Tour London the capital city
London attracts more American visitors than any other European city. Dig deep enough and you'll find Roman, Saxon and Medieval remnants but, you'll also find skyscrapers and imposing Victorian architecture. The past is alive and well in London, you just have to know how to look for it. Over the centuries, all the outlying villages have become consolidated into one huge and wonderful city. The size alone can intimidate the first time visitor. Here's a few suggestions to make your first journey to London stress free.

Take an orientation tour. Get your bearings by taking an orientation tour, such as those offered on the red double-decker buses. Take the tour on the very first afternoon, or the next morning at the latest.

Be sure your accommodations are near a subway (tube) stop. Don't even think about renting a car within the city. Streets are typically congested, drivers are aggressive and parking is nearly nonexistent. Not to mention you'd be driving in the left lane. Try to stay within a ten minute, (or less) walk from a subway stop. For convenience, purchase a subway pass, which allows speedy entrance and exit of the subway. Buying individual tickets will slow you down and cost more over the long run.

Study a city map and subway map before leaving home. You need not be an expert, just get a feel for the place to lessen confusion. For example, Tower Bridge is on the East side of the city, and KENSINGTON GARDENS:BOOK YOUR LIMO SERVICE HERE FOR LONDON -0800 652 7919

London city attraction and luxury transport 0800 652 7919 With a population of just under eight million, London is Europe's largest city, spreading across an area of more than 620 square miles from its core on the River Thames. Ethnically it's also Europe's most diverse metropolis: around two hundred languages are spoken within its confines, and more than thirty percent of the population is made up of first, second- and third-generation immigrants. Despite Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolution, London still dominates the national horizon, too: this is where the country's news and money are made, it's where the central government resides and, as far as its inhabitants are concerned, provincial life begins beyond the circuit of the city's orbital motorway. Londoners' sense of superiority causes enormous resentment in the regions, yet it's undeniable that the capital has a unique aura of excitement and success - in most walks of British life, if you want to get on you've got to do it in London. For the visitor, too, London is a thrilling place - and since the beginning of the new millennium, the city has also been overtaken by an exceptionally buoyant mood. Thanks to the lottery and millennium-oriented funding frenzy of the last few years, virtually every one of London's world-class museums, galleries and institutions has been reinvented, from the Royal Opera House to the British Museum. With the completion of the Tate Modern and the London Eye, the city can now boast the world's largest modern art gallery and Ferris wheel; there's also a new tube extension and the first new bridge to cross the Thames for over a hundred years. And after sixteen years of being the only major city in the world not to have its own governing body, London finally has its own elected mayor and assembly. In the meantime, London's traditional sights - Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London - continue to draw in millions of tourists every year. Monuments from the capital's more glorious past are everywhere to be seen, from medieval banqueting halls and the great churches of Sir Christopher Wren to the eclectic Victorian architecture of the triumphalist British Empire. There is also much enjoyment to be had from the city's quiet Georgian squares, the narrow alleyways of the City of London, the riverside walks, and the quirks of what is still identifiably a collection of villages. And even London's traffic pollution - one of its worst problems - is offset by surprisingly large expanses of greenery: Hyde Park, Green Park and St James's Park are all within a few minutes' walk of the West End, while, further afield, you can enjoy the more expansive parklands of Hampstead Heath and Richmond Park. You could spend days just shopping in London, too, hobnobbing with the upper classes in Harrods, or sampling the offbeat weekend markets of Portobello Road and Camden. The music, clubbing and gay/lesbian scenes are second to none, and mainstream arts are no less exciting, with regular opportunities to catch brilliant theatre companies, dance troupes, exhibitions and opera. Restaurants, these days, are an attraction, too. London has caught up with its European rivals, and offers a range from three-star Michelin establishments to low-cost, high-quality Indian curry houses. Meanwhile, the city's pubs have heaps of atmosphere, especially away from the centre - and an exploration of the farther-flung communities is essential to get the complete picture of this dynamic London metropolis We recomend you to tour with a London limousine in comfort.     