London: Knowing The Unknown

By Author: Lisha Hans
Total Articles: 9
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London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, was originally founded by Romans in 43 A.D. Today, London is recognised as one of the most important cities on world map, but there's a lot more to London than meets the eye. Read on to know more!

Beauty of London not only lies in what you see on the outset, it multiplies when you dig a little deeper and find the history underneath. Top tourist attractions like Big Ben, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace and others have lesser known facts about them. London definitely has more to offer.

Being the ninth largest city in the world, the charm of London can’t be resisted. London is the biggest metropolitan city in European Union; in fact it is so huge that if it were to be a country, it would have easily been the 8th largest in Europe. London has constantly thrived since it was founded by Romans in 43 AD; having a recorded history of over 2,000 year London has seen itself grown to become one of the most significant financial and cultural capitals of the world. London is home to 207 languages, holding a rare record of having most number of languages spoken in a ...
... city.

London attracts most number of international tourists with 15.3 million visitors, which is way ahead of Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore, the earlier attracting almost 12 million tourists in a year. With most of the tourists commuting through the London Underground, aka ‘Tube’, which was the first metro to be built around the world, built in the year 1863. Soon to celebrate 150th anniversary, with 402 kilometres of track it is the second largest metro system after Shanghai Metro. Often said to take you centuries down the memory lane, it is one of the top things on tourist's to-do list. Another interesting fact about Tube is, even though it is called London Underground, 55% of its track is not underground. The Angel Tube Station is home to Europe's longest elevator, accounting to 318 steps.

London Eye, a giant wheel situated on the banks of river Thames is yet another popular tourist attraction, measuring a huge 135 meters and 60 meters in radius. On a clear day tourists can enjoy 360 degrees of panoramic view of London and its boroughs. What you might miss, is the fact that London Eye has 32 pods, with each pod representing 32 boroughs of London. Over the centuries Buckingham Palace has served as the official residence of Britain's sovereigns and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarch, adding to the rich history of London. Buckingham Palace, probably the most visited tourist spot, is accessible to public in only August and September every year. What most of the tourists don't know is that this massive palace has 775 rooms including rooms for guests and staff, offices and bathrooms, though only a handful are open for public. A lot of tourists have incorrect notions about Big Ben as well, contrary to the belief Big Ben is not the name of the clock tower, but in fact the tower is called St. Stephens Tower, Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside the tower.

Most of London's tourist spots have deeper connections with history and not all can be mentioned here. While you are in London, the best place to stay has to be a cheap hotel offering bed and breakfast London Victoria is a stone's throw away from most of London's major attractions.

The author of this article is professionally associated with Hanover Hotel, a budget and comfortable accommodation offering cheap bed and breakfast Central London is sure to get you closest and best of what London has to offer.