10 London Fun Facts

10 interesting things about 'the City'

It is no accident that London is called “The City”. Just take a quick glance at its history, its influence on culture and economy, its fame… it is truly the City par excellence.

In this article, we will unveil 10 curious facts about the capital of England: a bit of hard data, a bit of history, a bit of fun facts… at the end, you will love London even more!

1. London has more international visitors than any other city in the world: more than 15 million per year (next are Hong Kong, at 12 million, Bangkok and Singapore, at around 10 million each, and Paris at 8.7 million). It is also the 9^th biggest city in the world, and the biggest metropolitan area in Europe. If London was a nation, it would be Europe’s 8^th largest!
   
   
   
   
2. The ancient Londinium (the Roman settlement London is named after – even if during the course of history it was also called Augusta, Lundenwic and Ealdwic) was located in what is today the financial district, ”the City of London”, also known as “The square Mile” for its boundaries, still the same they used to be in the Midde Ages.
   
   
3. In all of Great Britain, cars drive on the left side. London has the only, albeit very small, exception: it is Savoy Court, the road in front of the Savoy Hotel. Here, cars get in and out driving on the right side!
   
   
   
   
4. London is the first and, to date, only city to have hosted the Olympic Games 3 times: in 1908, 1948 and 2012.
   
   
5. London is sister city with New York, Moscow and Berlin. It should probably be sisters with Babel, too: 270 different languages are spoken here, more than in any other city!
   
   
6. Numbers 23 and 24 of Leinster Gardens, in Paddington, are… fake! These houses are just a painted facade, built to disguise the rails of the underground that lie behind them. Doors, windows and flower pots are actually just painted on a wall. Still, it makes for a great joke when you order pizza - even if the pizza joints in the area are now well aware of it and won’t deliver there!
   
   
   
7. London’s ring road, the M25, is the longest in the world, at 122km.
   
   
8. There are 6.128 authorized restaurants in London, good for 22% of all the restaurants in Great Britain!
   
   
9. 55% of London underground system is not actually… underground, since it runs on the surface! Also, 5 different tube stops are named after pubs: Angel, Swiss Cottage, Royal Oak, Manor House and Elephant & Castle.
   
   
   
   
10. There are almost 21.000 authorized taxis in London and, even though they are still called “Black Cabs”, they now come in 12 shiny colours. The name comes from the colour of the meter, invented in 1890, which was and still is fully black. To know if a Cab is free, check the orange light on the roof: if it is off, the cab is taken!