London, England

The capital of Shakespeare’s “sceptred isle,” and the seat of the British throne, busy, beautiful London has always been an essential part of a European tour and offers Royal Holiday members the experience of a lifetime. Western Europe’s biggest city and one of its most diverse, London is filled with World Heritage Sites, well-known monuments, and some of the most widely respected cultural and artistic institutions in the world. It also serves as the center of an international finance and business community. Whether Royal Holiday members visit London for pleasure or for work, they will always remember the sights and sounds of this one-of-a-kind urban environment.

Royal Holiday’s affiliate in London, St. Marks London, provides exactly the kind of luxury appointments members expect in a world capital. Featuring fashionable condominium-style ambassador and presidential suites in a renovated Edwardian apartment building, this unique resort is located in the heart of London’s sprawl, with the whole city easily accessible via the nearby Angel tube station. Featuring in-unit kitchens and laundry machines, as well as an on-site health club and wireless broadband, St. Marks makes it easy and affordable for Royal Holiday members to enjoy a stylish London vacation.

While the banks of the River Thames served as the home for several Mesolithic and Brythonic settlements, the city of London began as a Roman city, the capital of Rome’s Britannia region. Styled as Londinium, the city collapsed along with the Roman empire before reemerging under the Anglo-Saxons, and by the 11th century, it had become England’s largest town. The following years would find the city serving increasingly as the seat of power, and it grew in huge spurts until the modern era. Today, Royal Holiday members will find easy access to all of London’s history across its numerous museums, landmarks, and cultural artifacts.

Royal Holiday tourists visiting London for the first time with naturally want to see its famous sites, from the imposing structure of the Tower of London to the view from the top of the London Eye. Royalists will obviously be interested in seeing the numerous palaces dotting the landscape, from the famous walls of Buckingham Palace, which is open to visitors during part of the year, to locations like Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace. The city’s museums, including the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum, the Tate Modern, and the British Museum, are all world-class institutions that have gathered incredible examples of art and archeology from ancient history to the current day. Politically inclined Royal Holiday members should take time to join the public gallery in the House of Commons, while those looking to experience the London skyline at its most quintessential should take a tour of Big Ben.

Of course, no visit to London would be complete without a ride on one of the iconic double-decker busses, or a stop at the Buckingham Palace gates to observe the Changing of the Guard. Royal Holiday members who enjoy the theater will do well to catch a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe, which offers visitors an authentic Elizabethan experience. They might also take a backstage tour of the National Theatre. Enjoying a river cruise along the Thames or watching a game of cricket at Lord’s Cricket Ground can be exciting diversions. However, in between rushing between the impressive landmarks, Royal Holiday members should stop to enjoy London’s many shops, its international haute cuisine, and the many other charming offerings one will find in a truly impressive global city.