Every city in the world has something amazing, but only in London each era of its 2000 years of history has left something magnificent, varied and unique.
Buckingham Palace, where the famous Changing of the Guard has been taking place regularly for hundreds of years, is probably the first attraction many tourists visit, since it is the most remarkable of British landmarks. So is the Palace of Westminster (The Houses of Parliament) with the famous Big Ben, which, even if it cannot be visited inside for most part of the year, is the most photographed building in all of London.
Two very different cathedrals are on every tourist’s priority list – St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. The first one has access to the very top of the dome, giving you the most amazing view over London, the second one is unique because is the official royal church, and famous people like Isaac Newton or Charles Darwin are buried here.
If you were to pay to visit just one London attraction, it should definitely be the Tower of London. The famous guards in the Tower – The Beefeaters - have plenty bloody stories to tell, and the collection of crown jewels is breathtaking. Next to it, the hundred years old Tower Bridge, is the most remarkable emxple of Victorian engineering. There is an exhibition in one of the towers of the bridge and you can see the engine rooms as well.
Places like Madame Tussauds – the wax figures museum, London Eye – the largest observation wheel in the world or the London Dungeon, the horror museum, are like magnets for tourists.
The Kew Gardens or the London Zoo are perfect for a sunny day out. They are both quite large, so leave a few hours to enjoy them properly. The London Aquarium, next to the London Eye, offers a very relaxing atmosphere (outside school holidays).
Other attractions worth seeing are the Kensington Palace, the huge concert venue Royal Albert Hall, home to the famous BBC Proms, Shakespeare’s theatre or the WWII battle cruiser HMS Belfast.
London has an impressive collection of over 100 museums and galleries, most of them being open to the public every day of the year. The 4 miles long galleries of the British Museum bring the world under the same roof. Fragments of the 7 wonders on the ancient world, the Rosetta Stone or the Elgin Marbles give you just of glimpse of the remarcable collection. The Museumland in SW London houses 3 of the most popular places - the Victoria and Albert History Museum, The Natural History and The Science Museums. Tate Gallery of Modern Art opened in 2000 and has since taken its prestigious place among the modern art museums of the world.
The Museum of London traces more than 2000 years of London's history and The Transport Museum in Covent Garden houses a collection of period trams, tube trains and buses. The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square houses one of the finest classic painting collections in the world, and The National Portrait Gallery contains world's largest collection of 10,000 portraits.
Other galleries not to be missed: Wallace Collection, Sommerset House and the Courtauld Institute, Tate Britain, The Maritime Museum, Imperial War Museum and many more.