London calling
Guardian Unlimited Travel
Published on Saturday December 1, 2007
Chris Alden offers three itineraries for the business traveller in London – whether you’ve the weekend, a day or just an hour free.
A weekend in London
If you’re a stressed-out city type, it might seem hard to find peace in a metropolis like London – but in fact, there’s a big open space running right through the centre of town: the river. So a great way to spend 48 hours in the city is to take a tour of the Thames, working your way from Tower Bridge in the east of the city, to Albert Bridge in the west.
Start your tour in Tower Bridge – the famous landmark that opens and closes to allow shipping to pass. Take a ride to a high-level walkway for breathtaking views, not only east to the city’s business district, London Docklands (wave at the bankers still hard at work); but also west to St Paul’s and central London. On the right is the Tower of London, which is the stunted castle-like building on the Thames; the Gherkin, designed by Norman Foster, rises behind it. Tours include the Victorian steam engines that once powered the bridge’s lifts. (Tower Bridge; +44 (0) 20 7403 3761 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +44 (0) 20 7403 3761 end_of_the_skype_highlighting; towerbridge.org.uk)
Walking along the south bank of the river (and skipping the Tower of London) and under the arches at London Bridge, you reach Borough Market. As London has built its reputation as a foodie capital in recent years, this market has become ever trendier – and it’s the place in town to buy top-quality hams, cheeses, wines and more, while still staying in a touristy zone. Rising from behind the market stalls is Gothic Southwark Cathedral, and there are any number of pubs and restaurants in the surrounding area. (Borough Market, 8 Southwark Street; +44 (0) 20 7407 1002; boroughmarket.org.uk)
Continuing along the river past all the pubs and the restored Globe Theatre, it can be tricky to stick to the Thames path. But eventually, you’ll reach one of the most successful new attractions to reach London in recent years – Tate Modern. The former Bankside power station is now the most visited art gallery in Britain. Don’t miss the giant Turbine hall in the basement, which is a venue for set-piece, one-off shows. From up inside the gallery, you can see right across the Millennium Bridge (originally known as the ‘wobbly bridge’, because it wobbled from side to side when first opened) over to St Paul’s. (Tate Modern, Bankside; +44 (0) 20 7887 8888; tate.org.uk)
As night closes in, have a drink at the bar of the restored Royal Festival Hall (Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road; 0871 663 250; southbankcentre.co.uk), while deciding how to spend your evening. You’re bang in the centre of town, so you could stay in the South Bank Centre for a show at the National Theatre or the National Film Theatre; head north over the Hungerford Bridge to Gordon’s Wine Bar (47 Villiers Street; +44 (0) 207 930 1408; gordonswinebar.com) on the north bank of the Thames; or join the queue to eat at one of London’s trendiest gastropubs, the Anchor and Hope (36 The Cut; +44 (0) 20 7928 9898).
On Sunday morning, if it’s a nice clear day, get up early and join the queue for the London Eye (Westminster Bridge Road; +44 (0) 870 5000 600; londoneye.com) – which gives you more great views of the Thames, with the Houses of Parliament all the way below you. From here, there’s an hourly Thames Clipper riverboat to Millbank Pier, for brunch in the cafe at the original Tate, Tate Britain (Millbank; +44 (0) 20 7887 8888; tate.org.uk).
From Tate Britain, it’s easy enough to pick up a black cab along the Embankment to Battersea Park, which offers one of the best riverside walks in London. Ask to be dropped off at the south end of Chelsea Bridge, then saunter along the Thames past the Peace Pagoda – a gift to London from a Japanese order of Buddhists – until you reach the idyllic Albert Bridge; which, as darkness draws in, will be lit by hundreds of fairy lights. Finish up with a beer at a riverside pub – or better still, eat at Ransomes Dock (35-37 Parkgate Road; +44 (0) 20 7223 1611; ransomesdock.co.uk) – a plush riverside restaurant.
