Online Maps of London Attractions

So you are coming to London and want to find your way about the city. There are an increasing number of websites that contain information about London, the sights and the attractions. Which should you go to?

One such is this site about London tourist attractions, which is based on a Google Map mashup of London showing some images of some of the attractions you may find here. Each Google pin links through to a page with a brief description about the attraction. The site, moniterized by Google Ads, is clean and runs smoothly

An alternative site is also based on a map. This London Map contains over 100 panoramic images from around the city linked to an interactive map. It is part of a much larger collection of tours from various cities and is being built up by a number of different contributing panoramic photographers.

There is also another Google based Map which also contains some information about each attraction. Any of these sites are a good way to check out the attractions of the city before you come and visit.

Check out the London index of this blog to see what London sights and attractions have been described here to date.

Colville Place - London

This photo of Colville Place in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

Colville Place is found just before Goodge Street when traveling North up Tottenham Court Road. It is quite small, contains a grassy area, a couple of walkways under arches created by plants and various seating. The area around Colville place is packed with shops and offices.

Tottenham Court Road is well known for HiFi and computer shops that dominate the bottom end of the street. The top end contains more furniture shops than anything else, though this is liberally sprinkled with numerous eateries, unfortunately mostly of the chain brand variety, to satisfy the lunchtime demands of the offices nearby. Colville Place can thus make a welcome break for a place to rest one’s feet from trudging through the shops, although the sound of Tottenham Court Road is never far away.

In the sum, therefore, the time at which this picture was taken, the grass of Colville Place may be all but invisible at lunchtime due to the people crammed into almost every available space.

The one place of note that is on Colville Place is the Colville Place Gallery, the only gallery in the Uk dedicated to Digital Art. It is located at 1 Colville Place and has a changing display of up and coming artists working with the new media. The Colville Place Gallery has a reputation that far outstrips the size of the building, and also contains a fair collection of Digital Art Books and DVDs about the subject.

The nearest tube station to Colville Place is Goodge Street.

The full panoramic image of Colville Place can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Clarence Gardens - London

This photo of Clarence Gardens in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

Clarence Gardens is a square in the London Borough of Camden situated in the middle of the Regents Park Estate. This is a housing estate just north of the Euston Road and very close to Regents Park. You may ask why such an obscure place is being photographed and listed here and on Panoramic Earth. The answer is simple – it is where I was living at the time I was taking panoramic images of London!

Regents Park Estate is about 40 years old, built to provide social housing needs for the borough. During the Thatcher government, people were encouraged to but their own council flats and now a growing proportion of the flats in the area are privately owned. In spite of this not being the most picturesque area, the properties here are not cheap because of the location.

The location of the Regents Park Estate is ideal for living in London. Regents Park itself is only a couple of minutes walk away. The nearby tube stations are so many that it is almost easier to list the tube lines not within a 5 minute walk of the estate. Euston, Euston Square, Warren Street, Great Portland Street, Regents Park and Mornington Crescent are all within easy walking distance.

Within walking distance of Clarence Gardens are a great many of very popular places in London. Oxford Street, Soho and the West End are all about 20-30 minutes walk south. The British Museum and the British Library are about 20 minutes away, as to is Baker Street on the other side of Regents Square, and Camden Town to the north.

Clarence Gardens is not a place to go out of your way to visit, but at least you now know why I chose to write about it.

The full panoramic image of Clarence Gardens can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

London City Hall (GLA Headquaters)

This photo of the City Hall in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks. Get the most of London with these London Guide Books

City Hall is the home of the Greater London Authority, and is a new building on the Thames situated between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, just a little way down from HMS Belfast. The striking rounded glass building was opened in 2002 and has a very unusual shape, intended in part to increase energy efficiency as well as to provide a striking landmark.

