You cannot help but feel the excitement of London when standing in Piccadilly Circus. All the noise and hustle bustle, the shops, the eating houses and the crowds. Then at night the flashing neon adverts make the place become even more alive.

It is safe to say that at Piccadilly Circus you are inside the very heart of vibrant London.

Originally built in 1819 to connect Regent Street to Piccadilly, the Circus quickly became a major junction come meeting place. What has been one of the busiest regions of London for the best part of two centuries includes a memorial to the great reformer, Lord Shaftsbury. The statue is nearly always referred to as the statue of “Eros,” but in actual fact the statue is an image of Eros’s brother, Anteros.

Besides being the home to famous and historical memorials, Piccadilly Circus is most famed of all for its advertising in neon lights. In fact the region’s mesmerising blur of dazzling neon is en par with Tokyo or Times Square in New York City.

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Forget the rush hour traffic and travelling at a pitiful mph, there is a much better way to travel around London – on the Thames!

KPMG Thames Clippers have a substantial fleet of boats which ferry customers around the capital. The boats are of the highest spec and tailored with passenger luxury in mind.

Now, they have expanded their service with a new route from Putney to Blackfriars, with Chelsea Harbour pier being one of the stops on the route.

You can now travel direct from the hotel in style and in a timely fashion too! This is perfect for business people wishing to get into the city avoiding the usual hustle and bustle sometimes found in London rush hour.

It’s also perfect for anyone wishing to explore London’s other delights from the best shops to tourist attractions.

The KPMG Thames Clipper service means you can go from Putney to Blackfriars in just 39 minutes. There are now a total of 19 Clipper piers across the capital.

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Mention a glamorous, world-renowned and highly chic sporting event and Wimbledon is certainly a contender in your thoughts. With strawberries and cream in one hand, a glass of champagne in the other and an ultra-sophisticated pair of shades on dimming the dazzling emerald glare of Centre Court, Wimbledon is the epitome of sophisticated Englishness at its most urbane.

Naturally getting a ticket for this highly sought-after sporting event is not easy as demand is extraordinarily high, especially on the days of the finals. And if a British player manages to make his or her way through the stages and threatens to not only make it to the final but possibly win it, then the Wimbledon British entourage simply go wild.

If you cannot come by one of the ‘golden’ Wimbledon tickets, you could always join the hundreds of others and watch the action from “Henman Hill” or “Murray Mound,” where big screens are erected for tennis lovers who desire to watch the excitement unravel in a genuinely electrifying atmosphere.

Although unfortunately for us Brits, the UK has not produced a winner since Fred Perry won the men’s championship three times back in the thirties and Virginia Wade triumphed in the ladies final in 1977. Whilst Tim Henman might have let us down by getting painfully and teasingly close, will Andy Murray finally end our four-decade long British Wimbledon anguish?

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Bizarre and unique to London, and when compared to local quirks in the other cities of Britain, you won’t find anything like Cockney rhyming slang anywhere else on the British Isles, or possibly the world for that matter!

Cockney rhyming slang is used often by many Londoners and a form of expression, replacing ordinary words by rhyming equivalents, such as “door” with that of the late great footballer, “Bobby Moore”. Plates of meat, for example are your feet. When Cockney rhyming sland advocators are really hungry they say, “I’m Hank Marvin,” which of course means “I’m starving!”

Londoners are not overly fussed about correct spelling and letters are often missed out or words shortened.

It is believed that the origins of rhyming slang go back to the mid 19^th century and the East End of London was the place where it all began. Even today it is London’s East End where Cockney rhyming slang is most commonly used today.

There is some suggestion that market traders used it to talk amongst themselves, in a sort of code of collusion, so that customers were kept in the dark. Others suggest the slang’s origins point towards criminals using it to confuse the police.

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Political protests, fireworks, carols and architectural inspiration – It has to be Trafalgar Square!

Nothing in London, bar perhaps the Shard and the London Eye, makes you look skywards in marvel quite like Nelson’s Column. Guarded by four lions at its base, Nelson’s Column was erected in honour of Britain’s greatest and most famous admiral – Lord Nelson.

Originally conceived by architect 1812 to commemorate Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, this world famous landmark has undergone three renovations in its 170-year-old history. Whilst the foundations of the Column were laid in 1839, the statue was not completed until 1843.

Today hoards of tourists gather at the beautiful wide open space of Trafalgar Square and it is one of the most popular tourist spots in the whole of the capital. Asides admiring Nelson’s Column and the impressive fountains and musing through the many interesting and quirky stalls the plaza is home to, this multicultural square hosts many great events throughout the years.

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