What is London Known For?

What is London known for? Well let’s start with the fact that it is the capital of England. And what is England? Surprisingly, it is actually a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Consequently, it comprises five-eighths of the Island of Great Britan with Wales to the West and Scotland to the North. Northern Ireland makes up the fourth member country of the United Kingdom which from our viewpoint as Americans makes England more like a state. Nevertheless, we find it a great place to visit, and Robin is quite engaged in following the comings and goings of the British Monarchy.

Flag of England, not the Union Jack

Getting to London

London has several airports that you may use to get to London depending on where you are coming from. The biggest and the one you are most likely to be arriving at if coming from the United States is Heathrow. Heathrow, like the other airports, is a fair way out of town. Therefore, unless you have a big checkbook and want to take a cab or private transfer, taking an hour or more into the city, we recommend taking the Heathrow Express. The Heathrow Express is as the name says, an express train into London, leaving Heathrow from the central station between Terminals, 2 and 3, and from Terminal 5. It is a fifteen-minute ride into the city and leaves you at Paddington Station. Click here for the Heathrow Express.

What is London, England Known For?

As the Capital and largest city in England, London is known as the obvious jumping off place to explore a wonderful country. London is the most visited city in Europe and has the busiest city airport system in the world; The London Underground is also the oldest rapid transit system in the world;  London is home to the most 5-star hotels of any city; London is well known for it’s theatre district in the West End; London has four World Heritage Sites: The Tower of London, Kew Gardens, Westminister Palace including the famous Westminster Abbey and the Town of Greenwich. Other well known sites include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge (not London Bridge as it is wrongly called), and Trafalger Square.

West End – London Theatre

Nobody is more associated with the theatre in London than Andrew Lloyd Weber. The Phantom of the Opera is his most well-known play. It first opened in London, as did most of his plays.

For more theatre information, please visit Our Favorite Theaters post.

After a short river cruise up the Thames River, you will get to Greenwich, England. The river tour starts in Westminster and makes a brief stop at The Tower of London. You then continue under the Tower Bridge, and pass by the fastest growing area of London, Canary Wharf. (See picture below). Greenwich is known for its Royal Observatory, the zero-longitude prime meridian and Greenwich Meantime. Greenwich was also popular as a Maritime base. It was the birthplace of many of the Tudors, most notably Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

London Pubs

What is it about English Pubs that makes them so inviting? To tell you the truth, we don’t know. They serve warm beer, you have to beg to get ice with your whisky, and they are usually crowded. Nevertheless, there is a certain charm that simply doesn’t exist in most American bars. Yet one pub website said the friendliness at the pubs is more like “Cheers”. Which of course is in Boston, New England, USA. Who knew the Brits would build pubs in the style of something from America? For more about New England see our post New England – DIY Travel.

Pubs – That is What London is Known For

At most of the pubs, food is served in the traditional way. Unfortunately, this generally speaking doesn’t stand up very well to the more epicurean tastes. Nevertheless, you would be foolish to pass up on a really good meat pie. We had one at The Punch Tavern, near St. Paul’s Cathedral, or fish and chips which are great where-ever you go. Surprisingly, some of the pubs have even earned a Michelin Star or two.

Traditionally English Pubs were the places that men hung out after work. However, most of the of the pubs today are catering to a much broader crowd. Checkout the Soho Pub in the photos below, on the left. It obviously won an award for reaching out to the LBGTQ crowd.

The pub in the middle is where we had lunch while we were in Greenwich. Like most pubs it served a nice fish and chips. However, in the evenings, it hosts a drag show a few nights a week.

The pub on the right, is clearly going for the more sophisticated “Gin Crowd”. Gin is clearly gaining focus in London and other Pubs throughout Great Britain. We found one pub, in the old Bank of England building, matching brands of gin with specific flavors of Fever Tree tonic. This made some really great cocktails.

Our Pub Visits

Our very first pub visit was located in Covent Garden was the former jaunt of Charles Dickens. It is possible that London’s oldest pub, The Coopers Arms (which was mentioned in 1772), changed its name to The Lamb & Flag in 1833 making this the oldest pub in London. Whether it holds this honor, we can say that it’s charming and quite old.

While Dickens wrote “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” we can say there is a distinct difference between the somewhat rowdy crowd downstairs and the civility of the upstairs dining area. The food was quite delicious, especially known for (not surprisingly) fish and chips, fisherman’s pie and Sunday roast.

Windsor Castle – Home to the King of England

During our stay in London, we decided to take a tour of Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath. It is an all-day tour, one that we booked thru viator.com. We highly recommend it.

Having never been to Windsor Castle or Stonehenge, we found the tour to be quite informative. What is particularly interesting about Windsor Castle is that people actually live here. It makes you realize that while the monarchy is a nice source of tourism pounds for the British economy, it is slowly getting out of line with most people’s lifestyles, and perhaps is in its final days.

Stonehenge -England’s Cultural Icon

Stonehenge certainly deserves its place as a British cultural icon and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The massive stone structure was built more than 5000 years ago. Surprisingly, it is actually owned by the Crown. Most of the stones are thirteen feet high. Stonehenge is thought to have been a pre-historic burial ground.

Bath, England

The third stop on the tour was in Bath. To be honest we were tired at that point. We found Bath to be okay but not our favorite tour stop.

Other English Cities

There are so many other places and cities in England that Cos has visitied. This includes Cambridge, Southhampton, Brighton. Manchester and York. However, it has been many years, his memory is strained, and his old pre-digital 35 mm photos are not in very good shape. A return trip is planned in either 2023 or 2024. Please wait for more in-depth reporting. God Bless the Queen, King.

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What is London Not Known For – Famous Restaurants

Well, while that might be true historically, it is changing. Here is a list of our recommended restaurants from our 2022 trip to London. If you wish to see which of these restaurants made our highly rated top-50 list, please go to Top 50 Restaurants.