One of the world's great cities, vibrant London manages to shine in the greyest weather and its diversity defies a simple definition. This sprawling city has drawn people for centuries, looking for something and finding the unexpected.
London is the capital of Great Britain and the largest city in Europe - but at times it can be both rather un-British and even un-European. It's one of the world's most international cities - borrowing a bit from here, a piece from there, and changing almost daily. The influences blend to create something new and unique, so, wherever you arrive from, the city is in places warmly familiar, in others wonderfully different.
Nevertheless, London's landscape is steeped in British history and tradition. The classic sights of Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and Big Ben could not be more English, and are a permanent symbol of England's former greatness. If any single thing epitomises London's character for both local and tourist alike, it's the tube, trains and red double-decker buses of its public transport system; the frenetic lifeblood that circulates three million people around the capital daily.
As everyone will tell you the city is undeniably expensive, but you get your money's worth like nowhere else on earth: no other city has such an excess of accessible history and dynamic modernity. The result is a metropolis that is endlessly fascinating, able to excite the most jaded traveller and generate memories of a lifetime; it's this quality which ensures London will never lose its allure.