London Off the Beaten Path Tips by Airpunk

London Bridge is the stage for a scene from Charles Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist". It involves Nancy, a character full of inner conflicts. She is in love with Bill Sikes, one of the novel's villains, but is also a good-hearted person who is trying to help Oliver. She comes to the steps to meet two other characters in attempt to help Oliver and is later killed at the same place.

The bridge fragment where Nancy's steps are located are the only fragments of the 1831 London bridge remaining in its original place.

The steps are located in the southwestern part of the bridge, leading from Tooley street to the bridge itself.

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Until the early 1950s, central London had a tram system, but this was abandoned like in many other european cities. One of the few remaining ruins from this era is the underpass at Kingsway, just a few meters away from Holborn tube station. You can still see the railways and the former source for electricity right in the middle.

In the past decades, a tram system was built in the southern suburbs of London, but that one has nothing to do with the old one.

To learn more about the background of this ruin visit the webpage below. If you are looking for similar "modern ruins", you will find some in the tube system. The page below has some good info sbout them too.

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Website: http://underground-history.co.uk/kwupass.php

Close to the Museum of London is the Barbican Center, a complex of office buildings with a hand full of cafés and small shops. Normally, it would be nothing special, but I took a look and walked around a little. You will find some small gardens in this complex together with some artifical ponds and fragments of the Roman Wall. Probably, this small oasis is more lively during summertime - when I was there, I was quite alone. Please keep in kind that the Barbican center is quite large and has a long system of walkways, bridges and viaducts. So there are not only long distances to walk but you can also get lost easily.

To find the Barbican Center get out at Barbican tube station

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Holland Park is unusual compared to other parks like Green Park, Hyde park and the other well-known ones. In a very small area, you will find almost no green grass but some woodland, gardens, many birds (including peacocks) and sport places. Holland mansion, the house from where the park has its name from, is now a kind of ruin, but sometimes in use for cultural purposes.

I walked around Holland park on a Sunday morning at around 9:00 a.m. There weren't many people in the park at the time with the exception of some joggers and two guys playing tennis. That gave the park an extra of strange feeling. Anyway, if you are nearby and have some spare time, just take a small walk and look around.

The gate you see on the picture is located near Holland Park tube station in the northwest. Next to Holland Park, the other nearby station is Kensington High Street in the southeastern part of the park.

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Eaton Square in Belgravia is not a typical tourist destination, but still many people visit it for several reasons. It was the residence of many british celebrities and is still a poular adress for richer people. The TV series Upstairs, Downstairs refers to Eaton Square (although there it is called Eaton Place - the german name of the series is also "Das Haus am Eaton Place"). Eaton Square itself is a so-called Garden square which offers the inhabitants of the surrounding houses the possibility to enjoy some trees or walk the dogs.

If you want to see a place where wealthy Londoners live or are into that TV series, take a look and spend some minutes there. But Eaton Square has not really much to offer.

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If shops and tourist become too much for you, just take a little walk away from the main streets and realize that Camden Town is more than just street markets and goth shops. It is also something you can do before entering the market atmosphere. Don’t expect anything exiting – just have a look and see how other parts of Camden look like and discover some small details on your own.

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