3. London is the capital of England and the United
Kingdom. It is the largest metropolitan area in the
United Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the
European Union by most measures.London has
been a major settlement for two millennia, its
history going back to its founding by the Romans,
who called it Londinium. London's core, the ancient
City of London, largely retains its square-mile
mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th
century, the name London has also referred to the
metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of
this conurbation forms the London region and the
Greater London administrative area, governed by
the elected Mayor of London and the London
Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with its
strengths in the arts, commerce, education,
entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare,
media, professional services, research and
development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's largest
financial centre alongside New York, has the largest city GDP in Europe and is home to the
headquarters of more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies. It is the most visited city in
the world. London's five international airports make its airspace the busiest of any urban centre
worldwide and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international
passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in
Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the Summer Olympics three times.
London has a diverse range of peoples, cultures and religions, and more than
300 languages are spoken within its boundaries. English is an official language
in London
In July 2007 it had an official population of 7,556,900 within the boundaries of Greater London,
making it the most populous municipality in the European Union. The Greater London Urban
Area (the second largest in the EU) has a population of 8,278,251. while the metropolitan area
(the largest in the EU) has an estimated total population of between 12 million and 14 million.
London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and St.
Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement of Greenwich (in which the Royal
Observatory marks the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and GMT.
The London Underground network is the oldest underground railway network in the world and
the most extensive after the Shanghai Metro.
7. AIR FARE
Tickets are booked through the following website.
http://www.ixigo.com/search/result/flight/DEL/LON/20102010/27102010/1/0/0/
e
8. Airport to Hotel
Getting into/from London - cheaply
In this case, cheap transport isn't that big a savings. Connex South Central trains to/from Victoria are
£8.20 one way. A better deal is the Flightline bus, with a ticket good for 3 months costing £7.50 single.
I choose to prefer the Flightline Bus service.
Hotel Corbigoe is only at 3-4 minutes walking distance from the Victoria Underground substation.
CORBIGOE HOTEL, LONDON
The Corbigoe Hotel in London is a friendly, family run hotel offering comfortable accommodation and
breakfast at competitive and moderate prices.
All 18 guest rooms are well furnished and equipped with private en-suite bathroom facilities, Colour TV
and Tea/coffee making facilities.
The hotel is situated in the heart of London, close to Victoria Underground, Railway and Coach Stations
(3 minutes walk away).
Most of London's Top Tourist attractions are all within walking distance, including Buckingham Palace,
Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Tate Gallery, Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the London
Eye.
10. October 21st, 2010
PALACE OF WESTMINSTER
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the
meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the
House of Commons. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the heart of the London borough of
the City of Westminster, close to the historic Westminster Abbey and the government buildings of
Whitehall and Downing Street. The name may refer to either of two structures: the Old Palace, a
medieval building complex most of which was destroyed in 1834, and its replacement New Palace that
stands today; it has retained its original style and status as a royal residence for ceremonial purposes.
The Palace is one of the centers of political life in the United Kingdom; "Westminster" has become a
metonym for the UK Parliament, and the Westminster system of government has taken its name after it.
Its Clock Tower, in particular, which has become known as "Big Ben" after its main bell, is an iconic
landmark of London and the United Kingdom in general, one of the most popular tourist attractions in
11. the city and an emblem of parliamentary democracy. The Palace of Westminster has been a Grade I
listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
From Hotel to Westminster Palace
The Westminster palace is at a walking distance from the Victoria London Station. Just head to the
Buckingham Road and you reach the Westminster Palace in 10 minutes by walk. The travelling
expense is negligible
October 22nd, 2010
LONDON EYE
The Merlin Entertainments London
Eye (commonly the London Eye, or
Millennium Wheel, formerly the
British Airways London Eye) is a
giant 135-metre (443 ft) tall Ferris
wheel situated on the banks of the
River Thames in the British capital.
It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe,
and the most popular paid tourist
attraction in the United Kingdom,
visited by over 3.5 million people
annually. When erected in 1999, it was
the tallest Ferris wheel in the world,
until surpassed first by the 160 m (520
ft) Star of Nanchang in 2006, and then
the 165 m (541 ft) Singapore Flyer in
2008. It is still described by its
operators as "the world's tallest
12. cantilevered observation wheel" (as the wheel is supported by an A-frame on one side only,
unlike the Nanchang and Singapore wheels).
The London Eye is located at the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River
Thames in the London Borough of Lambeth in England, between Westminster Bridge and
Hungerford Bridge. The site is adjacent to that of the former Dome of Discovery, which was
built for the Festival of Britain in 1951.
HOTEL TO LONDON EYE
From the hotel the London eye is also at a walking distance. London eye is nearby to the Westminster
Palace. Precisely it is in between the Westminster bridge and the Hungerford Bridge.
Here too the travelling expense is negligible.
October 23rd, 2010
PORTOBELLO ROAD MARKET, Noting Hill Gate,
Ladbroke Grove
The Portobello Road
Market, one of London’s
famous outdoor flea
markets, has become
fairly commercialized and
real bargains are hard to
find. On weekends, it has
the feel of 70’s “head
shop” with boodles of
things you would never
buy on any other
occasion. Wander both
the outdoor stands and the
permanent indoor arcades
and you will find
something you just
13. demands to be purchased and taken home with you. You will find fascinating , custom jewelry and
unique crafts. In reality, most of us the Portobello Market because it is just plain good fun. Mix with the
crowds, scan the amazing diversity of goods and strike up some conversations. You will be glad you did.
Fans of the movie "Noting Hill" may notice that many of the storefronts seen on a visit
to Portobello Road were captured in various scenes of the movie.