One day in London
For an arty day out in the big smoke, take a walk from the museums of Trafalgar Square, past the bookshops, map shops and cafes of Covent Garden, to the university district in the north of the city.
Trafalgar Square, of course, is home to one of Britain’s most famous galleries, the National Gallery – but more accessible if you’re on a tight schedule is the National Portrait Gallery (St Martin’s Place; +44 (0) 20 7306 0055; npg.org.uk), just around the corner on Charing Cross Road, whose vast collection includes everything from Tudor galleries to contemporary portraits (both the National and the National Portrait Gallery are free to visit). The Portrait Cafe is a good lunch stop – or you could walk past second-hand bookshops to the Photographer’s Gallery (5 & 8 Great Newport Street) – a great little gallery that’s fantastic for dipping into, and hosts the Deutsche Borse photography prize each year. The gallery is actually in two buildings, a few doors down from each other; one has the shop, while the other has a cafe with long tables that are great for stretching out the papers as you absorb your art.
Now you’re on the edge of Covent Garden, so walk east up Long Acre, taking in Britain’s most famous map shop, Stanford’s (12-14 Long Acre; +44 (0) 20 7836 1321; stanfords.co.uk). Covent Garden is the place for wandering the streets and doing casual shopping while not getting too stressed about the idea; you can also look into the Poetry Cafe (22 Betterton Street; +44 (0) 20 7420 9887), which has poetry readings most evenings.
To finish your arty day in a trendy way, take a stroll (or a taxi) past the British Museum and Russell Square to one of London’s most successful new venues, popular with corporates and hipsters alike – Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes (Tavistock Hotel, Bedford Way; +44 (0) 20 7183 1979; bloomsburybowling.com). This swish 10-pin alley offers bowling for grown-ups; based in a former hotel car park and decorated with 50s-style interior, it’s as far from the multiplex-style megabowl as it’s possible to get. There are karoake booths, too, for when you start to feel that pain in your wrist and song in your heart.
One hour in London
If you only have one hour in London, forget the London Eye – the queues are too long and when you’re finished, you could be miles away from work. Instead, a fantastic way to find peace in the heart of the City is to visit St Paul’s Cathedral, which has been a symbol of the London skyline since its baroque dome, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, was completed in 1710.
The first thing to notice, if you haven’t visited the city recently, is that two facades of the great cathedral have now been fully restored after years of being under scaffolding – giving a suitably impressive approach whether you arrive from the ceremonial entrance on the west side, or from the south and the Millennium footbridge. Once you’re inside, though, the first thing you’re going to want to do as a visitor is climb that famous dome.
There are, in fact, three galleries you can climb to as a visitor to St Paul’s – but happily, if you haven’t got a great head for heights, the most famous is the lowest down, clinging to the interior of the dome itself. This is the Whispering Gallery, 30 metres above ground – so-called because a whisper on one side of the gallery is audible on the other side. If you’re alone, sitting up here and listening to the sound of choirs practising is a welcome break from the pace of the modern world.
Further up, on the outside of the dome, is the Stone Gallery – which gives views of the City of London. Wandering around here, more than 50 metres above ground, you can see the river and more recent London monuments such as Norman Foster’s Gherkin (50 St Mary Axe). But take a moment to pity Sir Christopher Wren, who, during the building’s construction, would be hauled up and down to here in a basket while the gallery was being built. Still higher is the much narrower Golden Gallery, more than 85 metres off the ground. If that seems high enough for you, be glad that you can no longer climb up to the ball and cross at the very top of the building – it’s 15 metres higher still, but has been closed to the public for safety reasons. (St Paul’s Cathedral, 020 7236 4128; stpauls.co.uk)
See this article on the Guardian Unlimited Travel website
View Chris Alden's journalism portfolio
Commenting is closed for this article.
All content © Chris Alden. Original design by Andy Brockie, adapted by Chris Alden over the years.