London: The City Stay

The Great Wen, Londinium, Big Smoke... a city as storied as London is bound to accumulate a great many monikers, but what it means to those who visit can never be captured in a single word. Under the mint green arches of Covent Garden, where actors once plied their trade on makeshift stages and farmers brought fresh harvest for sale, a bustling market with a dizzying variety of goods awaits you. The Palace of Westminster, where The U.K.'s Houses of Parliament meet, you will visit Queen Elizabeth Tower, whose nickname 'Big Ben' actually refers to its largest bell. Stepping from the historical to the cultural, you'll get to experience a lovely theatre performance capped off with a ride on the London Eye–a sleek, modern ferris wheel that stands a towering 36-stories tall on the London skyline. The streets and sights of London are a sprawling tapestry, threaded with thousands of years of rich, complex history–from its origins as a Roman port of trade, to its rise as the centre of a global-spanning empire, London remains the beating heart of the British Isles.