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
Victoria Station: To the south & beyond
All aboard for seaside shenanigans and intercontinental connections
Paddington Station: For bears & westward travel
A glorious ceiling and a visitor from Peru
A brief history of Punch & Judy puppet shows
Punch and his ill-treated wife Judy have entertained Londoners for centuries
A caricaturist takes on the Great Exhibition, 1851
George Cruikshank’s satirical sketches shine a light on the craze caused by this London event
Building a Victorian underground railway
Henry Flather’s photos of the Metropolitan District Railway show a transport revolution in action
The Huguenots in London
These French refugees worked silk in Spitalfields and silver in Soho, weaving a lasting legacy
The Forty Elephants: South London’s supreme shoplifters
How an all-women clan of career criminals hounded West End department stores
The comic operas of Gilbert & Sullivan
The writer-composer pair behind the hottest shows in Victorian London
Norman Hartnell: Couturier to queens & stars
The south Londoner who brought a theatrical flair to high-end fashion design
The animals of London Zoo in the 1950s
Photographer Henry Grant takes us on a tour of these Regent’s Park residents
How Cleopatra’s Needle came to London
An ancient Egyptian obelisk – on the banks of the River Thames
Lundenwic: The other medieval London
When Roman London was abandoned, a new settlement sprang up beyond the walls
Speakers’ Corner: A home of free speech
Hyde Park’s historic spot for public speaking and debate
