City of London

View of the Royal Exchange View of the Royal Exchange
Photo by me, lovely July weather. 🙄

The City, a square mile squashed between the remains of London’s Roman walls, has kept the rest of the capital - and indeed the country - at arms length since 1075.

It is run by the City of London Corporation, voted for by the both the few residents and, uniquely, the many businesses in the city.

As much as I like the place, it isn’t really a big tourist area. It’s one of London’s financial centres so is almost entirely skyscrapers and offices.

Things to do

Photo of a scale model of London, with illuminated skyscrapers.
Photo by me.

NLA - The London Centre

The NLA (New London Architecture) describes itself as an organisation for anyone interested in London’s built environment.

Their HQ houses several impressive scale models of London and a few other architectural displays. I enjoyed admiring the models, unsurprising given how much of my youth I wasted on SimCity 3000.

Free

nla.london
Photo in the Guildhall Art Gallery, showing people looking at Victorian paintings.
Photo by me. I must say I'm not a fan of the carpet.

Guildhall Art Gallery

Described as The City’s best kept secret - a concern given they manage tax records - I was appropriately surprised to discover the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre in the basement.

The artwork is generally themed around London, while the first floor features Victorian paintings.

Free

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
Photo of the interior of the Bank of England Museum, showing some ornate plasterwork.
Photo by me. I couldn't get near any actual exhibits.

Bank of England Museum

An interesting little museum covering the history of the bank, how notes are produced and more.

For some reason though it attracts hordes of people. You really, really shouldn’t attempt to visit before 3pm. It took me two attempts to get in and it was hellishly overcrowded when I did.

Free

www.bankofengland.co.uk

Speciality coffee

Photo of the inside of the café, a city church. Photo of the inside of the café, a city church.
Photo by me, just a nice place to be.

The Wren Coffee

Further proof that I don’t know what I’m doing with this website - the coffee wasn’t that great (takeaway cups only, boo) but I’m giving them a pass thanks to the beautiful setting.

The cafe is located in St Nicholas Cole Abbey. It is still a church, so be prepared for some light attempts to convert you with books & posters.

www.thewrencoffee.com

Viewpoints

Photo of people looking out over London in an empty room Photo of people looking out over London in an empty room
Photo by me.

Horizon 22

At 254 metres high, Horizon 22 offers a better view than the nearby Sky Garden and, at least when I went there, was noticeably less busy.

The catch? Well it really is only the view on offer up there. There’s nowhere to sit and only a tiny kiosk selling coffee.

Free - Advance ticket required.

horizon22.co.uk
Photo of people on the balcony of the sky garden, looking over the Thames Photo of people on the balcony of the sky garden, looking over the Thames
Photo by me.

Sky Garden

A free garden located at the top of the Walkie Talkie. The building melted nearby cars when it was first built, a bold solution to London’s traffic that would ideally be rolled out city wide.

The garden offers great views of the city and there’s an on-site bar and restaurant - both exactly as expensive as you’d expect.

Free - Advance ticket required.

skygarden.london

Parks & Gardens

A picture of a flower border in the park. A picture of a flower border in the park.
Photo by me. It is a small park, this is most of it.

Postman's Park

Postman’s Park is most famous for the Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice, a wall of tiles telling the stories of those who died saving others.

It is located right next door to the former General Post Office, hence the name. It occupies the former churchyard of St Botolph’s.

The park is above street level, allegedly due to the huge number of people buried there. (!)

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk