Your Best London : Top sights, hotels, maps, images and videos

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If you only have time for one thing while visiting London, then the Westminster area is your safest bet. It has one of the highest concentration of London’s historic and prestigious landmarks including the world famous Big Ben part of the house of Parliament, the Westminster Abbey the place of coronation of British monarchs and Downing Street, home of the British First Minister.  Westminster  is indeed the centre of the British politics with the siege of the government and other important political buildings such as the treasury and the Scottish Office.  Since the rule of King Canute who first build his palace on this swampy location to the fight of Winston Churchill during Second World War, Westminster was always identified as a place of politics and power.

Topics

1. Introduction
2. Westminster Maps
3. Westminster Top Attractions
4. Westminster Photographs

Westminster Maps

View the top Attractions on Your Best London Westminster flash interactive map with pictures and videos.

Launch the Westminster experience now.

Westminster Static Maps

Below are some Westminster static Maps including one with the key sights, one with the main street and one that is blank.

Westminster Top Attractions

The Westminster key sights could be divided into the following key areas, which include from North to South:

1. Whitehall area
2. Parliament Square area
3. South Westminster

Whitehall area

The Whitehall area covers the northern part of Westminster and is home to many political building including 10 Downing Street and the Banqueting House.

Parliament Square area

The Parliament Square area has some of the most important and prestigious sites of Westminster including the Big Ben, House of Parliament, St Margaret’s Church and Westminster Abbey.

South Westminster

The South Westminster area is perhaps best known as the location of the acclaimed Tate Britain.  It is located on Millbank (an extension of Whitehall) on the bank of the Thames River.

Westminster Top 20 sights

As previously mentioned Westminster is home to some of the most recognizable attractions in London.  The top 20 sights (in alphabetical order) include:

1. Banqueting House
2. Big Ben
3. Boadicea
4. Cabinet War Rooms
5. Cenotaph
6. Dean’s Yard
7. Downing Street
8. Earl Haig statue
9. Horse Guard Parade
10. House of Parliament
11. Jewel Tower
12. Parliament Square
13. Richards I statue
14. St Margaret’s Church
15. St-John’s Smith Square
16. Tate Britain
17. Trafalgar Studios
18. Westminster Abbey
19. Westminster Cathedral
20. Whitehall

Banqueting House

The Banqueting House situated on the East side of Whitehall is a beautiful building with a Rubens ceiling designed by the famous Inigo Jones (the master behind the Covent Garden Square).

Big Ben

The Big Ben is often referred as the tall tower and its clock, but it facts its name originally refers to the huge bell inside of the clock.  The tower and the bell are located on the northern end of the Palace of Westminster and on the bank of the Thames river.  It is said that Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world.  It is now over 150 years old and is by far one of the most know landmark in London.

Boadicea

The Boadicea is a famous statue at the entrance of the Westminster Bridge next to the Big Ben. It is representing the famous queen of the Iceni tribe who some thousands years ago led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.

Cabinet War Rooms

The Cabinet War Rooms situated on the back of King Charles street is home to the famous Churchill Museum and the headquarters of government during World War II.

Cenotaph

The Cenotaph is a war  memorial placed at the heart of the Whitehall road to commemorate those who fought during the two World wars of the Twentieth Century.  It was designed by Edward Lutyens.

Dean’s Yard

The Dean’s Yard is a small oasis often lost along the grandiose sight of Westminster.  Located just next to the Westminster Abbey, with many various entrances it is part of a private school established in 1504.

Downing Street

Downing Street which is entered from Whitehall but only with special permission as it heavily guarded by police officers, is where British minister lived since 1732.

Earl Haig statue

The Earl Haig statue situated in the centre of Whitehall is a impressive sculpture of the great British First World War chief.  It was designed in 1936 by Alfred Hardiman.

Horse Guard Parade

The Horse Guard Parade is a very well known mounted guard ceremony  that takes places twice a day.  First in the morning at half eleven and later for the dismounting of the guard at 4PM.

House of Parliament

The Houses of Parliament also known as the Palace of Westminster is perhaps the most iconic and photograph building of the area.  This UNESCO world Heritage site which lies on the banks of the Thames river, offers an impressive view on both days and especially at night.  As the home of the British government it serves as the meeting place of the two houses of the United Kingdom Parliament : the House of Lords and the House of Commons.  The current building replaced the medieval complex which burned down in built in 1834, but retained its original style.  The Palace of Westminster still represent today a status for royal residence especially for ceremonial purposes.

Jewel Tower

The Jewel Tower also called "King’s Privy Wardrobe" is situated opposite the House of Parliament and next to Westminster Abbey  and constitute the remaining section of the medieval royal Palace of Westminster.  It was built in around 1365 to house the treasures of Edward III.

Parliament Square

Parliament Square is a piece of green space surrounded with London’s most prestigious sights. Indeed it has the Treasury and Whitehall road to its North, the House of Parliament to the East , St Margaret and Westminster Abbey to the South.  The square itself is worth visiting having a couple of beautiful statues of famous personalities including Nelson Mandela and Sir Winston Churchill.

Richards I statue

The statue of Richards I situated in front of the Houses of Parliament is often regarded as the geographical heart of London.  It was designed by Carlo Marochetti in 1860 and depicts the 12 century Lion heart (Coeur de Lion).

St Margaret’s Church

The St Margaret’s Church is situated on the southern part of Parliament Square and right next to the famous Westminster Abbey is an  Anglican church of and the parish church of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in London. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch and is considered a UNESCO World heritage site.

St-John’s Smith Square

The St-John’s Smith Square is situated further south of the main touristic Westminster centre around Parliament Square and is therefore much less visited. It is however a beautiful sight with a lovely church in the middle of Smith Square.  This grade I listed church was designed by Thomas Archer and was completed in 1728 but was bombed during the war and later bought and restored by a charitable Trust.

Tate Britain

Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank road  in London  and is part of the British Tate gallery network with include the famous Tate Modern as well as Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It first opened 1897 and therefore is considered the oldest gallery in the network, opening in. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J.M.W. Turner.

Trafalgar Studios

The Trafalgar Studios also commonly known under its previous name The Whitehall Theatre is a West End theatre next to Trafalgar Square.  The building was redesigned in 2004 by architects Tim Foster and John Muir and host two theatres.  The larger one with 380 seats and the other with 100 seats capacity .

Westminster Abbey

The Westminster Abbey situated on the South West corner of the Parliament Square is mostly known as the  location of the coronation and burial site of English and later British monarchs.  Officially known as the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, it  is a Gothic church and is one of the most visited attractions in the capital.

Westminster Cathedral

The Westminster Cathedral is situated to the West of Parliament Square not far from Victoria Coach Station.  It is said to be the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales.

Whitehall

Whitehall is by far the most  famous road in Westminster in London running north south from Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross to Parliament Square.  It is home to famous statues at it centre such as Richards I and the Cenotaph memorial.  It is mostly know as a Political road lined with numerous ministries and other government buildings.  Its name is taken from the vast Palace of Whitehall that used to occupy the area but which was largely destroyed by fire in 1698. Whitehall was originally a wide road that ran up to the front of the palace.

Westminster Photographs

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