Exploring City of London, England
Note: This post has been updated on September 30, 2023.
There are no shortage of things to do and see in London. Every time we come back, we find new areas to explore and new things to learn. Because of this, we have broken out our London post into several.
The below information is a complete guide of the best places to stay, the top rated places to dine and drink, and all there is to see and do in the City of London. For transportation tips, as well as a summary of the history of this amazing city, please refer back to the London post.
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Where to Stay
While there are many areas to stay in, we have chosen the most popular to consider:
Where to Dine & Drink
Noizé
Cosy, elevated bistro serving French classics such as suckling pig belly plus a robust wine list.
Pied à Terre
Meticulously constructed Modern French dishes in a discreetly decorated dining room.
Sky Garden
Known as the walkie talkie due to its unique shape, this skyscraper features a top-floor restaurant.
The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town (SpeakeasY)
The Old Bank of England
Pies and pints under high ceilings with large artworks in the former Bank of England's Law Courts.
Upstairs at the George
Top-rated! This intimate space, with original Victorian features, like marble fireplaces and ornate plasterwork. The concise British menu offers dishes like bangers & mash and lamb shoulder hotpot, which are generously sized. The all-English wine list is another big draw.
Things to See & Do
How to find it: Look for it between Molly Moggs pub and Salsa restaurant. Be keenly aware of traffic, as you will literally be in the middle of the road to get the best view.
Aldgate pump
Aldgate Pump is a historic water pump in London, located at the junction where Aldgate meets Fenchurch Street and Leadenhall Street.
As a well, the pump was mentioned during the reign of King John in the early 1200s, though not shown on a map until 1574. Served by one of London's many underground streams, the water was praised for being "bright, sparkling, cool, and of an agreeable taste". These qualities were later found to be derived from decaying organic matter from adjoining graveyards, and the leaching of calcium from the bones of the dead, in many new cemeteries in north London, through which the stream ran from Hampstead. Several hundred people died during what became known as the “Aldgate Pump Epidemic”, and on its relocation in 1876, the New River Company changed the supplies to mains water.
The metal wolf head on the pump's spout is supposed to signify the last wolf shot in the City of London. Historic photographs show that the pump was formerly surmounted by an ornate lantern as well.
The pump can no longer be used to draw water, but a drainage grating is still in place.
Hodge Statue
Hodge (1769) was one of Samuel Johnson's cats, immortalized in a characteristically whimsical passage in James Boswell's 1791 book, Life of Johnson.
“I never shall forget the indulgence with which he treated Hodge, his cat… I recollect him one day scrambling up Dr. Johnson’s breast, apparently with much satisfaction, while my friend smiling and half-whistling, rubbed down his back, and pulled him by the tail; and when I observed he was a fine cat, saying, ‘Why yes, Sir, but I have had cats whom I liked better than this;’ and then as if perceiving Hodge to be out of countenance, adding, ‘but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed.’” -James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson 1799
Hodge was a black cat belonging to the English lexicographer, Samuel Johnson, of whom the writer was particularly fond. He was known to go out of his way to purchase oysters to feed the cat, even to the point of annoying his servants by his pampering of his pets.
The bronze statue to Hodge, by sculptor Jon Bickley, was installed in 1997 by the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Roger Cook, outside Johnson’s house at Number 17 Gough Square, where he lived from 1748 to 1759 (it’s now a museum dedicated to the writer’s life). Hodge is shown sitting on top of Johnson’s dictionary and next to some empty oyster shells. The monument is inscribed with the words “a very fine cat indeed.”
Horizon 22
Located on the 58th floor, this viewing platform offers incredible views of the city.
Leadenhall Market
The Ornate 19th century painted roof and cobbled floors of Leadenhall Market, located in the historic center of London’s financial district, make it a rather magical place to do a bit of shopping—even before it played a starring role in the Harry Potter films.
This covered Victorian market is one of the oldest markets in London, selling meat and fish as far back as the 14th century. The current green and red roof, however, was constructed in 1881 and made Leadenhall Market a popular attraction in London.
The marketplace was featured a few times in the Harry Potter series—it was the film location for some of the original exterior shots of Diagon Alley.
