Hotels in London, United Kingdom

A little about London...

London is the capital city of both the United Kingdom and the constituent country of England. The ancient City of London, to which the name originally belonged, still retains its mediaeval boundaries, but the name "London" has long applied more generally to the whole metropolis which has grown up around it. London is the most populous city within city limits in the European Union, with an official population of 7.5 million (as of mid-2006) and has a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. Its diverse population draws from a wide range of peoples, cultures and religions, speaking over 300 different languages.

It is an international transport hub, with five international airports and a large port. It serves as the largest aviation hub in the world, and its main airport, the multi-terminal Heathrow, carries more international passengers than any other airport in the world. London is a major tourist destination, with four world heritage sites and numerous iconic landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye among its many attractions, along with famous institutions such as the British Museum and the National Gallery. Its main geographical feature is the River Thames which runs through the city from the south-west to the east.

Transportation: The London bus network is a twenty-four hour service and caters for most local journeys, carrying even more passengers than the Underground. Every weekday, the London bus network carries six million passengers on over 700 different routes. In the year to March 2005, the network's ridership was 1.79 billion passenger trips.

Education: Home to a range of universities, colleges and schools, London has a student population of about 378,000 and is a centre of research and development. Most primary and secondary schools in London follow the same system as the rest of England.

The University of London is the largest contact teaching university in the United Kingdom and in Europe. It comprises 20 colleges as well as several smaller institutes, each with a high degree of autonomy.

London's other universities, such as Brunel University, City University, London Metropolitan University, Imperial College London, Middlesex University, University of East London, the University of Westminster and London South Bank University, are not part of the University of London.

London is home to many museums, galleries, and other institutions which are major tourist attractions as well as playing a research role. The Natural History Museum (biology and geology), Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum (fashion and design) are clustered in South Kensington's "museum quarter", while the British Museum houses historic artefacts from around the world. The British Library at St Pancras is the UK's national library, housing 150 million items. The city also houses extensive art collections, primarily in the National Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern. See the list of museums in London.

Within the City of Westminster, the entertainment district of the West End has its focus around Leicester Square, where London and world film premieres are held, and Piccadilly Circus, with its giant electronic advertisements. London's theatre district is here, as are many cinemas, bars, clubs and restaurants, including the city's Chinatown district, and just to the east is Covent Garden, an area housing speciality shops. Shoreditch and Hoxton in the East End form a second, less mainstream, focus of bars, nightclubs, restaurants and galleries. Islington's one mile (2 km) long Upper Street, extending northwards from The Angel, has more bars and restaurants than any other street in the UK. It was also the first street in the UK to have wireless enabled for its cafes.

Europe's busiest shopping area is Oxford Street, a shopping street nearly one mile (2 km) long—which makes it the longest shopping street in the world—and home to many shops and department stores including Selfridges. The adjoining Bond Street in Mayfair is an extremely upmarket location, complemented by the Knightsbridge area—home to the Harrods department store—to the southwest, home to fashion, jewelery, and accessories design houses.