Insight Guides - Insight Guides: Explore London

How To Use This E-Book

This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With top-quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the worlds most exciting destinations.

Best Routes

The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destinations many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights, and there are also excursions for those who want to extend their visit outside the city. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.

We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments options are shown in the Food and Drink box at the end of each tour.

Introduction

The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink, shopping and more, while a succinct history timeline highlights the key events over the centuries.

Directory

Also supporting the routes is a Directory chapter, with a clearly organised AZ of practical information, our pick of where to stay while you are there and select restaurant listings; these eateries complement the more low-key cafs and restaurants that feature within the routes and are intended to offer a wider choice for evening dining. Also included here are some nightlife listings, and our recommendations for books and films about the destination.

Getting around the e-book

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

2013 Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Recommended Routes For...

Architecture

The Big Sights () offers Georgian elegance.

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications

Art Fans

Theres something for everyone, from the National Gallery ().

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications

Cool Britannia

Find the cutting edge in Sohos bars and clubs ().

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications

Families with Kids

There is plenty for young ones to see: London Zoo ().

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications

Food and Drink

The biggest choice is in the West End, from Chinatown to pre-theatre suppers ().

Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications

Literary London

Head to Holborn (), home of Keats.

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications

Royal London

Have a royal time seeing Buckingham Palace, Changing the Guard and Clarence House ().

Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications

Shoppers

Shop exhaustively on Oxford Street ().

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications

London at night

Getty Images

Explore London

Fire, plague, population explosions, aerial bombing, economic recessions, urban blight, terrorism London has taken everything history could throw at it, and this has made it one of the worlds most complex and fascinating cities.

There must be something special about London to attract more than 27 million overnight visitors each year. And it is not the weather. There are, however, wonderful palaces and cathedrals, theatres and museums, parks and gardens, restaurants serving cuisine from all parts of the world, a vibrant nightlife, and a refreshingly cosmopolitan and open attitude towards diversity in all things, especially its own inhabitants.

Cycling at Hyde Park Corner

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications

Crossing the Millennium Bridge

Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications

Population

Population growth

The population of London is estimated at around 8.2 million people and there is no sign of any let up in its growth. London is generally considered the most populous city in the European Union (EU). Of course, there are questions over where the boundaries of Londons sprawl lie, but it is usually defined as the financial district (the City) and the 32 boroughs that constitute Greater London.

The population on this territory rose from about 1.1 million in 1801 to peak at over 8.6 million in 1939. It then declined to 6.7 million in 1988, before growing once more to about the same level today as in 1970 (also the level of the 1920s). However, the wider metropolitan area of London continues to spread outwards and is now home to between 12 and 14 million, depending on the definition of that area.