South Bank 

More photos   

On the opposite side of the river from the Strand, the South Bank sprawls along the Thames from the Millennium Wheel and South Bank Centre in the west to Southwark in the east.

The area has always had an artistic and creative bent, but has certainly come into its own with the renovation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and the completion of the London Eye.

The best way to enjoy the South Bank is just to wander - browse the second-hand bookstalls and watch the skaters under the South Bank Centre, enjoy the street theatre, take in a gallery, have a beer or coffee.

A wonderful way to spend an afternoon is to do a big circuit from the London Eye to the Tate Modern, across the Millennium Bridge and back past St. Paul's, through Clerkenwell, Bloomsbury and into Covent Garden.