LONDON

English gardens are among some of the best in the world so it's well worth discovering London's finest.
Large Gardens:

Many of London's most famous gardens are on a grand scale, former private estates designed to dazzle. Garden lovers visiting these pages should check out these gems

Kensington Palace Gardens: a variety of garden landscapes, including the 19th-century Italian Gardens

Hampton Court Palace Gardens: devised by Henry VIII as a magnificent display of opulence

Eltham Palace: original medieval gardens with Art Deco elements

Syon House and Gardens: 16 hectares (40 acres) of garden landscaped by the renowned garden innovator Capability Brown

Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew: 121 hectares (300 acres) housing over 30,000 types of plant, Kew Gardens have a 250-year history and are a World Heritage site
Smaller Gardens: Perfect for a Stroll

London is also home to many smaller gardens, offering a brief respite from the buzz of London life. Some of the most picturesque include.

Chelsea Physic Garden: This unique London garden was founded in 1673 for the cultivation of medicinal plants. Today, the garden hosts a Garden of World Medicine and a new Pharmaceutical Garden.

The Kyoto Japanese Garden in Holland Park: This striking London garden was created as a "strolling garden" in 1991. Plants and pruning techniques are carefully selected and maintained to reflect this style.

Charlton House Peace Garden: Charlton House is one of Britain's most magnificent Jacobean houses. In 2006, one of its original walled gardens was opened to the public. It was dedicated as a Peace Garden in support of Amnesty International's Stop Violence Against Women campaign.

Fulham Palace: The palace has recently been re-opened to the public after extensive restoration work. Its spectacular gardens include an 18th-century walled garden and a variety of rare shrubs.

Chiswick House Gardens: These stunning London gardens were designed in the eighteenth century by William Kent. Kent's idealised vision of the Italian countryside transformed British landscape gardening. The gardens are still being restored to their original splendour, but are well worth a visit.

The Garden Museum: Complete your exploration of London gardens by visiting this museum devoted to British gardening history. The 900-year old former church building is set in an extraordinary garden of its own. This fine reproduction of a seventeenth-century knot garden boasts historically authentic plants and ornamentation.

Posted in Buckingham Palace, capital, Central London, England, Jubilee Gardens, Kensington Palace Gardens, markets, pubs, road, United Kingdom

The Merlin Entertainments London Eye (commonly the London Eye, or Millennium Wheel) is an extremely large passenger-carrying Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames in Central London in the United Kingdom.

Standing at a height of 135 meters (442 ft 11 in), it is the largest Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over three million people in one year. At the time it was erected, in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until it was surpassed by the Star of Nanchang (160 meters (524 ft 11 in)) in May 2006, and then the Singapore Flyer (165 meters (541 ft 4 in)) on 11 February 2008. However, it is still described by its operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" (as the entire structure is supported by an A-frame on one side only).

The London Eye is located at the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Lambeth in England, between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The site is adjacent to that of the former Dome of Discovery, which was built for the Festival of Britain in 1951.

Posted in Central London, Jubilee Gardens, London Eye, Millennium Wheel, tourist attraction

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of England (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man), Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The British landscape can be divided roughly into two kinds of terrain – highland and lowland. The highland area comprises the mountainous regions of Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and north Wales. Sandstone and limestone hills, long valleys and basins such as the Wash break up the lowland area on the east coast. Despite its small size, England is a country of much diversity.

London, the capital, draws increasing numbers of visitors, not only to the well documented attractions of the West End with its theatres, cinemas, shopping streets, restaurants, hotels and nightclubs, but to its historic treasures such as Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. In addition, London has the vast green spaces of Hampstead Heath, Hyde and Richmond parks; vibrant street markets in Camden, Brick Lane or Portobello Road and many distinctive old pubs.

Posted in Buckingham Palace, capital, England, markets, pubs, road, United Kingdom