1. ROUND LONDON Sightseeing Tour

2. WELCOME TO LONDON

3. The Tower of London Begun by William the Conqueror in 1078, The Tower of London is one of the world’s most famous fortified buildings, and now welcomes two million visitors each year. Through its 900 year history it has been a palace, a prison, a royal mint and even a zoo! Today the 18 acre riverside site is home to the Crown Jewels, the Yeoman Warders (sometimes popularly known as Beefeaters, who are the traditional guards at the tower) and the legendary ravens.

4. Tower Bridge The most photographed and painted bridge on earth, Tower Bridge was completed in 1894. Its two towers were joined by glass-covered walkways for the public to use when the bridge opened to river traffic, but these were closed in 1910. Now, in a most imaginative modern development, visitors can once again venture inside the bridge to find one of London's most unusual and exciting attractions, The Tower Bridge Experience. State of the art technology, including sophisticated animatronic characters, video presentations and interactive computers, are used to bring the bridge to life.

5. The Houses of Parliament Home of the British Government, the building is actually called the Palace of Westminster, but is more commonly known as the Houses of Parliament, due to the two parts of government that live here. These are the elected House of Commons and the House of Lords, made up of hereditary and life peers

6. Big Ben Possibly the most famous clock face and chimes in the world, Big Ben is actually the name of the biggest bell (13.5 tons) inside The Clock Tower (320ft) which forms part of the Houses of Parliament. Built in 1858/9 the bell was named after one Sir Benjamin Hall and when it was cast it was Britain’s heaviest bell.

7. St. Paul’s Cathedral Work on this, the most impressive church in London began in 1675 to a design by SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN. It was built to replace old St Paul's which was destroyed by the GREAT FIRE OF LONDON in 1666. The present building has been luckier. It survived the World War II bombings which flattened a great many of the surrounding buildings.

8. Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace is the London home of The Queen and Prince Philip. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to take up residence here after the architect John Nash transformed it from Buckingham House into a palace

9. Hyde Park At 390 acres, this is the largest park in central London. It used to belong to the church but has been a royal park since Henry VIII seized it in the 1530’s. The Serpentine, a large lake in the middle for boating and bathing, was created in the 18th century, by damming the Westbourne River. Speakers’ Corner at the Marble Arch corner of the park is an area set aside for anyone who wishes to speak or preach about anything. Always highly entertaining, speakers vary from the serious to the completely wacky. Sunday is the busiest and best day to visit Speakers’ Corner.

10. Downing Street Downing Street was built in 1680. The homes of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are to be found at numbers 10 and 11 respectively. In a break with tradition when Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997 he moved his family into number 11 where there is more room for his young children. The Chancellor, a bachelor, was given the small flat above the offices in number 10. Although from the outside number 10 looks like a relatively small building, it has in fact been greatly extended. Inside there are government offices, including the cabinet room where government ministers hold regular meetings, the state dining room where banquets are held and the small private apartment for the prime minister and his or her family.

11. Westminster Abbey An architectural masterpiece of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, Westminster Abbey also presents a unique pageant of British history - the Confessor’s Shrine, the tombs of kings and queens, and countless memorials to the famous and the great. It has been the setting for every coronation since 1066 and for numerous other royal occasions. Today it is still a church dedicated to regular worship and to the celebration of great events in the life of the nation.

12. Royal Exchange Appropriately situated across the road from the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange is the hub of London commerce. The present Royal Exchange building dates from 1844, though the first Exchange, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham, was built on this site in the mid 16th century. Apart from the normal business that goes on at the Royal Exchange, new kings and queens are announced from here. Unfortunately, the public are not allowed in but you can get a jolly nice picture outside!

13. The Mansion House This impressive building was built in 1753. Opposite the Bank of England, it is the official home of the Lord Mayor of London. There is an underground station nearby, named after the house, although it is actually nearer to Bank station. Unfortunately the building is not open to the public. If it were, you could see the cells where prisoners were held awaiting trial in the Mansion House Magistrates Court.

14. Staple Inn Staple Inn dates from the late 14th century, when it was one of London’s Inns of Chancery, where the King’s clerks worked. The Elizabethan front to the building was added in 1586. The name Staple Inn comes from a previous use for the building as a wool-taxing house, where the quality or “staple” of the wool was measured. The Inn is now used as offices and is not open to the public. However, you can walk through the gateway between the shop front, to the quiet little garden that Charles Dickens described in his novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

15. The End