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Best 10 London Sights. Long-time local resident recommends absolute best of London
Jan 29, 2025
Join me, Gary Bembridge of http://www.tipsfortravellers.com , as I share the ten must-see sights in London. I have lived n the city for over 30 years and chose the iconic, postcard and essential sights to see. Plus they cost nothing to see, other than the cost of the tube to get around them.
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Gary Bembridge of http://www.TipsForTravellers.com is a Travel Vlog of travel tips to help you to make the most of your precious vacation time and money
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0:00
so I've heard in London for over 30
0:02
years and in this video I want to show
0:04
you the 10 must-see sights the iconic
0:06
postcard sights of London what's
0:09
important about them is also they will
0:10
cost you absolutely nothing to see and
0:16
so the first site is the Palace of
0:18
Westminster also known as the house of
0:20
parliament inside are the House of
0:22
Commons and the House of Lords it's a
0:24
very beautiful building one of the big
0:26
misconceptions of course is about Big
0:28
Ben the clock tower Big Ben is actually
0:30
the name of the Bell inside the tower
0:32
the chimes and the tower is called the
0:35
Queen Elizabeth Tower named after queen
0:37
elizabeth ii when she entered her 60th
0:39
year of reign and just across from Big
0:42
Ben you'll see at the south bank which
0:45
is a popular tourist stretch with things
0:47
like cedar barium and also you'll find
0:49
the London Eye which is that massive
0:51
aquarist wheel that's become such an
0:53
iconic site particularly at new year and
0:56
so just behind me is Admiralty Arch and
0:59
behind that is one of the most famous
1:01
sites London Trafalgar Square
1:03
father Square was named after the Battle
1:06
of Trafalgar dreamin Napoleonic Wars
1:08
when the British were battling the
1:10
French and the Spanish and one just off
1:12
a place called Trafalgar and of course
1:14
it has Nelson's column there's a lions
1:16
guarding it and also it has a number of
1:19
plinth with statues the fourth one which
1:21
always remains empty and has different
1:23
and rotating pieces of artwork and of
1:26
course no trip to London would be
1:27
complete without a visit to Buckingham
1:29
Palace this is the official home of the
1:31
monarchy and they spent a lot of time
1:34
here although Windsor Castle about 20
1:37
miles south of London is a real big
1:38
favorite you could tell if the queen is
1:41
in residence because the royal inside
1:42
which is a gold and Red Ensign flag will
1:45
be flying above Buckingham Palace if
1:47
it's just the Union Jack it means that
1:49
the monarchy is not in residence so
1:51
during changing the guard the old guard
1:53
in place replaced by the new guard and
1:55
you got arrived from well it's
1:56
embarrassed normally accompanied by
1:59
and it's lots of fun lots of ceremony if
2:02
you're here during summer you can also
2:04
tour the state apartments and the
2:07
gardens which is a real must do so if
2:08
you years of July August time it's worth
2:10
checking online to search for Bucky and
2:12
Palace tickets and I would strongly
2:14
recommend going on a tour because you
2:16
get great insight into the royal family
2:18
the way they live and of course you get
2:20
to see places that very few people
2:21
actually get to see and of course
2:24
another really important part of a visit
2:25
to Buckingham Palace is the queen of
2:27
Victoria Memorial which just sits just
2:29
opposite the palace itself and so
2:31
optelec new palace it's time to head to
2:33
our next stop which is Tower Bridge and
2:35
the Tower of London so we can head back
2:37
down the mouth
2:39
oh by the way two things that you're
2:41
going to need if you want to do this
2:42
tour of the best sights of London
2:44
there's a good pair of walking shoes and
2:46
also one of these which is an oyster
2:48
card it's a prepaid card that you can
2:51
use on all the buses and all the tubes
2:52
just pick it up at the underground
2:53
station and you load it up with money
2:55
and the great thing is it caps and only
2:58
charges you the lowest fare possible for
3:00
all of the trips you do and so once you
3:02
get to Tower Hill tube station you're at
3:04
some of the most important sites of
3:06
London include the Tower of London
3:08
behind me and Tower Bridge so let me
3:11
tell you a little bit about the Tower of
3:12
London it's official name is actually a
3:14
war palace and fortress at the Tower of
3:16
London and it has a reputation for being
3:18
a very violent place however not that
3:21
many people were actually executed here
3:23
because executions used to take place on
3:26
Tower Hill across the other way however
3:29
it has been used for all sorts of things
3:31
including obviously a prison it's been
3:33
used as an armory it's been used as a
3:35
public records office the Royal Mint
3:37
used to be here and still within those
3:39
walls are the crown jewels and they are
3:42
a real must-see now the tower actually
