Fodors - Fodors London 2014

London, so a local saying goes will be nice when its finished. Youll soon get the joke its hard to turn a corner in the city center without finding some work-in-progress crater so vast you can only imagine what was there before. This latest wave of development started in the 1990s and was accelerated by the 2012 Olympics. Meanwhile, new neighborhoods are brought into the limelightcurrently, a visit to Hoxton or Shoreditch should provide you with your quotient of London hipnessand the creative fervor that has always swirled through London like fog shows up in art galleries, designer boutiques, and theaters.

Ask any time-pressed, phlegmatic, but savvy local and theyll tell you that todays London.

is heading skyward.

London seized upon the occasion of the 2012 Olympics to showcase some sparkling new architecture. With the exceptions of Canary Wharf, the Swiss Re Headquarters (the Gherkin), the Lloyds of London building, and the London Eye, Londons skyline has traditionally been low-key, with little of the brash swagger of, say, Shanghai or Manhattan. But a spectacular crop of new architecturethe 945-foot Helter-Skelter Bishopsgate Tower, 740-foot Leadenhall Building Cheese Grater, and 1,020-foot Shardis injecting fresh adrenaline into Londons otherwise staid streetscapes and revitalizing its skyline.

Some new skyscrapers, such as The Quill in Southwark, and the funky Walkie-Talkie and the Cheese Grater in The City, have gotten very mixed reviews. The verdict is still out on the Shard at London Bridgedesigned by Enzo Piano, this irregular triangle of glass (how can such a tall building look so squat and graceless?) is the tallest building in Europe. Whatever critics and those who must look at these structures every day may say, London will never be quite the same again.

is more global.

The nationalities keep on coming, and London now swipes the crown as one of the most cosmopolitan cities on earth. White Britons are in the minority for the first time (according to the 2011 Census), representing 45% of Londons burgeoning 8.2 million population, while Asians make up 18%, Black Londoners 13%, European White Others 13%, and with a growing 5% of mixed-race residents adding spice to the pot, too. Now that the British Empire has come home to roost, large factions of former subjects have relocated to London, and the presence of so many international influences is changing the very essence of what it is to be British.

is more happening.

Have you picked up a free Evening Standard or Time Out London arts-listing magazine recently? Theyre stuffed with an ever-groovy, bleeding-edge, and endlessly delectable smorgasbord of world-class London shows, plays, performances, recitals, readings, concerts, fashion follies, happenings, poetry slams, talks, debates, auctions, cabaret, burlesque, and esoteric or blockbuster art exhibitions. Whether its contemporary art at the Frieze London art fair or experimental performances at Yellow Lounge classical music club nights at the Old Vic Tunnels in Waterloo, London is one of the more happening places on the planet.

is better connected.

Finally, while you buzz around town, youll notice that the public transportation has gotten better, more frequent, more reliable, and generally more integratedthanks, in large part, to the 2012 Olympics. Remember that although Londons traffic can often seem more chaotic than New York Citys, the Congestion Chargethe 10-per-day fee imposed on vehicles entering central Londonhas reduced both traffic and pollution.

Massive tunneling and investment continue apace on building Londons flagship, high-speed, eastwest Cross Rail underground railway line, which includes new interchanges at Paddington, Tottenham Court Road, and Farringdon stations, with all slated to open in 2018. In the meantime, dont miss out on a ride on one of Londons smash-hit and distinctive sky-blue hire bikesknown formally as Barclays Cycle Hire schemeand locally as Boris Bikes, after Boris Johnson, the mayor of London. With 8,333 bikes available at 587 docking stations around townwhich now extends from East India DLR in Blackwall in the east to Shepherds Bush in the westyoull find (after laying out 45 for an annual pass) that the first half hour is free, an hours a pound, and two hours is only 6.

Westminster, St. Jamess, and Royal London. This is the place to embrace the gran turismo label. Snap pictures of the mounted Horse Guards, watch kids clambering onto the lions in Trafalgar Square, and visit stacks of art in the fantastic national galleries. Do brave the crowds to peruse historic Westminster Abbey and its ancient narrative in stone.

Mayfair and Marylebone. You might not have the wallet for Londons most prestigious shops, but remember window-shopping in Mayfair is free. Meanwhile boutique shops in Marylebone are a refreshing change from gaudy Oxford Street a few blocks south.

Soho and Covent Garden. More sophisticated than seedy these days, the heart of London puts Theaterland, strip joints, Chinatown, burger botes, and the trendiest of film studios side by side. Nearby Charing Cross Road is a bibliophiles bookfest. And hold tight amongst the hectic hordes in Leicester Square, Londons crowd-packed answer to Times Square. Covent Gardens historic piazza is one of the busiest, most raffishly enjoyable parts of the city.

Bloomsbury and Holborn. Once the bluestocking and intellectual center of London, elegant Bloomsbury is now also a mixed business districtalbeit with the mother lode of museums at its heart. The British Museum has enough amazing artifacts to keep you busy for a month of Sundays; otherwise, offerings are limited, though the Law Courts, University of London, and Lambs Conduit Street are worth a gander.