Europe’s biggest city - 12 million inhabitants in Greater London - gets 26 million visitors a year. The great river Thames divides the city north and south but it’s the M25 which now defines the boundaries of Greater London – the 2000 sq miles wrapped in its giant coil.
The Romans were responsible for phase one of development– they built the square mile we now know as the City. They followed up with a network of roads all leading to the capital and the first real bridge across the Thames. Ever since, despite the devastating Fire of London in 1666, the Black Death a few years later, or more recently Adolf Hitler’s attempts to stop the city in its tracks, London has just got bigger and ever more prosperous. Now the City’s square mile is one of the World’s major financial centres, responsible for brokering maybe as many as half of the international financial deals going on in the world at any one time. But it’s not all about money – today London is recognised as an International leader in fashion, entertainment and the arts and as an endlessly fascinating destination for any visitor.