16/12/11

Important places you can visit in London.

Buckingham Palace is the Queen's home and her "office".
At half past eleven most mornings, the soldiers change the guard at Buckingham Palace. It takes about thirty minutes, and you can stand in front of the palace and watch. Hundreds of visitors do this every day. 

The Tower of London is the City's oldest building. It stands by Tower Bridge, and next to the River Thames.
In the past, it was a palace and a prison. Kings (and sometimes queens) put their most important prisoners there, and many of these prisoners never came out alive.
You can see the Crown Jewels in the Jewel House, and visit the Bloody Tower.
There are thirty-six Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters, at the Tower.

Tower Bridge is more than 100 years old. It is one of London's most famous bridges.
When tall ships go up the river, the centre of the bridge opens.

The Houses of Parliament is the home of the British government. The clock high up on the building is called Big Ben, but really Big Ben is the bell in the clock. You can hear Big Ben ring every hour.

The London Eye is a big wheel 135 metres high. It was built in 2000 and celebrates the Millennium. 
It never stops moving, but it moves very slowly. Visitors travel in the capsules on the wheel for 30 minutes, and when the weather is good, you can see for 40 kilometres across London.

Hyde Park first opened to the people of London in the seventeenth century.
You can walk or sit under the trees. In the centre is a lake called Serpentine, and you can take a boat out on the water.


The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900.

Westminster Abbey is a large and famous Anglican Church in Westminster. It is the shrine of Edward the Confessor and the burial place of many kings and queens. Since it was built it has been the place where the coronations of Kings and Queens of England have been held. The present structure dates from 1245, when it was started by Henry III.
It is an honour to be buried at Westminster Abbey, many important people have their tombs there, the most famous are Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

BEAUTIFUL PICTURES OF LONDON

This is a video, where you can see a little bit more about the city of London. I hope you enjoy it.