London Things to Do

With Eurostar trains taking a mere 2 hours and 20 minutes from Paris to London, there’s no reason why you can’t be dining atop the Eiffel Tower one night and enjoying Afternoon Tea at the Ritz the next. In fact, it’s so easy to hop between the 2 capitals, that it’s even possible to take a day tour to London from Paris.

One of England’s most iconic television series dating back to 1963, the BBC’s hugely popular science fiction series ‘Doctor Who’ features a fictional time traveler whose escapades are filmed on location in central London. The cult series, still running today with an alternate cast, celebrates its 50th anniversary in November 2013 and there’s no better time for fans to follow in the footsteps of the beloved eccentric.

With the Mayor of London instigating a cycling revolution in the British capital, London has worked hard to cement its reputation as a bike friendly city. A fun, eco-friendly and cheap way to get around the city, London offers a surprising array of bicycle routes even for those unaccustomed to urban cycling and a large number of the city’s sights are easily accessible by bike.

Along with the vintage red telephone boxes, black taxi-cabs and the red-suited Royal guards with their towering bearskin hats, the double decker bus, traditionally painted in fire-engine red, has become one of the most famous symbols of London. While the classic red versions are now more commonly found emblazoned across souvenir mugs and key rings than chugging along the streets (although there are still some in action), the double-decker bus is still one of the most popular methods of transport for Londoner’s to get from A to B.

Like the fire-engine red telephone boxes, double decker buses and suited Royal guards in their bearskin hats; London’s famous Black Cabs are so iconic, they’ve even been immortalized in wax at Madame Tussauds. Despite recent fears that the Coventry manufacturer who produces the ubiquitous Black Cabs is going bankrupt, the Austin FX designs are still very much a part of everyday life in the capital. London celebrities fall in and out of them on a seemingly nightly basis; politicians opt for them over a limo; Sir Laurence Olivier and Stanley Kubrick owned their own; and even Arnold Schwarzenegger allegedly had a fleet shipped out to California. Regardless of economic difficulties, it seems like the time-honored Black taxicab is here to stay.

Celebrate Christmas this year with Viator and see the top London attractions sparkle away from the crowds!

London’s spectacular Christmas lights cast a spell over the city’s landmarks throughout the holiday season, setting the scene for a festive shopping frenzy right up until the tail end of Christmas Eve. A Private Traditional Black Cab Tour of London’s Christmas Lights is the perfect way to see the famous lights along Oxford Street and Bond Street or you could take a Christmas Eve Lights Tour in London Led by Santa!

“I know I have lounged about the streets, insufficiently and unsatisfactorily fed. I know that, but for the mercy of God, I might easily have been, for any care that was taken of me, a little robber or a little vagabond” – Charles Dickens

Luckily for him and us, he grew up to be one of our greatest writers – Charles John Huffam Dickens, born 200 years ago

For the sixth week of our Viator’s 2011 Ultimate Holiday Giveaway, we’re giving away tickets to one of our most popular London tours!

The London Eye: a miraculous feat of engineering. Standing at 443 feet tall (135 meters), this giant Ferris wheel encapsulates one of the greatest views in all of London. Located right on the banks of the River Thames, one you are sky-high, you will get a view of all of London’s top landmarks, but with 3.5 million annual visitors, simply showing up may not be the personal experience you were looking for, unless of course you book the London Eye Champagne Experience.

You might think it’s weird that an island as small as Britain ruled a large portion of the globe, but if you spend any time in London, you’ll start to see why. The relics of the Victorian era and prior centuries all speak to Britain’s imperial glory, and London is chock full of monuments, squares and other landmarks of historic import. If you want to see the bulk of them, you should really book a London sightseeing tour.