How to use this London Town Guide

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Everyone has heard of London - that buzzing city of royalty, cockney charm, and home of 'Cool Britannia' - right? Wrong! London as a distinct city does not, in fact, exist!

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London is actually made up of numerous individual villages, towns, and boroughs all of which retain a distinct heritage and character - it is not unusual for native Londoners to describe themselves as from Islington, or from Camden Town rather than as from London!

London is currently divided into thirty-three distinct areas; thirty-one areas known as boroughs, plus the two cities of Westminster and the City of London. These were clearly marked out by the boundary changes of 1965 and you would think that this would have simplified things… but many well known smaller parishes and districts, names that you will still hear, have been swallowed up by the larger boroughs and so it has only complicated matters further! This makes the city an extremely confusing place to figure out - piecing all the districts and areas together is like trying to put together a giant jigsaw, one without clearly defined pieces!

Therefore, for the purposes of this site, we have divided London up according to its postcode areas.

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Deciphering the postcode

In the postcode system, each area is given a letter which indicates its geographical location in relation to the city as a whole (N for North, EC for East Central etc), and then a number (sometimes followed by a letter) that gives a more specific location. The second part of a postcode usually consisting of a combination of numbers and letters then indicates a specific street location. So, take the postcode of the Edward Lear Hotel at Marble Arch - W1H 5WD The W at the start of the postcode clearly indicates that this is in the West of the city, and the number 1 more specifically shows that it is in the postal area West 1 - the area known as the 'West End'. (The H indicates the exact part of W1). The second part of the postcode then indicates the specific street, in this case the 5WD means that the Edward Lear Hotel is in Seymour Street. But you don't really want to worry about knowing the exact street from the postcode! For this guide, it's the first bit that's important as that is the bit that tells you what area of London something is.

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Finding the information you want...

1.We have a map for you to get your bearings from with the postcode areas clearly marked. Then you can find information on everything about that area - from its history, to what you can see, do, and visit.	Click here for map
Click here for A-Z	2.And if you already know the name of the area you want to visit, or the name of the specific museum, monument or tourist attraction you want to see, just use our A-Z.

Easy!

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