Free Capital (almost) (London in General)

Member Name: MagdaDH

Product:	London in General
Date:	22/08/08 (149 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's London, stupid

Disadvantages: big, crowded and busy

London is expensive, everybody knows it. But as far as a tourist visit goes, the best things in London are free!

What follows is my own tour of important London free of charge sights and attractions. Get sturdy shoes, drink and food, a rainproof and sunglasses and let's get going, starting with a walk that would take in a lot of major sights.

As you proceed, you might see places, attractions and buildings that you want to return to (some will be free, some paid for), make note of those. I will point out some - especially free ones - as we go along.

**Victoria & Westminster**

Depending on when you are staying, take a tube or walk to Victoria. Walk up The Buckingham Palace Road to Buckingham Palace. Have a look at the guards - you might actually catch the ceremony of Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace which takes place roughly every two days at approximately 11:15 am. It's crowded and long, but can be worth the look for the whole absurdity of the whole ornate pageant Check the schedule at

http://www.changing-the-guard.com/sched.htm

Thus entertained, walk down to have a look at Queen Victoria's monument and enter St James Park. Walk along the lovely ponds in the park, all the way down to the Horse Guards Parade and cross the parade ground towards the Horse Guards building to emerge at the Whitehall. Admire more guards in more fancy hats (you can take photos with those ones, both mounted and pedestrian and walk down a little bit to have a peek at number 10 Downing Street, now sadly barriered off, where the British Prime Minister lives and holds office. Whitehall itself is the street where the heaviness of Imperial government still hangs in the air.

As you get closer to the river, you will get near Westminster. You could spend at least half a day just here, in what is one of the oldest centres of population in London (it used to be a separate settlement form the City of London) and traditionally the heart of its power. The formidable Imperial administration buildings behind you, you are now facing two of perhaps the most iconic buildings in London.

The first is Westminster Abbey, the traditional place of coronation and a burial site for English monarchs and a magnificent Gothic church in itself (as well as place of burial for many other notable personages in British history and culture, from Charles Darwin to Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens to Peggy Ashcroft). You can walk round the building and round the cloisters for free, but the The Abbey itself costs £10 to enter, unless you are attending a service there, itself an interesting experience, and the choir is excellent.

The schedule can be found here: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/worship/services/

The second building is the Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster), a magnificent neo-Gothic edifice gracing the Thames bank, with its famous Clock Tower (that's where the Big Ben is located). There are paid-for tours in the summer (when the Commons and Lords don't sit) but when the Parliament is in session, visitors can observe the proceedings from the public gallery for free. Waiting in a public queue is the only way to get access for foreign visitors (outside St Stephen's entrance, up to 2 hours waiting time), while UK residents can get tickets from their MP.

**The South Bank and Tate Modern**

By now you have walked more than 1.5 miles and might be wanting a break, but I would urge you to go a bit further. Cross the river using the Westminster bridge and turn left on the other side. You are now on the South Bank and you can walk along the embankment that affords a fantastic view of the opposite bank with its iconic buildings. Pass The County Hall and walk towards the London Eye. Select a bench for your stop, snack and a drink and then walk on to admire (from the outside) the biggest Ferris Wheel in the world.

As you get to Hungerford Bridge (an old Brunel rail bridge flanked by twin modern suspension footbridges commemorating the Golden Jubilee) you will be passing the large and concrete-looking but surprisingly user friendly South Bank complex, comprising the National Theatre, BFI Southbank (formerly known as the National Film Theatre), Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Hayward and few other spaces and venues. None of the major performances are free, but you can often catch street performers outside or free shows inside the foyers of the major spaces, especially in the lunchtime period. Venture inside, and there is plenty of leaflets and posters available that will tell you what's on.

If you have had enough, you can walk to Waterloo station from here or cross the river to Embankment (tube) & Charing Cross (tube & rail) stations.

Otherwise (or the next day, as you start from this point), potter about this surprisingly restful, traffic free area. Browse through the wares of the second-hand booksellers in front of the BFI (under the shelter afforded by the Waterloo Bridge).

If not, walk on. We are still on the South bank of the Thames, and as you walk the relatively uneventful bit between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges, you can see the panorama on the opposite bank changing. The City, with its mixture of old churches dotted in the sea of 19th century and very modern office buildings is looming. St Paul's becomes visible quite near and the Nat West tower and Gherkin feature clearly in the skyline.

As you cross under the Blackfriars bridge, you will clearly see the stark building that used to be a power station and now houses one of the temples of modern art, The Tate Modern. As most major museums in the capital of the UK, this one is free of charge and eminently worth visiting: if you like modern art, you will be back for a longer tour not preceded by a 3 mile walk, if you don't like modern art, still walk in and have a look at least at the Turbine Hall, usually full of some giant installation of exhibit and an awe-inducing space by itself.

Tate Modern is another good point to break the tour, especially if you spent any time inside. The nearest tube station is Southwark (further south) or Blackfriars (over the bridge).

Before you go, though, have a look 150 yards on at the modern reconstruction of the original Globe Theatre, named "Shakespeare's Globe Theatre" or "New Globe Theatre".

**St Paul's, The City and Maritime Greenwich**

The next point on our route is St Paul's Cathedral and the City, and to visit that we need to cross the Millennium foot bridge from Tate Modern back to the north bank of the Thames. The views of the river, and the city, both downstream and upstream are magnificent, and the Millennium Bridge affords a reasonable approach to the cathedral, normally cramped by nearby buildings. But you can, of course, just take a tube to Blackfriars or St Paul's and ignore the riverside approach.

I used to live less than a mile from St Paul's, just north of the Barbican and sometimes travelled from work by train via Cannon Street station, and then took a bus from a stop just by the cathedral. Initially, I wasn't that impressed, the building seemed severe and boring to me, but slowly, slowly its harmonious beauty worked its magic. St Paul's is really a beautiful building and one of the must-sees in London. You don't have to go inside (though it's worth doing, but it costs £10, opens Monday to Saturday 08.30am to 4pm, unless you attend a service, check for those at http://xrl.us/bjhvj), but you have to see its outside magnificence. The best day to see St Paul's (in fact, to do anything in the City) is a Saturday or a Sunday, when the area is free of workers that normally fill the offices of financial institutions there (though there is a buzz of tourists round the cathedral, of course).

You can walk round the City after visiting St Paul's, especially if you are into 17th century churches or engaged in ethnographic observation of bond traders' and similar tribes, but if time is short I suggest you catch a bus (stop SK) number 15 which will take you along Cannon Street all the way down to The Tower of London.

Now, the Tower is is certainly not free to enter, in fact it's probably one of the most ridiculously overpriced attractions in London (and in the whole of Britain) a the whooping £16.50 per adult. But you can walk around it for free, and you can see quite a lot of this rather grim building, an old jail and torture house, now sold to the tourists as one of the jewels in the crown of British heritage.

The one building that's even more strongly associated with London than the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben Tower must be the Tower Bridge, a rather strange looking (and originally described as absurd, tawdry and pretentious) structure but a doubtless landmark. You can cross that on foot and have another look at the river (I never tired of the river in London!) and walk for a while on the south bank again, taking in the new semi-spherical building of the London City Hall and the old battleship HMS Belfast.

Or you can walk back to the Tower Gateway station and take one of the Dockland Light Railway driverless trains to Greenwich (you have to change at Westferry). This will give you an excellent look at what used to be a very busy port and is now a modern financial and residential area, while taking you to Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site, the home to Royal Observatory, Greenwich Mean Time and the Meridian Line. Amazingly, National Maritime Museum, Queen's House and Royal Observatory. All have free admission and, with the Greenwich Park around them, offer a great day out.


**The West End**

By now you must have been wondering, why I have not mentioned all the famous London locations from the very centre: Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Oxford Street, the theatre land and so on.

The main reason is because the West End is rather pointless when you don't intend to spend money, unless of course you are one of those strange people who enjoy looking at merchandise for the sake of looking. Most of these places are either directly or indirectly about shopping or eating out or paid entertainment and thus not very rewarding for somebody counting pennies.

