Attractions in London
London is full of so many things to see and do, it would take weeks, maybe even months, to see even a fraction of them. To avoid rushing from attraction to attraction without stopping to catch a breath, visitors should set priorities before they leave home. Pick a theme, such as Royal London, and then seek out attractions centered around that them.
The first place to go on a Royal London tour is Buckingham Palace, home to Queen Elizabeth II. Catch the Changing of the Guard at 11:30 a.m. daily from April to September and every other day the rest of the year. Fans of Princess Diana will want to visit St. Paul's Cathedral where she married Prince Charles in 1981 or her home at Kensington. A visit to the Princess Diana memorial fountain in Hyde Park is a good place to celebrate her life. Westminster Abbey is another site much connected to royalty. Kings and queens have been crowned here since 1066, beginning with Harald. Westminster Abbey is a short walk from the Houses of Parliament alongside the Thames River.
Visitors on a budget might want to concentrate on attractions that are free. London has dozens of such sites, beginning with the very impressive British Museum in Bloomsbury. The museum is home to the Famous Rosetta Stone, an Egyptian discovery that led tot he deciphering of hieroglyphics; Chinese porcelain and rare British historic documents. Museum row in Kensington makes it easy to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Science and Technology, which are all connected by an underground walkway.
For the art lovers, there's the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square; the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Britain, which features British masters of old, and the Tate Modern; which concentrates on 20th and 21st century art. All these are free to visit.
Then there's literary London, motorcycle London, theatrical London . . .