It has been compared to Darth Vader's helmet, a misshapen egg, a woodlouse or a motorcycle helmet. The first occupant, London Mayor Ken Livingstone, must have surely come up with the best one, calling it a "glass testicle". Given the taxes imposed on Londoners during his internship, many may be inclined to go with the Vader Helmet analogy. In fact the building does not belong to the GLA, but is rented on a 25 year lease (at an annual cost of £36.50 per square foot). Next to the City Hall is The Scoop, a sunken oval area used for outdoor displays during the summer.

The interior of City Hall is designed around a magnificent interior ramp down which the people can walk above the debating chamber. It is a 42m high, 10 storey building. Every one of the 3,844 glass panels that make up City Hall is unique and was cut by laser. Norman Foster, one of the principal architects, had previously used the ramp concept in Berlin's Reichstagsgebäude. (Again in a possible farce, this ramp has been likened to that in the penguin enclosure of London Zoo.). The top storey, referred to as 'London's living room', leads out onto a balcony with a 360˚ panoramic view of the city.

The following books on London architecture may be of interest to you:
London's Waterfront: The Thames from Battersea to the Barrier
New London Architecture
London: A Guide to Recent Architecture

City Hall is open to the public, the Greater London Authority website has visiting details. Other attractions near to City Hall include The Monument, Winston Churchill’s Britain at War, Vinopolis, Southwark Cathedral, Tower of London and Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast. Entrance to all of these London attractions is free to holders of the London Pass. Other nearby attractions include The London Dungeon, Hay’s Galleria (for shopping) and the Design Museum.

The nearest stations to London City Hall are London Bridge and Tower Hill.

The full panoramic image of City Hall can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Cavendish Square off Oxford Street - London

This photo from Cavendish Square in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

Cavendish Square is not that well known. It is just north of Oxford Street in London and close to Oxford Circus. Surrounded by shopping and offices it is popular with workers as a lunch spot during the summer. In fact, it makes for a pleasant break from the bustle and crowds that weave their way along Oxford Street. John Lewis shopping centre borders the south side of Cavendish Square, and it is often much easer to exit the store here than through the front onto Oxford Circus.

As for a little history, Cavendish Square was first developed in 1717 by the 2^nd Earl of Oxford for his wife Henrietta Cavendish-Hollace. Oxford Street itself was also being redeveloped at the same time. The square became very fashionable among the upper classes in London, with individuals like the Duke of Chandos choosing to build there. However, the South Sea Bubble burst and a lot of people lost money, including the Duke of Chandos who had to settle for something rather less grand than originally planned.

Cavendish Square became well known from references to it in books by Charles Dickens, including Nicholas Nickleby, Lottle Dorrit¸and Barnaby Rudge. The square is occupied by statue of both William (Duke of Cumberland who defeated the Bonnie Prince Charles at the battle of Culloden) and Lord George Bentinck (Conservative MP of late 19C).

The whole area is also famous for private medical practices, with both Harley Street and Wimpole Street being near by. Cavendish Square was also the home of Heythorp College until the price of staying here became prohibitive and the college moved out in 1993. Unfortunately, the installation an underground car park and enhancement of vehicle access around the square in the 1970’s has destroyed much of the original layout.

The nearest station to Cavendish Square is Oxford Circus.

The full panoramic image of Cavendish Square can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

How do you find this?

It is always interesting to see how people find you on the net, recently I have noticed a number of people beginning to find this blog through Google. It makes for an eclectic collection of search terms and some are listed below. It is nice to know that what is put up here is being of some potential use to someone! Some of the terms you may have found this blog under include:

"baker street tube station" layout "museum of london" 055pro review 500 years of st peter's basilica british library british museum front door image church of il gesu circus maximus rome circus maximus rome pictures Dimensions of the St. peter's in Rome ice ring south kensington interior of il gesu in rome london panorama royal free image london river Manfrotto 438 review monterone palazzo colonna information panoramic locations thames london pictures of church of Gesu roman emperors palatine hill Rome Articles S Carlo alle Quattro Fontane sacra dell' argentina san bartolomeo St Basilica loggia of the blessings st peters rome pictures

So happy reading to all who drop by, please comment where you have found something useful here.

