The City & Bankside

A look around

What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.

1/6

Where it sits

The circle is The City & Bankside and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.

How far is everything?

From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.

• The London Eye22 min walk1.8 km
• Covent Garden24 min walk2.0 km
• The National Gallery & Trafalgar Square27 min walk2.3 km
• The British Museum7 min taxi2.4 km
• Westminster Abbey & Big Ben7 min taxi2.5 km
• Buckingham Palace & the Changing of the Guard10 min taxi3.3 km
• The Natural History Museum17 min taxi5.8 km
• Portobello Road, Notting Hill23 min taxi7.6 km

On your doorstep

What you’re living next to if you stay here.

• 1.The Tower of London — Nine hundred years of fortress, prison and palace, with the Crown Jewels inside and the Beefeaters' tour bringing the executions to life. Go at opening before the coach parties.
• 5.Tower Bridge — The one everyone thinks is London Bridge — Victorian, blue and gold, and still lifting for tall ships. Walk the glass-floored high walkway, or just photograph it from the north bank.
• 7.St Paul's Cathedral — Wren's great dome, survivor of the Blitz — climb the 528 steps to the Golden Gallery for the best paid-for view in the City. The Whispering Gallery on the way is the party trick.
• 9.Tate Modern — A power station turned temple of modern art, free, with a top-floor view back across the river to St Paul's. Cross the wobbly Millennium Bridge to reach it.
• 10.Borough Market — London's best food market under the railway arches — cheese toasties, fresh oysters, and free samples down every aisle. Go hungry, go before noon, avoid the weekend crush.
• 14.Sky Garden at sunset — A glass jungle on top of a City skyscraper with the best free view in London — the Eye, the Shard, the river, all of it. Book a free slot weeks ahead, or try the bar.