From Hotel to Portobello Market
From the Victoria London, a Taxi will take about 15-20 minutes (£8). Alternatively, take the Circle line
underground train to Noting Hill Gate (£1.90 per person). There is a five minute walk to the Market
place from the station. I chosed train way .
October 24th ,2010
STAMFORD BRIDGE STADIUM
(Barclays Premier League Match)
Chelsea v.
Wigan Athletic
14. Chelsea Football Club are an English professional football club
based in west London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier
League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been
English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four times.
They have also been successful in Europe, winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice.
The club had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship. Chelsea
won several cup competitions during the 1960s and 1970s, but after that did not win another
major title until 1997. The past decade has been the most successful period in Chelsea’s history,
capped by winning Premier League titles in 2005, 2006 and 2010, and reaching their first UEFA
Champions League final in 2008.
Despite their name, the club are not based in Chelsea, but in neighbouring Fulham. The club's
home is the 41,841 capacity Stamford Bridge football stadium in Fulham, where they have
played since their establishment. In 2003, they were bought by Russian oil magnate Roman
Abramovich.
Chelsea's regular kit colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks, the combination
used since the 1960s. The club crest has been changed several times in attempts to modernise or
re-brand; the current crest, featuring a ceremonial lion holding a staff, is a modified version of
one first adopted in the 1950s. The club has sustained the fifth highest average all-time
attendance in English football. Their average home gate for the 2009-10 season was 41,423, the
fifth highest in the Premier League.
TICKET PRICE:
Price of ticket ranges from £38 - £48.
I bought the ticket worth £38.
I booked the ticket from the following website:
www.stadiumguide.com/stamfordbridge.htm
From Hotel to Stamford Bridge
15. Hire a taxi from Victoria London to West London. It charges £ 3.5 for
one way travel.
October 25th, 2010
TOWER OF LONDON
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is
a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within
the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London
by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the
Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was
built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon
London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100, although that
16. was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As
a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive
walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the
Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established
by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.
From Hotel To Tower Of London
One can easily commute to the Tower of London via a taxi. It is comforting
as well as economical. A taxi take around 10-15 minutes to reach from
Victoria London to the tower of London. It charges £5 for one way.
17. October 26th,
2010
THE BRITISH
MUSEUM
The British Museum is a museum
of human history and culture in
London. Its collections, which
number more than seven million
objects, are amongst the largest
and most comprehensive in the
world and originate from all
continents, illustrating and
documenting the story of human
culture from its beginnings to the
present.
The British Museum was
established in 1753, largely based
on the collections of the physician
and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The
museum first opened to the public
on 15 January 1759 in Montagu
House in Bloomsbury, on the site
of the current museum building. Its
expansion over the following two
and a half centuries was largely a
result of an expanding British colonial footprint and has resulted in the creation of several branch
institutions, the first being the British Museum (Natural History) in South Kensington in 1887.
Some objects in the collection, most notably the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, are the
objects of intense controversy and calls for restitution to their countries of origin.
Until 1997, when the British Library (previously centered on the Round Reading Room) moved
to a new site, the British Museum was unique in that it housed both a national museum of
antiquities and a national library in the same building. The museum is a non-departmental public
body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and as with all other national
museums in the United Kingdom it charges no admission fee. Since 2002 the director of the
museum has been Neil MacGregor. On 12 September it was announced that Conservative Peer
Lord Sainsbury was to donate £25 million to the Museum to aid funding for a large scale
extension, set to make it the world's largest museum by collection upon completion.
18. From Hotel to The British Museum
The most convenient and yet economical way to commute from Victoria London to The British
Museum is by a Taxi that charges £ 12 for one side of the travel. Museum’s
Cost nothing .
October 27th, 2010
RETURN TO AIRPORT
From Hotel to Airport
As I plan to purchase the ticket worth £7.50 of flightline bus for commuting
from Airport to the Hotel in Victoria i.e valid for 3 months. So I don’t need to
purchase the ticket again during my time of return.
19. TOTAL EXPENSES FOR THE TOUR (ROUND TRIP)
[£ 1 = Rs 70.4]
Bus fare (Chandigarh to Delhi) x 2 = (450 x2) Rs 1000/- . [19-10-2010]
Air Fare ( Round Trip) = Rs 31022 /- . [20-10-2010]
Athens Airport to Hotel x 2 = Rs 528/- . [20-10-2010]
Hotel Rent = £224 = Rs 15769.6/- . [20th Oct – 27th Oct]
EXPENSES AS PER DATE:
21st Oct:
Food Expense – Rs 2000/- .
Travelling Expense – NIL
TOTAL = Rs 2000/- .
22nd Oct:
Travelling Expense – NIL.
Food Expense – Rs 2500/- .
TOTAL = Rs 2500/- .
23rd Oct:
20. Travelling Expense – Rs 267.52/-
Food Expense – Rs 1600/-
Shopping Expense – Rs 7000/-
TOTAL = Rs 8867.52 /-
24th Oct:
Travelling Expense – Rs 492.8/-
Ticket price to Stadium – Rs 2765.2/-
Food Expense – Rs 3500/-
TOTAL = Rs 6758/-
25th Oct:
Travelling Expense – Rs 704/-
Food Expense – Rs 2500/-
TOTAL = Rs 3204/-
26th Oct:
Travelling Expense – Rs 1689.6/-
Food Expense – Rs 3500/-
TOTAL = Rs 5189.6/-
TOTAL EXPENSES FOR THE TOUR = Rs 76838.2/-
21. Experience -
It was such an amazing visit. It was best as well as cheap for me . The city is
really very beautiful and worth visiting . It was definitely tour of lifetime . Every
place over there was full of joy . The interactions with the people over there was a
great fun . I simply enjoyed thoroughly .
