London is one of Europe's largest cities and photos of major attractions,
like the London Eye, are hugely popular on Instagram.
We traveled to the British capital to find out if London sights are as
impressive as they seem on Instagram. London has about 9 million inhabitants.
Each year, about 5 five times as many tourists descend on the city. Today, we're taking a
closer look at 3 of London's best-known attractions. Do they live up to the hype?
Number one: The London Eye. What's it really like?
was first opened to the public in 2000. It was only supposed to stay up for 5 years,
but has remained in operation to this day, because it's so popular.
The view is fantastic. It's a must see.
But when you come with a family it is easily 200-300 pounds.
It was actually very nice. I found it a bit expensive and the queue was a bit too long.
But the whole experience was very nice. I think it's a bit overrated, but if
you really want to see London, the view is very nice if you are ready to pay.
I would recommend to come here to the park to see all the views around us but
going in there I think it is a bit too much.
It's a good experience, getting in the pods and you go around.
It has a nice slow speed so you get to look all views, all sights of London.
For me, I like it with less people around but there is other areas where you can get good views.
Verdict: The views are fantastic but don't come cheap! A one-person ticket costs 30 to
40 pounds! And fast track tickets are even more expensive! So if you're short on money, or time,
skip the London Eye.
Next up: London's ultimate landmark: Tower Bridge.
Does it meet our expectations?
It does! Though for a great view of Tower Bridge, consider going to
nearby London Bridge or the riverbank.
Tower Bridge is steeped in history.
It was built almost 130 years ago, with a pioneering design: It can lift up,
allowing ships to pass through, while pedestrians can still cross overhead.
You will learn more about this special history visiting the bridge museum.
One of the things that is really amazing about Tower Bridge is the fact that
it still does exactly what is designed to do, which is to lift to allow ships to come through.
It is a free service which means it doesn't cost a ship anything.
You just have to be 9.75 meters tall and you have to give us 24 hours notice.
If you do that we have to open the bridge by law. And we do that between
800 and 900 times a year at the moment. But if you go back to the 1890s
when the bridge first opened it would lift between 6000-9000 times a year.
So it is up to sort of 18 bridge lifts a day.
Just to give you an idea of how busy the British port in the world was.
What are all the things you can discover here?
When you come into Tower Bridge there is a number of different aspect of what you can see
and what you can do. First of all you get to go up in the bridge itself which many people are
surprised to find is a steel bridge inside of this wonderful stone structure.
But then also you get to come up onto the high level walkways
that put you about 33 meters above the road,
about 43 meters above the river. And we have a wonderful glass floor
which is 8 centimeters thick. And you can walk
across that and you can watch the river below and look out across London. If you stand on the
glass floor it's twice as strong as the wood and steel you are standing on at the moment.
So an African elephant or a small family car could be put on here and it wouldn't break.
That's reassuring! Verdict: Tower Bridge is totally worth visiting!
The bridge is spectacular, and so are the views! Don't miss out on the glass
floor high-level walkways! One tip: check online when the next bridge lift is due.
And finally, our last London attraction: The National Gallery.
Here, we've got a typical Instagram vs. reality situation: the museum is
currently undergoing refurbishment work, which will continue at least until 2024.
Every year up to 6 million visitors come to the museum. No wonder, as it houses
a collection of over 2,300 paintings from a period spanning 700 years of art history!
Plus, the building itself is a work of art! It was opened in 1838 and has been
constantly expanded since. Today, it covers 45,000 square meters the size of 6 football pitches!
And best of all: admission is free.
So I'm from New Zealand. We don't have that type of artists – Raffael, Michelangelo.
We don't have access to see it outside of a book or on the internet.
One of the things that I love about the art gallery is actually the building itself, the architecture.
Walking in, it's very prestigious looking,
you are even just having frescoes on the floor and stuff like this.
I thought it was really cool and interesting to see the richness of the history in London.
How old this stuff is and to seeing what they wore and the time that it was made in, it's really cool.
It's kind of covered but a lot of stuff around it looks the same so I guess I can
imagine what it looks like, it's pretty cool.
The entry is free in London although you pay for the exhibitions separately.
But inside they are very very well presented.
Did you like it?
So I used to come here every week when I was at college but I haven't been here since I had Leo.
I wasn't expecting it to be covered up so it was a bit of a surprise but actiually it was alright
when you're inside. They've moved the pictures around a little bit. So we can still find them.
Thank you.
Verdict: For art fans, visiting the National Gallery
is definitely worthwhile. And since there is no entrance fee, you can't really go wrong.
So Instagram can help you discover London's best attractions.
Of course, the weather can be unpredictable, but there's plenty of indoor options as well.
One more tip: check entrance fees BEFORE you head out. The city can be expensive.
Tower Bridge was definitely our favorite attraction.
Have you ever been to London? What did you like best?
Let us know in the comments!