Bloomsbury
Walk around one of the formal garden squares and you'd think for all the quiet that nothing much ever happened in Bloomsbury. But boy, would you be wrong. For many Bloomsbury is the home of arts, culture and medicine in central London and it's a great place to stay if you want to sleep moments away from some of the world's greatest treasures and a stone's throw from where famous writers dreamt up some of the most well-known stories ever put to paper.
It's also a great area to escape the hustle and bustle of this busy city without travelling too far out of the centre. Bloomsbury really does offer it all – as long as you know where to look.
Tourist attractions and history
Bloomsbury doesn't have particularly strict geographical boundaries so it's hard to know when you're in it and when you're not – but getting lost is half the fun of this area. Named in the early 1200s as the “bury/manor of Blemond” after the Norman landowner William de Blemond, the name has stuck until now.
Back then it was still very much a rural area but Henry VIII gave it to the First Earl of Southampton and it was later laid out as a residential area first by the Earl who made Bloomsbury Square and then by various Dukes of Bedford who went by the name of Russell. To these landowners we owe of course Russell Square and the beautiful surrounding areas.
Russell Square
The squares and gardens are impressive in themselves and worth an hour or so, particularly if the weather is fine. Russell Square is one of the least peaceful as it is a main bus route but it was designed by Humphry Repton and is one of the largest. Gordon Square is now home to parts of University College London and is where the Bloomsbury Group – which included the author Virginia Woolf – lived and met. Bedford Square and Bloombury Square are delightfully still surrounded by Georgian townhouses.
There are also some lovely churches in Bloomsbury to visit, namely the 18th century St George's Church at Bloomsbury Way with its striking Corinthian columns, the Grade I listed Church of Christ the King at Gordon Square and St Pancras New Church with its caryatids near Euston station.
St. George's Church
But the most impressive attraction Bloomsbury has to offer is of course the British Museum. First opened to the public in 1759, it's a wonderful space which includes Norman Foster's glass roof over the indoor square, the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court. There's so much to see , eight million items in the permanent collection in fact – and the temporary exhibitions are first class – but you'll want to make sure you don't miss a look at the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles (from the Parthenon) and the Benin Bronzes, all of which are the subject of controversy.
British Museum
The Foundling Museum, near Brunswick Square is also worth a look as is the Dickens Museum on Doughty Street and the nearby Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons for anyone interested in the history of medicine.
Getting to London's big attractions
In Bloomsbury itself, you can hop on the tube at either Russell Square or Euston Square. The former will take to you Knightsbridge via the Piccadilly Line and the latter can take you to Baker Street to see Madame Tussauds or East to Liverpool Street and Shoreditch.
The railway stations of Euston and King's Cross St Pancras are also within walking distance from Bloomsbury making it ideal if you've arrived in London from Europe via the Eurostar. The latter has also recently been redesigned and offers a great selection of shops, bars and restaurants.
The West End is very close by for Leicester Square, Theatreland, shops like Selfridges on Oxford Street and markets, restaurants and street performers at Covent Garden. These are all walkable from Bloomsbury – indeed you can be in Bedford Square one minute and among the electronic and homeware shops of Tottenham Court Road the next. A good suggestion is to head for Shaftesbury Avenue as you begin to explore the area.
For Westminster's attractions such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and nearby Buckingham Palace, it's best to get the Underground. More tube stops within walking distance include Goodge Street, Holborn, Tottenham Court Road and Chancery Lane serving the Northern, Piccadilly and Central lines.
A less useful but still interesting transport tidbit is that there used to be a British Museum tube station at Bury Place but it hasn't been used by the public since 1933 and is now a Nationwide Building Society. What's more it's said to be haunted by the daugter of an Egyptian Pharoah!
Insider Tips and Eating Out
Bloomsbury has a handy mix of chains like Yo! Sushi and Wagamame, quaint independent restaurants and fancier establishments so there's something for everyone.
Options include the Thai Garden on Bloomsbury Street, the Betjemans Arms in St Pancras for pub food and Hakuba on Great Russell Street for pricey Japanese cuisine. And for a quick Mediterranean bite to eat for lunch or a snack, hop into Hummus Bros on Southampton Row, near Holborn.
Thai Garden Betjemans Arms
For relaxed fun in the evenings, there's also Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes which offers burgers and cocktails with ten-pin bowling and even karaoke rooms with a retro feel.
Another insider tip is to keep an eye out for all the Blue Plaques in this area which signify that someone important or famous lived there: see if you can spot the once-homes of J.M Barrie (author of Peter Pan), Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, John Maynard Keynes (economist), Virginia Woolf and William Butler Yeats (poet).
Bloomsbury Amenities
Head to the Brunswick Centre – a modern oasis in a sea of old fashioned sqaures – for your food and shopping fix in between museum visits. Bloomsbury is also home to a lot of bookshops so you won't want for reading material.
Nearby Holborn provides more cafes, supermarkets, banks and other general amenities too so head south when you've had enough of reading great works and admiring great objects and just need to grab a mocha.
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