Brunswick Square in Camden - London

This photo from Brunswick Square in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

Information about Brunswick Square in London is quite sparse. The square is located next to the Brunswick Centre, in the Borough of Camden. On the west side is Coram Fields, linked to the Coram Family. To the south is International House (a residential student hall belonging to the University of London) and close by is the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. I have often cycled past this – it is on the best route from Euston to Gray’s Inn Road by bike – so it seemed fitting to take a photo of it.

The area has a long association with children’s charities. In 1739 Thomas Coram established a Foundling Hospital nearby to look after abandoned children. Near to Brunswick square is the Foundling Museum, which, refurbished in 2004, contains an important body of art from the hospital. Hogarth personally contributed paintings to decorate the walls of the new building. Many other contemporary British artists followed suit thus creating the first British art gallery. As a result, the Foundling Hospital\is now seen as the catalyst for the Royal Academy.

The Coram Family continue in the same vein today, being one of England’s oldest charities to look after the welfare of children. The Coram Family also gave their name to Coram Fields which lie just to the east of Brunswick Square The site used to be occupied by the Foundling Hospital, which moved out of London in the 1920’s. Huge opposition from local communities prevented the space from being redeveloped and instead it was converted into an open space containing a children’s play area with sand pits, a pet’s corner and café. Adults are only permitted if accompanied by a child.

I can’t exactly leave this area without further mention of the Brunswick Centre. A recently re-painted council block, built like an inverted ziggurat with a shopping mall. The Brunswick Centre has an infamous reputation for being dreary, run down and, unfortunately, Grade II listed meaning that very little in the area can physically be changed. And that in spite of the intense dislike of most of the residents of the 560 flats that occupy the building. It seems yet another case where planners have slightly ‘lost the plot’ condemning both London and the local residents to a pretty dismal architectural future. Maybe the recent face-lift will help both the block and the area. The Brunswick Centre does at least contain the Renoir Cinema, an independent cinema showing an interesting collection of films.

The nearest tube stations are Russell Square and Euston.

The full panoramic image of Brunswick Square can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Buckingham Palace - London

This photo of Buckingham Palace in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

Well, we all know Buckingham Palace is one of the most famous landmarks in the world, let alone London, so where to begin. Home sometimes of the Queen, the Changing of the Guard and Trooping of the Colour, Palace garden parties and the British Honours List. This aside it is also the administrative centre of the British monarchy, and an effective, if mostly private, museum of a huge number of important works of art, the Royal Collection.

Mostly private, because some parts of Buckingham Palace are, at some times, open to the public and each year over 50,000 book tickets to wonder through some of the State Rooms. Tickets for this are available outside the Palace.

Buckingham Palace is situated at the Western end of the Mall, next to St. James Park and Green Park. Since 1660 Buckingham Palace and the other Royal Palaces have been guarded by the Household Troops. Like the palace, the Household Troops are famous the world over dressed in full uniform of red tunics, black trousers and bearskins (the famous black ‘hat’)

Loads of tourist time their visit to London around the Changing of the Guard, where new soldiers march from Wellington Barracks via Horse Guards Parade and then up the Mall to the place in the forecourt. The Old Guards hand over in the Palace courtyard and then proceeds back to the barracks. This takes place at 11:30 every day in the summer, and every other day in the winter and lasts about 45 minutes

The original building was called Buckingham house, built in 1703 but has been enlarged and expanded several times in the following 300 years. It has been worked on by numerous architectes including John Nash and Aston Webb (see Admilraty Arch) The last major changes of the late 19th and early 20th Century saw the addition of a large East wing facing The Mall, At this time the State Entrance (Marble Arch) was moved to it’s current location at the top of Hyde Park. The final changes happened in 1911-13 when the Victoria Memorial was sited in front of the palace and the East Front was faced in Portland Stone . Buckingham Palace became the official royal palace of the British monarch when Queen Victoria took the throne in 1837.

The full panoramic image of the façade of Buckingham Palaces and the area around including the Victoria Memorial can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Brompton Oratory - London

This photo from the Brompton Oratory in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

The Brompton Oratory is found on the Brompton Road in London. This is a very busy road with runs from Knightsbridge to this point before changing name while continuing past Harrods and then past the Victoria and Albert (V&A) and the Natural History Museum. It is actually quite difficult to find a good place to take a panoramic picture of the area around the Brompton Oratory for the very simple reason that standing in the middle of 4 lanes of traffic is not conducive to a long life.

The real name of the Brompton Oratory is the Church of the Immaculate Hear of Mary, it is the second largest Roman Catholic church in London after Westminster Cathedral. The Oratory was consecrated in 1884 and is about 200 ft high at the tallest point. It is built in Italian Baroque style, as an exact copy of the Il Gesu church in Rome.

The high altar stands in a 70 foot deep alcove whilst in the sanctuary stand two seven-branched candlesticks, copies of the menorah used in the Temple in Jerusalem (the menorah is one of the oldest symbols of the Jews, said to symbolize the burning bush seen by Moses on Mount Sinai) and which are depicted by on the Arch of Titus in Rome.

The lavishly gilded nave and dome mosaics are the work of Comandatore Formilli (1927-32). Though the dome is striking, it is the pulpit that catches the eye first; this baroque wonder seems alive with flowing lines and extravagant decoration quite seldom seen in British churches. The 1930’s wooden pulpit stands prominently in the nave, an intricate structure also in Baroque style.

The interior contains some artifacts that are older than the church itself. The fitted with marble columns, a vaulted domes, various mosaics and other pieces of art. Located in the nave are the 12 apostles, carved for the Siena Cathedral in 1680 by Mazzuoli. The Lady Chapel also contains a late 17C altar.

Next to, but set back from Brompton road form, the Brompton Oratory stands Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican church, the building of which is much overshadowed by the Catholic structure. Just down the road are Harrods and a number of museums including the V&A and Science Museum. The nearest tube station is Knightsbridge.

The full panoramic image of the Brompton Oratory can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Westminster Cathedral - London

This photo from inside Westminster Cathedral in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

Westminster Cathedral is tucked away in a piazza of Victoria Street, about half way between Victoria Station and Parliament Square. Previously the site was occupied by the Tothill Fields Prison (formerly called Middlesex (Westminster) House of Correction), a prison for boys. This was brought in 1884 by Cardinal Manning and on it now stands the current Cethedral. The foundation stone was laid in 1895 and the bulk of the building was completed by 1903.

It is quite an extraordinary building in London, with the tall tower, domes and balconies all built in the Byzantine style of the Easter Roman churches rather than the Gothic styles Europe was familiar with (or the Baroque style of the Brompton Oratory in Knightsbridge). However, the uniqueness of Westminster Cathedral does not stop here. The vast interior is an ongoing project and not yet considered complete.

To date there are over 126 types of marble from 26 countries on 5 continents used to decorate the interior. Almost everywhere you look yet another colour of stone catches the eye, from the large pillars in the nave to fine patterns on St. Patrick’s chapel (where a lot of the stone used is Irish) and St. Andrew’s chapel. The work is going on and in 1995 more marbles were installed within the Nave. The high altar is made of twelve tons of Cornish granite and above it is a canopy of white Carrara inlaid with coloured marbles and resting on eight columns of yellow Verona. And that is just a taster.

Some of the interior is clearly symbolic. The two red pillars inside the entrance of Westminster Cathedral represent the blood of Jesus shed on the cross, while the sea animals in the floor of St. Andrews chapel represent his former life as a fisherman before becoming a follower of Jesus.

