Visitor Information

The U.K. has made huge investments in placing comprehensive, up-to-date, and inspirational visitor information online, so the Web is the place to begin your London research. The official Visit London online home is the excellent www.visitlondon.com. You can download PDF brochures and maps, or have them mailed to a U.K. or U.S. address, or ask any question about the city by filling out the online contact form at www.visitlondon.com/contact-us.

Once in the city, the Britain and London Visitor Centre, 1 Lower Regent St., London SW1 4XT (tel. 08701/566-366; Tube: Piccadilly Circus), can help you with almost anything, from the most superficial to the most serious queries. Located just downhill from Piccadilly Circus, it deals with procuring accommodations in all price categories through an on-site travel agency (www.lastminute.com), and you can also book bus or train tickets throughout the U.K. There's a kiosk for procuring theatre or group tour tickets, a bookshop loaded with titles dealing with travel in the city and the U.K., a souvenir shop, an Internet cafe, a foreign exchange desk, and pleasant, helpful, and friendly staff. It's open year-round Monday 9:30am to 6pm, Tuesday to Friday 9am to 6pm, and Saturday and Sunday 9am to 4pm. Between April and September, weekday closing is a half-hour later.

There are further helpful central tourist information points at: King's Cross St. Pancras, LUL Western Ticket Hall, Euston Rd.; Holborn station, Kingsway; Victoria rail station, opposite Platform 8; Piccadilly Circus underground station; Liverpool Street underground station; Euston rail station, opposite Platform 8; Greenwich, Pepys House, Cutty Sark Gardens (tel. 0870/608-2000).

The Square Mile has its own visitor information center, the City of London Tourist Information Centre, St. Paul's Churchyard (tel. 020/7332-1456). This striking building opposite the south side of St. Paul's has plenty of leaflets and brochures relating to sights, attractions, guided tours, self-guided walks, and the latest events. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 9:30am to 5:30pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm.

An alternative organization to help foreign visitors with their enquiries and confusion about London is the London Information Centre, Leicester Sq., London W1 (tel. 020/7292-2333; www.londoninformationcentre.com; Tube: Leicester Sq.). Note that it's a privately owned, commercially driven organization that may have an interest in steering you toward a particular venue. The booth is open daily 8am to midnight.

You can also call tel. 08701/LONDON (566-366) for city information and to book sometimes discounted rates for London hotels. Sales staff is available daily from 8am to 11pm.

London is such a web-savvy city that almost as soon as we recommend a news source or blog, it's immediately matched or superseded by another. However, there are some phenomenally useful London resources on the Internet. You'll find the latest local news and weather at www.bbc.co.uk/london and www.thisislondon.co.uk. LDN (www.ldn.in) does a great job of aggregating information about all kinds of events, deals, and trivia. The Visit London Blog (http://blogs.visitlondon.com) manages to combine officialdom with an eye for the offbeat. While the remit of the London Review of Breakfasts (http://londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.com) has expanded beyond the city, it still does what it promises. Londonist (http://londonist.com) remains the best source for street-level coverage of arts, events, food, drink, and London trivia. Gresham College (www.gresham.ac.uk) hosts a rolling program of free lunchtime and evening public lectures, on a vast range of topics, to which all are invited. For the latest on London's theatre scene, consult www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk. If you wish to attend Christian worship, www.cityevents.org.uk has a regularly updated calendar of services at all the City's churches. Time Out's First Thursdays (www.firstthursdays.co.uk) see art galleries across East London open until late for cultural events and free tours on the first Thursday of the month. The Museum of London's Streetmuseum iPhone app uses augmented reality and the inbuilt camera to superimpose historic images of London onto a view of the modern streets. For regular features and updates, visit www.frommers.com/destinations/London.

The Best London News & Views Websites

BBC London (www.bbc.co.uk/london)

Greenwich.co.uk (www.greenwich.co.uk)

London Evening Standard (www.thisislondon.co.uk)

London SE1 (www.london-se1.co.uk)

MayorWatch (www.mayorwatch.co.uk)

Metro (www.metro.co.uk)

Yeah Hackney (www.yeahhackney.com)

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