3:45
held prisons from about 1100 right
3:47
through to 1952 the Kray brothers which
3:50
were famous East End gangsters were
3:52
apparently some of the last prisons ever
3:54
held here
3:55
it was most renowned for holding
3:58
prisoners in the 16th and 17th century
4:00
when everyone from Elizabeth the first
4:01
to Sir Walter Raleigh who were held
4:04
right here and that's where the
4:06
expression sent to the tower came from
4:08
to the first world war in Second World
4:10
War it was also used to hold various
4:13
enemies of the state and in fact some
4:16
people were actually executed in here
4:17
for espionage one of the more famous
4:20
sides of London is behind me right now
4:22
it's the Tower Bridge in open in 1895
4:25
and connects the north and the south
4:27
side of London with of course the Thames
4:30
flowing underneath it's a magnificent
4:32
building
4:33
now what camp crossed our bridge is
4:35
gonna give you one of the most
4:36
magnificent views you can possibly have
4:38
of London get to the ride up the river
4:41
towards London it really is quite any of
4:43
us another if you can see that behind me
4:44
with the river behind me now from Tower
4:47
Bridge you can see many of the more
4:48
recent and modern buildings of London
4:51
that are signed to basically pop up
4:53
around the skyline see of the shard
4:55
which is a massive tall building and has
4:57
the tallest observation platform in
4:59
Europe well so behind me you've got the
5:00
London Assembly where the mayor has his
5:02
office and HMS Belfast which was a old
5:06
World War 2 battleship behind me on the
5:09
other side there you have the City of
5:10
London which is the heart of the
5:11
financial center and you have buildings
5:13
which are effectively known as the
5:16
walkie talkie the cheese grater and the
5:19
gherkin
5:20
and so visiting London and summer one of
5:22
things you all very quickly realize it's
5:24
very busy wherever you go I mean it's
5:27
just proud - proud of people everywhere
5:29
but normally it's nice and sunny like
5:31
this and it's quite good fun so it's
5:34
still great and so once you've had time
5:36
at the Tower of London and tablatures
5:39
time for the next big side which is Sint
5:42
Paul's Cathedral so here I am in the
5:45
gardens of Center Paul's I'm doing it in
5:47
the gardens at the back because a little
5:48
bit quieter here than at the front so
5:50
Paul's is a very significant Cathedral
5:53
it's where all the major events take
5:55
place like funeral state funerals for
5:57
example the marriage of Prince Charles
6:00
and Princess Diana was here and also big
6:04
celebrations like Queen's Jubilee it's
6:06
on blood gate here which is the highest
6:08
point in the City of London the heart of
6:10
London and until 1967 it was actually
6:13
the tallest building in London Philip I
6:16
said Christopher Wren off the Great Fire
6:18
of London and even during World War Two
6:20
as bombs fell all around London
6:22
surprisingly the dome on simples
6:25
remained and it became like a beacon of
6:28
hope through the whole of the Second
6:29
World War so in full tear can't tell you
6:31
inside although it is free to get inside
6:33
because you can't take videos or any
6:35
pictures there one of the challenges
6:36
when you're outside singing and unders
6:38
trying to find some way to go to the loo
6:39
and so that's another big plus for
6:42
things like Starbucks and places like
6:44
that versus the public toilets you're in
6:45
a pain
6:46
about 50 P to go and spend a penny and
6:51
so after Santa Paul's the next stop
6:53
which is not that far away is the
6:56
Millennium Bridge which also is
6:57
affectionately known as the wobbly
7:00
bridge when it opened in June 2000 it
7:02
had to be closed the same day because
7:04
people found as they walked over it it
7:06
basically swayed and made them seasick
7:07
it took two years to fix before it was
7:09
reopened and so the Millennium Bridge
7:11
has become a major tourist attraction
7:12
attracts lots of people because it takes
7:15
you from one side the Thames to the
7:17
other
7:17
falls on the one side and you have Tate
7:20
Modern which is a free gallery on the
7:23
other side and very in a very beautiful
7:24
old Art Deco power station now along
7:28
this stretch of the river which is sort
7:30
of the south bank of the Thames there's
7:32
always lots of activity lots of people
7:34
hanging around lots of events stalls
7:36
that kind of stuff so it's always good
7:38
if you wanted to stop has something to
7:40
eat we'll just simply relax after this
7:42
frantic sightseeing and so my next tip
7:45
in terms of must-see sites is Hyde Park
7:48
it's a massive park it's one of the big
7:50
four parks in London and the big parks
7:53
the big Royal parks are connected so you
7:55
have Kensington Gardens you have Hyde
7:57
Park you have Green Park and that
7:59
eventually is just in James's Park now
8:00
many people say that you can pretty much
8:02
walk across London on greenery I don't
8:05
know if that's entirely true but there's
8:06
a lot of green space in London and Hyde
8:08
Park is one of the most important
8:10
there's a couple of key things with in
8:12
Hyde Park that you can see there's a
8:13
serpent town which is a lake that sort
8:15
of splits Hyde Park into the speaker's
8:17
corner which is very famous particularly
8:19
weekend when people gather and it's a
8:21
chance to do free speech and talk about
8:23
anything you want to talk about it
8:24
heckled get to jeered whatever and then
8:26
also down towards the sort of
8:28
Knightsbridge side of Hyde Park
8:30
you'll also find two very important
8:32
buildings one of which is the Albert
8:33
Memorial which Queen Victoria built in
8:36
honor of her lost husband and across the
8:40
road from that is the magnificent and
8:41
circular Albert Hall which is where big
8:44
concerts are held in particularly the
8:46
proms every are held
8:48
and so as we hit to our next site one of
8:51
things I want to do is give you a little
8:52
tip based on what I've been seeing today
8:53
as I've been traveling around I've heard
8:56
so much incorrect information spoken
8:58
about besides the history etc so what
9:00
ever do is I've tried to give you a
9:02
short overview in order to each of the
9:04
links but I'd strongly recommend you
9:06
know get a good guide book or certainly
9:08
find a reputable side online up with
9:09
some links in the notes and make sure
9:11
that you have a good sense on what
9:13
you're actually seeing and try not to
9:15
listen to some of the bizarre ideas and
9:17
thoughts and explanations you hear as
9:19
you go around and so our next mercy site
9:21
is the British Museum it was established
9:23
in the 1700s and over the last two North
9:25
centuries it's collected over eight
9:28
million items it focuses on human
9:31
history arts and culture and it has a
9:35
couple of controversial pieces or areas
9:37
within it such as the Parthenon statues
9:40
where there's a constant discussion
9:42
between Greece and the UK about their
9:44
return
9:45
however the collection here is amazing
9:47
and to the most popular areas are the
9:50
Egyptian areas including a display of
9:53
mummies and also of course the Elgin
9:56
marbles as they used to be called all
9:57
the Parthenon sculptures like all
9:59
museums in the UK the British Museum is
10:02
free although they do ask if you will
10:04
make a donation but it you don't have to
10:06
if you don't want to at our next site is
10:08
actually a collection of three things
10:10
it's a collection of three amazing
10:11
museum buildings and of course the
10:14
museum's inside them are also awesome
10:16
and quite amazing the first is the
10:19
Natural History Museum it has over 80
10:21
million specimens and it's best known
10:24
for its dinosaurs which are a big hit
10:27
with kids over five million people
10:29
visited a year crossroad is the DNA it's
10:32
the world's largest decorative arts
10:34
museum and named after Queen Victoria
10:35
and Prince Albert and both of these were
10:38
opened in the 1850s it's a great museum
10:40
it's probably one of my favourite
10:42
museums if not my favorite Museum in
10:44
London a little bit up the road from
10:45
that is the Science Museum which is very
10:47
hands-on interactive Museum it gets
10:49
about three and a half million visitors
10:50
a year it's great for kids because it
10:52
really immerses them into science or
10:54
lets them get their hands
10:55
involved and grubby if you like it's
10:59
just going to look at the building's
11:00
themselves as amazing they're all
11:01
together in South Kensington in the west
11:03
of London but again you can get in for
11:05
free or museum's of free and you could
11:07
spend you know days probably in each of
11:09
them you know stop in London is complete
11:12
without stopping off in Harrods it is
11:14
over five acres in Knightsbridge ES 330
11:18
departments and apparently sells
11:20
everything you could possibly want used
11:22
to be owned by Mohammed al-fayed who's
11:24
the son of Dodi was actually in a
11:26
relationship with Lady Diana when they
11:28
both died in a car crash in Paris it's
11:31
now actually controlled by the Qataris
11:32
so as I said I've lived in London for
11:34
over 30 years I adore the city and
11:37
hopefully you'll find those 10 must-see
11:40
sites absolutely fantastic and really
11:42
helpful I try to choose the sites at our
11:44
iconic sites that really represent
11:47
London and also that you can see without
11:49
actually having to pay to do anything
11:51
other than of course at your
11:53
transportation a couple of things I'd
11:54
really like to do first of all I'd love
11:56
you to leave a comment and let me know
11:57
which of those sites you love the most
11:59
of you've ever been to London or while
12:02
looking forward to seeing the most
12:03
secondly it'd be great if you left a
12:06
thumbs up on the video it would also be
12:08
great if you could subscribe and every
12:10
week I try and use a new video with
12:12
travel inspiration advice tips and
12:14
money-saving ideas to help you make the
12:16
most of your precious vacation time and
12:19
money
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