London: Royal and Rambunctious
Rick Steves' Europe: Episode #111
We whisper secrets across the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and eat our way through Soho. Then we check out the treasures of the new British Library, roll with the drums at the Changing of the Guard, and cruise the Thames to Kew Gardens.
- Read the script from the show.
Travel Details
Changing of the Guard
The guards at Buckingham Palace change with much fanfare at around 11:30 almost daily in the summer and every other day for the rest of the year (no band in very wet weather). Call 020/7766-7300 for the day's plan. Afterwards, stroll through nearby St. James's Park (Tube: Victoria, St. James's Park, or Green Park).
St. Paul's Cathedral
Wren's most famous church is the great St. Paul's, its elaborate interior capped by a 365-foot dome, Britain's symbol of resistance (it survived 57 nights of bombing during World War II). Today you can climb the dome for a great city view. The crypt (included with admission) is a world of historic bones and memorials, including Admiral Nelson's tomb and interesting cathedral models (Tube: St. Paul's, tel. 020/7246-8348).
The Soho "Food is Fun" Dinner Crawl
For a multicultural, movable feast, consider eating (or splitting) one course and enjoying a drink at each of these places. Start around 5:30 p.m. to avoid lines, get in on early specials, and find waiters willing to let you split a meal. Prices, while reasonable by London standards, add up. Servings are large enough to share. Arrive at Belgo Centraal in time to split the early-bird dinner special: mussels, fries, and dark Belgian beer. At Yo! Sushi, have beer or sake and a few dishes. Slurp your last course at Wagamama Noodle Bar. Then, for dessert, people-watch at Leicester Square, where the serf's always up.
Belgo Centraal
This bistro serves hearty Belgian specialties in a vast, 400-seat underground lair. It's a seafood, chips, and beer emporium dressed up as a mod-monastic refectory — with noisy acoustics and waiters garbed as Trappist monks (1 block north of Covent Garden Tube station at intersection of Neal and Shelton streets, 50 Earlham Street, tel. 020/7813-2233).
Yo! Sushi
Yo! Sushi is a futuristic Japanese-food-extravaganza experience. It's pricey — those plates add up fast. But it's a memorable experience, complete with thumping rock, Japanese cable TV, and a 195-foot-long conveyor belt — the world's longest sushi bar (2 blocks south of Oxford Street, where Lexington Street becomes Poland Street, 52 Poland Street, tel. 020/7287-0443).
Wagamama Noodle Bar
Wagamama Noodle Bar is a noisy, pan-Asian, organic slurpathon. As you enter, check out the kitchen and listen to the roar of the basement, where benches rock with happy eaters (10-A Lexington Street, tel. 020/7292-0990 but no reservations taken).
Aster House
3 Sumner Place
tel. 020/7581-5888
British Library
Here, in just two rooms, are the literary treasures of Western civilization, from early Bibles to the Magna Carta to Shakespeare's Hamlet to Lewis Carol's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The British Empire built its greatest monuments out of paper. And it's with literature that England made her lasting contribution to civilization and the arts (Tube: King's Cross, turn right out of station and walk a block to 96 Euston Road, library tel. 020/7412-7332).
Kew Gardens
For a fine riverside park and a palatial greenhouse jungle, take the Tube or the boat to every botanist's favorite escape, Kew Gardens, with 33,000 different types of plants. Pick up a map brochure and check at the gate for a monthly listing of best blooms (Tube: Kew Gardens, boats run between Kew Gardens and Westminster Pier, tel. 020/8332-5000).
For up-to-date specifics, see the latest edition of the Rick Steves' London travel guide or the Rick Steves' England travel guide or the Rick Steves' Great Britain travel guide — or join us on one of our free-spirited England tours.