London Flights of Fancy: A Weekend of Wonder

There has always been something special about the allure of London. The nation’s capital has long held a myriad of attractions for the cosmopolitan traveller and now, thanks to the proliferation of cheap flights to London, this bustling, thriving metropolis is now quickly becoming an increasingly attractive proposition for a holiday or weekend away.

On closer inspection, it is not difficult to see why. The city enjoys massive popularity with tourists from the UK and abroad alike and arguably the first and most tangible reason for the city’s growth as a destination is simply down to the fact that it is now cheaper and easier to get to.

Before the advent of low cost flights to the capital, even getting to London could have been a costly business. A traveller from further afield in the UK would have been forced to undertake a lengthy car journey or purchase an expensive train ticket. From Europe and beyond, the journey would have also incorporated ferry travel or a flight and in the days before budget airlines, these tickets would not have been particularly cheap and flights not altogether plentiful, even for a short hop across the English Channel.

Nowadays, the situation is very different. London is a gateway for international travel and above it lies some of the busiest airspace in the World, space that is regularly filled by a conveyor belt of budget airlines flying into the three main airports that serve the capital. It is as easy to fly into the city from Lisbon as it is Liverpool, Madrid as it is Manchester or Gdansk as it is Glasgow. In addition, London flights are now much cheaper, with some running to as little as just a few pounds per ticket.

The upshot of the increasing availability and affordability of flights to London means that the city is now an ideal location for a holiday or weekend break; however, the long-term appeal of London does not solely lie in the fact that it is economical to travel to. The city also boasts some of the most historic attractions in the World and a huge variety of attractions that are sure to entertain any visitor.

London contains some of the most historic landmarks in the English-speaking world. If you are looking for opulence and grandeur, then few visitors will fail to be impressed by Buckingham Palace. The palace is now open to visitors during the summer months and they can visit the staterooms of one of the few working royal palaces in the World today.

Certainly, the monarchy is omnipresent throughout London and on the outskirts. The magnificent royal residences of Windsor Castle and Hampton Court are both just on the outskirts of London and well worthy of a visit for any fervent royalists, while a glimpse of how things used to be is afforded by a trip to the iconic Tower of London. The tower is the traditional home of the Crown Jewels and patrolled by yeoman wardens, who are better known to all as ‘beefeaters’.

Equally beautiful and iconic, yet serving a different function is the Houses of Parliament, clearly marked by the iconic clock tower which houses the true Big Ben, not the clock tower itself as many erroneously assume, but the name of the bell that chimes every hour.

Historically, London has always been a rich city and it is easy to immerse yourself in any aspect of its long and glorious past. One innovative way to see many historical aspects of the city is on a guided tour, but one with a terrifying twist as the city boasts a number of fantastic ghost tours that will take eager visitors into the darker depths of the city.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to roam the streets where Jack the Ripper once committed his grisly crimes? Have you visited one of the most haunted buildings in the World, the Tower of London, on a twilight tour and learned about the ghostly goings-on? You can even visit the landmark Tower Bridge and take a tour down into its deep recesses into the haunting London tombs. Indeed, the city is seemingly as popular with the dead as it with the living!

If culture is more your thing, then London has so much to offer the visitor and their families, especially when it comes to art galleries and museums. From the National Gallery to the Saatchi Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate Britain to the Royal Academy of Arts, if you a love of the splash of paint on canvas than London makes your trip worth the while. The city also boasts some of the most impressive museums in the World. From the Cabinet War Rooms to the Imperial War Museum, the British Museum to the Science Museum, if there is an aspect of British life that intrigues you then you are sure to be able to find out more about it in London.

Of course, these attractions are only the tip of the iceberg of this large and varied cosmopolitan city. A popular draw is the London Eye, which has grown from being a millennium oddity into one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city. If you are a sports fan, then London boasts a staggering array of alternatives, with 13 clubs playing professionally in the Football League, not to mention five in the Premier League. In addition, Twickenham, the home of rugby, is also well worthy of a visit as is Wembley, the home of the England football team and new headquarters of the Football Association.

Then, of course, there are the 2012 Olympics on the horizon, which is sure to bring in unprecedented levels of visitors from across the globe.

The fantastic array of cheap flight deals that visitors can get to London has made the city a popular destination for tourists from the UK and Europe; however, the city offers a great deal more than simply a cheap solution for a holiday. London’s appeal is long term, not just because of great flight deals, but because it has more attractions to offer than any other city in the World.