here’s the westminster bridge on the river thames. it’s a great city to walk in as there are no hills to negotiate on foot and the best starting point is near the parliament buildings in westminster bridge with its views of the parliament buildings and big ben.

with a population of almost 9 million people， london is europe’s biggest city， spreading over an area of more than 900 squaremiles from its core on the river thames.

the tower bridge has long symbolised the city of london to people around the world. it’s the gateway to the capital for ships coming upriver to dock in the port and it is the first bridge over the thames coming upriver from the east. ships are not required to wait—the road traffic on the bridge must give way to the traffic on the river.

the tower of london marks the eastern extent of the old city. it’s usually thought of as a place of imprisonment and death but hasvariously been used though as an armoury， royal residence and a repository ofthe crown jewels. and not far from the tower of london is the spectacular kings cross station where thousands of people grab subways and trains every day.

and this is westminster abbey， founded in the 8th century. since william the conqueror onwards， all royal funerals， most coronations， have happened inside westminster abbey. many of the nations most famous citizens are honoured here， too.

st james park. contrary to many expectations， london is a very green city with sizeable parks right in the centre. st james park here is the oldest of the royal parks and it’s also the smallest and most ornamental.

here are the gates of buckingham palace， and nearby on whitehall， the site of a concentration of government buildings. the two guardsmen posted front， on horse guards parade are famously quite unruffled by the crowds of tourists.

the hubs of political and royal london—parliament and buckingham palace—are surprisingly not that close together.

And here again is Buckingham Palace. It served as the monarchs permanent residence since the ascension of Queen Victoria. The buildings exterior, remodelled in 1913, is, as some critics say, as bland as it’s possible to be. Buckingham Palace, however, has been open to the public since 1993 for two months of the year. Crowds assemble here around 11: 00 a m. each day to watch the always popular Changing of the Guard.

The most important role of the monarchy is to represent the four component parts of the United Kingdom. Those four parts are of course England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

This is the National Gallery, on the north side of Trafalgar Square. It contains one of the world’s great art collections. Here you’ ll find a vast range of paintings from Raphael to Botticelli, from Titian to Velazquez, from Goya to Rembrandt, and David to Cezanne and Monet, all here at the National Gallery.

Trafalgar Square. The huge traffic island of Trafalgar Square is dominated by Nelsons Column, a vast pillar topped with a statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson. This grand square has been a traditional place for public meetings ever since 1848. Many political marches end here with rallies and with speakers usually address the crowds from the base of the column. Four huge lions, designed by Victorian painter Landseer, guard the column’s base. Two adjacent fountains provide a magnet for over heated sightseers during the summer.

And here is Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Also called the Palace of Westminster, these grand buildings stand on the side of the palace that was the seat of the English kings for five centuries. Though they look older, these current buildings were constructed in the mid-1800s after a fire devastated the original palace. It’s a mix of Gothic and Elizabethan styles, a mass of pinnacles and tracery. The clock tower known around the world, Big Ben, is 320-feet high. Big Ben is of course the name applied to this tower but it is in fact the name of its main bell.

The writer W. U. Weatherby  wrote “One goes to London at last as Americans go to New York, To experience the shock of vitality, from so many millions living together and to see the country in melting pot.