London Travel Guide

Portobello Road runs for about 940 metres through Notting Hill in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, west London, and is the city's most recognisable market street. Its name commemorates the British capture of Portobelo, Panama, in 1739. The road is not one market but five overlapping ones with different sections trading on different days: the southern antiques stretch, from Notting Hill Gate to Elgin Crescent, runs on Saturdays only and is reckoned the world's largest antiques market, with dealers on site from about 07:00. The central section is a workaday fruit, vegetable and household market, open Monday to Saturday. The stretch north to the Westway flyover is the vintage clothing and jewellery district, busiest on Friday and Saturday. Under the flyover and along Golborne Road the market turns Caribbean, Moroccan and Mexican, with Lisboa Patisserie's custard tarts anchoring the north end. A dozen indoor antique arcades, among them Admiral Vernon and Harris Arcade, hold much of the specialist trade. The pastel terraced houses date from the mid-19th century, though their colours came in the 1980s and 1990s, and are Notting Hill's most photographed streetscape, best early in the morning.

The Tower of London is an ancient castle carrying nearly a millennium of English history—a mighty fortress by the Thames, once palace, fortress, prison and execution ground, now guarding the Crown Jewels, London's most absorbing historic sight. Built in the 11th century after the Norman Conquest, its core White Tower was raised by William the Conqueror; after nearly a thousand years it is among London's oldest, most important buildings and a World Heritage Site. Through the ages it was a royal fortress and palace, and a prison and execution site for important prisoners (queens, nobles, statesmen), witnessing bloody court struggles—hence a mysterious, eerie legend. Today its brightest draw is the Crown Jewels—diamonds and gems, crowns, scepters and regalia, breathtaking. Visitors also explore the White Tower, walls and towers, hear the Yeoman Warders ('Beefeaters') tell its history, and see the famous ravens. Exploring the Tower of London and its Crown Jewels across a thousand years is London's top sight.

Buckingham Palace is the British monarch's official London residence. Built 1703, it features the State Rooms (open in summer), the Changing of the Guard ceremony and the Victoria Memorial — the world's most famous royal building. Built 1703; monarch's London residence. 775 rooms; 19 State Rooms. Summer opening — royal art collection. Changing of the Guard — free; usually mornings. Victoria Memorial.

Located in Bloomsbury, London, the British Museum was founded in 1753 and opened to the public in 1759 as the world’s first national public museum—owned by the state and open to all (the Ashmolean Museum opened earlier, in 1683, but as a university museum). Its collection of more than 8 million objects spans two million years of human history, art and culture: the Rosetta Stone, which unlocked Egyptian hieroglyphs; the Parthenon sculptures; Egyptian mummies and Assyrian palace reliefs; and treasures from every continent. The Great Court, capped by Norman Foster’s glass roof over the old Reading Room, is the architectural highlight. Entry to the permanent collection is free—book a free timed ticket online; on Fridays the museum stays open until 20:30. The provenance of major objects such as the Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles and the Benin Bronzes remains the subject of long-running international debate, well worth understanding as you visit.

Big Ben properly refers to the great hour bell in the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster; the tower itself was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012. A symbol of London and British parliamentary democracy, beside the Thames and opposite the London Eye, it is one of the world's most recognised silhouettes.

Tower Bridge is London's most famous and iconic bridge. Built 1886-1894, this Victorian Gothic-style bascule suspension bridge features two magnificent square towers, a double-deck opening roadway, high-level glass-floor walkways and a grand presence across the Thames — one of the most classic landmarks on London's skyline and among the world's most photographed bridges. The bridge's most unique feature is its opening mechanism — when large vessels pass, the roadway splits and lifts in about 5 minutes, a mechanical spectacle still performed regularly. Visitors can buy tickets to ascend the towers to the high-level walkways — renovated in 2014 with glass floors letting visitors look down ~42 m to the roadway and Thames below, thrilling and spectacular. The bridge houses a Victorian engine room exhibition showing the original steam machinery. Adjacent to the Tower of London, the two form the Thames's most magnificent historic scene. Visiting Tower Bridge to ascend the walkways for Thames views is a classic, spectacular London experience.