Called "Llyn-din" by the Celts and "Londinium" by the Romans, this prehistoric city has grown over the millennia from an anonymous far-flung settlement, to the seat of power governing ¼ of the world, to the music haven of the 1960s, and into what Newsweek magazine calls the "coolest city on the planet…a hip compromise between the non-stop newness of Los Angeles and the aspic-preserved beauty of Paris - sharpened to New York's edge." Indeed, the British capital rivals New York for energy, art, dining, nightlife, entertainment, and a totally hip attitude. If, however, you have no interest in London's pop culture, and prefer to visit the London of history and literature, you will find it intact amidst the new cool.

The Tower of London and the royal palaces have probably been featured in more works of historical romance than any place else but it is the whole, as represented in the works of Charles Dickens, that evokes most people's preconceptions of London. Very little of Dickensian London remains, which is mostly a good thing. Gone is the bleakness and misery right down to the pea-soup fog, which was actually heavy smog now dispatched thanks to air pollution controls. Though some of the character has changed here and there with time and "progress," there are still many, many places that remain just as they have always been. Writer Samuel Johnson encapsulated London's appeal when he said, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford."