London - Around Town : Westminster, the South Bank and Southwark (part 1)

Westminster Abbey

London’s most venerable and most beautiful church, the scene of coronations and royal weddings and the resting place of monarchs.

Tate Modern

One of the world’s great contemporary art galleries. A boat service connects Tate Britain and Tate Modern. It leaves from Bankside Pier outside Tate Modern every 20 minutes.

London Eye

The second highest observational wheel in the world (after the Singapore Flyer) offers amazing views of the city. While waiting for a flight, visit the attractions in County Hall – the London Aquarium, Namco Station and the Dalí museum .

Houses of Parliament

The ancient Palace of Westminster is the seat of the two Houses of Parliament – the Lords and the Commons. A Union flag flies on the Victoria Tower when the Commons is in session. Night sittings are indicated by a light on the Clock Tower – the tower that houses Big Ben, the 14-ton bell whose hourly chimes are recognized around the world.

Tate Britain

The best of British art is held at the Tate and works range from 1500 to the present. Look downstream to see the home of British Intelligence (MI5). This large building, known as Thames House, is built inside a bug-proof “Faraday cage” .

Downing Street

The official home and office of Britain’s Prime Minister is one of four surviving houses built in 1680 for Sir George Downing (1623–84) who went to America as a boy and returned to fight for the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. The building contains a State Dining Room and the Cabinet Room, where a group of 20 senior government ministers meets regularly to formulate policy. Next door, No. 11, is the traditional residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Downing Street has been closed to the public for security reasons since 1989.

• Downing Street SW1

• Closed to public

Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum

During the dark days of World War II, Winston Churchill and his War Cabinet met in these War Rooms beneath the Government Treasury Chambers. They remain just as they were left in 1945, with sandbags outside and colour-coded phones. Take a guided audio tour through the rooms where ministers plotted the course of the war, or visit the Churchill Museum which records Churchill’s life and career.

• Clive Steps, King Charles Street SW1

• Open 9:30am–6pm daily

• Admission charge

Southbank Centre

The most accessible arts centre in London still has the air of friendly, egalitarian optimism that brought it into life in the 1950s and 60s. The Royal Festival Hall’s three concert halls have diverse programmes, while the Hayward Gallery is a major venue for art exhibitions. The BFI Southbank, run by the British Film Institute, has a varied programme of movies. The National Theatre’s three theatres (Olivier, Cottesloe and Lyttelton) are to the east along the river .

• Southbank Centre SE1

Shakespeare’s Globe

To see a Shakespeare play at the reconstructed Globe is a magical experience. Seated in three tiers, open to the skies, the audience heckles and shouts as they did in Shakespeare’s day. Except when a matinee is playing, visitors to the exhibition next door are given guided tours of the theatre by staff .

• New Globe Walk, Bankside SE1

• Bookings (plays from May–Sep only)

• 020 7401 9919

• Exhibition/theatre tour: May–Sep: 9am–5pm daily; Oct–Apr: 10am–5pm daily

• Admission charge

Imperial War Museum

It is well worth the effort to visit this museum, which documents the social effects of war as much as the technology involved in fighting it, with displays on food rationing, censorship, air-raid precautions and morale-boosting strategies. Concerned mainly with conflicts in the 20th century to the present, it has changing exhibitions and an excellent shop that will appeal to those with a nostalgia for wartime London .

• Lambeth Road SE1

• Open 10am–6pm daily

• www.iwm.org.uk