Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England.



The year he became king, 1689, William and his wife Mary bought their mansion, perfectly positioned for London socializing and country living. They brought in Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor to remodel and enlarge the house, and moved in for Christmas.


Despite the small rooms, George I introduced palatial grandeur with Colen Campbell's staircase and state rooms, elegantly decorated by William Kent. Meanwhile, Queen Anne added the Orangery and annexed a chuck of royal Hyde Park, a trick repeated by George II's wife, Queen Caroline, who created the Round Pond and Long Water to complete the 110-ha (275 acre) Kensington Gardens. Today, a wide variety of trees are the backdrop for sculptures, monuments and contemporary exhibitions at the Serpentine Gallery.



On 24 May 1819, Queen Victoria was born here. She was baptized in the splendid Cupola Room, spent her childhood in rooms overlooking the gardens and on 20 June 1837, learned here she was to be queen. Later she opened her childhood home to the public. There is a permanent exhibition about Diana, Princess of Wales. London is a fascinating travel destination. Besides Kensington Palace, the Top Ten Royal London places to visit includes Regent's Park, Hampton Court, St James's Palace, Kew Palace and Queen Charlotte's Cottage, Queen's House, Royal Mews, Queen's Chapel, Clarence House and Banqueting House. For more travel ideas and even travel deals to London, visit the travel blog. There are many interesting places which travel blog talk about. Some examples includes winter ski vacations, various travel guides, and so many more. There are nice photographs in all their posts. The travel blog writes about so many different countries. Want more travel ideas and travel destinations inspiration, they got it for you.

Lambeth Palace

Lambeth Palace has been the official residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury since 1207, when it was called Lambeth House and was the home of Stephen Langton (c. 1157-1228). The oldest surviving part of the palace is the crypt, which dates from the 13th century; the chapel was built soon afterwards. The palace has been extended and modernized on various occasions over the centuries, including in 1553 when Queen Mary ordered that it should be refurbished for Cardinal Pole (1500-58); strangely enough, they died within hours of each other in 1558.



Drama was played out in the Guard Room in 1543 when Thomas More was interrogated by Thomas Cromwell after he refused to sanction Henry VIII's decision to appoint himself head of the Church. When the English Civil War broke out in 1642, Lambeth House, as it was still called, was taken over for public service and became a prison during the Commonwealth, with the chapel being used for dances. Naturally, the building was greatly damaged, and after the Restoration in 1660 the Great Hall was rebuilt under Archbishop Juxon(1582-1663).



Today, the Great Hall is a library that contains the leather gloves that Charles I is alleged to have handed to Archbishop Juxon on the scaffold, shortly before his execution in January 1649. The library also houses the medical reports of George III, whose life was blighted so severely by what is believed to have been porphyria.


Few cities celebrated the new millennium with as much verve as London. Known for its pomp, pageantry and colourful history, the dawn of the year 2000 saw the British capital looking forward rather than back. The regeneration of the Thames' riverbanks and the completion of major public projects were then the settings for further celebrations during the Queen's Golden Jubilee throughout 2002.



Whole areas of the capital have been revitalized. London's new additions range from imaginatively transformed buildings to dramatic fresh architecture, epitomized by Tate Modern and the British Airways London Eye. The first is a brilliant example of renovation, the second a masterpiece of engineering technology, but both capture the public's imagination in very different ways.

London is a great destination for holidays. Search for London hotels and plan your holidays to London. London changes with the seasons, especially after dark. In the depths of winter, dusk falls at 4.30pm; in summer it stays light until 10pm. Come summer, London's outdoors comes into its own. Londoners enjoy concerts in settings such as Hampton Court Palace, Kenwood House, Hyde Park and Kew Gardens. In elegant Kensington, the Holland Park Theatre puts on first-class opera and ballet against a backdrop of the remains of the 17th century Holland House. Year round, the diversity of the club scene is legendary and with many changing themes weekly. Book for cheap hotels now and visit London!