In our London series you’ll find out who was crowned at Westminster, buried in St Paul’s or beheaded at the Tower and hear their stories. You’ll discover the history of Shakespeare’s Globe, the London of Charles Dickens and the royal palaces. We’ll tell you what to look out for in London’s museums and galleries, help you discover the city’s parks, theatres, shops and markets and take trips out to Hampton Court and Windsor.
The 26 episodes in our City Break London series bring you all the background history and culture you need to fully understand this amazing city. In short, here is all the research you’d do yourself if only you had the time.
Each episode centres around a podcast, available here or on all the usual providers. As a minimum, you’ll also find an introductory summary plus useful links and ideas for further reading. Eventually, there’ll be full blogpost with lot more information and pictures.
LONDON : HISTORY & CULTURE
EPISODE 1: Introduction to London
Red buses and royalty, St Paul’s and Piccadilly, London is one of the world’s most popular city break destinations. Here is an overview of the series, offering some geographical, historical and cultural details to whet your appetite for the remaining 25 episodes when we will tour all the main sites, telling you the stories behind them and introducing a wealth of colourful personalities who have influenced the city over the centuries.
EPISODE 2: St Paul’s Cathedral
We begin our tour of London at St Paul’s Cathedral, which stands as a symbol of the city and which has so many links to its past. Hear a little of the history of the cathedral itself, listen to stories as varied as Catherine of Aragon’s (first!) wedding, Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and the funerals of Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Winston Churchill. Find out too what to look out for when you visit.
EPISODE 3: The City of London
This tour of the Square Mile, starts with some stories from its history: medieval days, the plague, the Great Fire and the subsequent rebuilding of the city which became a world centre of finance. We’ll hear from many Londoners, such as Dick Whittington, Samuel Pepys and Christopher Wren, and visit some of the places you might want to look round today, including a number of churches and such venerable institutions as the Guildhall, the Royal Exchange and Mansion House, not forgetting the Bank of England Museum.
EPISODE 4: Tower of London
This episode will give you the background information you need to enjoy your visit to the Tower of London to the full. Find out the main facts such as why William the Conqueror built it in the first place and who was imprisoned, tortured and beheaded within its walls. Get the quirky details too: which animals have been kept there over the centuries and what became of them all in the 1820s, which ghosts are still said to roam the premises, what will happen if the last ravens ever fly away?
EPISODE 5: Westminster Abbey
A Christmas day coronation-and-riot in 1066, the weddings of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria’s coronation and Golden Jubilee, Westminster Abbey has seen them all. Hear the story of its beginning, and tales from across the centuries of just some of the most talked-about events which took place there. Find out too what you should look out for on a visit.
EPISODE 6: Houses of Parliament
The building might be a stunning Victorian gothic pile, but the history of the Houses of Parliament goes much, much further back than that. Hear some of the highlights, together with snippets from the speeches which made the greatest impact, and find out too what to look out for on a visit. We’ll be popping next door to Westminster Hall too, the scene of some of the country’s most momentous occasions: coronation feasts, the trials of traitors and a king, and visits from a pope and an American president.
EPISODE 7: Whitehall & Trafalgar Square
This episode takes you on a stroll through the very heart of London from Parliament Square along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. We pause at the Cabinet War Rooms, the underground maze from which Churchill directed operations in World War 2, then make three further visits: to the Banqueting House, scene of the only beheading of an English king, the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery.
EPISODE 8: Buckingham Palace
What visit to London could miss out Buckingham Palace? Hear a little history, some trivia and some tales from the balcony. Then find out what to look out for on a visit, before popping next door (twice) to the Royal Mews to meet the horses and to the Queen’s Gallery to hear about some of the royal treasures which won’t fit into any of the palaces.
EPISODE 9: Inns of Court
A wander round the Inns of Court, that most peaceful haven just off some of London’s busiest streets. Explore the courtyards and gardens, learn about the ancient buildings where lawyers have been working for centuries and hear how trainee barristers let off steam in medieval times. Find out too what the young Charles Dickens thought about life as a solicitor’s clerk here.
EPISODE 10: Fleet Street
A visit to Fleet Street, a focal point for writers, publishers and journalists since the Middle Ages. Hear some of their stories, find out which of their favourite watering holes still exist today and discover two places of interest which you can still visit: the home where Dr Johnson wrote his famous dictionary and St Bride’s Church, known as the spiritual home of the media.
EPISODE 11: The Strand & Piccadilly
In this episode it’s all about London as a centre of entertainment. We’re going along the Strand, round Covent Garden, popping into the Royal Opera House and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and then on down to Piccadilly and London’s theatreland. Enjoy!
EPISODE 12: Victoria & Albert
Surely no two people left a greater mark on ‘their’ corner of London, than Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Hear their story and discover the places most connected with them: Kensington Palace, the Royal Albert Hall and a trio of world-class museums, namely the V and A, The Science Museum and the Natural History Museum.
EPISODE 13: Chaucer & Shakespeare
Our two greatest authors, Chaucer and Shakespeare, both lived and worked in London for most of their lives. Hear about them and their work, discover the London they knew and find out where to ‘see’ them in the city today.
EPISODE 14: Charles Dickens
London certainly pops up frequently in the novels of England’s best-known 19th century author, Charles Dickens, and traces of him can be found all over London. This episode investigates the links and takes in visits to two London museums which are closely connected to him: the Dickens Museum and the Foundling Museum.
EPISODE 15: Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury, London’s literary and academic heartland, full of pretty garden squares and the place to find some of the country’s top museums, bookshops and libraries. We wander through, pointing out some historical and literary connections and enjoying the very essence of Englishness on offer in this quietly elegant area of the capital.
EPISODE 16: East End & Docks
A tour of East London, in search of the Old East End and the area’s Jewish and multi-ethnic roots. A little history, ideas for places to visit and some literary inspiration to inform your tour. Before leaving, we pop over to the docks and the London Docklands Museum.
EPISODE 17: Hamstead & Highgate
A two-stop tour of north London. Firstly, pretty Hampstead, where Virginia Woolf thought ‘it is always spring’: lanes and cottages, cafes, antique shops and museums, including the house where John Keats spent his last 2 years in England. And not forgetting its spy connections. Then off to nearby Highgate Cemetery in search of gothic vibes and some famous tombs.
EPISODE 18: Greenwich
Greenwich is real day out territory from central London, except that one day won’t be enough for all there is to see! Hear about lots of Tudor exploits in the one-time Greenwich Palace, find out what makes the Queen’s House such an architectural gem, and enjoy tales with a maritime flavour from the Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory.
EPISODE 19: The Royal Parks
A tour of the five Royal Parks in central London, each with its own history and particular atmosphere. Hear where Charles II got into trouble for picking flowers for one of his mistresses, why the name of London Zoo’s Winnie the Bear lives on nearly a hundred years after her death and which British Prime Minister was once robbed in Green Park. Find out too where you can hire a pedalo, visit an Italian garden and see some pelicans whose ancestry dates back 350 years.
EPISODE 20: The River Thames
A review of moments of history which have taken place on the River Thames – think Henry VIII and his river pageants or the cranes dipping their heads for Winston Churchill’s funeral – plus ideas for places to visit today if you want to enjoy, or learn more about, the great river which has been the lifeblood of the city of London for two millennia.
EPISODE 21: Hampton Court
Hear about the great Tudor feasts held at Hampton Court Palace, plus tales of Henry VIII, his various wives, his courtiers and his great friend – and rival – Thomas Wolsey. There are also stories from later eras at the palace, when William and Mary and the feuding Georgian monarchs lived there, plus ideas on what to look out for if you go to visit.
EPISODE 22: Kew & Richmond
A trip a little way down the Thames for a wander round two of London’s classiest areas. Firstly, Kew, with its world-famous botanic gardens and, tucked inside, London’s smallest royal palace, namely Kew Palace. Then to Richmond, one-time site of the Palace of Richmond and home today to the capital’s largest royal park. History, boating, croquet, it’s all here.
EPISODE 23: Windsor & Eton
Windsor: a thousand years of English history. We discuss everything from Edward III’s Order of the Garter to Edward VII’s new bathrooms, via the purchase of 40 Canalettos by George III and Christmas at Windsor for Victoria, Albert and their children. We visit the royal tombs in the chapel, take an idyllic boat trip up the Thames and pop over the bridge to Eton, home of England’s very poshest school.
EPISODE 24: Shops & Markets
We cover every kind of London shopping experience, popping into some globally recognised department stores, including Selfridges on its opening day in 1909, dropping by foodie havens, the best areas for a little vintage shopping and the cream of London’s bookshops. We also call into London’s oldest shopping arcade, first opened in the 14th century, as well as one referred to as ‘the newest kid on the block.’
EPISODE 25: London Diarists
A selection of readings from diarists who have written about London across the centuries and from travel writers who came to visit. Everything from eye witness accounts of the Fire of London and an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria, to those who hated the London fog and pickpockets and those who admired it as a city full of ‘all that life has to offer’.
EPISODE 26: Literary London
A set-in-London booklist, four reading anthologies based on London and four walking tours focussed on the capital’s best-known authors. Plus, a whole selection of snippets of poetry and prose. In short, a comprehensive introduction to literary London and a host of follow-up ideas. This episode brings you everything from Dickens to J K Rowling, from the London of Agatha Christie’s ‘At Bertram’s Hotel’ to that of Tarquin Hall’s ‘Salaam Brick Lane’.
MORE READING ABOUT LONDON
Useful websites for tourists
Visit London
Visit England London City Information Centre
Visit Britain (London Section)
4 comprehensive guidebooks
Lonely Planet Pocket London
Rough Guide to London
Eyewitness London
Fodor’s London Guide
5 niche guidebooks
London A Guide for Curious Wanderers by Jack Chesher
London’s Secret Walks by Graeme Chesters
London Walks, London Stories Edited by David Tucker
London by Tube (Walks near tube stations) by Christopher Winn
London’s Houses by Vicky Wilson
6 histories of London
Elizabeth’s London by Liza Picard
Restoration London by Liza Picard
Dr Johnson’s London by Liza Picard
Victorian London by Liza Picard
Johnson’s Life of London by Boris Johnson
City of London (the history of London as a financial centre) by David Kynaston
5 books on London’s Literary figures
Chaucer by Peter Ackroyd
Globe Life: Life in Shakespeare’s London by Catherine Arnold
Inside Dickens’ London by Michael Paterson
Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles (on the Bloomsbury Group) by Amy Licence
Fictional London: A Guide to the Capital’s Literary Landmarks by Stephen Halliday
3 London anthologies
City Lit London edited by Heather Reyes
Blue Guide Literary Companion to London compiled by Robin Saikai
London: An Illustrated Companion compiled by Rosemary Gray
4 Novels set in London
At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Salaam Brick Lane by Tarquin Hall
Capital by John Lanchester
PODCASTS TO GET YOU STARTED
OTHER CITY BREAK IDEAS
LATEST ARTICLES
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