London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [45]
The City area is well served by a concentrated selection of Underground stops in London. St. Paul’s and Bank are on the Central Line, and Mansion House, Cannon Street, and Monument are on the District and Circle lines. Liverpool Street and Aldgate border The City’s eastern edge, whereas Chancery Lane and Farringdon lie to the west. Barbican and Moorgate provide easy access to the theaters and galleries of the Barbican, and Blackfriars, to the south, leads to Ludgate Circus and Fleet Street.
FEELING PECKISH?
The friendly Riverside Café Bar (St. Katherine’s Dock,St. Katherine’s Way | E1W 9AT | 020/7481–1464) is one of the few places you’re sure to find a good cup of hot chocolate and hot and cold meals, with waterside views of the luxurious yachts and gin palaces moored at the docks.
Sweetings (39 Queen Victoria St. | EC4N 4SF | 020/7248–3062) has been here since 1889. It’s not cheap, it’s closed in the evenings, and takes no reservations, but it serves one of the best fish lunches in London. Refuel here on Dover sole and Black Velvet, the local brew, and observe the pinstripes at play in their natural habitat.
When you’re finished exploring Fleet Street, head to the famed Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (145 Fleet St. | EC4A 2BU | 020/7353–6170) for a pint of ale and a snack. Parts of the building date from 1667 and it’s rightly admired for its roaring fires and dingy interior, barely changed since Dr. Johnson came here.
A GOOD WALK
Crossing the Millennium Bridge from the Tate Modern to St. Paul’s is one of the finest walks in London for views of the river and the cathedral that towers over it. Dubbed the “blade of light,” this shiny aluminum-and-steel construction was the result of a collaboration between architect Norman Foster and sculptor Anthony Caro.
A BRIEF HISTORY
Rising from the mud of the Thames as the Roman settlement of Londinium, in AD 47, this area marks the beginnings of the capital. It gained immediate momentum as a trading center for materials and goods shipped in from all corners of the fledgling colony. Centuries later, William the Conqueror began building the palace that was to become the Tower of London. It went from being Henry III’s defensive shelter in the 13th century to, by Tudor times, the world’s most forbidding and grisly prison, where two of Henry VIII’s six wives were executed. During the Middle Ages, powerful guilds that nurtured commerce took root, followed by the foundation of great trading companies, such as the Honourable East India Company, which started up in 1600.
The City’s history has been punctuated by periods of chaos that have threatened to destroy it. The Great Fire of 1666 was the most serious, sparing only a few of the cramped, labyrinthine streets, where the Great Plague of the previous year had already wiped out a huge portion of the population. Yet the gutted wastelands enabled a new start, driving out the plague-carrying rodents that had menaced London since the Middle Ages and forcing an architectural renaissance, led by Sir Christopher Wren. Further punishment came during the Blitz of World War II, when German bombers destroyed many buildings. Today’s eclectic skyline reflects every period of its history, some sublime, some hideous.
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TOP ATTRACTIONS
Monument.
Commemorating the “dreadful visitation” of the Great Fire of 1666, this is the world’s tallest isolated stone column. It is the work of Sir Christopher Wren and Dr. Robert Hooke, who were asked to erect it “on or as neere unto the place where the said Fire soe unhappily began as conveniently may be.” And so here it is—at 202 feet, exactly as tall as the distance it stands from Farriner’s baking house in Pudding Lane, where the fire started. If the thought of attempting the 311 steps is enough to put you off your lunch, cheat a little and watch the live views that are relayed from the top. | Monument St., The City | EC3R 8AH | 020/7626–2717 | www.themonument.info | £3; combined ticket with Tower Bridge exhibition £8 | Daily 9:30–5:30, last admission 5 | Monument.
Museum of