Travel to London

Travel to London

London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom and is one of the world's leading business and financial centres, as well as a popular tourist destination. It is a fascinating city to visit with its rich history, impressive buildings, museums and galleries, as well as some of the best hotels in the world.

Transportation to London

London has excellent transport links with five airports serving the city and an extensive rail and road network around the United Kingdom. Heathrow, 15 miles west of London, is the biggest airport here, and is one of the busiest airports in the world. Such is the popularity of London that its second airport, Gatwick (located 30 miles south of London), is also one of the top ten busiest airports in the world for international travel. Stansted and Luton airports are particularly popular with short haul budget flights to Europe, and City Airport is the closest to the centre of London and is popular with European business passengers.

London has good road links with 7 motorways linking to the M25 that encircles the city. The roads are generally of a good standard, although traffic can be bad at times, potentially causing long delays.

The same can be said of the rail links, the network is vast with routes all over the country from Londons main train stations, but reliability can be something of a problem and train speeds cannot compete with the worlds fastest railways.

What to see

London has plenty to occupy tourists, with a huge range of attractions to suit all. There are a large number of excellent museums, and entry to all of them is free of charge. The Victoria and Albert Museum and The British Museum are two of the most popular, but the Science Museum and Natural History Museum are both well worth a visit.

London has some interesting buildings with St Pauls Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace (home of the Queen) all popular with visitors to the city.

London Zoo, located to the north of Regents Park, was the worlds first scientific zoo and today is one of the capitals most popular attractions.

Londons theatre district is world famous, and although a night out here is not cheap it will be an unforgettable experience; there are often discounted tickets available on the day, for some shows.

Daytrips

There is plenty to see in the area surrounding London, and one of the most popular day trips is to Windsor. Windsor Castle has been a royal home for over 900 years and is easily reached from the capital. The famous cities of Cambridge and Oxford are also close enough for a good day trip.

Activities and leisure

Londons eight Royal parks offer some wonderful leisure opportunities, with relaxing picnics and sports popular in most of the parks. London is also home to some of the UKs biggest football teams.

Safety issues

London is generally a safe city to visit, but there are some points that visitors should take note of. There is the possibility of pickpockets and bag-snatchers operating in busy tourist areas, and visitors are advised not to walk alone at night, especially outside of the busiest areas. As with any trip, it is important to take out a comprehensive travel insurance policy.