The stretch of the Thames alongside the Houses of Parliament is the only restricted area of the river, due to obvious security concerns. River traffic must keep to the east bank.
Big Ben refers to the 13 ton bell in the clock tower of Westminster Palace. Opinion is divided as to whether it was named after the then Commissioner of Works, or a famous prize-fighter of the time.
Westminster Abbey was built by Edward the Confessor and completed just before his death in 1065. Since William the Conqueror all the kings & queens of England have been crowned here.
Currently the third tallest Ferris wheel in the world (the tallest when built in 1999, but now behind Singapore and Nanchang), it moves at 0.6mph, and you can see 25 miles from the top.
The lion sculpture was once painted red and stood over the Red Lion Brewery on the South Bank in the 18th century. When the area was redeveloped in the 1950s the lion was saved and moved here.
No.10 was given to Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first ‘prime minister’, by George II in thanks for his service. Walpole’s official title, First Lord of the Treasury, still remains on the letterbox.
This is the widest street in London. The black mark on the clock above the gateway to Horse Guards marks the time when Charles I was beheaded in this street in 1649.
This underground headquarters was Winston Churchill’s command post during World War Two (even though he used to insist on going on to the roof to watch the bombing raids!).
It was originally the official entrance to Buckingham Palace. Horse Guards was once a full Army garrison and is said to be haunted.
This was the only part of Whitehall Palace, one of the greatest in Europe, not destroyed by the fire of 1698. Charles I was executed on a scaffold built at window-level outside this building.
London Bridge was once crowded with buildings and prone to fires. It survived the 1666 Great Fire because an earlier fire had destroyed houses at the north end, creating a fire break!
Built to commemorate the Great Fire of 1666, the height of the Monument is the same as its distance from the bakery on Pudding Lane where the fire started.
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Landmark building which incorporates an archway providing access between The Mall, which extends to the South-West, and Trafalgar Sq to the North-East. John Prescott used to have a private flat here.
Every year a Norway Spruce is erected here and decorated as part of the Christmas festivities. The tree is a gift of thanks from the Norwegians for Britain's support during the Second World War
The gallery opened in 1824 to exhibit 38 paintings purchased by the government. The UK national collection is relatively small because unlike in Europe, the monarch’s collection was not nationalised.
One of the gallery’s most famous pictures is the Chandos portrait, which is said to be of William Shakespeare by his friend Richard Burbage. But some dispute its provenance.
The Savoy Hotel, which completed a £220m renovation in October 2010, was the first hotel to have lifts when it opened in 1889. Its first chef, Auguste Escoffier, led to the verb ‘to scoff’, as in eat
Often attended by producer Josh Wood for business meetings while in London. Savoy had lots of famous attendees over the years among them was Sir Winston Churchill.
