London neighborhood: Outside Central London
Anything beyond central London or the East End to Greenwich
Anything beyond central London or the East End to Greenwich
The royal palace so nice Henry VIII honeymooned here twice—and then three times, and four, and five...
The world's oldest scientific zoo (as opposed to some royal menagerie) is home to more than 750 species
A vast park in North London, with lovely views, wooded rambles, swimming ponds, cozy pubs, and Old Master art in a genteel manor house
A 17th century manor house in Hampstead Heath with a fabulous free art collection
A 395-acre park with an Open Air Theatre, zoo, sports pitches, and flower gardens
The Hampstead home where Freud spent his final year retains the actual couch Freud used during psychoanalysis sessions
The house in Hampstead where John Keats wrote his most famous poems and met his love, Fanny Brawne
Perhaps the nicest B&B in London—though not the most central (in Hammersmith and Fulham)
Dorm rooms in Clerkenwell with the London School of Economics
A 16th century pub on Hampstead Heath that inspired Keats, Dickens, and Stoker
London tends to measure time by events of grand destruction.
The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed almost every last inch of the medieval city (thatched roofs catch fire pretty quickly). Luckily, a Renaissance genius named Christopher Wren was on hand to rebuild the city, raising over 50 churches and countless other buildings.
With World War II came the Blitz, German planes raining destruction again over the city, causing more rebuilding.
The result: the City of London is today an odd architectural mix of medieval houses, Renaissance churches, Victorian public buildings, and postmodern bank headquarters.