3. Abou t L o n donn
Ab o u t Lon d o
London i s t he capi t al ci t y of Engl and and t he Uni t ed Ki ngdom.
The anci ent Ci t y of London t o whi ch t he name or i gi nal l y
bel onged st i l l r et ai ns i t s t i ny medi aev al boundar i es; but t he
name "London" has l ong appl i ed mor e gener al l y t o t he whol e
met r opol i s whi ch has gr own up ar ound i t .
London i s a maj or t our i st dest i nat i on, wi t h f our wor l d her i t age
si t es and numer ous i coni c l andmar k s such as t he Houses of
Par l i ament , Tower Br i dge, t he Tower of London, West mi nst er
Abbey , Buck i ngham Pal ace and t he London Ey e among i t s many
at t r act i ons, al ong wi t h f amous i nst i t ut i ons such as t he Br i t i sh
Museum and t he Nat i onal Gal l er y .
4. Tower Bridge
Tower Br i dge i s a combi ned bascul e and suspensi on br i dge i n
London, Engl and ov er t he Ri v er Thames. I t i s cl ose t o t he
Tower of London, whi ch gi v es i t i t s name. I t has become an
i coni c sy mbol of London and i s somet i mes mi st ak enl y cal l ed
London Br i dge.
5. A Behi nd t he Scenes t our can be book ed i n adv ance, on whi ch i t
i s possi bl e t o see t he br i dge's command cent r e, f r om wher e t he
r ai si ng of t he bascul es i s cont r ol l ed f or a v essel t o pass
t hr ough. The bascul es ar e r ai sed ar ound 900 t i mes a y ear .
6. Despi t e bei n g on e of t he wor l d‘s
most f amous t our i st at t r act i ons,
t he i n t er i or of t he t ower i s not Big
open t o ov er seas v i si t or s.
Ban
7. The t ower has n o l i f t , so t hose
escor t ed must cl i mb t he 334
l i mest on e st ai r s t o t he t op.
Big
Ban
9. • The London Ey e i s a
gi ant Fer r i s wheel
si t uat ed on t he bank s
of t he Ri v er Thames.
The ent i r e st r uct ur e
i s 1 met r es (443 f t )
35
t al l and t he wheel has
a di amet er of 120
met r es (394 f t ).
• I t i s t he t al l est Fer r i s
wheel i n Eur ope, i t
was al so t he t al l est
Fer r i s wheel i n t he
wor l d.
10. Bu ck in gham Palace
Buck i ngham Pal ace, i n L ondon, i s t he of f i ci al
r esi den ce and of f i ce of t he Br i t i sh monar ch.
11. Locat ed i n t he Ci t y of West mi n st er , t he
pal ace i s a set t i ng f or st at e occasi on s and
r oy al hospi t al i t y . I t has been a f ocus f or t he
Br i t i sh peopl e at t i mes of nat i onal r ej oi ci ng
an d cr i si s.
12. The Br i t i sh Museum, i n Lon don, i s wi del y
con si der ed t o be on e of t he wor l d's gr eat est
museums of human hi st or y and cul t ur e.
T he British M u seu m
13. Al t houg h pr i n ci pal l y a museum of cul t ur al ar t
obj ect s and an t i qui t i es t oday , t he Br i t i sh
Museum was f oun ded as a “un i v er sal museum”.
T he British M u seu m
