Tour London - Days 2 & 3

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In 1996, one of the world's great libraries began moving its collection of some 12 million books, manuscripts, and other items from the British Museum to its very own home in St. Pancras. In the new building, you get modernistic beauty rather than the fading glamour and the ghosts of Karl Marx, William Thackeray, and Virginia Woolf of the old library at the British Museum. You are also likely to get the book you want within an hour instead of 3 days. Academics, students, writers, and bookworms from all over the world come here. On a recent visit, we sat next to a student researching the history of pubs.

The bright, roomy interior is far more inviting than the rather dull red-brick exterior suggests. The most spectacular room is the Humanities Reading Room, constructed on three levels with daylight filtered through the ceiling.

The fascinating collection includes such items of historic and literary interest as two of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta (1215), a Gutenberg Bible, Nelson's last letter to Lady Hamilton, and the journals of Captain Cook. Almost every major author -- Dickens, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Keats, and hundreds of others -- is represented in the section...

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With its identical square towers and superb archways, this early-English Gothic abbey is one of the greatest examples of ecclesiastical architecture on earth. But it's far more than that: It's the shrine of a nation, the symbol of everything Britain has stood for and stands for, and the place in which most of its rulers were crowned and where many lie buried.

Nearly every figure in English history has left his or her mark on Westminster Abbey. Edward the Confessor founded the Benedictine abbey in 1065 on this spot overlooking Parliament Square. The first English king crowned in the Abbey may have been Harold, in January 1066. The man who defeated him at the Battle of Hastings later that year, William the Conqueror, had the first recorded coronation in the Abbey on Christmas Day that same year. The coronation tradition has continued to the present day. The essentially early-English Gothic structure existing today owes more to Henry III's plans than to those of any other sovereign, although many architects, including Wren, have contributed to the Abbey.

Built on the site of the ancient Lady Chapel in the early 16th century, the Henry VII Chapel is one of the loveliest in Europe, with...

Our Local Expert Says:

When you tire of the crowds in the central area, explore the interesting and bohemian little streets and alleyways leading off Covent Garden, particularly those around Neal's Yard and Monmouth Street

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Sheltered beneath a beautiful Victorian iron-and-glass arcade that once held England's largest fruit and vegetable market are the shops and restaurants that make up the heart of Covent Garden. Its famous piazza is the only area of London licensed for street entertainment and all performers are required to audition before they are allowed to perform. Buskers such as magicians, statues, opera singers, musicians, and jugglers perform for your enjoyment and in return you give them a bit of money. There's a nice buzz to the piazza and surroundings. It is always a child favorite even if it is quite touristy. Sample a freshly baked treat from Ben's Cookies or a Cornish pasty while people watching the entertainers. The market is perfect for souvenir shopping but be warned, at peak times it gets uncomfortably busy.

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This massive, graceful building is the official residence of the Queen. The red-brick palace was built as a country house for the notoriously rakish Duke of Buckingham. In 1762, King George III, who needed room for his 15 children, bought it. It didn't become the official royal residence, though, until Queen Victoria took the throne; she preferred it to St. James's Palace. From George III's time, the building was continuously expanded and remodeled, faced with Portland stone, and twice bombed (during the Blitz). Located in a 16-hectare (40-acre) garden, it's 108m (354 ft.) long and contains 600 rooms. You can tell whether the Queen is at home by checking to see if the Royal Standard is flying from the mast outside. For most of the year, you can't visit the palace without an official invitation. Since 1993, though, much of it has been open for tours during an 8-week period in August and September, when the royal family is usually vacationing outside London. Elizabeth II agreed to allow visitors to tour the State Room, the Grand Staircase, the Throne Room, and other areas designed by John Nash for George IV, as well as the Picture Gallery, which displays masterpieces by Van Dyck, Rembrandt,...

Our Local Expert Says:

If the crowds are too much, try catching the guards before the parade at Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk

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The Queen's Guard is made up of five regiments: Coldstream, Grendadier, Welsh, Irish, and Scots who protect Her Majesty when she is in residence at Buckingham Palace. When these guards require a rest, a ceremony known as the Changing of the Guard takes place, drawing thousands of spectators. Famed for the bearskin hats and smart red coats, the Guard's spectacle of pomp and circumstance is part of the reason people flock to London.

The new guard leaves Wellington Barracks a few minutes before the change and marches down Birdcage Walk to Buckingham Palace. The 40 minute ceremony takes place within the gates of the palace, so get there early to secure a good vantage spot along the palace gates. In addition, the St. James's Palace detachment of the Queen's guard marches to Buckingham Palace at 11:15am and back to St. James's at 12:10p.

For another, less crowded Changing of the Guard ceremony visit the Horse Guards around 11am where soldiers on horseback make the swap.

Our Local Expert Says:

Ask at the desk to try on a true Royal Guard bearskin hat and scarlet tunic for a fun photo op.

Description:

Dedicated to Her Majesty's Household Division which protects the Sovereign and Royal Palaces... in other words, dedicated to those who wear the red tunic and bearskin hat! Small and quiet, The Guards Museum is a perfect place to learn more about the royal guards and even have your photo taken in that famous regimental tunic and hat. On display are uniforms, helmets, instruments, medals, a tent from the Crimean War and more. There's a little shop next door to the Guards Museum and you might even catch the new guards forming at nearby Wellington Barracks before the Changing of the Guard ceremony at London's Buckingham Palace.

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For many years, Piccadilly Circus - at the junction of five busy streets - has been a major London landmark, seen by many as the capital's centre. In the daytime it's a bustling area filled with shoppers, business people and tourists. But visit in the evening to see the area really come alive, with its sparkling illuminated signs and heady mix of clubbers and couples ready for a big evening out. At the heart of Piccadilly is a fountain topped with the aluminium statue of an archer. Although affectionately known as Eros by Londoners, it's actually the Angel of Christian Charity by Sir Alfred Gilbert, and it was so unpopular when first unveiled that he opted for self-imposed exile. Today the statue is one of London's most famous sites and a haven for tourists and romantic couples alike. This is truly the gateway to the West End.

Our Local Expert Says:

Browse through iconic London department store Liberty within the gorgeous timber framed Tudor building. For funkier shops & food try the pedestrianized area of Carnaby Street.

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At the bustling intersection of Regent and Oxford Streets rests Oxford Circus. The square is the ideal place for people watching because the steady stream of pedestrians persists throughout the night. Several cafes and shops line the square.

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The Victoria and Albert is the greatest decorative-arts museum in the world. It's also one of the liveliest and most imaginative museums in London.

The medieval holdings include such treasures as the early-English Gloucester Candlestick; the Byzantine Veroli Casket, with its ivory panels based on Greek plays; and the Syon Cope, a unique embroidery made in England in the early 14th century. An area devoted to Islamic art houses the Ardabil Carpet from 16th-century Persia.

The V&A boasts the largest collection of Renaissance sculpture outside Italy. A highlight of the 16th-century collection is the marble group Neptune with Triton, by Bernini. The cartoons by Raphael, which were conceived as designs for tapestries for the Sistine Chapel, are owned by the Queen and are on display here. A most unusual, huge, and impressive exhibit is the Cast Courts, life-size plaster models of ancient and medieval statuary and architecture.

The museum has the greatest collection of Indian art outside India, plus Chinese and Japanese galleries. In complete contrast are suites of English furniture, metalwork, and ceramics, and a superb collection of portrait miniatures, including the one Hans Holbein the...

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The St James's Restaurant and Lounge are situated on the fourth floor. Serving traditional British foods using the very best of seasonal British ingredients. Formal afternoon Tea is served every day in the Lounge and restaurant.