LONDON 2024 PLAN YOUR PERFECT TRIP ... 132 PAGES OF EXPERT ADVICE AND INSPIRATION
107 FANTASTIC DAYS OUT The top sights & shows of 2024
WIN
A STAY IN A LUXURY MAYFAIR HOTEL
TALES OF TOWER BRIDGE History of an icon
LONDON'S VILLAGES
From Marylebone to Mayfair
P LU S BEST IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES DAY-TRIPS FROM THE CITY THE NATIONAL GALLERY TURNS 200
AFTERNOON TEA WITH A TWIST London's quirkiest themed teas
UK £9.99
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AFTERNOON TEA
Teas with a twist Forget traditional – the best afternoon teas in London come with a quirky theme. Here are the best, sampled by the London 2024 team
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afternoon tea
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PHOTOS: © ALAN COPSON/AWL IMAGES/JOHNNY GREIG/PRAKICH TREETASAYUTH/ALAMY
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tand in almost any spot in central London and you can see the layers of history around you: a modern building jostling for space with a medieval one; a cathedral spire competing with a skyscraper; a two-hundred-year-old statue standing watch over a station entrance. But we tend to forget, as we stroll through the capital taking in the sights, that its long and incredibly rich history is as evident in the names of its streets and districts – many of them centuries old, more of them curious and most of them taken for granted by residents, tourists and day-trippers alike. Where to begin with mapping out London’s historic hodonyms? Westminster is perhaps as good a place as any. The heart of Britain’s political and religious establishment for over a thousand years, many of its signposts speak evocatively of its past. Little known is that Broad Sanctuary – down which King Charles II’s procession passed to enter Westminster Abbey through the Great West Door for the coronation on 6 May 2023 – stood within the church’s precinct in medieval times, a place where refugees and even criminals could seek shelter and immunity from arrest. Nearby Abbey Orchard Street, meanwhile, was where the Abbey’s Benedictine monks grew fruit, supplementing a larger space for growing vegetables at Covent (earlier Convent) Garden, in their possession until the dissolution of the monasteries. Downing Street, home of Britain’s Prime Minster since 1735 and unquestionably Westminster’s most iconic thoroughfare, is one of numerous London streets to be named after its developer, though George Downing – a ‘perfidious rogue and doubly perjured traitor’ according
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PHOTOS: © ALAN COPSON/AWL IMAGES/JOHNNY GREIG/PRAKICH TREETASAYUTH/ALAMY
Previous page: North London's Primrose Hill was named after the abundant spring flowers that grew in the area This page, left to right: No. 10 Downing Street; Broad Sanctuary leads to Westminster Abbey
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TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT Tower Bridge is a familiar feature of the London skyline, but the people that lived and worked on this iconic structure had long been forgotten – until a new initiative revealed their stories WORDS SANDRA LAWRENCE
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landmarks
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SHOPPING
SHOP TILL YOU DROP
London’s best shopping neighbourhoods are home to designer brands, independent boutiques and some of the city’s best drinking and dining destinations, and have their fair share of history too WORDS HENRIETTA EASTON
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PHOTOS: © HARRODS, KNIGHTSBRIDGE
shopping
PHOTOS: © GARETH GARDNER /ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST/HER MAJEST Y QUEEN ELIZABETH II 2019
PHOTOS: © CHRIS DORNEY/GETTY IMAGES
culture
Capital escapes Just a short distance from London, an array of bustling towns and grand historic cities are waiting to be explored. Here's our pick of the best day-trips WORDS LAURA SILVERMAN
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