DK Travel : London : Places of interest

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South Bank Complex

The most accessible arts centre in London still has the air of friendly, egalitarian optimism that brought it into life in the 1950s and 60s. The Royal Festival Hall’s three concert halls have diverse programmes while the Hayward Gallery is a major venue for large art exhibitions. The National Film Theatre, run by the British Film Institute, puts on a full programme of movies. The Royal National Theatre’s three theatres (Olivier, Cottesloe and Lyttleton) are further east along the riverside.
Spitalfields

Streets such as Fournier Street, lined with 18th-century Huguenot silk weavers’ houses, are a reminder that this area, just east of the City, has provided a refuge for immigrant populations for centuries. London’s oldest market, Old Spitalfields Market still has stalls selling food, as well as several cafés and shops dotted around its edge. But Sunday is the day when the market draws hundreds, eager to find a bargain among the fashion, vintage clothing, and crafts stalls here. Opposite the market is one of Europe’s great Baroque churches. Christ Church (1716) was designed by Wren’s pupil, architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661–1736).
St George’s Church

This church was described in a 19th-century guide book as “the most pretentious, ugliest edifice in the metropolis”. The steeple is topped with a statue of King George I posing as St George.
St James’s Palace

Built by Henry VIII, on the site of the former hospital of St James, the palace is the official residence of Prince Charles. The red brick Tudor gatehouse is a familiar landmark.
St James’s Park

This is undoubtedly London’s most elegant park, with dazzling flower beds, exotic wildfowl on the lake (watch the pelicans being fed at 3pm), a good café with outdoor seating and music on the bandstand in summer. The bridge over the lake has a good view to the west of Buckingham Palace and, to the east, of the former Colonial Office where just 125 civil servants once governed the British Empire that covered one fifth of the world.
St Katharine’s Dock

Near Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, this is the place to come and relax, to watch the rich on their yachts and the working sailors on the Thames barges. There are several cafés, the Dickens Inn, with outside tables, and the Aquarium restaurant for a serious meal.
St Katharine’s Dock

The first and most successful piece of modern Docklands development was this handsome dock beside Tower Bridge. Refurbished in the 1980s, the area is surrounded by apartments, shops and cafés.
St Pancras Station

One of the glories of Victorian Gothic architecture, this railway terminus was designed in 1874 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, who also designed the Albert Memorial. Most of the frontage is in fact the former Midland Grand Hotel, which is presently being refurbished as part of the current Channel Tunnel railway terminus project.

Carved figures, St Pancras Parish Church
St Paul’s Cathedral
St Paul’s Church

Inigo Jones built this church (known as the actors’ church) with the main portico facing east, onto the Piazza, and the altar at the west end. Clerics objected to this unorthodox arrangement, so the altar was moved. The entrance is via the west portico while the grand east door is essentially a fake.