Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
London's ritziest locales, with Rolls-Royces, fancy shops, Simpson's Restaurant, Donald
Trump luxury, and the doorman in top hat and tails. Everyone has stayed here. Monet
painted the Thames at the Savoy; Oscar Wilde romanced Lord Douglas; Chaplin, Sinatra,
and Burton-and-Taylor made the scene; as did the Beatles, The Who, and Bob Dylan, who
filmed his cue-card-flipping film for
Subterranean Homesick Blues
in an alley around
back—one of the earliest examples of a music video. Step inside to see the spiffy foyer
under the pretext of asking about their (overpriced) afternoon tea under the glass cupola.
At the next major intersection, a side-trip out onto
Waterloo Bridge
affords one of
the best London views, overlooking the city in both directions.
A half-block farther is
Gibraltar House
(at 150 Strand), a quasi-embassy and visitors
center for one of Britain's last little “colonies,” located on the southern tip of Spain.
Next up is
Somerset House,
the last of the many great riverside mansions that once
lined the Strand. Today, it has a people-friendly courtyard with playful fountains, a river-
side terrace, a café (with WCs), an exhibition hall, and the
Courtauld Gallery
—a fine
art collection including Impressionist and Post-Impressionist gems (
see the Courtauld
Gallery Tour chapter).
