Buckingham Palace And London, England, Vacations

England is wonderful and exciting nation to visit for a vacation. England has an awesome selection of visitor attractions well worth a visit which cater for all tastes. For instance|One such place is the historic city of York which is known to have been inhabited since the days of the Roman Empire, Torquay (which is widely known as the English Riviera) and Liverpool (which won the title of European City of Culture in 2008). Possibly the most famous place to spend some time is London the capital city of Britain

London is an astounding destination to visit, maybe for just a weekend or, maybe for a longer period. You may be surprised at the number of folk residing in the U. K. who have never visited London, even more surprising when you consider the fact it is commonly top of the majority of visitors lists (of places they enjoyed most).

There are so many things to do and see in London that it is simply not possible to recall them all all in one go. Surprisingly one of the newest attractions in London also happens to be one of the most popular - The London Eye. Another popular attraction nearby to the London Eye is the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. However, one place which must not be missed is Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace is England's most well known Royal residence, as it is home to the Queen of England. Buckingham Palace is is placed in the center of London which makes it an important focus for tourists. The daily pageant of 'Changing of the Guard' is exhilarating to see and quintessentially English.

Buckingham Palace was originally named Buckingham House. It was originally a large townhouse, built in 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham. It is actually the townhouse that forms the main core of the palace as we are familiar with today.

Over the following 75 years Buckingham House was extended with the construction of three wings forming a central courtyard. The main architects responsible for these additions were John Nash and Edward Blore. John Nash was also responsible for the interior design of the monumental staterooms.

The famous architect Aston Webb was responsible for the construction of the principal facade of Buckingham Palace which, in 1912, he re-designed. Webb in association with Sir Thomas Brock (the sculptor) were the winners of a competition to design a memorial to Queen Victoria. This memorial still exists today.

The Queen has many other royal residences other than Buckingham Palace. Each and every year the Queen spends the Christmas season at Sandringham House in Norfolk. Sandringham House is one of the Queen's private royal residences.

Another private residence is Balmoral Castle, situated in Royal Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Queen was in Balmoral Castle when she was told of the heartbreaking demise of Diana, Princess of Wales.

If you would like to take a vacation in the U.K. then you might be pleased to discover that it is possible to find cheap hotels in London without any great difficulty, on the other hand you may wish to stay in more luxurious surroundings and the small number of boutique hotels in London should more than satisfy.