City of Westminster
Westminster sits at the heart of London and is the centre of British political life. It’s home to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, where 39 monarchs have been crowned.
Tourists flock to landmarks like Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Covent Garden’s shops and theatres. Then there’s the dilemma of whether to take tea at the Ritz, dim sum in Chinatown – or maybe a pint in one of Soho’s many pubs?
Composer George Frideric Handel wrote Messiah in Mayfair, next door to where rock legend Jimi Hendrix would live some 200 years later. Two miles away is Abbey Road Studios, and the zebra crossing made famous by The Beatles.
And yet with all that heritage, Westminster never sits still – a key example of London’s way of respecting its past while embracing the future.
The Palace of Westminster from Westminster Bridge
Blogs-And-Stories
What was the Great Exhibition of 1851?
A groundbreaking public attraction on an almost unheard-of scale
Gertie Millar: An Edwardian musical comedy icon
A leading lady on the London stage in the early 1900s
Lost rivers: The Tyburn
Flowing under Mayfair and Buckingham Palace, the Tyburn shaped some of London’s wealthiest areas
Who was Admiral Nelson?
Nelson's naval victories gave him national hero status and a permanent place in Trafalgar Square
Savile Row: The heart of London tailoring
Two centuries of Britain’s best bespoke clothing has centred around this Mayfair street
Boris Johnson: London mayor, Brexit prime minister
Running the capital then the country, Johnson is remembered for the Olympics, Brexit and Covid-19
The marriage of Queen Victoria & Prince Albert
A royal story of love – and loss
Heaven: London’s gay superclub
A pioneering LGBTQ+ ultradisco and a home of UK queer rave subculture
The history of the BBC
The world-famous BBC made its first radio broadcast from London over 100 years ago
Waterloo Bridge
Sometimes called the “ladies’ bridge”, this is a crossing that’s inspired Monet and The Kinks
How London Pride began
And the campaign for LGBTQ+ rights gained momentum in the 1970s
Lunar New Year in London: Celebration, change & Chinatown
A story of tradition, adaptation and cultural pride in modern London
Coronations through the ages
London has been host to royal coronations strange and magnificent
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 1953
Celebrated by Londoners in the streets – and on their screens
