Rick Steves - Rick Steves Walk: Westminster, London

Rick Steves & Gene Openshaw

From Big Ben to Trafalgar Square

Please note: to hear these audio tours, your device must support embedded audio.

PlayAudio Pause Resume

Just about every visitor to London strolls along historic Whitehall from Big Ben to Trafalgar Square. Under Londons modern traffic and big-city bustle lie 2,000 fascinating years of history. This quick nine-stop walk gives meaning to that touristy ramble.

As Londons political center, the Westminster neighborhood is both historic and contemporary. See the River Thames where London was born. Pass statues and monuments to the nations great heroes. Admire the Halls of Parliament where Britain is ruled today, and take a peek at #10 Downing Street, home of the prime minister. All in about an hour.

Map Key

Length of This Walk: Though the walk itself only takes an hour, youll need more time if you decide to go inside sights along the way.

Getting There: Tube: Westminster, then take the Westminster Pier exit to Westminster Bridge.

WCs: Westminster Pier (50p); at the intersection of Bridge Street and Whitehall (underground, 50p); and free WCs inside the Banqueting House, National Gallery, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields church.

Audio Tour: You can download this chapter as a free Rick Steves audio tour.

Start halfway across Westminster Bridge. Look upstream, toward Parliament.

Please note: to hear these audio tours, your device must support embedded audio.

PlayAudio Pause Resume

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament: Ding dong ding dong. Dong ding ding dong. Yes, indeed, you are in London.

Big Ben is actually not the clock, not the tower, but the bell that tolls the hour. However, since the 13-ton bell is not visible, everyone just calls the whole works Big Ben. Named for a fat bureaucrat, Ben is scarcely older than my great-grandmother, but it has quickly become the citys symbol. The tower is 315 feet high, and the clock faces are 23 feet across. The 13-foot-long minute hand sweeps the length of your body every five minutes. For fun, call home (a few pay phones are in the area) at about three minutes before the hour, to let your loved one hear Big Ben ring.

Big Ben is in the north tower of the Houses of Parliament, stretching along the Thames. Britain is ruled from this building, as it has been since 1090. Back then, Westminster Palace was the royal palace, the home of the king and queen. Then, as democracy was foisted on tyrants, a parliament of nobles was allowed to meet in some of the rooms. Soon, commoners were elected to office, the neighborhood was shot, and the royalty moved to Buckingham Palace. In 1834, the building was gutted by fire and rebuilt in the sandstone-hued, Neo-Gothic Parliament building we see today.

Big Benthe clock face is 23 feet across

The Thames snakes through London to the sea.

Today, the House of Commons, which is more powerful than the Queen and prime minister combined, meets in one end of the building. The rubber-stamp House of Lords grumbles and snoozes in the other end of this 1,000-room complex, and provides a tempering effect on extreme governmental changes. The two bickering houses even have separate tea rooms along the riverred awnings for lords, green for commoners. If a flag is flying from the Victoria Tower, at the far south end of the building, Parliament is in session. The modern Portcullis Building (with the tube-like chimneys), across Bridge Street from Big Ben, holds offices for the 659 members of the House of Commons. They commute to the Houses of Parliament by way of an underground passage.

The Thames: Londons history is tied to the Thames, the 210-mile river linking the interior of England with the North Sea. The city got its start in Roman times as a trade center along this watery highway. As recently as a century ago, large ships made their way upstream to the city center to unload. Today, the major port is 25 miles downstream, and the massive Thames Barrier (12 miles downstream, built in 1984) keeps the river from flooding at high tide.

Please note: to hear these audio tours, your device must support embedded audio.

PlayAudio Pause Resume

Several tour-boat companies offer regular departures from Westminster Pier (on the left bank) or Waterloo Pier (on the right, near the London Eye). This is an efficient, scenic way to get to the Tower of London or Greenwich (downstream) or Kew Gardens (upstream).

For centuries, only London Bridge crossed the Thames. Then in 1750 Westminster Bridge was built. Early in the morning of September 3, 1802, William Wordsworth stood where youre standing and described what he saw:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Youll notice the London Eye on the South Bank, across the river. This 443-foot-tall Ferris wheeloriginally nicknamed the London Eyesoreis now generally appreciated by locals, who see it as a welcome addition to their citys otherwise underwhelming skyline. Next to the wheel sprawls a carnival-like tourist complex. The London Eye marks the start of the Jubilee Walkway, a pleasant one-hour promenade along the vibrant, gentrified South Bank, with great views across the river.

The London Eyebuilt to celebrate the Millenniumproved so popular, they decided to keep it.

Near Westminster Pier is a big statue of a lady on a chariot (nicknamed the first woman driver...no reins).

Please note: to hear these audio tours, your device must support embedded audio.

PlayAudio Pause Resume

Riding in her two-horse chariot, daughters by her side, this Celtic Xena leads her people against Roman invaders. Julius Caesar was the first Roman general to cross the Channel, but even he was weirded out by the islands strange inhabitants, who worshipped trees, sacrificed virgins, and went to war painted blue.