Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LONDON
by Donald Strachan
London never seems to get tired. It's perhaps the great-
est paradox of a city with a history spanning 2 millen-
nia that it stays forever young and energetic. Britain's
capital is home to the great art collections of the National
Gallery, architectural icons like Tower Bridge, and a rich royal heritage,
but it also spawns underground design and musical innovation. It is a city
of independent villages—Chelsea or Greenwich have little in common
with Shoreditch or Soho—and a conurbation of green spaces as well as
great buildings.
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SIGHTSEEING
The old sits alongside the new—nowhere more than
at Wren's great baroque dome of
St. Paul's Cathedral,
framed by 21st-
century skyscrapers—and London is rightly famed for its museums and
galleries. Prized collections, ancient and contemporary—from Blooms-
bury's
British Museum
to the South Bank's
Tate Modern
—share top
billing with small spaces like the
Sir John Soane's Museum
that could
only exist here. Ride the
London Eye
observation wheel to get to grips
with the layout.
EATING & DRINKING
Whatever your favorite flavor, you'll find it
somewhere in this global culinary city. As London's center of gravity moves
east, so does the dining scene:
Viajante
is the latest, and most creative,
eatery to grace an eastside hotel. The institutions
Rules
and
J. Sheekey
are as good as ever, and 2011 saw superstar chef Heston Blumenthal
reinvent
Dinner
in Knightsbridge. Areas with lower rents continue to
attract skillful chefs to destination gastropubs, cool cafes, and a new
breed of tapas bar.
SHOPPING
The sheer variety of shops and shopping districts can be
bewildering, even for a regular visitor.
Knightsbridge
and
Chelsea
have
the chi-chi boutiques,
Mayfair
the finest men's tailors, and the latest in
street-style springs up from the hip shops of
Shoreditch
and the East
End. This is a city that has something for every taste or budget, and best
buys remain collectables, vintage fashions, and accessories. Street mar-
kets as diverse as
Columbia Road
and
Portobello
are also experiencing
a mini-renaissance.
ENTERTAINMENT & NIGHTLIFE
If you do your relaxation after
dark, you've chosen the right city. When the sun sets, the historic monu-
ments and grand museums fade into the inky night, and a whole new
London comes to life. The
West End's
bright lights draw the crowds with
