London travel guide - London city break

London is a huge city with several district articles containing sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — consider printing them all.

Tower Bridge at dusk. Bridging the River Thames near the Tower of London, Tower Bridge is one of the icons of the central London landscape. It opened in 1894.

Noisy, vibrant and truly multicultural, London is a megalopolis of people, ideas and energy. The capital and largest city of both the United Kingdom and of England, it is also the largest city in Western Europe and the European Union. Situated on the River Thames in South-East England, Greater London has an official population of roughly 7.5 million people — although the figure of over 14 million for the city's total metropolitan area more accurately reflects London's size and importance. London is one of the great "world cities," and remains a global capital of culture, fashion, finance, politics and trade.

Central

Home to most of the city's main tourist attractions, as well as an enormous number of pubs, clubs, bars and theatres.
West End - Greatest concentration of hotels, restaurants, world class shopping and theatres as well as the famous Chinatown.
Bloomsbury - Academic and intellectual area, many of the University of London's constituent colleges are based here.
Clerkenwell - Home of several old churches and popping up with new restaurants and clubs.
City of London - The historical and financial core of the city.
Holborn - Heart of legal London.
Marylebone - Check out Madame Tussauds and walk along Baker Street, retracing Sherlock Holmes's footsteps.
Mayfair - Most elegant and fashionable area of London.
South Bank - A vibrant, artsy area fronting the river Thames that is home to the London Eye.
Westminster - A city in its own right, and home of the United Kingdom parliament and Royal Family.
West
Includes Chelsea, Kensington, Notting Hill, Paddington, Acton, Chiswick, Ealing, Fulham, Hammersmith, Shepherd's Bush and Uxbridge.
North
Covers Archway, Camden, Crouch End, Islington and Wood Green.
North West
The upmarket areas of Hampstead & Hampstead garden suburb, Maida Vale and St. John's Wood, but also includes immigrant and working class Kilburn, Cricklewood and Wembley.
East
A mixture of galleries and bustling nightlife, as well as the some of the most deprived areas in the country. Now the focus of redevelopment for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Covers Bethnal Green, Bow, Brick Lane, Clerkenwell, Docklands, Hackney, Mile End, Poplar, Shoreditch, Stepney, Stratford, Walthamstow and Whitechapel.
South West
Covers Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, Kingston, Putney, Richmond,Wimbledon, Streatham, Sutton, Tooting, Twickenham and Wandsworth.
South East
Covers Greenwich, Bromley, Croydon, Bexley, Deptford, Dulwich, Lewisham and Penge.

Get in London By plane

Due to Londons huge global city status it is the most served destination in the world when it comes to flights.

London (all airports code: LON) is served by a total of six airports. Travelling between the city and the airports is made relatively easy by the large number of public transport links that have been put in place over recent years. However, if transiting through London, be sure to check the arrival and departure airports carefully as transfers across the city may be quite time consuming.

In addition to London's six official airports (of which only two are located within Greater London), there are a number of other regional UK airports conveniently accessible from London. Since they offer a growing number of budget flights, choosing those airports can be cheaper (or even faster, depending on where in London your destination is).

For transfers directly between London's airports, the fastest way (short of a taxi) is the direct inter-airport bus service by National Express . Buses between Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton run at least hourly, with Heathrow-Gatwick services taking 65min (£18) and Heathrow-Stansted services 90min (£20.50) (note that services between Stansted and Luton run only every two hours).

However, it's essential to allow leeway, as London's expressways, especially the orbital M25 and the M1 motorway, are often congested to the point of gridlock. Buses have toilets on board.

Get in London By train

London has one international high speed rail route (operated by Eurostar 08705 186 186 ) from Paris (2h15) and Brussels (1h50) diving under the sea for 22 miles (35km) via the Channel Tunnel to come out in England. It terminates at St Pancras International Station.

There are no less than 12 main line National Rail [43] terminals (although in conversation you may hear the brand National Rail infrequently if ever it differentiates main line and London Underground services; journey planner online or phone 08457 48 49 50).

With the exception of Fenchurch Street (nearest tube: Tower Hill) these are on the London Underground. Most are on the circle line. Clockwise starting at Paddington, major National Rail stations are:
London Paddington, serves South West England and Wales including Slough, Maidenhead, Reading, Oxford, Bath, Bristol, Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth and Cardiff and Swansea. Also the downtown terminus of the Heathrow Airport Express (see above) and serves some suburban stations such as Acton Main Line and Ealing Broadway.

London Marylebone, serves some north western suburban stations such as Amersham, Harrow on the Hill and Wembley Stadium. Also serves Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Banbury, Stratford-upon-Avon and the city of Birmingham. It is much cheaper but slightly slower to take a train from Marylebone to Birmingham instead of a train from London Euston. Recently a new service to Shrewsbury, Telford , and Wrexham has been launched by the Wrexham & Shropshire railway company .

London Euston, serves the Midlands, north-west England and west Scotland: Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, Oxenholme Lake District, Carlisle, Glasgow, and Holyhead for connecting ferries to/from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Sleeper trains to Scotland leave from Euston.
St Pancras International, serves Paris, Brussels, Luton Airport and the East Midlands: Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield.
London King's Cross, serves East Anglia, north-east England and east Scotland: Cambridge, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Kingston upon Hull, Newcastle upon Tyne, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter books is marked with a special sign, although platform 9 itself is actually in the fairly unpleasant metallic extension used by Cambridge trains.

London Moorgate, serves some northern suburbs.
London Liverpool Street, serves East Anglia: Ipswich and Norwich. Also the downtown terminus of the Stansted Airport Express.
London Fenchurch Street, serves commuter towns north of the Thames estuary to Southend.

London Bridge, London Cannon Street, London Waterloo East and London Charing Cross, serve south and south east London and England: Brighton, Dover, Eastbourne, Hastings and Ramsgate.
London Blackfriars, serves Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
London Waterloo, serves south west London and England: Portsmouth, Winchester, Southampton, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Salisbury and Exeter.
London Victoria, serves south east London and England: Brighton, Dover, Eastbourne, Hastings and Ramsgate. Also the downtown terminus of the Gatwick Airport Express.

In South London many areas only have National Rail services (no London Underground services but there are buses). London Bridge, Victoria, Cannon Street and Charing Cross serve the South East. London Waterloo serves the South West.

First Capital Connect (frequently referred to as Thameslink) is a cross London route between Bedford and Brighton via Luton Airport (Parkway), St Pancras International, Farringdon, City Thameslink, Blackfriars, London Bridge and Gatwick Airport.

Get in London by bus

Most international and domestic long distance bus (UK English: coach) services arrive at and depart from a complex of coach stations off Buckingham Palace Road in St James's close to London Victoria rail station. All services operated by National Express or Eurolines (see below) serve Victoria Coach Station, which actually has separate arrival and departure buildings.

Services by other operators may use this station, or the Green Line Coach Station across Buckingham Palace Road. The following are amongst the main coach operators:

National Express, 0870 580 8080, . is by far the largest domestic coach operator and operates services to / from London from throughout England, Wales and Scotland. Advance ticketing is usually required and recommended practice in any case
Eurolines, +44 08705 143219, . is an associate company of National Express, and runs coach services to / from London with various cities in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe.
Advance ticketing is required.

Megabus, 0900 160 0900, . operates budget coach services from/to London (Victoria Coach Station) to/from several major regional cities, it is even possible to get to Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. Fares are demand responsive but can be very cheap (£1.50 if you book far enough in advance).

Nice tips for essential London City Break, on link above is one good discussion with several video clips!