Still, I suppose there is no avoiding that. Take the tube to Green Park and walk down Piccadilly towards Picadilly Circus. You will pass The Ritz, Burlington Arcade and Fortnum and Mason amongst other locations of conspicuous consumption, and after about 700 yards you'll get to Piccadilly Circus which is one of the most overrated spots in London: noisy, trafficky, boring and with no attraction I can think of whatsoever apart from the sheer idea of visiting an iconic location, of course.

Walk away from Picadilly Circus via Shaftesbury Avenue, leaving Soho on your left, turn right into the big Chinese arch and walk down to Leicester Square via the Chinatown. Leicester Sq is also boring, but you can at least claim you've been this way.

Walk down via Irving Street and St Martin's Place, passing the rather lovely St Martin-in-the-Fields church (free tour normally on Thursdays at 11.30am, book on 02078398362) and the entrance to National Portrait Gallery (free and interesting, but not perhaps on the must-see list) to enter the most famous of London's public spaces, the grand imperial Trafalgar Square, with its Nelson's Column, pigeons, fountains, bronze lions, and the changing display of modern sculpture on its fourth plinth on the Northwest corner.

The square is a popular site for political demonstrations and is the main hub for London's night buses, but its main attraction for free sightseeing hunter is the National Gallery located at the north side of the square, and its wonderful collection of European paintings, from Piero della Francesca and Leonardo da Vinci to Renoir and Van Gogh.

If painting is not your thing, potter about the Trafalgar Square for a while and then make your way along the Strand, past Charing Cross station and monument (all distances to London are measured from here). Turn left by the Savoy Hotel and take Southampton Street to Covent Garden. It's very difficult to avoid spending money at the countless speciality shops and restaurants there, but it's possible, and it's the main venue for street entertainment in London, with acts competing for spaces (and payment strictly voluntary).


**British Museum**

The greatest treasure trove of ancient artefacts and thus absultely un-missable and completely free. Reserve at least half a day and bring a packed lunch to avoid extortionate prices in the cafe, stay away from the shops and feed your eyes and your mind.


**The Kensington Museums**

Take the tube to South Kensington to visit the wonderful Natural History Museum (with Life and Earth galleries) as well as the Science Museum and V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) which is the world's greatest museum of art and design. Each of those world-class venues will comfortably fill in a half day at least!


**Grand Green Spaces**

And finally, let me point you towards some grand green spaces that London has in abundance. Central London has several major parks, including the Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens (near each other), the Green Park and St James Park (probably the nicest central London park) and Regent's Park further to the north (the Zoo is there).

My personal favourites are, however, somehow further out. The first one is Hampstead Heath, a truly glorious space in North London, a hilly place of grassy spaces, old woodland, playgrounds, running track, complete with bathing ponds and a former stately home (not free). It is one of the highest points in London and gives a fantastic view down. I suggest combining a visit with a stroll round not-to-far-away Highgate cemetery, an amazing place itself.

The second great London park is, strictly speaking, outside the city, but can be reached by the tube network. It's Richmond Park, the largest of the Royal Parks in London, and a wonderful combination of woodland, grass and cultivated gardens. Herds of red and fallow deer roam freely within much of the park - I remember turning round during one autumn walk and seeing this huge stag just standing there, few yards away, under a magnificent oak! Richmond itself, with its lovely riverside and villagey feel is well worth a visit.


*** Travel & maps ***

Firstly, get yourself a ticket. London is not a compact or semi-compact city that can be, at a stretch, walked around. Depending on the length of your stay and how spread out your internry going to be, the best option will be either a pay as you go visitors' Oyster card, which allows you to buy one-off discount tickets on all public transport or to get a 1 or 3 days off-peak travel card. It's actually worth investigating the pricing (there is a lengthy leaflet available at tube stations) and working out what will suit you best. Remember, children under 11 travel free with an adult with a travelcard, while older ones have discounts. Don't even attempt to drive in London: you have to pay a congestion charge, parking is extortionately expensive and the traffic is very, very slow.

Then, get yourself a London Transport tube map and another, more extensive map of of London connections including overground trains. These are free at tube stations.

And finally, get a decent A to Z London street atlas. This is optional, but will make a difference especially as you explore beyond the centre.


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PS. This was written originally for Helium, so it's assuming a reader is a foreigner and probably an American.

Summary: Once-resident's guide to free sightst in London