London: Royal and Rambunctious
See more travel details for recommendations highlighted in bold, excerpted from Rick's guidebooks.
Hi, I'm Rick Steves at Buckingham Palace. We're back for more of the best of London. Thanks for joining us.
We'll whisper secrets across the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, eat our way through a Soho food-is-fun dinner crawl, check out the new British Library, and cruise the Thames to Kew Gardens for jungle London.
But first, we're checking out the Changing of the Guard — great weather, royal pageantry, and huge crowds.
The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace — or Buck House, as the locals say — is an obligatory stop. London is Europe's capital of parades and pageantry. And, while you have to be very tall or very early to actually see the guards change... I get a kick out of seeing nearly every tourist in London gathered in one place at the same time.
While today, England's royal family calls Buckingham Palace home, for centuries they lived closer to the Thames... where, in the 11th century, King Edward the Confessor built the first Palace of Westminster.
Eventually, representatives of local communities or "commons" gathered here to be near the king. They began meeting independently as the "House of Commons." And to this day, Britain is ruled from here... the Houses of Parliament.
For a free look at Britain's government in action, queue up at St. Stevens Gate. Once past the tight security visitors peer down on either the uppity House of Lords or the rowdier House of Commons.
The Palace looks Gothic or medieval. But it's neo-Gothic — built in the mid-1800s.
Neo-Gothic was a reaction against the age of revolution, which challenged royalty and religion. With this romantic style, England reaffirmed its royal and Christian roots.
Big Ben is actually the 13-ton bell behind the clock. Here's a fun way to make your sister envious…
Rick: Hi Jan. It's Rick. Audio post card from London.
An enormous royal palace once stretched from Big Ben to Trafalgar Square at the end of this street. While the palace is gone, its name survives; Whitehall — Britain's most important street. The British Empire was — and still is — ruled from here.
A Whitehall walk is filled with reminders of England's proud and hard-fought history. Royal sentries stand on guard — still as statues.
Rick: Say cheese! Oh, that's a great shot!
Probably the most photographed statues in London.
Britain's Prime Minister lives at #10 Downing Street. There's little to see but you can always chat with the Bobbies.
Rick: Hello, is the Prime Minister home today?
Bobby: We don't know, we don't get to know. All we get told several minutes before he is either coming or leaving.
Rick: Not much action today then, eh? Good-bye!
Winston Churchill called Downing Street home during World War II. Here he wears the trench coat he wore as he led Britain through the dark days of the Blitz.
While the British won both World Wars, they paid a heavy price. This monument, the Cenotaph, honors Britain's war dead. No religious symbols because the soldiers came from all corners of Britain's empire.
Coming from America, I have a hard time imagining the impact of the Great War on Europe. It's said that if all of Britain's WWI dead were to march four-abreast past the Cenotaph, the sad parade would last for seven days.
The end of Whitehall — at Trafalgar Square — is marked with another war memorial topped by the one-armed, one-eyed, and one-minded Admiral Horatio Nelson looking out to sea.
The year was 1805. Napoleon was poised on the other side of the English Channel, preparing to invade. Meanwhile, a thousand miles away off the coast of Portugal, Admiral Nelson defeated the French fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. Britannia ruled the waves and Napoleon was stopped.
Bronze battle relief's — made of melted down French cannon — decorate the column. These huggable lions are a hit with visitors. Look at the paws. It's said the artist had never seen a lion — so he used his dog as a model.
Rick: How is your ice cream?
Boy: Okay.
Rick: Yeah, that is pretty nice. Hey guys, this is Trafalgar Square, we are right in the middle of London, in the very center. Do you know which way is Buckingham Palace? Just over there, about a ten-minute walk. Soho, where all the entertainment is, is that way. What building is that over there? That is the National Gallery where all the best painting in Britain. See that church there? That is St. Martin in the Fields — a church famous for great classic concerts and its charity work that it does.
A cup of pigeon feed, costs just pennies.
Rick: Hi there, can I have a pigeon seed please?
Vender: Twenty-five, sir.
One of the cheapest forms of entertainment in this expensive city.
Two blocks from Trafalgar Square is Gordon's Wine Bar. It's a candlelit respite from the crush of work-a-day London where travelers in the know sip wine with the nine-to-five crowd.
A piece of salmon, salad bar and a good glass of wine — that's my kind of fast food. A meal here costs little more than a hamburger or pizza. The decor compliments the wine...
Cheap as the meal was, it took the last of my cash. I save lots of money by avoiding exchange bureaus and changing money only at banks or cash machines.
Anywhere in Europe, ATMs offer the best rates in town — 24 hours a day. Just insert your card, dial English... and grab your cash.
