My favourite part of London! (Borough & London Bridge)

Member Name: Leolover

Product:	Borough & London Bridge
Date:	06/11/01 (231 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loads to see and do, history

Disadvantages: traffic congestion

The Borough and London Bridge area is one of my favourite parts of London. There's so much to see and do here, so many wonderful buildings and tourist attractions, you could have a great day out in London if you stayed in this area alone.

How to get there :

Borough and London Bridge underground stations are literally about three minutes apart, so it doesn't really matter which one you alight at. They're both on the Northern line of the tube network. This line doesn't have the best reputation for speed and efficiency but in my experience, this part of the line rarely has severe problems. The area is also well served by buses and easily accessible from other parts of London.

Here are some of the best places to visit in the area:

Borough Market

The Borough market is a gourmet food market situated under the railway arches of Borough station, selling everything from fine wine to exotic teas and coffees, hand made chocolates, gourmet cheeses, organic vegetables, meat, seafood and bread. It's open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and is the perfect place to pick up luscious goodies for a Saturday dinner party. The stallholders are all very friendly and obviously take a great pride in the food they sell, they're happy to discuss how things are made and offer tips on storage and recipes. Among the unusual and delicious things I've tried from here are Venison and cranberry sausages, creamy goats cheese and gigantic Queen olives. It's difficult to tear yourself away from the place once you've paid it a visit!


Tate Modern

The Tate Modern art gallery is the newest and most controversial modern art gallery in London. It's an interesting visit, but not being a fan of modern art, I wouldn't personally go more than once. Entry is free, but once inside you have to pay extra to enter certain exhibitions. I wouldn't bother - there's plenty of free stuff to see,
and after an hour or so of wandering around looking at all the weird stuff on display you'll probably have had enough anyway.

There's a restaurant in the building if you're feeling peckish, but it's quite pricey and not all that great. You'd be better off trying one of the many pubs or restaurants in the area - much better value and nicer food.

London Dungeon

Needs no introduction! Gruesome, grim and great, great fun! Here you can learn about Londons unsavoury past, hear stories about some of the more notorious villains and their fate, and witness the terrible punishments meted out to criminals in times past. Perhaps not suitable for smaller children, but older ones (and adults!) will love it.


Clink Prison

The Clink Prison is a kind of mini version of the London Dungeon. Located in Clink Street next to London Bridge, it's well worth a visit, and has housed all sorts of villains ranging from priests to prostitutes since it was first built in the 12th century. It shows reconstructions of cell interiors and contains a hands-on display of original and reproduction restraining and torturing devices. Lovely!


Vinopolis

For wine lovers like myself, you can?t beat a visit to Vinopolis. You can go on an interactive tour of the worlds wine producing regions, see how wine is made and (the best bit!) try up to ten free samples. If you don't want to pay to go on the tour, the wine warehouse is still worth a visit for bargains and rare wines, and there's also an excellent restaurant.


Globe Theatre

I adore Shakespeare, and a visit to the Globe Theatre is always a treat for me. It saddens me that it took an American (Sam Wanamaker) to have enough love and interest for the great Bard to build this extraordinary monument to him and his plays. Why don't the English have the same sort of appreciation for this literary genius? Anyway, enough of that...


The Globe is a wonderful achievement, a a faithful recreation of Shakespeare's Globe close to its original Bankside, Southwark location. It never fails to amaze me seeing the theatre, and imagining the peasants and lords and ladies making their way there so many years ago...And now we, too, can experience a Shakespeare play the way in the same sort of surroundings where it would originally have been performed!
This summer I saw Macbeth at the Globe, an absolutely fantastic production which I returned to see twice, I was so impressed. I thoroughly recommend a visit to the Globe. If you can't make it to an actual play, try the guided tour and the museum, both very interesting. There's also a shop with lots of lovely mementos, and a restaurant, which I haven't actually tried, but the menu looks nice.


Hays Galleria

This is a very nicely designed shopping centre containing lots of specialist craft and art shops and eateries. A nice place to stop for lunch, or to browse for gifts.

There you have it, a guide to my favourite part of London! Do pay the area a visit, it really is lovely and there's so much to do. The borough of Southwark is often ignored in favour of trendier, more upmarket areas, but it's teeming with places of historical interest and has so much to offer. There?s loads that I haven't mentioned - Southwark Cathedral, Tooley street, the Golden Hinde...

Have fun exploring!

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