Samuel Johnson famously said, "Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." Of course, anyone who has visited London lately knows it's pretty difficult to afford anything in that fair city... but that doesn't prevent thousands of tourists from descending upon it every year! Today, many of us go to London to see exactly the same things that Victorian tourists went to see - the London of the Elizabethans, the Tudors, even the Romans. But today, we also have the added luxury of being able to see what those Victorians added to the picture - such as the iconic Tower Bridge (left), completed in 1894.

Churches

Religious Sects - Places of Worship (Illustrated London Almanack, 1879)

The Golden Hall of St. Pauls, by James Manson (Little Folks, 1883)

St. Bartholomew the Great: The Oldest Church in London, by Norman Moore (Century Magazine, 1887A)

The Queens of Westminster Abbey, by Miss E.T. Bradley (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)

Queens whose tombs are in the Abbey.

St. Paul's, by M.G. van Rensselaer (Century Magazine, 1892A)

Westminster Abbey, by Henry B. Fuller (Century Magazine, 1893A)

The Synagogue in Bevis Marks, by Sir Francis Montefiori (The Strand, 1894B)

The Wax-Works of Westminster Abbey, by T. Sidney Allnut (Windsor Magazine, 1903A)

The waxworks in Westminster Abbey, with two exceptions, date from the custom of creating a wax effigy of the deceased person on the coffin during the funeral service, and later storing it nearby.

Castles & Palaces

The Tower of London, by M.W. Perry (Demorest, 1887)

In the Old Palace of Croydon (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1889)

The Royal Palace of St. James, by Mary Spencer Warren (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1896)

Parks & Gardens

Life in the Parks (Illustrated London Almanack, 1853)

The Palm-House at Kew (Illustrated London Almanack, 1853)

The Botanical Gardens (Illustrated London Almanack, 1855)

The Albert Memorial in Hyde Park (Leisure Hour, 1868)

Waterlow Park, Past and Present (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1890)

Romance of the Round Pond [in Kensington Gardens], by R.F. Hutchinson, MD (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

A Shrine of Sacred Art: Its Origin and Artist, by J. Hyslop Bell (Windsor, 1898A)

A London park established to preserve monuments and sculptures from a discontinued cemetery.

Memorials & Cemeteries

Nelson's Pillar (Godey's, 1833)

The Suburban Cemeteries (Illustrated London Almanack, 1855)

The Albert Memorial in Hyde Park (Leisure Hour, 1868)

Other Sites & Attractions

The Ancient Inns of Southwark (Gentleman's Magazine, 1859)

A paper delivered to the Surrey Archaeological Society.

The Charterhouse (Cassell's Family Paper, 1860)

Gog and Magog (Leisure Hour, 1860)

The origins of the famous statues in London's Guildhall.

Old Westminster Bridge (Leisure Hour, 1860)

The Chinese Embassy (Leisure Hour, 1868)

Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences (Leisure Hour, 1868)

On the planning stages of the great London concert hall, which would be opened by Queen Victorian in 1871.

Where Colonel Newcome Died, by Henry J. Vernon (Peterson's, 1883)

"Colonel Newcome" was a fictional character by Thackery; the house in which he died, however, was based on the real-world Charter House, a former Carthusian monastery in London.

The Beefsteak Room at the Lyceum, by Frederick Hawkins (English Illustrated Magazine, 1890A)

A historical review of an old London pub.

A Storied Tavern, by W. Outram Tristram (English Illustrated Magazine, 1890A)

London's "Old Cheddar Cheese" Tavern.

London Music-Halls, by F. Anstey (Harper's Monthly, 1891A)

Old City Houses, by Philip Norman (English Illustrated Magazine, 1892A)

Lots of wonderful photos and illustrations of exteriors and interiors of London's historic houses.

The Tower Bridge, by Henry Frith (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

Historic London Houses, by Philip Norman (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895A)

The Story of Cleopatra's Needle, from Syrene to London, by Susie Esplen (The Strand, 1899A)

Old Drury [Theatre], by Malcolm C. Salaman (Cassell's, 1900)

[Downing Street] The Most Famous Street in the Empire, by Michael MacDonagh (Good Words, 1902)

See also

• The London Zoo

• London Museums, Galleries & Libraries