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London Attractions
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Comfort
Inn Notting Hill
(8 minutes walking distance) |
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Following the success of the Great Exhibition of 1851,
the Hall was conceived by Albert, the Prince Consort, as the centrepiece
of the proposed development of a range of national institutions - cultural,
scientific and academic - that for the first time would be located on a
single site.
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Externally the Italianite facade of the Hall, of red brick
and teracotta, is graced by the famous 800ft mosaic frieze. The auditorium is
both massive and graceful (its length is 219ft and its width 185ft) and is
crowned by a dome (weighing 400 tonnes) that, when raised, was the largest
in the world. The Royal Albert Hall, which is located close to South
Kensington tube (Circle, District and Piccadilly lines) is now a prime
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London venue for concerts and musical events of all kinds from the BBC's
Promenade Concerts to pop concerts but can also be privately hired,
as it
was for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th birthday extravaganza.
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Comfort Inn Notting Hill
(1 minutes distance) |
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Most famous of all London's street markets
and shown extensively in the film
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| "Notting Hill", the antiques market
occupies the Notting Hill end of Portobello Road. It has been established
as an antiques market since the 18th century although the style and emphasis
of the market has changed over the years.
Saturday is the main day for the
market when some 1500 dealers trade all manner of antiques and
collectibles
from about 5:30am till about 4:30pm.
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Thousands of people come down the
market each Saturday to purchase antiques from glassware to pewter, to eat
and drink in the numerous restaurants, coffee shops and pubs or simply to
browse and watch the world go by.
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Comfort Inn Notting Hill
(5 minutes distance
by walking) |
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Kensington Palace most famously in recent
times was the home of Princess Diana and it was outside the gates that the vast
carpet of flowers was laid following her tragic accident. The Palace sits
on the Kensington Gore side of the Gardens, which merge, at one end, with
Hyde Park.
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However, Kensington Gardens has it's own character and
history.
The Gardens were formed from land taken from Hyde Park after William and
Mary moved into Nottingham House, now Kensington Palace, in 1689. The
original gardens were modest in size but were extended in the early 18th
century to a design by Charles Bridgeman, which still gives the gardens
their main structure today. This has been added to in Victorian times,
most
notably the Italian Gardens (recently refurbished) and the Albert
Memorial.
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Further features have been added in the 20th century adding to the
reputation of the Gardens as a genteel environment associated with
children
and passive recreation.
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Comfort
Inn Notting Hill
(15 minutes by Tube) |
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The home of Britain's government - the Houses of Parliament,
Downing Street, the Cabinet War Rooms, from where Winston Churchill ran
the
country during the Second World War (now open to the public), and major
ministries such as the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence, Department of Trade and Industry and many more are all here. Westminster
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own
right, is also well known for two major churches - the Roman Catholic
Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. The latter was originally
founded by King Edward I and was consecrated a few days after his death on 28th December 1065. His tomb, along with the tombs of many monarchs,
nobles
and notables - Charles Dickens is one - are to be found here.
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monarch
since William the Conqueror, in 1066, has been crowned here, with the
exceptions only of Edward V and Edward VIII. The present building
replaced
the much smaller Norman abbey and was mainly built at the direction of
Henry
III in the 13th Century.Westminster Abbey is still a church and it's a
good idea to check on any services taking place so that you can arrange
your
visit for a different time.
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Quality Hotel Hampstead
(15 minutes by walking) |
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Situated on the northern edge of Regent's Park, London Zoo is
a 36-acre conservation centre which houses more than 650 species. London
Zoo's animal collection includes invertebrates, reptiles, fish, birds, and small
and large mammals such as lions, tigers, gorillas, elephants, giraffes,
rhinos and bears.
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The Zoo comprises a number of buildings which have been
the subject of great controversy in their time - the Snowdon Aviary and
the
Elephant House amongst them. Great progress has been made in the last few
years in adapting the buildings to provide the most natural possible
habitats. Web of Life is a new exhibition about the variety of life on Earth. Housed in the Millennium Conservation Centre at London Zoo, the
exhibition brings together interactive activities and animal displays.
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This
ground-breaking exhibition will introduce you to the amazing range of
animals found in the earth's major habitats. Using a unique combination of
65 live animal exhibits, interactive displays and on-show breeding
facilities, the exhibition will challenge your perceptions of life on
earth
and how we can conserve it.
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Arguably the most famous, and undoubtedly the most expensive department store in London, a trip behind the world famous façade is a "must-do" part of any visit to London, even if only to gape at the price tags !
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| Harrods is actually in Brompton Road, which leads off Knightsbridge, itself a fairly short street of some of the most expensive and exclusive shopping in London that begins with Harvey Nichols, another delightful and expensive department store at the junction with Sloane Street, and continues with another world famous store,the Scotch House,and follows on down Knightsbridge and Brompton Road to Harrods with smaller shops for exclusive shoes, clothes and jewellery as well as hair salons. Previously, an area of very exclusive shops, recent years have seen the opening of branches of chain stores such as Next, Kookai, Boss and many more.
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For relief on the long walk around all this floorspace, you will find several coffee shops opposite Harrods and some delightful restaurants in Walton Place, behind the store.
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Quality Hotel Hampstead
(10 minutes distance
by walking and bus ) |
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Perched on a ridge of high ground stands a beautiful white villa, overlooking a lake and acres of lush parkland that will be instantly recognisable to fans of the film "Notting Hill",Kenwood House, which is sited on the north side of Hampstead Heath, is a fine neoclassical mansion remodelled by Robert Adam between 1764-73 for its then owner, William Murray, the 1st Earl of Mansfield. In the 20th Century, the house was purchased by Lord Iveagh, the Guiness magnate.
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It has fabulous landscaped gardens and in the summer open air concerts, often with fireworks, are held in the bowl by the lake from Late June until September.
The house contains the most important private collection of paintings ever given to the nation, the Iveagh Bequest. This collection includes a very important selection of paintings by Rembrandt, Turner, Reynolds, Gainsborough and others.
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Remaining
very much as it was remodelled in the
18th century, Kenwood's associations have
presented a remarkable irony throughout
history. Looking every inch the impressive
home of a wealthy London gentleman, Kenwood
has never belonged to an Englishman. Owned
by Scotsmen for over two centuries, and
finally bought by an Irishman in the 20th
century, with most of the rebuilding work
completed by one of the most renowned
Scottish architects of all time.
More London Attractions |
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