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The capital city of England and Great Britain, London, has numerous superb visitor attractions, from the amazingly ancient to very recent additions. Most of the visitor attractions are recognised across the planet (such as, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament). Amongst the recently added are the London Aquarium, Millennium Bridge, Millennium Dome and the London Eye.

The Merlin Entertainments London Eye (it’s proper name), is more often named, just, the London Eye or,sometimes, the Millennium Wheel (because it was built as part of the Millennium celebrations). The London Eye was officially opened by the then English PM, Mr. Tony Blair, in the evening of 31 December however, alarmingly there were technical safety problems and it was not opened to the public until March. When it was erected it was the world’s highest Ferris wheel being four hundred and forty three feet in height.

The enormous wheel can be discovered in Jubilee Gardens on the South Bank peering down upon the Houses of Parliament below. From within one of the 32 pods towering above the whole of London you can view a large number of well known London landmarks, the Houses of Parliament, St Paul’s, Buckingham Palace, Hampton Court Palace and Westminster Abbey are just a handful, what an amazing way in which to see nearly all of London and, more than likely, one of the reasons it is one of the most visited tourist attraction in London.

The first flight on the London Eye is at 10 ‘o clock in the morning but the ticket office opens half an hour earlier. It closes at half past nine at night between August and July, 8pm between October and April and at 9 pm for the other months.

Those traveling by car will be pleased to know that there are 3 close by car parks. For coach parties there are parking facilities very close to the Eye (Telephone) +44 (0)870 990 8886) for info.

The simplest method to get to the London Eye is via the underground rail, simply get off at one of the following stations; Westminster, Charing Cross, Embankment, or the nearest Waterloo. You can also travel by boat, get off at Waterloo Millennium Pier.

Finding bed & breakfast in London is as simple as going over to Google, Yahoo or MSN (or another search engine you choose. Whichever you prefer you are certain to find the perfect accommodation in London because the city must feature the most hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfasts than any other. Boutique hotels to the huge corporate affairs, Luxurious accommodation to the cheap and cheerful and a host more.

Learn more about hotels in London. Stop by our site where you can find the best deals on cheap hotels in London.

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The capital city of England, London, it the number one vacation destination in the British Isles and it has some of the most well known visitor attractions in the world. If you can class people as tourist attractions then the British Royal Family and the Queen must rank first. However an often overlooked attraction is the stunning shopping opportunities in the city.

London, Paris, New York, how many times have you seen these three cities mentioned together? It is most likely that you will have seen them together on a bottle of fine perfume or a luxury cosmetic product. The reason is that these three cities are the top three shopping cities of the world. You will be hard pressed to walk through any of London’s top shopping districts without seeing the flagship store of at least one huge retail chain.

London is amazing, it has virtually anything for sale all you have to do is go look. Places such as Knightsbridge, New Bond Street and Oxford Street feature extremely well known department stores and the likes. Usually shops selling similar items appear congregated in specific areas so if you are looking for anything in particular you just have to head for the shopping district associated with that product. You can easily spend a whole day looking through the many fashion shops, designer stores, boutiques, music shops, jewelry shops and bookshops.

Knightsbridge And Oxford Street

Oxford Street is the busiest shopping street in the whole of Europe and it is where you will find the famous Selfridges department store. Knightsbridge is well known for being the home of the famous Harrods department store but along with the other stores you will also find the excellent Harvey Nichols.

Bond Street

Bond Street, in Mayfair, has some of the most expensive shops in London. If you want elegance this is the place to visit it has more shops supplying the Royal Family (Royal Warrant holders) than any other London shopping area. Think Gucci and Armani and you have a rough idea of what to expect.

Covent Garden

Bond Street is great if you are rich and famous but for ordinary folk Covent Garden is the best place to go for fashion clothing. Covent Garden is home to a large number of smaller independent fashion stores and boutiques and this is the place to go if you are in search of a decent pair of shoes.

Other Places In London Associated With Shopping

As well as Covent Garden, Carnaby Street is also great for buying fashionable items of clothing. Savile Row and Jermyn Street are also associated with clothing but more the old fashioned tailor type outlet. If you are looking for bookshops then the Charing Cross Road (and Covent Garden) is hard to beat. Hatton Garden, near Farringdon, is where to find long established jewellers.

You could write a book on the places to go shopping in London, and I suppose there are many to choose from. If you want to go looking for more places to visit take a look at the many London markets.

Tags: Accommodation, city break, destination, destinations, holiday, hotel, hotels, london, London Travel, recreation, shopping, Travel and leisure, Travel Tips, vacation destinations, Vacations
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The capital city of England, London, it the number one vacation destination in the British Isles and it has some of the most well known visitor attractions in the world. If you can class people as tourist attractions then the British Royal Family and the Queen must rank first. However an often overlooked attraction is the stunning shopping opportunities in the city.