Festivals and special event in London This is simply a rundown of the principal festivals and annual events in the capital, ranging from the upper-caste rituals of Royal Ascot to the sassy street party of the Notting Hill Carnival, plus a few oddities like Horseman's Sunday. Our listings cover a pretty wide spread of interests, but they are by no means exhaustive; London has an almost endless roll-call of ceremonials and special shows, and for daily information, as always, it's well worth checking Time Out or the Evening Standard. JANUARY 1 London Parade To kick off the new year, a procession of floats, marching bands, clowns, American cheerleaders and classic cars wends its way from Parliament Square at noon, through the centre of London, to Berkeley Square, collecting money for charity from around one million spectators en route. Information tel 020/8566 8586; www.london parade.co.uk. Admission charge for grandstand seats in Piccadilly, otherwise free. LATE JANUARY London International Mime Festival Annual mime festival which takes place in the last two weeks of January on the South Bank, and in other funky venues throughout London. It pulls in some very big names in mime, animation and puppetry. Information tel 020/7637 5661; www.mimefest.co.uk. LATE JANUARY/EARLY FEBRUARY Chinese New Year Celebrations The streets of Soho's Chinatown explode in a riot of dancing dragons and firecrackers on the night of this vibrant annual celebration, and the streets and restaurants are packed to capacity. MARCH Head of the River Race Less well known than the Oxford and Cambridge race, but much more fun; there are over 400 crews setting off at ten-second intervals and chasing each other from Mortlake to Putney. Information tel 01932/220401; www.horr.co.uk. LATE MARCH/EARLY APRIL Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race Since 1845, the rowing teams of Oxford and Cambridge universities have battled it out on a four-mile, upstream course on the Thames from Putney to Mortlake. It's as much a social as sporting event, and the pubs at prime vantage points pack out early. Alternatively you can catch it on TV. Best source of information is the current sponsor's Web site: www.aberdeen-asset.com. THIRD SUNDAY IN APRIL London Marathon The world's most popular city marathon, with some 35,000 runners sweating the 26.2 miles from Greenwich Park to Westminster Bridge. Only a handful of world-class athletes enter each year; most of the competitors are club runners or obsessive flab-fighters. There's always someone dressed up as a gorilla, and you can generally spot a fundraising celebrity or two. Information tel 020/7620 4117; www.london-marathon.co.uk. MAY BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND IWA Canal Cavalcade Lively celebration of the city's inland waterways held at Little Venice (near Warwick Avenue), with scores of decorated narrowboats, Morris dancers and lots of children's activities. Information tel 020/8874 2787. SUNDAY NEAREST TO MAY 9 May Fayre and Puppet Festival The garden of St Paul's church in Covent Garden is taken over by puppet booths to commemorate the first recorded sighting of a Punch and Judy show, by diarist Samuel Pepys in 1662. Information tel 020/7375 0441. MID-MAY FA Cup Final This is the culmination of the football (soccer) year: the premier domestic knock-out competition, played to a packed house at Wembley Stadium. Tickets are pretty much impossible to obtain if you're not an affiliated supporter of one of the two competing clubs, though they are often available at inflated prices on the black market. The game is also shown live on television. Information tel 020/8902 0902. THIRD OR FOURTH WEEK IN MAY Chelsea Flower Show Run by the Royal Horticultural Society, the world's finest horticultural event transforms the normally tranquil grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea for four days, with a daily inundation of up to 50,000 gardening gurus and amateurs (the general public are allowed in on the last two days only). It's a solidly bourgeois event, with the public admitted only for the closing stages, and charging an exorbitant fee for the privilege. Information tel 020/7834 4333; www.rhs.org.uk. MAY 29 Oak Apple Day The Chelsea Pensioners of the Royal Hospital honour their founder, Charles II, by wearing their posh uniforms and decorating his statue with oak leaves, in memory of the oak tree in which the king hid after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Information tel 020/7730 5282. LATE MAY/EARLY JUNE Beating of the Retreat This annual display takes place on Horse Guards' Parade over three evenings, and marks the old military custom of drumming the troops back to base at dusk. Soldiers on foot and horseback provide a colourful, very British ceremony which precedes a floodlit performance by the Massed Bands of the Queen's Household Cavalry. Information tel 020/7739 5323. FIRST OR SECOND SATURDAY IN JUNE Derby Day Run at the Epsom racecourse in Surrey, the Derby is the country's premier flat race - the beast that gets its snout over the line first is instantly worth millions. Admission prices reflect proximity to the horses and to the watching nobility. The race is always shown live on TV. Information tel 01372/726311; www.epsomderby.co.uk. EARLY JUNE TO MID-AUGUST Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Thousands of prints, paintings, sculptures and sketches, most by amateurs and nearly all of them for sale, are displayed at one of the city's