Famous places in London. Climb to the top at Castle Climbing Center

17.07.2020

Travel is The best way relax and enjoy new sensations and impressions. Every city in the world contains a huge cultural heritage peoples who lived and are living in it. Millions of tourists from all over the world form a completely chaotic flow of people thirsting for novelty, and the service industry reacts to this. Now you can fly anywhere, but a real life hacker understands that all these travel agencies and excursion companies work with maximum convenience for themselves.

Everything is put on a conveyor belt: the next batch of guests is loaded onto buses, transported along a well-established route, something is sold along the way, and now you seem to have seen all the delights of the place you have arrived at. But anyone Big City conceals many secrets and mysteries that will not be shown to you on a regular excursion. These places may not be in guidebooks, but they are definitely worth seeing. In our series of articles we will tell you about such places in various cities around the world, and London is first on the list.

1. Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising (Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising)

The entire history of consumer culture from 1800 to the present day in one place. This specialized museum houses more than 12 thousand original items from Robert Opie's unique collection. Here you can learn how today's favorite brands have achieved loyalty and recognition through creative packaging and advertising of their products.

Address: 2 Colville Mews, London, W11 2AR
Website: www.museumofbrands.com

2. Rolling Bridge (transformable bridge)

This is a real miracle of engineering. At first glance, it may seem that this is not a bridge at all, but some kind of huge animated mechanical caterpillar. Initially, the creators of the bridge solved a completely ordinary problem: they needed pedestrian bridge, which would at the same time allow boats to sail under it. Agree, the solution turned out to be at least unusual. Even on video, the transformation of this structure is mesmerizing. Imagine what it would be like to see this live. This is what a creative approach to solving quite trivial problems means. It is not for nothing that Thomas Heatherwick, the creator of this transforming bridge, received the prestigious British Structural Steel Design Award.

Address: Paddington Basin, west London
About the project: Rolling Bridge
Vicki: Rolling Bridge

3. Ripley's London Museum (Ripley's Museum of Incredible Things)

In fact, this is a whole network of museums scattered around the world, and one of its branches is located in London. What is interesting and unusual about it? Everything. The museum’s slogan is “Believe it or not,” and the exhibits fully justify it.

The most unusual things from all over the world are collected here - dinosaur eggs, wax figures-copies of “non-standard” people, stuffed animals with the most incredible shapes and mutations. The exhibitions are complemented by all kinds of entertainment events: a mirror maze, a trip into a black hole, laser show tests.

Address: 1 Piccadilly Circus, London, W1J ODA
Website: www.ripleyslondon.com

4. Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Sri Swaminarayan Temple)

The last thing you expect to see in London is a Hindu temple. However, it is there, and the size and appearance he is not just surprised. The domes and shikaras of this architectural masterpiece make people literally gasp in amazement. This is a fairly young building (the temple was built in 1995), but it is truly unique. Nowhere else in the world outside India does a Hindu temple of this size exist. Once inside the temple, you can completely immerse yourself in the atmosphere and philosophy of Hinduism.

Address: 105-119 Brentfield Road, London, NW10 8LD
Website: www.mandir.org

5. Apple Store (Apple Store on Regent Street)

We simply could not help but point out this shrine for all fans of the apple company. On this moment It will not be possible to find an Apple Store in Russia - so far the company has limited itself to only the official online store. But in fact, each Apple store is unique and truly represents a masterpiece of architecture, as it is located inside very extraordinary buildings. London's Apple Stores are no exception, but the most architecturally outstanding, in our opinion, is the store on Regent Street. Just look at the photos. This place is worth a visit.

Address: 235 Regent Street, London, W1B 2EL
Website: www.apple.com/uk/retail/regentstreet

6. Crystal Palace Park (Dinosaur Park)

It would seem, what interesting things could there be in a park, even a London one? Paths, trees, a wonderful zoo and, of course, dinosaurs. It was this place that gave birth to a trend that is still fashionable to this day - the passion for dinosaurs. More than 160 years ago, the sculptor and artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins recreated the giant and not so monsters that once lived here on earth in the form of statues, and they were built life-size, and the famous paleontologist Richard Owen advised the creator.

