by Andre Sanchez

A London vacation can give you everything: history, fun, great food and entertainment such as you have never experienced. Most visitors to London come unaware of its size and the amount that it has to offer, and have to reluctantly leave without even scratching the surface.

If you are considering a vacation in London, give yourself plenty time. Do not try to fit London into one day of a two week tour of Europe. You might as well not come. In fact the majority of people who visit London on vacation ultimately visit more than once. This is not surprising when you consider what London has to offer.

The entertainment is peerless. London’s West End can emulate anything that New York’s Broadway can provide, and more. With the best shows in the world, and the best stage actors and actresses in the world and world class singers, London’s West End rightly deserves its reputation as the best and most comprehensive entertainment center in Europe, if not the world. From ‘Les Miserable’ to ‘We Will Rock You’, they are all here.

After the show, how about a nightclub or cabaret? Leicester Square alone has Ministry of Sound, The Equinox, and Sound Republic, not to mention the Hippodrome. These are among the very best nightclubs in Europe. The hottest shows, the hottest clubs and American style jazz in Dover Street. If you come to London and get bored, you are dead!

How about the tourist attractions during the day? For example, the Tower of London, where Anne Boleyn was beheaded and the Crown Jewels used during the coronation of British kings and queens are on display. You can visit Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s residence in London, and Westminster Abbey where most of the Monarchs of England are entombed. The Houses of Parliament which holds not only the House of Commons and the House of Lords, but also the famous Big Ben. Big Ben is actually the bell, but the name has become associated with the clock and clock tower itself.

How about having a panoramic look over London on the London Eye, the huge wheel with 32 capsules in which you sit as it revolves like a gigantic Ferris wheel. The British Museum, The Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and the kids will love looking round HMS Belfast, a wartime battle cruiser involved in the battle with Scharnhorst and that played a big part in D-Day. These are just another four of the attractions that London can provide, and we haven’t even scratched the surface.

If you like art there are dozens of art galleries. The Tate Gallery has masterpieces by the greatest artists the world has known, and the Tate Modern caters for modern art of all kinds. The National Gallery has paintings of the great European painters, from 1290 to 1900. If you like art, London has examples of just about every well known painter who ever painted.

And don’t even mention shopping. Your London vacation presents you with Oxford Street and Regent Street. Chelsea and Knightsbridge. Harrods, Selfridges, Fortnum and Mason, Harvey Nichols and all the rest. How about the antique shops and flea markets of Portobello Road in Notting Hill, with its annual world-famous carnival?

Restaurants to die for! You cannot visit London without trying the mediaeval banquet at the Beefeater where you eat with your fingers and a dagger, or Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant in Claridges. Speaking of Claridges, what about the world renowned London hotels, such as the London Hilton and the Savoy. If you want to dine while sightseeing, try one of the many boats on the River Thames. Eat and be entertained while you enjoy a cruise from Westminster Bridge to the Thames barrage and back. Have a full five course meal and great entertainment on the London Showboat.

On your London vacation you can enjoy the peace of Regent’s Park before walking across the road to the National History Museum, the Science Museum or the Victoria and Albert Museum. All with interactive displays and just great for the kids. Or try the London Dungeon just round from HMS Belfast. The kids will love that with its gruesome representation of torture instruments and how people were punished in mediaeval times. You will shudder but your children will lap it up.

It doesn’t matter what your age is, or what turns you on. You will find something in London to keep you enthralled throughout your stay. A London vacation is something that you will remember all your life, and, as I said at the beginning, almost everybody returns for another stay.

A London Vacation Combines History with Fun was originally published at http://www.globallifenow.com