finest galleries. Information tel 020/7300 8000; www.royalacademy.org.uk. JUNE Fleadh Pronounced "flaa", this is a raucous (by no means exclusively) Irish music festival in Finsbury Park, North London. Van Morrison has pitched up here on more than a few occasions, but then so too have Bob Dylan and the briefly reformed Sex Pistols. Information tel 020/8963 0940; www.meanfiddler.com. JUNE Spitalfields Festival Classical music recitals in Hawksmoor's Christ Church, the parish church of Spitalfields, and other events in and around the old Spitalfields Market for a fortnight or so in June. Information tel 020/7377 0287; www.spitalfieldsfestival.org.uk. SECOND SATURDAY IN JUNE Trooping of the Colour This celebration of the Queen's official birthday (her real one is on April 21) features massed bands, gun salutes, fly-pasts and crowds of tourists and patriotic Britons paying homage. Tickets for the ceremony itself (limited to two per person) must be applied for well in advance; phone 020/7414 2479. Otherwise, the royal procession along the Mall lets you glimpse the nobility for free, and there are rehearsals (minus Her Majesty) on the two preceding Saturdays. MID-JUNE Royal Ascot A highlight of the society year, held at the Ascot racecourse in Berkshire, this high-profile meeting has the Queen and sundry royals completing a crowd-pleasing lap of the track in open carriages prior to the opening races. The event is otherwise famed for its fashion statements, and there's TV coverage of both the races and the more extravagant headgear of the female racegoers. Information tel 01344/622211; www.ascot.co.uk. LAST WEEK OF JUNE AND FIRST WEEK OF JULY Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships This Grand Slam tournament attracts the cream of the world's professionals and is one of the highlights of the sporting and social calendar. Tickets are hard to get hold of, but as they are valid for the whole day you could always hang around outside in the hope of gleaning an early leaver's cast-off. Don't buy from touts, even if you can afford to, as the tickets may well be fakes. Information tel 020/8946 2244; www.wimbledon.org. LATE JUNE TO MID-JULY City of London Festival For nearly a month, churches (including St Paul's Cathedral), livery halls and corporate buildings around the City play host to classical and jazz musicians, theatre companies and other guest performers. Information tel 020/7377 0540; www.colf.org. MID-JULY Greenwich & Docklands Festival Ten-day festival of fireworks, music, dance, theatre, art and spectacles at venues on both sides of the river, plus a village fayre in neighbouring Blackheath. Information tel 020/8305 1818; www.festival.org. MID-JULY TO MID-SEPTEMBER BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Commonly known as the Proms, this series of nightly classical concerts at the Royal Albert Hall is a well-loved British institution. Information tel 020/7765 5575; www.bbc.co.uk/proms. MID-JULY Doggett's Coat and Badge Race The world's oldest rowing race, from London Bridge to Chelsea, established by Thomas Doggett, an eighteenth-century Irish comedian, to commemorate George I's accession to the throne. The winner receives a Hanoverian costume and silver badge. Information tel 020/7626 3531. MID-JULY Mardi Gras Gay and lesbian march through the city followed by a huge (ticketed) party in the park. THIRD WEEK OF JULY Swan Upping Five-day scramble up the Thames, from Sunbury to Pangbourne, during which liveried rowers search for swans, marking them (on the bill) as belonging to either the Queen, the Dyers' or the Vintners' City liveries. At Windsor, all the oarsmen stand to attention in their boats and salute the Queen. Information tel 020/7236 1863. MID-AUGUST Summer Rites Relaxed annual gay and lesbian festival. LAST BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND IN AUGUST Notting Hill Carnival The two-day free festival in Notting Hill Gate is the longest-running, best-known and biggest street party in Europe. Dating back 35 years, Carnival is a tumult of imaginatively decorated floats, eye-catching costumes, thumping sound systems, live bands, irresistible food and huge crowds. Information tel 020/8964 0544; www.nottinghillcarnival.net.uk. SATURDAY IN EARLY SEPTEMBER Great River Race Hundreds of boats are rowed or paddled from Ham House, Richmond, down to Island Gardens on the Isle of Dogs. Starts are staggered and there are any number of weird and wonderful vessels taking part. Information tel 020/8398 9057. THIRD SUNDAY IN SEPTEMBER Horseman's Sunday In an eccentric 11.30am ceremony at the Hyde Park church of St John & St Michael, a vicar on horseback blesses a hundred or so horses; the newly consecrated beasts then parade around the neighbourhood before galloping off through the park, and later taking part in show jumping. Information tel 020/7262 1732. THIRD WEEKEND IN SEPTEMBER Open House A once-a-year opportunity to peek inside over 400 buildings around London, many of which don't normally open their doors to the public. You'll need to book in advance for some of the more popular places. Information tel 0891/600061; www.londonopenhouse.org. LATE SEPTEMBER/EARLY OCTOBER Soho Jazz Festival Headed by Ronnie Scott's, this is a week-long celebration of one of Soho's most famous attributes - its