London Travel Guide

Westminster Walk from Big Ben to Trafalgar Square

London is L.A., D.C., and N.Y.S. of Britain. This walk starts with London’s “star” attraction, continues to it’s “Capitol,” passes it’s “White House,” and ends at it’s “Times Square” all i n about an hour.

Just about every visitor to London strolls the historic Whitehall Boulevard from Big Ben to Trafalgar Square. This quick eight- stop walk gives meaning to  that touristy ramble.

Under London’s modern traffic and big-city bustle lie 2,000 fascinating years of history. You’ll get a whirlwind tour as well as a practical orientation to London.

The Walk Begins

Start halfway across Westminster Bridge ( tube: Westminster; take the Westminster pier exit).

On Westminster Bridge Views of Big Ben and Parliament

First look upstream, toward the Parliament.
Dong ding, ding dong. Dong ding ding dong. Yes, indeed, you are in London. Big Ben is actually”not the clock, not the tower, but the bell that tolls the hour.” However, since the 13 –ton bell is not visible, everyone just calls the whole works Big Ben. Named for a fat bureaucrat, Ben is scarcely older than my great-grandmother, but it has quickly become the city’s symbol.

The tower is 320 feet high, and the clock faces are 23 feet across. The 23- foot long minute hand sweeps the length of your body every five minutes.

Big Ben is the north tower of a long building, the house of Parliament, stretching along the Thames. Britain is ruled from this building, which for five centuries was the home of Kings and Queens. Then, as democracy was foisted on tyrants, a parliament of nobles was allowes to meet in some of the rooms.

Soon, commoners were elected to office, the neighborhood was shot, and the royalty moved to Buckingham Palace.
The current building, though it looks medieval with its prickly flamboyant spires was built in the 1800s after a fire gutted old Westminster palace.

Today, the house of commons, which is more powerful than the queen and prime minister combined, meets in one end of the building.

The rubber-stamp House of Lords grumbles and snoozes in the other end of this 1000-room complex, and provides a tempering effect on extreme governmental changes. The two houses are very much separate: Notice the riverside tea terraces with the color-coded awnings- royal red for lords, common green for commoners.

If a flag is flying from the Victoria Tower, at the far south end of the building, Parliament is in session.