Address: London, SE20 8DT
Website: www.crystalpalacepark.org.uk

7. The Cartoon Museum

London has a huge selection of museums, but the Animation Museum is one of the most unusual. This is a small cozy exhibition, where every visitor can feel like a child and touch amazing world cartoons. The museum features more than 5,000 cartoon characters and 4,000 comic books. Moreover, the exhibition also reflects the history of quite serious animated films that touch on current social issues. The museum is also famous for its political satire - in it you can find not only an image of Winnie the Pooh, but also, for example, a caricature of Elizabeth II.

Address: 35 Little Russell Street, London, WC1A 2HH
Website: www.cartoonmuseum.org

8. Thames Barrier

An ignorant person is unlikely to recognize a dam controlling the river in these futuristic structures. You might think that aliens have landed here, or that the military is testing some kind of weapon of the future. In fact, this structure is almost 30 years old and was built due to the threat of repeated floods that had previously occurred in areas adjacent to the river. This powerful defender is definitely worth a look.

Address: 1 Unity Way, Woolwich, London, SE18 5NJ
Website: www.environment-agency.gov.uk

9. Wooden escalator at Greenford tube station

The London Underground is one of the oldest in the world. Its first branch opened in 1863. Structurally, the London Underground has some of the longest escalators compared to underground transport systems in other cities and countries. In the past, wood was used to make these moving staircases, and at Greenford station one such wooden escalator is still in operation.

10. Warner Bros. Studio Tour London (Harry Potter Museum)

As you know, the cult film series about Harry Potter was filmed in England, and in this case, Warner Bros. She did probably the most pleasant thing she could do: the film studio where the film was filmed was converted into a museum. In it, visitors can look at the scenery used in the filming and learn a lot about the filming process, the enormous work of decorators, costume designers and artists, the development of special effects and stunts.

Address: Studio Tour Drive, Leavesden, Hertfordshire, WD25 7LR
About the museum:

Tube

If “our people don’t take a taxi to the bakery,” then in London even the CEOs of large companies prefer public transport to all types of transport, not to mention bankers and mid-level financiers. The Tube (or tube) itself is one of London's main attractions. Characteristic symbolism, Mind the Gap is something that almost no Londoner's working day can do without. During rush hour, be prepared to be pressed closely against men and women in expensive suits. However, do not forget that next to them there may well be ordinary workers, smelling of paint and proletarian sweat. The London Underground is the quintessence of the capital's democracy. Here, even newspapers are usually picked up from the floor and read one after another. All this does not prevent Londoners from constantly covering the tube with not the most gentlemanly phrases - both because of the high cost, and because of constant breakdowns, and because of entire blocked branches on weekends. So, just in case, it is worth keeping in mind alternative routes (they can be viewed on the website tfl.gov.uk).

Borough Market

Usually, little good is said about British cuisine, but there are probably no fewer lovers of delicious food here than in Rome itself. Cooking shows are incredibly popular, and tables in Michelin-starred restaurants are booked months in advance. For those who cook for themselves, there are the largest markets: Billingsgate (fish), Smithfield (meat) and New Covent Garden (fruit and vegetables). True, it is advisable to get there before seven in the morning and you should buy kilos, so for tourists, perhaps the most acceptable option is Borough Market. It's open from Wednesday to Saturday and you can find almost anything your heart desires, from British asparagus to Turkish Turkish delight. It is much more expensive here than in other markets, and on Saturdays it can be quite crowded, but you can try food from all over the world (Spanish paella, Indian curry, French oysters, Thai pancakes) and wash it all down with English cider or even wine. By the way, did you know that England has its own vineyards? At Borough Market you can buy a couple of bottles of wine as a gift. It's surprisingly quite wow.