jazz culture. Information tel 020/7437 6437. FIRST SUNDAY IN OCTOBER Costermongers' Pearly Harvest Festival Service Cockney fruit and vegetable festival at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church. Of most interest to the onlooker are the Pearly Kings and Queens who gather at around 3pm in their traditional pearl-button studded outfits. Information tel 020/7930 0089. LATE OCTOBER/EARLY NOVEMBER State Opening of Parliament The Queen arrives by coach at the Houses of Parliament at 11am accompanied by the Household Cavalry and gun salutes. The ceremony itself takes place inside the House of Lords and is televised; it also takes place whenever a new government is sworn in. Information tel 020/7219 3000; www.parliament.uk. NOVEMBER London Film Festival A three-week cinematic season with scores of new international films screened at the National Film Theatre and some West End venues. Information tel 020/7928 3232; www.bfi.org.uk or (nearer the time) www.lff.org.uk. EARLY NOVEMBER London Jazz Festival Big ten-day jazz fest held in all London's jazz venues, large and small. Information tel 020/7405 5974. FIRST SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER London to Brighton Veteran Car Run In 1896 Parliament abolished the Act that required all cars to crawl along at 2mph behind someone waving a red flag. Such was the euphoria in the motoring community that a rally was promptly set up to mark the occasion, and a century later it's still going strong. Classic cars built before 1905 set off from Hyde Park at 7.30am and travel the 58 miles to Brighton along the A23 at the heady maximum speed of 20mph. Information tel 01753/681736. NOVEMBER 5 Bonfire Night In memory of Guy Fawkes - executed for his role in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament - effigies of the hapless Mr Fawkes are burned on bonfires all over Britain. There are also council-run fires and fireworks displays right across the capital; Parliament Hill in Hampstead provides a good vantage point from which to take in several displays at once. Information tel 020/7971 0026. SECOND SATURDAY IN NOVEMBER Lord Mayor's Show The newly appointed Lord Mayor begins his or her day of investiture at Westminster, leaving there at around 9am for Guildhall. At 11.10am, the vast ceremonial procession, headed by the 1756 State Coach, begins its journey from Guildhall to the Law Courts in the Strand, where the oath of office is taken at 11.50am. From there the coach and its train of 140-odd floats make their way back towards Guildhall, arriving at 2.20pm. Later in the day there's a fireworks display from a barge tethered between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges, and a small funfair on Paternoster Square, by St Paul's Cathedral. Information tel 020/7606 3030; www.corpoflondon.gov.uk. NEAREST SUNDAY TO NOVEMBER 11 Remembrance Sunday A day of nationwide commemorative ceremonies for the dead and wounded of the two world wars and other conflicts. The principal ceremony, attended by the Queen, various other royals and the Prime Minister, takes place at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, beginning with a march-past of veterans and building to a one-minute silence at the stroke of 11am. CHRISTMAS Each year since the end of World War II, Norway has acknowledged its gratitude to the country that helped liberate it from the Nazis with the gift of a mighty spruce tree that appears in Trafalgar Square in early December. Decorated with lights, it becomes the focus for carol singing versus traffic noise each evening until Christmas Eve. NEW YEAR'S EVE The New Year is welcomed en masse in Trafalgar Square as thousands of inebriated revellers stagger about and slur to Auld Lang Syne at midnight. For the millennium, there was a big firework display along the Thames, and it remains to be seen whether the show will be repeated or if the crowds will once more return to their traditional haunt. Whatever happens, London Transport runs free public transport all night, sponsored by various public-spirited breweries limousine hire services in London (click here) 0800 652 7919 transport in London city.     Tourist tour information for London and the united kingdom The London Tourist Board (LTB; www.londontown.com) has a desk in the arrivals section of Heathrow Terminal 3 (daily 6am-11pm), and another in the Underground station concourse for Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 and 3 (daily 8am-6pm), but the main central office is in the forecourt of Victoria Station (Easter-April Mon-Sat 8am-7pm, Sun 8am-6pm; May Mon-Sat 8am-8pm, Sun 8am-6pm; June-Sept Mon-Sat 8am-10pm, Sun 8am-7pm; Oct-Easter daily 8am-7pm). Other centrally located offices can be found near Piccadilly Circus in the British Visitor Centre ( www.visitbritain.com), 1 Regent St (June-Oct Mon 9.30am-6.30pm, Tues-Fri 9am-6.30pm, Sat & Sun 9am-5pm; Nov-May same times except Sat & Sun 10am-4pm), in the arrivals hall of Waterloo International (daily 8.30am-10.30pm), and in Liverpool Street Underground station (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat & Sun 8.45am-5.30pm). Individual boroughs also run tourist offices at various prime locations. The two most central ones are on the south side of St Paul's Cathedral (April-Sept daily 9.30am-5pm, Oct-March