Thanks to the London Olympics, which will open on July 27, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, 2012 is expected to be a boom year for tourism in Great Britain. In the hopes of capitalizing on this trend, six historic cities have teamed up to get noticed by travelers intent on venturing beyond the English capital.
Bath, Carlisle, Chester, Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon, and York, Britain’s so-called Heritage Cities, are trying to lure tourists with eight itineraries that explore their shared history. The Literary, Visual and Performing Arts tour, for example, takes in Oxford, Bath, and Stratford with stops at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Bodleian Library, the model for Hogwarts Library in the ‘Harry Potter’ series. Meanwhile, travelers interested in England’s North Country may want to follow the Great Castles, Stately Homes, and Gardens tour, which visits three countries (England, Wales, and Scotland) and three Heritage Cities (Carlisle, Chester, and York), and includes stops at a 12th century castle, the homes of Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth, and sections of Hadrian’s Wall.
Beyond exploring these cities in a package tour, Britain’s Heritage Cities website offers a glimpse of the top 10 attractions in each town. Did you know that York is considered the most haunted city in Europe? Or, that the city of Chester still carries on the medieval tradition of town criers? The most oh-so-British traditions and folklore live on in these Heritage Cities, so it may be worth checking them out while the past is still present.
While drinking a 2002 Dom Pérignon, have you ever thought to yourself, “Damn, this stuff is so good, I should take a bath in it!” Well, you’re not the only one with such luxurious fantasies. Starting Valentine’s Day and running through the next year, the Cadogan Hotel in London will be offering a menu of champagne baths to guests who want to try out the ultimate bubbly bath.
What’s your flavor? On the menu are a 1998 Louis de Custine Brut bath for £4,000 (ca. $6,300); a soak in Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut 2002 for £6,000; Perrier-Jouët Blason Rosé 2004 or the Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label 2006 baths, each for £8,000; or, the most outrageous of them all, the Dom Pérignon champagne bath, which goes for £25,000. It takes about 122 bottles to fill the bathtub with the chosen libation. One of the Cadogan’s bath butlers assists in drawing the bath and heating it to guests’ desired temperature. Once guests are submerged in the tub, the butler attends with flutes of champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries.
If money was no object, would this be something you would like to try? Or would you rather see the champagne put to better use? Tell us in the comments below.
Contrary to popular belief, tea is not the only popular beverage served in London. In fact, ever since the first Italian espresso machine crash landed in England in 1952, London has had a swinging coffee culture. Now thanks to the vintage documentary reel above, you can take your own tour back in time to the beginnings of London’s fledgling coffee shop scene.
Hit play and enter a time when coffee was the king of cool, inside a smoky, bohemian coffee bar, packed to the rafters with young Londoners gleefully puffing on cigarettes as a lively soundtrack of jazz wafts above them. It’s as much a tour of the city’s coffee bars as it is an intriguing artifact of a London that has moved on to trendier pursuits and hangouts. This morning, go grab yourself another cup off the pot and settle in for an intriguing cross-section of life in 1950’s London.
London is full of great places to see. No matter what your interests are, this city has something for you. In fact it has so much there are some incredible attractions that are overlooked by the majority of visitors. Here are five you might want to visit.
Kew Bridge Steam Museum
The Kew Bridge Pumping Station, built in 1838, once supplied water and power to London through massive steam engines. The British were early masters of turning water into power by heating it into steam. This unusual museum shows how it was done, as well as the immense variety of machines built to power the Industrial Revolution. Only selected machines still work, and only on weekends, when they puff away as if they’re still powering the Empire. There are special days when additional machines are started up. They’re all quite loud with massive moving parts, making them popular with kids. Check out the schedule here.
The Wapping Project
This is a unique art space in London and a personal favorite. Set in a converted power station like the Tate Modern, it differs from that more famous art space in that the curators left most of the machinery intact. This lends the building a ghostly atmosphere and a postindustrial charm. A succession of top artists have done a great job adapting their work to the surroundings. There’s also a good restaurant onsite. Check out their webpage here.
Jewel Tower
This stone tower is one of the few surviving parts of the medieval palace of Westminster and dates to around 1365. Outside you can still see part of the original moat. The ground floor is the best preserved, with an original vaulted ceiling and sculpted bosses. Originally the clerk’s office, it’s now a cafe and gift shop. The first floor contains an informative history of Parliament that’s helpful to read before visiting the Houses of Parliament across the street. The second floor covers the history of Jewel Tower, beginning with its construction by Edward II to hold his personal wealth. The Crown Jewels were, and still are, held in the Tower of London since they’re the property of the kingdom. The website is here.
%Gallery-144819% Richmond Park
Get away from the city without leaving it! This park has 2,500 acres of hills, meadows, woodland gardens, and ponds. Swans, mallards, 650 roaming deer, cycle and jogging paths, and ancient oaks all combine to make it my favorite park in London. It has been a reserved area since medieval times and is now an official National Nature Reserve. It’s not all countryside–you’ll also find cafes, playgrounds, and a golf course. Check out the website here. Also check out our article on other quiet spots in London.
The British Dental Association Dental Museum
Ah yes, the good old days. . .when cavities meant a trip to the marketplace where a guy with a grimy pair of pliers who hadn’t washed his hands in three months yanked out the rotting stump with nothing but brute force and a good swig of rum (usually for him, victims had to supply their own). Displays show early drills, toothbrushes, and the dentures of royalty. You can learn more at their website. Want some more pain? Check out our article on London’s surgery museums.
Do you have a favorite overlooked attraction in London? Tell us about it in the comments section!
The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art is one of London’s best small art museums. Housed in an elegant Georgian mansion on a quiet street in the London borough of Islington, it has the best collection of modern Italian art in the city and perhaps the nation.
Its latest exhibition is Alberto Burri: Form and Matter, a retrospective of one of the leading Italian figures in modern art. Burri (1915-1995) started painting while interned in Texas as a prisoner of war during WWII. By the 1950s he was experimenting with common materials such as sacking, plastic, and tar, breaking out of the two-dimensions dictated by traditional painting.
His effect on modern art was huge and spawned many imitators. This exhibition brings together works from a number of museums and rarely seen examples from private collections. Aficionados of modern art won’t want to miss this one.
Alberto Burri: Form and Matter runs until April 7.