Breakfast Club

If English wine is exotic even for the British, then the concept of English Breakfast has long spread throughout the world, becoming a symbol of something very filling, high-calorie, always with bacon and eggs. Breakfast Club cafes, scattered across several London boroughs, are fighting stereotypes by offering breakfast not only in the morning, but also in the evening. Various options are included: omelettes and poached eggs, on or without toast, with bacon, salmon and avocado, as well as a variety of cereals, yogurt with granola, pancakes. Queues at these establishments are quite common. Many people come to look at the funny wallpaper in the toilet. And the Breakfast Club on Spitalfields has another secret: a built-in refrigerator, behind the door of which there is a staircase to the minus first floor. In the evenings you can find an excellent bar there with a very long cocktail menu.

Brick Lane

On Sunday, go to Brick Lane. In fact, you can go there any day, but on Sunday, unlike other places, everything is open there: the antique market, vintage shops, street food market, cafes, clubs. Brick Lane is the name of the street, on one side adjacent to the hipster district of Shoreditch, and on the other, abutting Whitechapel Road, traditionally considered not the most respectable and safe in London. To avoid confusion, it is better to enter there from the Old Spitalfields Market (which in itself is quite interesting, although very tourist place) and move north - past vinyl stores, burger and curry stalls and endless second-hand shops, where you can find everything from top hats and tweed jackets with patches to stretched jeans in the London bum style that is relevant in any season. But the most amazing thing about Brick Lane is the people. Almost anyone can be stopped and filmed for a fashion blog. Moreover, it is better to do this against the backdrop of incredible graffiti that decorates the street and the area around it.

Vintage Emporium

Turning off Brick Lane, you can find yourself in a museum of dresses from the beginning of the last century - The store Vintage Emporium (14 Bacon Street). You really should go there as if you were going to a museum - because the prices for silks and elegant lace-up shoes are steep. Vintage dresses and hats from the 1920s cost hundreds of pounds, but if you want to feel like a character from Downton Abbey, it's worth a visit. The entrance to the store itself is down the stairs. And upstairs you can find a small cafe with tea, fresh pastries and vintage saucers. On weekends with free places, it is naturally tense.

Richmond Park and Kew Gardens

London is the capital of parks, and the famous Hyde Park is far from the largest and most interesting. We advise you to get outside the center and get to Richmond Park, where deer roam freely and green parrots fly. An unprepared traveler may think he has gone crazy, but no: parrots in London parks are almost as common as foxes in city garbage dumps. The next tube station to Richmond is Kew Gardens. It's huge Botanical Garden. Admission there, however, is paid, but you won’t find young people having a picnic there, but you will see centuries-old trees and bring the most beautiful photo shoot in the world from the series “I am in the autumn leaves.”

Hill Garden & Pergola

In the north of the capital, next to another huge park, Hampstead Heath, hides a real gem that even Londoners themselves don’t always know about - Pergola & Hill Garden, the former garden of Lord Leverhulme with an extensive “veranda” (pergola), built at the beginning of the past century. This place unexpectedly resembles Italy, and literally everything is beautiful here: pergola columns entwined with rose hips and grape leaves, light breaking through the foliage, a crazy view of the green park, benches on which you can kiss.

Sushisamba

There are quite a few different bars and rooftop restaurants in London, offering good views of the city. One of the most popular places among Londoners is the Japanese restaurant Sushisamba, which is located on the 38th and 39th floors of the Heron Tower building. Glass walls and floors, design at the intersection of West and East, panoramic view for the City of London are quite worth it and sufficient high prices on the menu, and the need to reserve a table two to three weeks in advance. However, the food there is also delicious.

