| Day 4 - London |
| Copyright Famocon Tours 2001 |
| Today we explore Chelsea, Kensington and Knightsbridge with time for shopping and museums. We left Victoria Station and walked along streets built in the Grosvenor style - those white column fronted buildings, with the big bold black street numbers, that have contributed so much to the look of London. Our first places of interest were Eaton Square and Sloane Square which have a private residents' only garden running up the centre but which can be easily seen from the street. There is much fashionable shopping near Sloane Square. We walked past the Royal Hospital - one of many London civic buildings built by Christopher Wren in the 1600's. Keep your eyes out for the Ranelagh Gardens, the National Army Museum and Chelsea Pensioners, who wear colourful military uniforms. We then proceeded along Cheyne Walk next to the Thames until we got to the very brightly painted Albert Bridge. At All Saints Church there is a statue of Sir Thomas More that is worth a look. In this area we visited King's Road and Fulham Road and took in the Chelsea Antique Market as well as many of the other shops plentiful in the area. After an excellent lunch in a Chelsea cafe we visited the Victoria and Albert Museum. This museum opens at 10am or 12 noon depending on the day so you should check ahead. The museum is well worth a long visit - we particularly liked the fakes, the jewellery and the weapons but there is so much more to see. If you have more time (ie you haven't done much shopping) you may want to visit the Natural History Museum or the Science Museum which are almost next door. We then went to see the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall (opposite each other) before turning into Kensington Gardens and taking The Broadwalk to Kensington Palace. The Palace and its private gardens are excellent and we all liked the costumes on display. From here we went to Harrods for a good look around - this is a very impressive store to wander in, if you can get past the security guards with your backpack. We returned to our apartment very foot weary but in much better condition than our first day here. Our training for long distance walks before we left was starting to pay off. Next day would see us on a more relaxed trip to Kew Gardens. |
 |
| to go to Home and each of the other days in this itinerary |