Tourist Maps for London
For a short stay in London, visitors can pick up freely
available maps at London airports, tourist booths and dedicated British Tourist Authority
(BTA)
centres in central London (1 Regent St. is the probably the most convenient location for many
visitors). Alternatively, guide books such as The Rough Guide to
London, Time Out London and
Dorling Kindersley's Eyewitness London Guide carry maps of the major tourist areas, together with
overviews of the geographical layout of the city (see also recommended reading for further details). Dedicated maps,
are however, best for travellers who plan to explore London on foot/bicycle, especially if you
venture off the beaten track. Recommended examples are:
 Collins
Greater London Street Atlas
Published in May 2007, this (paperback)
Comprehensive Edition is one of the most detailed and well-produced London maps
currently available. With more than 100,000 fully indexed streets, a larger scale
central London area (which includes London City Airport) and details about London's extended congestion charging zone, it
comes highly recommended...Buy
Now >>
 London A-Z
An excellent choice for Londoners, the A-Z map series covers every street in the city, together with mainline railway and
Tube stations, local landmarks and major tourist attractions. As well as an easy to read scale of
2.9 inches to 1 mile (4cm to 1km), you'll also find a London Connections map (rail network),
Congestion Charging Boundary and London Underground map on the outside back cover.
Not pocket sized though, so if you're after a dinky companion choose the Mini Street Atlas of London (also
from the A-Z Map Company, see below)...Buy
Now >>
 Mini Street Atlas of London (A-Z Maps)
Ideal for visitors to London, A-Z's Mini Street Atlas fits snugly into your back
pocket and is inexpensive to purchase. Covering an area of central London extending to Neasden, Golders Green, Highgate, Stoke Newington, Leyton, Wanstead, West Ham, Eltham, Grove Park, Catford, Streatham, Wimbledon, Putney and
Willesden, it also has a London Underground map on the back cover, while rail, Croydon
Tramlink and Docklands Light Railway services are included too...Buy
Now >> (also available in a spiral
bound version).
Metro System in London
To find out about London's metro system (known as the Underground or Tube) see
public transport.
British currency is the pound sterling (£) which is
divided into 100 pence (p). Notes are divided into denominations of £5, £10, £20
and £50, while coins come in smaller denominations of £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10, 2p
and 1p. As a general rule, it's wise to keep a good supply of change as some stores may refuse to
change £20 and £50 notes for smaller purchases. There is no limit to the amount
of cash that can be imported or exported into Britain (see also banking).
For the official exchange rate of the British pound against the US dollar, Euro and
other currencies, please visit:
www.xe.com.
Newspapers and Magazines Published in London
International editions of the most popular North American, European and
Australian newspapers are widely available in hotels and good London newsagents. If you have access
to the Internet while away, then online versions of the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times,
USA Today and The Australian carry major headlines,
domestic news and sport.
Alternatively, it's worth seeking out the International Herald
Tribune, which,
although published in France, carries articles from both the NY Times and Washington Post. As the
most widely circulated international publication in London, finding a copy shouldn't be too much of
a problem either (the popular news chain WH
Smith's stocks the paper for example). For titles not
printed locally under licence (such as Le
Monde), expect them to be at least a day old before they appear on newsagent's shelves.
Furthermore, as London, has such a diverse ethnic population, it's remarkably
easy to pick up Arabic (Al-Quds, Al-Arabi and
Al-Hayat), Indian (Times of
India, Asian Age) and
Jewish (Jewish Chronicle) daily papers.
Of the home grown national daily papers, titles fall into three categories
namely broadsheets (serious, top end titles), mid-market tabloids and their popular gossip-laden
counterparts. A run down of newspapers in each category is given below:
Daily Telegraph
- affectionately nicknamed the 'Torygraph' because of its largely Conservative readership, the
Telegraph is a traditionally right of centre broadsheet, which tends to tout a heavily
Euro-sceptic, pro-law and order line within leader columns. Features excellent sports coverage
(particularly on cricket) along with one of the best websites for any UK national
daily.
The Times - owned by
media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the Times is strong on domestic news as well as having one of the best
sport sections around. The Sunday equivalent sees greater emphasis on investigative journalism,
often carrying a weekly exposé of political intrigue at Westminster.
The Guardian -
unrivalled international news coverage, along with in-depth arts listings makes it the preferred
choice for liberal and left of centre readers. Daily insert sections carry articles and job
listings for the media, IT and education sectors, while The Guardian Unlimited website features
audio news reports and reader message boards.
The Independent -
positioning itself as the most independent voice of the UK newspaper industry, the
title has, in recent years, succeeded in luring readers away from The Guardian, Times and Telegraph.
Highly readable, it routinely features excellent articles from Robert Fisk, while its
online presence contains a good selection of free to view articles, as well as
subscription based services.
The
Observer - Sunday equivalent of The Guardian, with excellent travel writing and entertainment
features. Sports coverage, however, lacks the depth of other Sunday publications such as The
Times.
The Financial Times - the
market leader for business readers in the UK, the FT also features in-depth world news coverage,
investment articles, incisive editorial comment and sports results. The paper's huge online
presence offers a wealth of financial information, together with careers and an excellent 'Culture
and Sports' section. Recommended.
Daily Mail - widely
acknowledged as being the most right of centre daily in the UK, the Mail provides in-depth coverage
of domestic and international news, with an emphasis on showbiz stories and investigative
reporting.
Daily Express -
self proclaimed as "The World's Greatest Newspaper", the once troubled Daily Express
has improved of late, following a savage
cost-cutting exercise and subsequent high-profile media campaign to gain a share of the
UK's traditional right-of-centre readership. Owned by Richard Desmond (he of Asian Babes and Nude Readers'
Wives fame), the newspaper's website has moved on from being "utterly feeble"
(as we once described it) to become a mouthpiece for angry little Britainers everywhere.
Who knows, it may still succeed yet...
The Sun - populist
tabloid which unexpectedly swung behind the Labour Party during the 1997 General Election (and
again in 2001 and 2005). The website of this market leader sums up the paper's core values nicely...ho hum.
However, with a readership of over 3.5 million (per day), it has the clout to help change the
balance of power at Westminster come election time.
The Mirror - as The
Sun's biggest rival, The Mirror features the same sort of content, without having a true equivalent
to the aforementioned's famous Page 3 (which features a daily female nude pin-up). The unrelenting
(and extremely caustic) war of words between the two titles is invariably more interesting than The
Mirror's own front page stories. The online version has all the hallmarks of being a rush job,
providing a lacklustre service that fails to impress.
News of the
World - a somewhat misleading name for a tabloid paper that concentrates almost exclusively on
sensationalist headlines and showbiz gossip. As the Sunday equivalent of The Sun, content and style
are very much in keeping with the Murdoch owned sibling.
Daily Star - another
Richard Desmond publication (see Daily Express above) with an online presence that mirrors
its sister newspaper's. Not one of our favourites...
Elsewhere, London's main daily paper, The Evening Standard, features world
headlines as well as in-depth coverage on politics, finance, entertainment and life in the city.
The online version This is London has an
excellent food and restaurant guide, along with exhaustive entertainment listings.
Other useful online news sources include the BBC, Big News Network,
CBS News, CNN Europe and News
Now.
Back to Top
|