London is one of the main three cities of the world associated with serious shopping, the others being Paris and New York. Check any bottle of perfume and the city is bound to appear somewhere on the packaging and usually on the bottle itself. Virtually every company involved in the retail trade has it’s UK flagship store in one of the primary shopping districts of London.

Department stores, designer shops, fashion shops and boutiques, music shops, bookshops, jewellery shops and virtually any other type of retail outlet is found within easy walking distance of a London tube station. Usually the different types of store tend to appear in groups in certain areas such as Oxford Street, Knightsbridge, New Bond Street and the likes.

Oxford Street And Knightsbridge

Oxford Street is the busiest shopping street in the whole of Europe and it is where you will find the famous Selfridges department store. Knightsbridge is well known for being the home of the famous Harrods department store but along with the other stores you will also find the excellent Harvey Nichols.

Bond Street

Gucci and Armani are just a couple of the luxury brands you should expect to see in Bond Street. If it is expensive, luxurious or unique then you will most probably find it here. Bond Street is famous for having the highest number of stores having a Royal Warrant (suppliers to the British Royal Family).

Covent Garden

Bond Street is great if you are rich and famous but for ordinary folk Covent Garden is the best place to go for fashion clothing. Covent Garden is home to a large number of smaller independent fashion stores and boutiques and this is the place to go if you are in search of a decent pair of shoes.

Other Shopping Areas In London

Covent Garden is great for clothes but you may also want to visit the famous Carnaby Street which is becoming popular again. If you want bespoke tailoring then Savile Row is the most famous place to go but look around Piccadilly, especially on Jermyn Street. If you are looking for jewellery but cannot afford Bond Street try Hatton Garden (near Farringdon) which has many long established jewellers to choose from. Books are best found on the Charing Cross Road but also look around Covent Garden.

London has lots more places in which to go shopping and the above list is not comprehensive, there are simply too many. Other places to go shopping, especially for unusual items, are the many London markets, too many to list here.

Tags: Accommodation, city break, destination, destinations, holiday, hotel, hotels, london, London Travel, recreation, shopping, Travel and leisure, Travel Tips, vacation destinations, Vacations
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Some people say that Rome casts a magic spell on many of its visitors. Judging by the movie Roman Holiday, that’s definitely the case. Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, the two main characters, though from widely different origins, manage to fall in love with each other and when they finally have to part, the lovely time spent together in the Eternal City is a lovely memory for both to retain.

Federico Fellinis 1960 movie La Dolce Vita was quite popular at the time in the States. This was not so much because of its social contents, but on account of the views of Rome that were included in the film. In a famous scene Anita Ekberg walks straight into Trevi Fountain - and to stardom: this has become a classic scene in the history books of the world’s movie industry. Not surprising, seeing that Fellini himself adored Rome, which was not his native city (he was born in northern Italy)and yet seemed to suit him perfectly.

If you have ever been to Rome or simply read any travel books on Rome, you must come across the habit of foreign travellers to throw a coin into Trevi Fountain in the hope that their wish to return to Rome will come true. In 1954 Jean Negulesco directed a charming movie titled Three Coins In The Fountain referring to this tradition. Obviously there are many scenes of showing parts of Rome that are dear to the hearts of those who have seen the city and… to those who wish they will.

Are you familiar with the 1959 historical colossal movie Ben Hur? Its director, William Wyler, only a few years before had shot Roman Holiday and, quite clearly, fallen in love with Rome. So he decided to set the first “colossal” in movie history in Ancient Rome. The scenes were all shot in Cinecitta - Rome’s “Holliwood” studios - but they are so realistic that you feel as if you are literally stepping back in the past. The glorious, if occasionally cruel, days of ancient Rome are perfectly re-enacted.

Have you seen The Talented Mr. Ripley? If so, where is it set? The answer will probably be, mostly in Italy. Do you realize, though, that some scenes were actually shot in Rome? They certainly were, in a tiny square called Piazza Mattei. This square is known to all Romans as Turtle Fountain Square because of the lovely fountain in its centre.

If you ask anybody what is the movie of Ancient Rome that they recall best, probably the answer is The Gladiator. Believe it or not, this movie, that provides a complex picture of power, love, hatred, greatness and cruelty, was not shot in Rome at all. Still, Ridley Scott - who also directed Blade Runner - managed to create an atmosphere and a physical reconstruction of Ancient Rome that very closely resembles the true original. Russell Crowe fits the part perfectly and so do all the other actors in the movie.

Ever been to Rome? If you are planning to go there you can’t miss visiting Trastevere. This is an ancient suburb in the very heart of Rome that for anyone living or visiting this magic city is an absolute must! Norman Jewison shared this opinion when he set his 1994 movie Only You partly also in Trastevere.

Tags: entertainment, Movies, recreation, Rome, Rome Sightseeing, Rome Travel, Touring in Rome, Travel
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