From there it is possible to move on to the mosaics that decorate some of the interior. These are by no means complete as only 7 of the 12 chapels have yet been decorated (as of 2006). However, an impressive amount has already been installed, the blue arch over the sanctuary has over 1,000,000 pieces to make up the mosaic, while the mosaic found in the Lady chapel contains some 3 million pieces!

Westminster Cathedral really is a hidden treasure, not as popular as nearby Westminster Abbey or St Pauls Cathedral in the City, but well worth a visit. The advantage of this attraction is that, unlike the others, no one is going to demand money off you before you step inside. You can pay, if you wish, to ascend the tower of Westminster Cathedral and get a glimpse of the skyline of London, where you can see all the way over Westminster and as far out as the arches of the new Wembley stadium in the other direction. Be warned, however, that space at the top is in short supply. You are also able to see over the roof of the cathedral behind with green copper domes protruding from the top. The nearest tube to Westminster Cathedral is Victoria Station.

The full panoramic image of the inside of Westminster Cathedral can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Bloomsbury Square in Camden - London

This photo from the Bloomsbury Square in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advantage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

Bloomsbury Square is located just south of the British Museum, on the way to Holborn in the London Borough of Camden. It is quite a pleasant square with a little play area for children set up in the North West corner. Unfortunately, much of the square is covered with paving and there is not a huge amount of space to sit down. However, like most squares in London, Bloomsbury Square is hugely popular during the lunch break with people from the surrounding offices in those rare occasions when London is sunny and warm.

The Square has been here since the late 17C, when it was called Southampton Square. It was developed by the 4^th Earl of Southampton, who also gave his name to Southampton Row nearby. The Earl had his own house built here, which later passed by marriage to the Bedford Family along with the rest of the Bloomsbury Estate.

Later the square and Bloomsbury as a whole fell out of favour with the upper classes, the Duke of Bedford moved out and his home demolished to make room for terraced housing. Though none of the original 17th century buildings survive, there are buildings from the 18C and early 19C.

In the gardens of Bloomsbury Square stands a statue of James Charles Fox, a Whig and associate of the Duke of Bedford. This statue, a 3m high bronze on a granite pedastal, was erected in June 1816. J.C.Fox is seated wearing a consular robe with his right hand supporting the Magna Charta.

A recent refurbishment aimed project carried out by Camden Council set about to restore the views and link to Russell Square nearby and add new railings and a hornbeam fence along with new paths, park furniture and landscape improvements. These changes restored the square to a layout similar to that proposed by Humphrey Repton in 1806.

The nearest tube station is Holborn on the Central Line, but Russell Square and Tottenham Court Road stations are not too far away. It takes only a couple of minutes to walk from here to the British Museum. There are a large number of hotels around the area.

The full panoramic image showing Bloomsbury Square can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Blackfriars Bridge - London

This photo from the Blackfriars Bridge in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advatage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

Blackfriars Bridge is busy, some 54,000 vehicles a day kind of busy. It crosses the River Thames in London linking the City of London with Southwark. Nearby on the North side are both St. Paul’s Cathedral and The Temple in the City. Landmarks on the south side include the Tate Modern, Southwark Cathedral and the Oxo Tower. The next car bridge up-river is Waterloo Bridge and down river is London Bridge (often confused with Tower Bridge).

A crossing at Blackfriars Bridge has existed since 1769, when the first, a toll bridge, was built and was originally called the William Pitt Bridge after the then Prime Minister. The current iron bridge was built in 1869 and widened in 1910 as the volume of traffic grew.

The view in this image is up the Thames facing West. The Oxo Tower is off to the right, and The Temple is off to the left. Along the North bank are several permanently moored ships that act as both restaurants and night clubs. Most pedestrians crossing the Thames are likely to head for the Millennium Bridge which links St. Paul’s to the Tate Modern just a little further down river. The nearest tube stations are Blackfriars (also a National Rail station) and Southwark.

