20 Attractions to Explore Near Royal Academy of Arts

Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. It is among the most visited art museums in the world.

This 23-hectare (57-acre) park has a small lake, St James's Park Lake, with two islands, West Island and Duck Island, the latter named for the lake's collection of waterfowl. A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since a Russian ambassador donated them to Charles II in 1664.

Symbol and home of the monarchy of the United Kingdom. The palace has 775 rooms, and the garden is the largest private garden in London. The staterooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September and on some days in winter and spring.

The museum comprises the Cabinet War Rooms, a historic underground complex that housed a British government command centre throughout the Second World War, and the Churchill Museum, a biographical museum exploring the life of British statesman Winston Churchill.

Established to conserve and explain the transport heritage of London. The museum is spread into locations- in Covent Garden displaying buses, trams, trolleybuses and rail vehicles from the 19th and 20th centuries as well s the first underground electric train, from 1890. Larger exhibits are held at Acton depot location and they include a complete 1938 stock tube train as well as early locomotives from the first sub-surface and first deep-level lines.

Gothic abbey church which is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. It is the burial site of more than 3,300 persons, usually of prominence in British history (including at least sixteen monarchs, eight Prime Ministers, poets laureate, actors, scientists, military leaders, and the Unknown Warrior).

Dedicated to human history, art and culture. Its permanent collection of some eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence, having been widely sourced during the era of the British Empire. It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. It was the first public national museum in the world.

When completed in 1859, its clock was the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world. The tower stands 315 feet (96 m) tall, and the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps. Its base is square, measuring 39 feet (12 m) on each side. Dials of the clock are 23 feet (7.0 m) in diameter.

Meeting place for the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Contains over 1,100 rooms organised symmetrically around two series of courtyards and which has a floor area of 112,476 m2 (1,210,680 sq ft). Part of the New Palace's area of 3.24 hectares (8 acres) was reclaimed from the River Thames, which is the setting of its nearly 300-metre long (980 ft) facade, called the River Front.

The structure is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft). When it opened to the public in 2000 it was the world's tallest Ferris wheel.

Has over 350 species from every major environment across the globe. You can also see daily dives and feeding sessions. The glass tunnel walkway offers views from underneath a Tropical Ocean.

An art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London. Its massive and extensive use of exposed concrete construction are features typical of Brutalist architecture. The Hayward does not house a permanent collection. Instead, it hosts three or four major temporary exhibitions of modern or contemporary artworks each year.

Largest Royal Park in London, divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water lakes. The park covers 142 hectares (350 acres) and it is a popular spot for demonstrations, parades and other events.

Situated in Baker Street, bearing the number 221B, this private museum is dedicated to the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The Georgian town house which the museum occupies was built in 1815 and was formerly used as a boarding house from 1860 to 1936. It covers the period of 1881 to 1904 when the stories describe Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson residing there as tenants of Mrs Hudson.

National gallery of British art from 1500 to the present day. Houses a substantial collection of the art of the United Kingdom since Tudor times, and in particular has large holdings of the works of J. M. W. Turner. It is one of the largest museums in United Kingdom.

World's largest museum of applied and decorative arts and design, as well as sculpture, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa.

Holds a collection of over 300,000 items, including famous items as Stephenson's Rocket, Puffing Billy (the oldest surviving steam locomotive), the first jet engine, the Apollo 10 command module, a reconstruction of Francis Crick and James Watson's model of DNA, among many others.

The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology. The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons and ornate architecture, and also for the specimens collected by Charles Darwin.

Located on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London. One of the most famous and most recognizable sights of London. Its dome, framed by the spires of Wren's City churches, has dominated the skyline for over 300 years. At 365 feet (111 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1967.

World's oldest scientific zoo. Today, it houses a collection of 673 species of animals, with 19,289 individuals, making it one of the largest collections in the United Kingdom. The zoo was home to the only living quagga ever to be photographed and the it held a number of now extinct Tasmanian tigers.