London Westminster Tourist Map

Westminster is where Britain is governed and where its monarchs are crowned. Within a ten-minute walk you pass the Palace of Westminster, the Elizabeth Tower that holds Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the government offices of Whitehall. Most of the district is a single loop around Parliament Square, so you can see the outside of every major sight in an hour and spend the rest of the day inside one or two.

Westminster Abbey has hosted every coronation since 1066 and holds the tombs of Elizabeth I, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Across the road, Parliament runs guided tours on Saturdays and on most weekdays during recess; book ahead and allow time for airport-style security. Opposite the Abbey stands the Jewel Tower, a 14th-century survivor of the medieval palace, built to hold Edward III's treasure and now run by English Heritage.

Walk up Whitehall for the twentieth century. The Churchill War Rooms are the bunker where the War Cabinet met during the Blitz, left much as it was in 1945; timed tickets sell out in summer. Further on are Lutyens' Cenotaph and the gates of 10 Downing Street, which you can view but not enter. The Winston Churchill statue faces Parliament from the green of Parliament Square.

When to go: weekday mornings, before the coach groups arrive. The Abbey is closed to sightseers on Sundays, though anyone may attend a service, and Parliament tours mostly run on Saturdays, so plan the two around each other. For the classic Big Ben photograph, cross Westminster Bridge or stand on the South Bank. Stations: Westminster (Jubilee, District and Circle lines), St James's Park (District and Circle), Embankment and Charing Cross.