Houses of ParliamentHouse of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Parliament is open to all members of the UK public and overseas visitors. You can watch laws being made, attend debates and committees, tour the buildings, or climb the Clock Tower.

Tel: 020 7219 4272
Nearest Tube station: Westminster
www.parliament.uk
hcinfo@parliament.uk

The British MuseumBritish Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG

The Museum celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2003 with the restoration of the King's Library, the Museum's oldest room, and the launch of a new permanent exhibition inside it called Enlightenment: Discovering the world in the eighteenth century. Through touring exhibitions, loans, collaborative projects and other partnerships, the Museum has a UK and worldwide reach unprecedented in its history.

Tel: 020 7323 8000
Nearest Tube station: Tottenham Court Road & Russell Square
www.britishmuseum.org
information@britishmuseum.org

National Portrait GallerySt Martin's Place, London WC2H 0HE

The Gallery holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. The Collection is displayed in London and in a number of locations around the United Kingdom, including several houses managed by the National Trust. The Gallery is increasingly keen to find new ways to share the Collection through the National Programmes, as well as through their website.

Tel: 020 7306 0055
Nearest Tube station: Charing Cross
www.npg.org.uk

London Transport MuseumThe Piazza, Covent Garden, WC2E 7BB

If you are visiting the Museum, make sure you drop into the Learning Lounge on Level 1. To dig deeper, visit the Library where you can access thousands of books, maps, ephemera and magazines. To contact the museum, find out their opening hours, or make an appointment call or visit the museum online.

Tel: 020 7379 6344
Nearest Tube station: Covent Garden
www.ltmuseum.co.uk

The National GalleryTrafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN

If you are visiting the Museum, make sure you drop into the Learning Lounge on Level 1. To dig deeper, visit the Library where you can access thousands of books, maps, ephemera and magazines. To contact the museum, find out their opening hours, or make an appointment call or visit the museum online.

Tel: 020 7747 2885
Nearest Tube station: Charing Cross
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
information@ng-london.org.uk

Somerset HouseThe Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

Somerset House is a spectacular neo-classical building in the heart of London, sitting between the Strand and the River Thames. During summer months 55 fountains dance in the courtyard, and in winter you can skate on London's favourite ice rink. Somerset House also hosts open-air concerts and films, contemporary art and design exhibitions, family workshops and free guided tours of spaces usually hidden to visitors.

Tel: 020 7845 4600
Nearest Tube station: Temple
www.somersethouse.org.uk
info@somersethouse.org.uk

Sir John Soane's Museum13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3BP

The architect Sir John Soane's house, museum and library at No. 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields has been a public museum since the early 19th century. Soane designed this house to live in, but also as a setting for his antiquities and his works of art. After the death of his wife (1815), he lived here alone, constantly adding to and rearranging his collections. Having been deeply disappointed by the conduct of his two sons, one of whom survived him, he determined to establish the house as a museum to which 'amateurs and students' should have access.

Tel: 020 7405 2107
Nearest Tube station: Holburn
www.soane.org

Nelson's ColumnTrafalgar Square, Westminster, London, SW1Y 5BJ

It was over a decade after Nelson’s victory and death at Trafalgar that Parliament started to discuss, in 1818, the possibility of erecting a memorial to the memory of Nelson. However it was not until 20 years later, that in 1838 voluntary subscriptions were sought by a Nelson Memorial Committee. It was decided that a competition should be held for an appropriate design and a site for the memorial in Trafalgar Square was approved by the Government.

St Martin in the FieldTrafalgar Square, Westminster, WC2N 4JJ

St Martin-in-the-Fields is a landmark. Its fine architecture and prominent location place it at the heart of the nation. Its work has valued historic tradition, but St Martin's has always been innovative in response to changing needs. From London's first free lending library to the first religious broadcast, St Martin's has broken new ground in defining what it means to be a church.

Tel: 020 7766 1100
Nearest Tube station: Charing Cross
www2.stmartin-in-the-fields.org
info@smitf.org

The Globe Theatre21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, London, SE1 9DT

The most famous of all the Elizabethan playhouses is the Globe Theatre, built by the company in which Shakespeare held a stake - it is now often referred to as the Shakespearean Globe. The original theatre was razed to the ground in 1613 when a theatrical cannon set fire to the stage, it was reconstructed on a new site 200m from where the original was based. The modern version of the Globe was carefully reconstructed according to the original plans, under the watchful eye of American actor and director Sam Wanamaker. As the theatre is true to its original plans, it is open to the sky and plays are put on between the months of May and October only.

Tel: 020 7902 1400
Nearest Tube station: Mansion House
www.shakespeares-globe.org
info@shakespearesglobe.com

The Royal AcademyBurlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BJ

The Royal Academy of Arts was founded by George III in 1768. Governed by artists to 'promote the arts of design' the Royal Academy was the first institution in Great Britain devoted solely to the promotion of the visual arts and to raising the standing of art, artists and architecture. The RA has held an annual selling exhibition since its formation and its first loan exhibition was held in 1870. The RA now enjoys an unrivalled reputation as a venue for exhibitions of international importance.

Tel: 020 7300 8000
Nearest Tube station: Piccadilly Circus
www.royalacademy.org.uk

Trocadero
Shaftsbury Avenue

The London Trocadero is a grand centre of leisure, shopping and entertainment located in the heart of the West end. Having opened in the late 1700's it has always had a reputation as a famous landmark with changing faces, a variety of entertainment that attracts tourists, teenagers, local office workers and families. The centre is linked to Piccadilly underground station and the main entrance is on Coventry Street.

Tel: 020 7300 8000
Nearest Tube station: Piccadilly Circus
www.londontrocadero.com

The Roman Baths
The Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

The Roman Baths, Strand Lane is a cold spring-fed plunge bath beneath 5, Strand Lane, in the City of Westminster, off the Strand. The baths have a historical reputation of being Roman in origin, though Roman London lay 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east. The visible remains, which lie 4 feet 6 inches (1.4 m) below the modern street level, date from a 17th-century refurbishment.

Tel: 020 8232 5050
Nearest Tube station: Temple
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
romanbath@nationaltrust.org.uk

Tate Modern
Bankside, London SE1 9TG

The Tate Modern is housed in the former Bankside Power Station on the banks of the Thames is Britain's national museum of modern and contemporary art from around the world. The awe-inspiring Turbine Hall runs the length of the entire building and you can see amazing work for free by artists such as Cézanne, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, Rothko, Dalí, Pollock, Warhol and Bourgeois.

Tel: 020 7887 8888
Nearest Tube station: Southwark
www.tate.org.uk/modern
visiting.modern@tate.org.uk

The South Bank Centre
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

Southbank Centre consists of the Royal Festival Hall (newly reopened after its two-year transformation), The Hayward, Queen Elizabeth Hall (containing the Purcell Room), and the Saison Poetry Saison Poetry Library. Situated on the south bank of the River Thames next to the popular BA London Eye, Southbank Centre is at the heart of an arts quarter stretching from the Royal National Theatre and National Film Theatre to Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe.

Tel: 0871 663 2501
Nearest Tube station: Waterloo
www.southbankcentre.co.uk
customer@southbankcentre.co.uk