How many London landmarks and tourist attractions can you name that start with the Letter V? Blue Badge Tourist Guide Vania Gay continues our Guide London A-Z video series and provides insights on the historical events, famous and not-so-famous landmarks in London starting with the Letter V.

London landmarks and tourist attractions that begin with the Letter V

This is the Guide London A to Z. I am Vania Gay, a Blue Badge Tourist Guide, and I am looking at the letter V.

Victoria Memorial

V is for the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace. It pays homage to Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 until her death in 1901. The powerful Queen holds the orb and scepter, symbols of the Royal Power and she looks towards the city.

Victoria & Albert Museum

V is for the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington, the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, home to more than 2 million wonders of art, design, and performance spanning over 5,000 years from cultures around the globe. This grand entrance, completed in 1909, invites you to explore this treasure house of amazing and beautiful objects. Over seven miles of galleries to marvel at, from the Medieval and Renaissance Rooms displaying some of the greatest masterpieces of this period to the Cast Courts with spectacular Victorian reproductions of some of the world’s most inspiring pieces; from the Fashion Gallery with a huge collection of dresses to the Glass Rooms showcasing the history of glassmaking over 3,500 years.

Victoria Station

V is for Victoria Train Station, in the heart of London’s West End, it has always been associated with train travel for pleasure offering services to seaside resorts, seaports, and the Gatwick airport. The Orient Express, made famous by Agatha Christie’s novel, departed from this station.

Victoria Palace Theatre

V is Victoria Palace Theatre, one of London’s theatrical gems, located just outside Victoria Station, opened in 1911 as a music hall. The beautiful white glazed Baroque building is crowned by a cupola topped by a gilded pirouetting sculpture of the famous Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. Many successful productions have taken residence here including the musical Billy Elliot which saw the theatre packed for 11 years and more recently, Hamilton.

Little Venice

Venturing to northwest London brings you to Little Venice. Dozens of narrowboats, day trip boats, and water cafés line this calm stretch of water where the Grand Union Canal meets the Regent’s Canal. These canals were part of the waterway network of 3000 miles of canals once used to transport goods throughout Britain. Now mostly used for leisure. The Puppet Barge Theatre is just one of the several floating businesses permanently moored on this stretch of the water.

Victoria Tower Gardens

V is for Victoria Tower Gardens, in the heart of Westminster, next to the Houses of Parliament and the River Thames is home to three poignant memorials:

• The Buxton Memorial celebrates the abolition of slavery in 1833 and commemorates the work of Member of Parliament Thomas Buxton.
• The Burghers of Calais, by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, represents the idea of freedom from oppression.
• Emmeline Pankhurst Memorial depicts the leader of the Suffragettes who campaigned for women’s right to vote.

Viaduct Tavern

V is for Viaduct Tavern, one of London’s historical pubs located in the city’s financial district. It opened in 1869, the same year as the nearby Holborn Viaduct (the world’s first flyover). It has one of the most striking 19th-century Victorian interiors and is a rare example of a former gin palace-brightly lit bars decorated with lamps, mirrors, and cut glass and which of course, sold gin.

Here are some of the attractions which you can find in London beginning with the letter V.  My name is Vania Gay and you can check my profile at our website guidelondon.org.uk and please subscribe to our YouTube channel and join us as we explore the A-Z of Guide London.