The best way to enjoy a London evening? At the theater. There's a huge choice. I counted 30 theaters within a ten-minute walk of Piccadilly Circus.
Hotels stock the London Theater Guide listing everything that's on. And for critical reviews, see London's entertainment magazines. A few tips can save money. The half-price ticket booth at Leister Square sells discounted day-of-the-show only tickets to plays on the push list…. And consider discount matinee performances.
I avoid costly ticket agency mark-ups by buying direct from the theater. You can do this by credit card over the phone. Or if you enjoy an old hit rather than this year's hit, you'll find plenty of seats available the day of the show.
We're seeing Starlight Express. Dress is casual... and we're in for a spectacle.
We're entering the old center of London. "The City", as locals call this one square mile district, has only a few thousand residents but its 9 to 5 crowd numbers half a million. It's Britain's Wall Street, packed with banks and decorated by the spires of churches by Britain's greatest architect — Christopher Wren.
Wren's greatest design: St. Paul's Cathedral.
Shortly after Wren was selected to refurbish the Old St. Paul's church, London's Great Fire of 1666 burned it down. Within a few days, Wren presented a plan for an entire new building and for the city around it, complete with some 50 new churches.
He spent the rest of his life working on his vision. The centerpiece: this grand cathedral.
St. Paul's is England's national church. It's the symbol of London's rise from the Great Fire and of London's survival of the Blitz of 1940.
The church feels big. Wren accentuated its spaciousness by the lack of decoration... simple cream-colored ceiling... clear glass windows lighting everything evenly. Only the West end of the church keeps Wren's original vision. After his death, the rest was slathered with Baroque decor. It was here in 1981 that the world watched as Prince Charles and Princess Diana stepped up to this altar on their wedding day.
This brass grate was part of a 19th century attempt to heat the church. The Latin is Wren's epitaph: "Reader, if you seek his monument, have a look around you."
The American memorial chapel is behind the high altar. We see Jesus, Mary, and... George Washington. Among the American iconography are birds and plants native to the USA. And hiding behind the leaves... it's a US rocket circa 1958, shooting up to the stars.
The British are grateful to their WWII allies. The Roll of Honor lists the 28,000 American servicemen based in Britain who gave their lives.
The dome's "Whispering Gallery" is noisy with tourists. The dome is constructed with such precision that sweet nothings whispered from one side of the dome circle to the other side.
Man: So you are talking along the wall now? Yeah, I can hear you I can hear you clearly. OK, Sophie, let's go to the dome now, its only 365 feet.
Climbing the dome is like climbing a 30-story building... with no elevator. But the reward... a commanding view of London.
Wren spent nearly half his life working on St. Paul's. At age 75, he got to see his son crown his masterpiece with the golden cross.
As the churches and museums close, London's nightspots open. I like the West End and Soho. Packed with theaters, restaurants, temptations and tourists, it bustles with countless opportunities for a night of fun.
For many, Soho means strip clubs. Beware: these bars rip off thousands of naive tourists every year. I've heard... those who venture in find trick menus, doors with no handles, and burly security guards. The travel tip: don't go in.
The Soho temptation I succumb to? Food. Tourists looking for traditional English food miss London's trendy restaurant scene entirely.
Restaurants come and go. London monthly entertainment magazines highlight the latest favorites in this fast-changing and multicultural scene.
Tonight, our producer, Simon and I are going on a Soho dinner crawl. It has three stops: Japanese sushi, Belgian mussels... and the Wagamama Noodle Bar.
This smoke-free, pan-Asian slurp-athon offers a chop-chop-florescent ambiance.
Waitress: Okay, are you ready to order?
Rick: Yes, I am. I think the Miso Raman looks good.
Waiters take your order with mini-computers.
Rick: So it's okay to Slurp, because the oxygen brings out the flavor.
Everything's organic and the juice promises a long life.
On a warehouse elevator we descend to Belgo Centraal for our second course. In this subterranean, post-industrial world, waiters dressed as Trappist monks serve hearty Belgian specialties, including mussels, great fries. And an array of dark, blond, and fruity Belgian beers.
Waiter: Belgians eat as hearty as the Germans and as well as the French.
Our final course: "Yo! Sushi." It's a techno Japanese food extravaganza — complete with automated sushi machines and a robotic drink trolley. They claim their 60 meter-long conveyor belt sushi bar is the worlds longest.
Rick: Well, you can eat whatever you want, and you don't worry about paying or ordering, just take it. They will just count up the empty plates, they're all color coded, so they know that a pink plate costs more than a blue plate and so on.
London's streets feel safe after dark. And getting home is no problem. Taxis bump up their rates at night. But the tube always costs the same and runs long after our bedtime.