Mon-Fri 9.30am-5pm, Sat 9.30am-12.30pm; tel 020/7332 1456; www.cityoflondon.gov.uk), and at the south end of London Bridge (Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10.30am- 5.30pm; tel 020/7403 8299; www.southwark.gov.uk). The above offices will answer phone enquiries ; LTB can only offer Visitorcall (tel 0839/123456), a spread of pre-recorded phone announcements - these are a very poor service, and the calls are charged at an exorbitant rate. Most of the above offices hand out a useful reference map of central London, plus plans of the public transport systems, but to find your way around every cranny of the city you need to invest in either an A-Z Atlas or a Nicholson Streetfinder, both of which have a street index covering every street in the capital; you can get them at most bookshops and newsagents for under £5. The only comprehensive and critical weekly listings magazine is Time Out, which costs £1.95 and comes out every Tuesday afternoon. In it you'll find details of all the latest exhibitions, shows, films, music, sport, guided walks and events in and around the capital. BOOK YOUR LIMO SERVICE HERE +44 208 578 5446 airportcarsonline.com     Live music and club information for London and the united kingdom Don't believe the Cool Britannia hype; London has had a bewilderingly large range of places to go after dark for the last twenty years. The live music scene remains extremely diverse, encompassing all variations of rock, blues, roots and world music; and although London's jazz clubs aren't on a par with those in the big American cities, there's a highly individual scene of home-based artists, supplemented by top-name visiting players. If you're looking for dance music , then welcome to Europe's party capital. After dark, London is thriving, with diverse scenes championing everything from hip-hop to house, techno to trance, samba to soca and drum'n'bass to R&B on virtually any night of the week. Venues once used exclusively by performing bands now pepper the week with club nights, and you often find dance sessions starting as soon as a band has stopped playing. Bear in mind that there's sometimes an overlap between "live music venues" and "clubs" in the listings; we've indicated which places serve a double function. The already relaxed attitude to late night bars has become more liberal in the recent years. So far, though, the main consequence of the restrictions on late night drinking laws has been the rapid growth and diversity of club-bars , places which are essentially bars, but cater for a clubby crowd - funky décor, DJs, late opening hours and ridiculously overpriced foreign beers. The dance and club scene is, of course, pretty much in constant flux, with the hottest items constantly moving location, losing the plot or just cooling off. Weekly listings magazines like Time Out, DJ and 7 give up-to-date details of prices and access, plus previews and reviews. Stretch limo hire in london +44 208 578 5446 airportcarsonline.com     The best places you must see in London Highgate Cemetery The leafy and tranquil Highgate Cemetery is the ultimate Victorian Valhalla, famous as the resting-place of Karl Marx. Kew Gardens Without doubt the world's most perfect botanical gardens, the expansive Kew Gardens is part royal pleasure garden, part research institute. The curvaceous, dripping hot Palm House is the focal point. Westminster Abbey London's finest Gothic monument, Westminster Abbey, has been a coronation venue for nearly a millennium and is the burial-place of poets, politicians and royalty. Docklands Light Railway Take the driverless Docklands Light Railway for a bird's-eye view of the Docklands development, finishing up with a great view across the Thames to Greenwich. Lunchtime in Chinatown London is renowned for its multicultural cuisine. Chinatown, right at the heart of the city, has the full spectrum of restaurants and cafés. Go for dim sum at lunchtime - picking at will from trollies piled high with mouthwatering nibbles. Victoria and Albert Museum Free admission is a thing of the past, but this is an applied arts collection with something for everyone: from Raphael's Cartoons to a sofa based on Mae West's lips. Old London Double Deckers The #11 bus will take you from the House of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, up Whitehall, round Trafalgar Square, up the Strand and down Fleet Street and deposit you outside St Paul's Cathedral. Harrods London's most famous department store is also the city's third biggest tourist attraction. Though you can buy most things more cheaply elsewhere if you can do without the famous green carrier bag, the food halls are a work of art, and the building itself is a landmark. Tower of London Entrance charges to the Tower of London are extortionate, but there's something for everyone: the crown jewels, Beefeaters, torture instruments and a millennium's worth of blood-curdling history. Spitalfields Market Visit the old Spitalfields fruit and vegetable market at the edge of the East End on a Sunday and you'll find London's finest organic market, craft stalls, a miniature railway and lots of stands with delicious food. limo hire in london and airport transfers to all airports +44 208 578 5446 airportcarsonline.com Home page Quotes page Chauffeur/links limos