Travel Series: London

London Tour: London in a Day, part 4

London Monuments and Statues

Bill Petro
ILLUMINATION
Published in
7 min readSep 20, 2024

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Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Author’s photo

London might not have the same kind of monuments as, say, Paris, with its Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe.

But London has its share of interesting monuments and many statues: about 1,100 total. Let’s begin with the big ones, using our
ranking system:

  • A: must see if you have only one day in the area
  • B: valuable to see, but might require a second day
  • C: interesting, if you have more time

To start:

  • A: Houses of Parliament / Big Ben (several hours)
Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, from across the River Thames. Author’s photo

You’ll see the Parliament building when you visit Westminster Abbey or anywhere on the South Bank (from the London Eye). It’s not always open to tourists, but I’d advise booking ahead if you want to see it. I enjoyed it and did research there for my article on Guy Fawkes, and its relationship to The King’s Speech.

During the tour of Parliament, you’ll see the House of Lords and the House of Commons, as well as Westminster Hall, which I…

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Bill Petro
ILLUMINATION

Writer, historian, technologist. Former Silicon Valley tech exec. Author of fascinating articles on history, tech, pop culture, & travel. https://billpetro.com