Visit Buckingham Palace And London
Written by Post on July 1st, 2009 in Travel & Leisure.
England is wonderful and exciting nation to visit for a vacation. It has an awesome selection of visitor attractions well worth a visit enough to satisfy all tastes. For example the historical city of York which is known to have been inhabited since the days of the Roman Empire, Liverpool, and Torquay known as the English Riviera. One of the most interesting, and famous, places to visit is London the capital city of the U. K.
London is an amazing destination to visit, either just for a weekend or, hopefully for longer. You would be surprised at how many people living in the United Kingdom of Great Britain who have not yet visited London, even more surprising when you are mindful of the fact it is usually top of the vast majority of visitors lists (of most enjoyable attractions they went to).
There are so many things to do and see in London that it is simply not possible to list them all at the same time. Surprisingly one of the newest attractions in London also happens to be one of the most popular – The London Eye. Another popular attraction nearby to the London Eye is Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. However, one place which must not be missed is Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace is England’s most well known Royal residence, as it is home to Queen Elizabeth II of England. The Palace is is placed in the heart of London which makes it an important focus for visitors. The daily pageant of ‘Changing of the Guard’ is interesting to watch and quintessentially English.
Buckingham Palace was originally called Buckingham House. It was originally a large townhouse, constructed in 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham. It is actually the townhouse which forms the main core of the palace as we are familiar with today.
Throughout the subsequent 3 quarters of a century Buckingham House was made larger with the building of three wings forming a central courtyard. The primary architects responsible for these additions were Edward Blore and John Nash. John Nash was also responsible for the interior design of the monumental staterooms.
The famous architect Aston Webb was responsible for the building of the principal facade of Buckingham Palace which, in 1912, he re-designed. Webb along with the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock were the winners of a competition to design a memorial to Queen Victoria. This memorial is still seen today.
The Queen has a few other royal residences besides Buckingham Palace. Annually the Queen stays, at Sandringham House in Norfolk, during Christmas. Sandringham House is privately owned by the Queen (a private royal residence).
A further private residence is Balmoral Castle, situated in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Queen was in Balmoral Castle when she heard of the sad incident involving Diana (the ex-wife of Prince Charles).
If you would like to take a break in the United Kingdom then you may be pleased to learn that it is possible to find cheap hotels in London without any great effort, on the other hand you may wish to reside in more luxurious accommodation and the small number of boutique hotels in London should be more than satisfactory.