One of the things that made Blackfriars Bridge (in)famous in recent years was the discovery of the body of Roberto Calvi, was found hanged below one of the arches in 1982. Snr Calvi was the chairman of the Banco Ambrosiano and worked closely with the Vatican, earning him the nickname ‘God’s Banker’.

The bank collapsed in one of Italy’s largest political scandals. His death was at first attributed to suicide, but is now accepted to have been murder. He escaped Italy on a false passport and turned up dead in London 8 days later with bricks and some $15,000 in cash in his pockets. Claims have been made that Calvi's death involved the Vatican Bank (Banco Ambrosiano's main shareholder), the Mafia (which may have used Banco Ambrosiano for money laundering), and the Propaganda Due or P2 masonic lodge, of which Calvi was a member.

The full panoramic image showing of the view from Blackfriars Bridge can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Barbican Centre - London

This photo of the Barbican Arts Centre in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advatage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

“The Barbican is Europe's largest multi-arts and conference venue presenting a year-round programme of art, music, film and theatre.” – So says the blurb on the Barbican Website.

And this may well be true for under one roof here you can find a concert hall, two theatres, three cinemas, two art galleries, conservatory and public library, three restaurants, private function rooms, conference suites, two exhibition halls and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. It is open 363 days a year and offers a vast array of visual and performing arts. It would almost be quicker to list the types of material that is not shown at the Barbican Centre than to list what is.

In spite or all this glory, the Barbican Centre has also the dubious honour of being voted "London's ugliest building" in a poll run by the BBC in September 2003. This is compounded by an exceedingly complex and confusing layout both inside and out, which, while revolutionary at the time, has evermore left visitors often perplexed as to how to get around. Outside are some lovely terraces with fountains.

The area in which the Barbican Centre now sits was heavily bombed in WWII, yet it took quite some time for the redevelopment to happen. It was opened in 1982, being mostly funded by the City of London as a gift to the nation to the tune of £161 million (about £450 million today).

The Barbican is the home of the London Symphony Orchestra and was, until recently, the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The nearst tube is the Barbican, and the Museum of London and St. Paul's Cathedral are also nearby.

The full panoramic image showing the outside of the Barbican Centre and the fountain terraces can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Baker Street Tube Station - London

This photo up the Baker Street Tube Sation in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advatage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

Baker Street was one of the original stations on the first underground rail system in the world. It was opened in 1863, when the carriages were pulled along by a steam train, which can not have been too comfortable for the passengers. It has grown to be a main junction station on the London underground with access to the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Circle, and Hammersmith & City lines.

Baker Street itself is a very busy shopping area stretching down from Regents Park to Oxford Street, coming out near Marble Arch. The most famous resident of Baker Street is the fictional Sherlock Holmes, whose address was 221b Baker Street. The Sherlock Holmes Museum is, aptly, located in Baker Street just north of the station, though not at this particular address (free entrance with the London Pass).

Baker Street is also well known among tourists as being the nearest tube station to Madam Taussauds, just a short way along Marylebone Road. Thus, in the height of the summer, there is no such thing as rush hour at Baker Street given the volume of tourists pouring through the portals on their way to the nearby attractions and Regents Park.

The London Underground Lost and Found office is located next to the station, whose large, and sometimes weird, collection of misplaced items forma a bizarre diary of the lives of those who use the London public transport museum. Aside from the obligatory hand bag and umbrella, there have also been handed in false eyes, skeletons and outboard motors. One hopes the skeleton was not the result of an overly long delay suffered by a commuter en route to work.

The full panoramic image showing the top of Baker Street and Madame Tussauds can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Albert Memorial - London

This photo up the Albert Memorial in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

Plan your visit to London by taking advatage of these London Hotel Specials or Thomson City Breaks.

The Albert Memorial is located in Kensington Gardens in Hyde Park, just opposite the Royal Albert Hall. These, like the Victoria and Albert Museum, were built by Queen Victoria in memory of her consort Albert who died of typhoid in 1861. This memorial is also a memorial to the Victorian era, mindset and powerbase at the time as it is packed with allegory. This end of the park is far less visited than the area around Hyde Park Corner, which means that at least you will have the time to explore it fully.

‘Explore’ does not mean that you are able to clamber upon it, but there are so many facets to the memorial that it deserves some time. The Albert Memorial opened in 1872 and is designed in Gothic Revival fashion with a large figure of Prince Albert seated ceremonially at the centre of the ornate canopy, holding a catalogue of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Above Albert's head are allegorical figures of Agriculture, Manufacture, Engineering, and Commerce. Representations of the morals of the Victorian era continue up the pinnacle including Faith, Hope, Charity, and Humility nearest the top. The whole is about 175 feet high.

The Albert Memorial is surrounded by four flights of steps leading up to the pavilion, and at the corners of each of these groups of statues represent the four continents of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. The pavilion base is surrounded by the Frieze of Parnassus, an elaborate composition showing 169 individual architects, composers, painters, poets, and sculptors, thus celebrating the Victorian Arts.

Four grey granite pillars support the canopy. Each one is cut from a single stone gray granite from Castle Wellan Quarries, Northern Ireland, weighs about 17 tons and took 8 men 20 weeks to polish. Surrounding these are red granite pillars from Ross of Mull. The capitals are of Darley Dale stone and the Arches made from Portland Stone. Albert is seated on a pedestal made of pink granite and marble.

During WWI the Albert Memorial was painted black but restoration has seen all the splendour and colour restored, Albert is now covered in gold leaf.

The full panoramic image showing Hyde Park and the view over to the Royal Albert Hall can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.

Admiralty Arch - London

This photo up the Admiralty Arch in London is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of London. There are over 100 images taken from around London linked to an interactive map.

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Admiralty Arch has actually no connection with the navy, except that it is adjoins the Royal Navy HQ located in the Old Admiralty Building. However, the name continues the naval theme of Trafalgar Square on whose southwest corner the arch is located.

Admiralty Arch forms a gateway from Trafalgar Square to The Mall, the processional road running along St. James Park and linking Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade. There is always a lot of traffic passing through Admiralty Arch, except on a Sunday when traffic is not permitted down most of The Mall.

Admiralty Arch is quite a new building being commissioned by King Edward VII in 1910 in memory of his mother Queen Victoria. Edward did not live to see the project completed. It was designed by Sir Aston Webb (also worked on Buckingham Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum) who also widened the Mall at the same time and provided the gilt statue of Victoria at the far end of the Mall just in front of the Palace.

Admiralty Arch has 5 arches and is faced with Portland Stone. Just below the top of the building is an inscription which reads: ANNO DECIMO EDWARDI SEPTIMI REGIS VICTORIÆ REGINÆ CIVES GRATISSIMI MDCCCCX (translates to : "In the tenth year of the reign of King Edward VII, to Queen Victoria from a grateful nation, 1910"). The 2 smaller outer arches are for pedestrians only, and the central large arch is only ever used for processional purposes. Thus Admiralty Arch presents the largest processional arch between Buckingham Palace and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

In July 2006 Greenpeace scaled Admiralty Arch and suspended banners accusing the British Government of “trashing rainforests” by using unsustainable timber during renovation of the Cabinet Offices within. Apart from closing the Mall to traffic for a couple of hours, nothing much more happened and the protest ended peacefully. Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square has also been used as a high profile protest point by Greenpeace in the past.

The nearest tube stations to this point are Leicester Square and Charring Cross stations.

The full panoramic image showing more of more of the surrounding buildings and Trafalgar Square can be found on the London tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

For more articles on London see the London Index or select one of the labels at the bottom.