Hotels in London are expensive — about double what you'd pay in Paris. In my London guidebook, I recommend affordable comfort like the family-run Aster House hotel. The rooms are pretty basic and there's no elevator. But it's friendly. The breakfast conservatory is elegant, and the neighborhood can't be beat.
Staying here, I feel like a temporary local. My home: South Kensington, one of London's many distinct neighborhoods. It's plenty central and with the tube station just around the corner, I'm a few minutes from anywhere in downtown.
London's subway is one of this planet's great people-movers. To avoid ticket window lines, buy tickets from coin-operated machines.
Follow the signs to the right platform. Visualize your London map and remember: everything is labeled north, south, east, or west. Each line has two directions and therefore two platforms. Signs list the line, direction and stops served by each platform. Lost? Many of the locals... speak English.
Because some tracks are shared by several lines, signboards announce which train's next and how many minutes till it arrives. Final destinations are displayed above the windshield. And always…
Mind the Gap, please
.. mind the gap.
Track your progress with the chart on board. Our stop is King's Cross. Signs show the best exit, saving you lots of walking. British Library... right this way.
The British Library is the national archive. The statue of Isaac Newton measuring the immensity of the universe symbolizes the library's purpose: to preserve the record of man's endless search for truth.
The British Library fills 180 miles of shelving with over 12 million books. For our visit, only one room matters... the treasures: early gospels on papyrus; the first complete New Testament — written in Greek from the 4th century; Illuminated manuscripts — with pages decorated by monks; Some of the finest art from Europe's Middle Ages; and the Gutenberg Bible — from 1455. Gutenberg's movable metal type made printing affordable and helped power Europe into the modern age.
While these precious books are behind glass and show only one page at a time, even those of us with sticky fingers can leaf through Leonardo's notebook via computer. For a closer look at this 14th century Psalms book, let's zoom in.
The Magna Carta — from 1215 — documents the first steps toward government by people rather than kings.
Cases are dedicated to the titans of English literature. The first collection of Shakespeare's plays. And here's Lewis Carroll: the original Alice in Wonderland.
There's even music: a hand-written manuscript of Handel's Messiah... and eine kleine Mozart.
Travelers enjoy pondering these maps: In 1491, this was the best map Columbus could find. By 1562 the eastern coast of the Americas was fairly accurate. And you could plan your next vacation with Mercator's 1570 map of Europe.
While Newton's still searching for the truth, it seems much of England is searching for something else…the perfect cuppa tea
The Bramah Tea Museum is a favorite among aficionados. The owner, Mr. Bramah, wants the world to know how the advent of commercial television ruined the tea industry.
Rick: So it has been a good Century for tea?
Mr. Bramah: It has been a diabolical century for Tea. We had tea for three hundred years in this country, which tasted like tea. Then with the introduction in the 1950s, commercial television, and commercial breaks meant that there wasn't time to infuse a pot of tea for five minutes, which was the hall mark of good tea making, and the coffee industry took that opportunity to advertise instant coffee, night after night after night for 40 years to the to the great British nation of tea drinkers.
Rick: You mean tea bags?
Mr. Bramah: ... and then they put it in tea bags.
Fast, but poor quality and it's gone downhill ever since.
Rick: So in this museum you won't find any tea bags?
Mr. Bramah: Certainly not, no tea bags.
London is a sprawling coral reef of humanity. But a short cruise on the Thames gets you out of the city.
Boat operator: This is a lovely bit of London here. Just through the bridge you will see an island in the middle of the river, and that is Oliver Eight. This is called Oliver Eight because Oliver Cromwell used to meditate on this island.
It's a 90-minute ride to many botanists' favorite escape…Kew Gardens.
The Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew offer a delightful opportunity to wander among 33,000 different types of plants. It's run by a hardworking organization committed to appreciating and preserving the botanical diversity of our planet. For an orientation, watch the welcome video and pick up a map listing this month's best blooms. This is June. Prime time for rhodies and roses.
Garden lovers could spend days exploring Kew's 300 acres. For a quick visit, spend a fragrant hour wandering through three buildings:
The Princess of Wales Conservatory offers a stroll through nine different climate zones. Exhibits include bug-munching carnivorous plants and a forest of cactus.
The Waterlily House — the hottest house in the entire garden — is a place Monet would swim for.
And the Kew Gardens' highlight: the Palm House — a humid Victorian world of iron, glass and tropical plants. Built in 1844, it provides a swing through a jungle right in London and just one more example of why this great city will keep me coming back for a lifetime.
Thanks for joining us. I'm Rick Steves reporting from London — where the weather's... hot and muggy. Until next time, keep on travelin'
See more travel details for recommendations highlighted in bold, excerpted from Rick's guidebooks.