The finest of all of the royal palaces in London at the time of Henry VIII and the envy of Europe, the Palace of Whitehall started life not as the palace of kings, but as the home of Archbishops and Cardinals.  Initially called York Place, it was the home of the Archbishops of York from the 1400’s, and in 1514 one of the great house’s most famous residents, Thomas Wolsey, was made Archbishop and took up residence.

The atmospheric undercroft of the Banqueting Hall

In the 1520’s Wolsey and Henry “fell out” and the King stripped him of all his assets, including York Place.  This gave Henry a royal foothold back in Westminster – at this time he and his court were based in Lambeth after the original Westminster Palace was destroyed by fire in 1512.

As was Henry’s way he quickly renamed it Whitehall and set about creating a home fit for one of the most powerful men on earth and much of this revolved around his entertainment.  He added tilt yards for jousting, a cockpit for cock fights and a great hall and by his death the Palace occupied 23 acres of London’s prime real estate.

In 1581 the first of a series of banqueting halls was built in the Palace by Elizabeth I, finally ending with the building we see today. James I engaged Inigo Jones to build the current hall as a home to the court masques – extravagant theatrical entertainments that were a favourite of all the Stuart Kings.

One of the chandeliers in the Whitehall Palace’s Banqueting Hall

In 1636 the hall received the fantastic ceiling paintings that we can still see in situ today.  Commissioned by Charles I, the 58 sq meters of paintings from the Flemish master Rubens cost a hefty £3,000 (that would be equivalent to many hundreds of thousands of pounds in today’s money).

In 1649 the Banqueting hall had its most infamous moment when on a bitterly cold January day, Charles I wearing two shirts so he did not shiver and appear afraid, stepped out of one of the Hall’s windows and onto the gallows that had been erected for his execution.

In 1691 a fire destroyed a number of the Palace’s original structures, then a second fire in 1698 destroyed all remaining buildings except the Hall.  It is thanks to this one survivor that we are able to make sense of the remaining images of the Palace and get a true understanding of just how grand this residence, once described by a visiting Venetian diplomat as Europe’s finest, actually was.

To visit the Banqueting Hall take the tube to Westminster and walk up Whitehall for about 200m.

The river Thames runs through the heart of London, it was after all the main transportation route into and out of the city until recent times.  As a result much of what makes London, London is ideal placed to be viewed from the river, making it an ideal way – particularly for the first time visitor – to get a an overview of the place.

Rather than a hop on hop off bus it can, especially in the warm summer months when the city is at its busiest, make more sense to make the River your friend and buy an all-day River Roamer (buy online from www.thamesclippers.com for GBP14.70 per adult, GBP 7.35 for a child or GBP32.50 for up to 2 adults and 3 children under 16 – prices as at 1 Jul 2015)  This ticket will give you unlimited access for a day to visit anywhere from Vauxhall to Woolwich (they are not valid on RB6 to/from Putney).

Houses of Parliament from River

My recommendation for the day would be to have breakfast and head out to your start point at the London eye (closest tube is either Westminster and walk across the bridge or Waterloo).  Although tickets are only valid for travel from 9 am I would aim to get there a bit early to avoid the crowds and to get your day started as there’s a lot to see.  Before heading to the river visit the area around the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey on the northern bank of the river then cross and perhaps look in on the Aquarium and the London Eye on the south bank.

The Globe Theater from the River Bus

Once you’ve satisfied yourself here, head to the wharf and hop on the RB1 service to Bankside Pier.  There are three main areas to visit here.  My suggestion would be to start at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre before walking across the Millennium Bridge to St Paul’s Cathedral, and then on the way back to the Bankside Pier pop in to the Tate Modern Gallery.  Now rejoin the ferry at Bankside and sail down past the battle ship HMS Belfast to Tower Millennium Pier.  This port is right beside the Tower of London and Tower Bridge and if I were you then don’t miss the opportunity for a coffee/drink in the wonderful St Katherine’s Dock before heading down to Greenwich.

Tower Bridge from the river with HMS Belfast on the right hand side of the image.

In Greenwich those looking for a bit of history and culture can opt to visit the Cutty Sark, Old Royal Naval College, Queen’s House, National Maritime Museum or the Old Royal Observatory (Greenwich Mean Time – GMT – anyone!) .  Those looking for a more modern London experience can walk through the park to Blackheath and/or visit the markets in Greenwich.

In reality, if one tried to visit all of these locations it would take considerably longer than one day (even a summers one with long evenings) to “do them justice”. Use it as an opportunity to get a taste of each area in order to decide which ones to return to and spend more time exploring.

I recommend three key areas to revisit for a whole day each from this journey:

• The area around Westminster,
• The area around the tower of London and
• Greenwich

Look out for additional blogs on each of these areas and why not plan to put this trip together with these three day trips to make a great 4 day London short break.