Today, if you wander down the market’s Bull’s Head Passage you may recognize the blue door of an optics shop (an empty storefront at the time of shooting) as the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in Goblet of Fire. In the films, the magical Diagon Alley is accessible to wizards and witches from London through the Leaky Cauldron.
London Wall
The London Wall was a defensive wall first built by the Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium, in 200 AD.
From around 120-150 AD, London was protected by a large fort, with a large garrison, that stood to its north-western side. The fort, now referred to as the “Cripplegate Fort” was later incorporated into a comprehensive city-wide defense, with its strengthened northern and western sides becoming part of the Wall. The incorporation of the fort's walls gave the walled area its distinctive shape in the north-west part of the city.
The end of Roman rule in Britain, around 410 AD, led to the wall falling into disrepair. It was restored in the late Anglo-Saxon period (in 886 AD), though repairs and enhancements continued throughout the medieval period.
From the 18th century, onward, the expansion of the City of London saw large parts of the wall demolished, including its city gates, to improve traffic flow. Since WWII, conservation efforts have helped to preserve surviving sections of the city wall as scheduled monuments.
MONUMENT TO THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON
On September 2, 1666, a fire started on Pudding Lane, lasted four days, and burned 86% of London to the ground. This monument commemorates that fire and how the city rebuilt from the ashes to become even grander than it was before.
Philpot Lane Mice Sculpture
Philpot Lane is a short street in London that runs from Eastcheap in the south to Fenchurch Street in the north. It is named after Sir John Philpot, Lord Mayor of London from 1378 to 1379. It is also the site of London's smallest public statue, “The Two Mice Eating Cheese”, on a building near the junction with Eastcheap. The sculpture supposedly commemorates the death of two workmen, who are said to have fallen from scaffolding either when they were arguing over the theft of a sandwich, which was later revealed to have been taken by mice.
Ruins of St. Dunstan in the East Church Garden
The church was originally built about 1100 AD. A new south aisle was added in 1391, and the church was repaired in 1631. It was then severely damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rather than being completely rebuilt, the damage was patched up between 1668 and 1671. A steeple was added in 1695–1701.
In 1817, it was found that the weight of the nave roof had thrust the walls seven inches out of the perpendicular. It was decided to rebuild the church from the level of the arches, but the state of the structure proved so bad that the whole building was taken down, and in 1817 - 1821, was completely rebuilt.
In 1941, the church was severely damaged in the Blitz, though Wren's tower and steeple survived the bombs' impact. Of the rest of the church, only the north and south walls remained. In the reorganization of the Anglican Church in London, following WWII, it was decided not to rebuild St. Dunstan's, and in 1967, the City of London Corporation decided to turn the ruins of the church into a public garden, which opened in 1971. A lawn and trees were planted in the ruins, with a low fountain in the middle of the nave.
The parish is now combined with the Benefice of All Hallows by the Tower and occasional open-air services are held in the church, such as on Palm Sunday, prior to a procession to All Hallows by the Tower along St Dunstan's Hill and Great Tower Street.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
St. Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral, and is the seat of the Bishop of London - it serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in 604 AD. The present structure, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren. Its construction, completed in Wren's lifetime, was part of a major rebuilding program in the city after the Great Fire of London (the earlier Gothic cathedral (Old St Paul's Cathedral) was largely destroyed in the Great Fire).
Services held at St. Paul's have included the funerals of Admiral Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher. It also held jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria, an inauguration service for the Metropolitan Hospital Sunday Fund, peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, the launch of the Festival of Britain, and the thanksgiving services for the Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum Jubilees, as well as the 80th and 90th birthdays of Queen Elizabeth II. St Paul's Cathedral is the central subject of much promotional material, as well as of images of the dome surrounded by the smoke and fire of the Blitz.
Geometric Staircase
Why is this significant? Well, if you’re a Harry Potter fan, you will know that this was the “Divination Stairwell” in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the students travel to and from Divination Class!
Although this staircase is not part of a ‘normal’ St Paul’s Cathedral visit, you can take a guided tour.
Hidden Library
Ever want to stay in a cathedral? The Hidden Library is now an AirBnB.