It’s the contrast between tradition and modern times, between royals and hip club scenes, or between old-fashioned afternoon tea and Chinese Chop Suey that makes the British capital so attractive. If you look at the London skyline you won’t only notice the famous landmarks Big Ben, Tower Bridge and Westminster Abbey.

Also modern exceptional buildings like the Swiss Re Tower – also called gherkin because of its cucumber shape – or the new City Hall in the shape of a glass helmet will impress you. The metropolis on the river Thames is a successful mix of old and new, of mainstream and eccentric - and it’s changing all the time. Soho, the heart of London, boasts trendy shops, elegant bars, restaurants and theatres. In the charming Notting Hill district people buy their Sunday papers in pyjamas, and green Hampstead is teeming with eccentric artists, strollers and hang-gliders.

In the course of its eventful history London has always set the tone: as capital of the largest sea power in modern times, as a centre of industrialisation, as venue of the first world’s fair (1851), as seat of Reuters, the largest news agency in the world, and as birthplace of twelve Nobel laureates.