About the author Craig Cross
Craig Cross has spent the last twenty years reviewing London’s landmarks, attractions and hotels, and then published them on his own website. He built the backend, designed the frontend, wrote all of the reviews and articles, and took the vast majority of the photographs.
London Squire travel guidebook
If you enjoyed reading the reviews on this website then check out my travel guidebook London Squire.
It contains honest reviews of nearly 200 of the most popular landmarks and tourist attractions with original photographs throughout. Hopefully it will encourage you to jump out of bed and explore the city.
It’s available to buy from Amazon as a Kindle ebook.
Email and social media
About my website
What you’re looking at is a website full of reviews about attractions, palaces, parades, buses, boat rides, hotels, museums, galleries, churches, cemeteries, skyscrapers… pretty much everything. There are over 250 attractions reviewed here and I have been to every single one of them myself – honest!
I’ve reviewed all of the obvious places like Madame Tussauds, Tower Bridge and the London Eye, plus some of the more daring events like Prime Minister’s Questions, a dinner at The Ritz, and a climb up Big Ben to stand five-feet from the bell. All of the popular children’s attractions, museums and art galleries are in here, alongside lots of open-top buses and boats. And of course I describe all of the famous parades like Changing the Guard as well (you can’t come to London and not see a bit of pomp and pageantry). I’ve also selected plenty of places that tourists rarely think of, like trudging up a distant hill for a sight of the skyline, listening to a court case at the Royal Courts of Justice, and trudging through the undergrowth of an overgrown cemetery on a rainy day.
All of the reviews are marked up with my little rating system which goes from zero stars: ☆☆☆ (=rubbish), all the way up to three stars: ★★★ (=not rubbish). But bear in mind that these are my personal ratings. If a place deserves some praise then it will definitely get it, but if it sends me to sleep then I’ll tell you that as well.
What I try and do is walk through the door like a tourist and then tell you exactly what I see. I queue up in the pouring rain, traipse around the grounds for three hours, and then tell you whether it was worth getting soaked. I drag my suitcase around the hotels, faint at the minibar prices, and then tell you whether they forgot to re-stock the teabags. So it’s not all sunshine and smiles on this site. This is not a website full of blue skies and happy kids. This is London how it really is.
I’ve also been careful to include all of the usual information that you’ll need to plan your visit like opening times, prices and the number of hours that I think you need to set aside to properly enjoy each attraction. I do tend to take my time at each location, though, so you can probably knock off thirty minutes for every ninety if you’re in a rush. (So if I say that something takes three hours, you can probably rush around it in two.)
I hope that you will find my Top 10 lists and suggested itineraries useful as well – I’ve put together a whole weeks’ worth to give you plenty of ideas about how to cram as much as possible into your holiday. If you want a quick rundown of which ones I think are worth visiting then check out my ultimate bucket list.
If you’re a newbie to London then you might be interested in my transport section explaining how to ride the buses, taxis and trains. I totally understand that it can be a bit intimidating standing at a busy bus stop when you don’t know what to do, and this section should help to calm your nerves.
Hopefully my site will encourage you to jump out of bed and explore London. If you’re planning a holiday with friends or family then it should give you plenty of decent ideas. And if you’re more of a solitary soul, like me, then I hope to be good company as you wander around the streets in the rain (and I apologise in advance for all my terrible jokes).
If you’d like to talk to me for whatever reason, or maybe share your thoughts about London, then you can reach me through the contact page. Perhaps you’d like to invite me to stay in the presidential suite at your 5-star hotel so I can review it (make sure it has plenty of teabags), or maybe you’d just like some advice about an itinerary you’re putting together. Whatever the reason, drop me an email, and as long as you’re not nuts I’ll probably reply.
I hope you have fun in London! Craig