Canary Wharf

It is surprising that not everyone makes it to the Canary Wharf metro station, although it is there, in the Docklands area, that the heart of modern London beats - in any case, the main career passions are in full swing, dreams are crushed, fortunes are gained and lost. Once the outskirts of the city and an area of the poor, today it is the center of the financial world, which began to rise with its skyscrapers to the sky just a couple of decades ago. On a sunny weekday, around lunchtime, bankers and financiers occupy every centimeter of green artificial spaces and, chewing store-bought sandwiches, discuss deals worth millions or (much more often) their girlfriends. And in the evening, after work, everyone moves to nearby pubs, where they continue to talk about the same topics (plus football), only with beer and a view of the beautiful canal.

Barbican Center

Traveling is the best way to relax and enjoy new sensations and impressions. Every city in the world contains a huge cultural heritage of the peoples who lived and are living in it. Millions of tourists from all over the world form a completely chaotic flow of people thirsting for novelty, and the service industry reacts to this. Now you can fly anywhere, but a real life hacker understands that all these travel agencies and excursion companies work with maximum convenience for themselves.

Everything is put on a conveyor belt: the next batch of guests is loaded onto buses, transported along a well-established route, something is sold along the way, and now you seem to have seen all the delights of the place you have arrived at. But any large city is fraught with many secrets and mysteries that will not be shown to you on a regular tour. These places may not be in guidebooks, but they are definitely worth seeing. In our series of articles we will tell you about such places in various cities around the world, and London is first on the list.

1. Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising (Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising)

Address: 2 Colville Mews, London, W11 2AR
Website: www.museumofbrands.com

2. Rolling Bridge (transformable bridge)

This is a real miracle of engineering. At first glance, it may seem that this is not a bridge at all, but some kind of huge animated mechanical caterpillar. Initially, the creators of the bridge solved a completely ordinary problem: they needed a pedestrian bridge that would allow boats to sail under it. Agree, the solution turned out to be at least unusual. Even on video, the transformation of this structure is mesmerizing. Imagine what it would be like to see this live. This is what a creative approach to solving quite trivial problems means. It is not for nothing that Thomas Heatherwick, the creator of this transforming bridge, received the prestigious British Structural Steel Design Award.

Address: Paddington Basin, west London
About the project: Rolling Bridge
Vicki: Rolling Bridge

3. Ripley's London Museum (Ripley's Museum of Incredible Things)

Address: 1 Piccadilly Circus, London, W1J ODA
Website: www.ripleyslondon.com

4. Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Sri Swaminarayan Temple)

The last thing you expect to see in London is a Hindu temple. However, it is there, and its size and appearance are not just surprising. The domes and shikaras of this architectural masterpiece make people literally gasp in amazement. This is a fairly young building (the temple was built in 1995), but it is truly unique. Nowhere else in the world outside India does a Hindu temple of this size exist. Once inside the temple, you can completely immerse yourself in the atmosphere and philosophy of Hinduism.

Address: 105-119 Brentfield Road, London, NW10 8LD
Website: www.mandir.org

5. Apple Store (Apple Store on Regent Street)

We simply could not help but point out this shrine for all fans of the apple company. At the moment, it is not possible to find an Apple Store in Russia - so far the company has limited itself to only the official online store. But in fact, each Apple store is unique and truly represents a masterpiece of architecture, as it is located inside very extraordinary buildings. London's Apple Stores are no exception, but the most architecturally outstanding, in our opinion, is the store on Regent Street. Just look at the photos. This place is worth a visit.

Address: 235 Regent Street, London, W1B 2EL
Website: www.apple.com/uk/retail/regentstreet

6. Crystal Palace Park (Dinosaur Park)

Address: London, SE20 8DT
Website: www.crystalpalacepark.org.uk

7. The Cartoon Museum

London has a huge selection of museums, but the Animation Museum is one of the most unusual. This is a small cozy exhibition, where every visitor can feel like a child and touch the wonderful world of cartoons. The museum features more than 5,000 cartoon characters and 4,000 comic books. Moreover, the exhibition also reflects the history of quite serious animated films that touch on current social issues. The museum is also famous for its political satire - in it you can find not only an image of Winnie the Pooh, but also, for example, a caricature of Elizabeth II.

Address: 35 Little Russell Street, London, WC1A 2HH
Website: www.cartoonmuseum.org

8. Thames Barrier

Address: 1 Unity Way, Woolwich, London, SE18 5NJ
Website: www.environment-agency.gov.uk

9. Wooden escalator at Greenford tube station

10. Warner Bros. Studio Tour London (Harry Potter Museum)

Address: Studio Tour Drive, Leavesden, Hertfordshire, WD25 7LR
About the museum:

Even if you are sure that over the past years you have explored London inside and out - there are always unexplored and extremely unusual places, which you may not have even heard of until now. We bring to your attention 13 attractions that may surprise even the most sophisticated and experienced Londoners.

'Fake' door at 10 Downing Street

Few people can get close to the famous door at 10 Downing Street, leading to the Prime Minister's residence, so here's an alternative: a replica of it at 10 Adams Street.

Neal's Yard watch

This unusual clock, which has been delighting passersby since the 80s, is located above the Holland and Barrett pharmacy, but you will no longer admire it in working condition.

When they first appeared, water flowed out of them every hour, falling into small buckets in the hands of the figures below: four of the figures were watering flowers with it, and another simply poured water down onto the asphalt (and sometimes onto the heads of passers-by).

Unusual window in St-Martin-in-the-Fields

The 2008 window in the church next to Trafalgar Square, the work of Iranian artist and Turner Prize nominee Shirazeh Khoushiari, is certainly unusual - something you've never seen before.

A road with cars driving in the wrong direction

The Savoy road is the only one in London where you can drive on the right hand side. Why? At one time, this was done for the fair sex, who usually sat in the car on the seat on the right: thanks to the “alternative” traffic rules, they could immediately enter the Savoy building, instead of describing an unnecessary circle.

Brixton Mill

Few people expect to see a mill in the capital, but there are eight of them in London, and the Brixton mill, built in 1816, deserves special attention. It was closed in 1934, and in 2011 it was restored and reopened to visitors - be sure to check it out!

Samuel Johnson's cat

There are legends about Johnson's love for his pet Hodge (it's no joke - the poet bought oysters for his cat), and there is even a small statue of the favorite at the house of the famous Briton at Gogh Square.

Sir John Soane's telephone box mausoleum

Everyone knows about the fond feeling Londoners have for the famous telephone boxes, but at the mausoleum in Old St Pancras cemetery they have certainly taken on a new form (in a rather literal sense).

The thinnest house in the city

The house on the corner of South Terrace and Thurloe Square in Knightsbridge is just 7ft wide. Another thing is its price - about 2 million pounds.

T-34 tank on The Mandela Way

This tank was used in 1995 for the filming of the film Richard the Third, after which it came into the possession of Londoner Russell Gray. He placed his purchase between Mandela Way and Pages Walk, where the tank is still located, often changing its appearance thanks to graffiti.

The narrowest alley in the city

Brydges Place is London's narrowest alley, measuring just 15 inches wide. You can also visit Pickering Place (the smallest public garden in the city) and The Dove in Hammersmith (the smallest pub).

The York House Nudes

The naked ladies are a charming addition to the scenery that greets visitors to York House in Twickenham. During the bombing, they had to be covered with a thick layer of mud, as city authorities were afraid that moonlight would reflect from the statues and play into the hands of the enemy.

Tim Fishlock's ear

If you like to look at everything down to the smallest detail, then be sure to try to find the ear sticking out of the wall on Floral Street, next to Leicester Square.

"Fake" Kenwood House Bridge

The charming bridge that spans Thousand Pound Pond at Kenwood House isn't really a bridge at all, just an elaborate facade - so don't expect to walk across it when you're nearby.

photo: Courtesy CC/flickr.com/Liz Smith

Unusual places in London you didn't know about updated: April 19, 2019 by: Anastasia Belskaya