England is an incredibly beautiful|a most amazing country in which to spend a vacation. It has an awesome selection of tourist attraction|places of interest well worth visiting enough to satisfy all tastes. There is the ancient city of York which is known to have been inhabited since the times of the Roman Empire, Torquay (often called the English Riviera) and Liverpool (European City of Culture 2008). One of the most famous, and interesting, places to visit is London, the capital city of England
London is a most incredible destination to visit, maybe for just a weekend or, hopefully for a longer period. You may be surprised at how many people who live in Great Britain who have not visited London, even more surprising when you ponder on the fact it is commonly top of most visitors lists (of the most enjoyable places they went to).
There are so many things to do and see in London that it is not possible to recall them all at once. 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 the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. However, one place which must not be missed is Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace is England’s most well known Royal residence, possibly because it is home to Queen Elizabeth. The Palace is positioned at the heart of London which makes it the perfect focus for tourists. The daily pageant of ‘Changing of the Guard’ is incredibly interesting to see and ever so English.
Buckingham Palace was originally named 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.
Over the next 3 quarters of a century Buckingham House was made larger by the addition of 3 wings forming a central courtyard. The main architects responsible for these constructions 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 in association with the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock were the winners of a competition to design a memorial to Queen Victoria. This memorial can still be today.
The Queen has a few other royal residences other than Buckingham Palace. Every year the Queen stays, at Sandringham House in Norfolk, over Christmas. Sandringham House is a private royal residence (owned by the Queen).
A further private residence is Balmoral Castle, situated in Royal Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Queen Elizabeth was at Balmoral Castle when she heard of the sad death of Princess Diana.
If you would like to take a vacation in the U.K. you might be pleased to discover that it is possible to find cheap hotels in London without any great difficulty, on the other hand you may want to stay in more luxurious surroundings and the fine selection of boutique hotels in London should be more than satisfactory.
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