The London Visitors' Guide

Welcome to the London Visitors' Guide!

Whether you require a comfortable bed and breakfast, a five star luxury hotel or a cheap backpackers' room, we're here to help! And we also have a great selection of places to eat, so you need never be short of ideas to help you find just the right kind of eating place for the occasion.

London Attractions, Activities and Things To Do

Churches, Palaces, Castles

Miscellaneous attractions

The City of London is not to be confused with Greater London, the vast metropolitan area of 32 boroughs, each of which is large enough to be a city in its own right. The City of London is the tiny core of Greater London, a small fragment that was the original London of ancient times. It is often known for short as ‘The City’ or sometimes the ‘Square Mile’, because that is about its area, just one square mile, about 500 football pitches. Around the City of London's boundary are placed huge black bollards bearing the City's emblem, and at major entrances to the City, there is an imposing monument, emblazed with a dragon.

The City of London is Britain’s major financial centre, crammed with banks, finance houses and, of course, The Stock Exchange. And it is not only Britain’s financial hub, but one of the major finance centres of the world, on a par with New York. In the daytime, The City of London buzzes with 340,000 professional workers, who commute daily, and when evening comes, leave the Square Mile to its resident population of a mere 10,000. At nighttime, the place is practically deserted, and at weekends the pubs and cafes are closed.

In medieval times, the City was all that there was of London, while across some meadow-land lay another City, Westminster. It was around, these two cities that modern London has grown over the centuries. The City has a long and interesting history. It was built by the Romans, they called it Londinium, and they built a defensive perimeter wall, known as London Wall, parts of which still exist. Its independent administration dates from 886, when Alfred the Great appointed his son-in-law Earl Æthelred of Mercia as Governor of London.

When William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, he marched on London, but failed to cross London Bridge or to defeat the Londoners. He eventually crossed the River Thames but was obliged to come to terms with the Londoners, who had earned his respect. In 1075, he granted them a charter, which allowed them a measure of control over their own affairs.

In 1132, Henry I awarded London full County status and in 1141, gave the citizens a charter establishing the regulation of the City’s affairs. The body, which was to control the City, was named the City of London Corporation headed by the Lord Mayor of London.

In 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed nearly four-fifths of the City but it was rebuilt again by the command of Charles II, who also ordered the rebuilding of the magnificent Cathedral of St Pauls. After this, London started to expand and in the Victorian Age, it grew to nearly its present day size. During the Second World War, the City suffered extensive bombing, which destroyed many ancient building but mercifully spared St Pails Cathedral. The bombing revealed fragments of the original Roman London Wall.

In the 1970’s, shortage of space necessitated the building of taller buildings. The first was the Natwest Tower, which became the first skyscraper in the UK, with 42 storeys. Later came the Broadgate Tower with 35 storeys followed by several other constructions, the tallest being the Bishopsgate Tower with 63 storeys.

So that is how the City of London has developed. The modern City has become a major international financial centre, housing the London Stock Exchange, Lloyd's of London, the world’s largest insurance corporation, and the Bank of England, the government’s bank. In addition, the City is home to such financial institutions Barclays Bank, Citigroup, HSBC and other major banking houses. But the unique situation of the City as a business area with hardly any residents presents many problems. The City has had to adopt a unique electoral system, which allows a business vote to property holders on the grounds that the day-time population pay for the upkeep of the City with their property taxes and use most of its services. This system has been criticised as being undemocratic and is now being reviewed by the Home Office.