated less than two miles from London Heathrow International Airport. Local attractions include the National Gallery, Legoland, and the Hatton Cross station.View More Hotel Info. Amenities All room options
Package Includes:
2 Night Stay in Double Room1 round-trip ticket
Booked separately:
$575
Travelocity Savings:
-$16
Travelocity price:
$559
$559
includes Flight + Hotel, Taxes & Fees
I would have to add about 300€ for additional costs such as meals, tickets to events and activities.
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