Last Updated on 7 November, 2023
No doubt about it, London is a truly fascinating city with just as cool interesting facts about London that I am sure you may not know about. Whether you are a history buff looking for fun facts about London or a London as a tourist and want to impress the family with fun facts about London. Then this post will definitely help you make an impression.
With so much history and with London being among the most significant financial and cultural capitals in the world, making it also one of the world’s richest cities with more than 70 billionaires calling London home. Sadly, I am not one of them. Yet!
14 Interesting Facts About London You Probably Don’t Know About
Among the many interesting and random facts about London and one of the things I love about it is that London is home to approximately 250 different nationalities speaking more than 300 languages. No other city in the world is as diverse as London.
1. London population currently stands at 9,176, 530, far bigger than some the countries I have been to in terms of population. Namely Namibia which is 2.49 million, Malta which stands at 440, 372 or Iceland at 339 031. That is one of the many reasons to love London though, the multicultural city and all its offerings.
2. Driving in Britain is on the left apart from one road. That is the small road leading into Savoy Hotel, where cars enter and exit on the right. This was because of an act passed in parliament to enable women to exit cars first as most traditionally sat behind the horse and carriage driver. For more weird and cool facts about the Houses of Parliament click here.
3. The Shard is the tallest building in London and the EU. It also has the title for the hotel in the tallest building in all of EU. This is the Shangri La Hotel, which I have stayed at before and can vouch for the stunning views and service offered. This is also where you can get some of London’s most amazing views.
4. There are over 100 theatres spread across the capital, fifty of which you can find in the Westend. This is where you can watch some of the most popular shows in London and the world.
5. London was the first city in the whole world to have an underground railway. This is known as the tube, we have now moved on to have the tube, overground, trams, cable cars, river cruises as modes of transportation to get around the city.
6. Head to Paddington where number 23 and 24 of Leinster Gardens are located. These are dummy house used to hid the tube line running underneath. The windows are not real and are actually painted on.
7. There are over 15000 restaurants in London within menus spanning all major international cuisines around the world.
8. Big Ben as everyone calls it is actually the name of the bell and not the clock.
9. London receives more international visitors than any other city in the world. Take that NYC, Bangkok Hong Kong and Paris! Whether you are leaving one of many airports in London to spend a day in London for a quick layover tour or coming to explore the many beautiful cities in the UK, London is on many a bucket list so being the favourite among travellers should be no surprise.
10. There are 21, 000 licenced black cabs in London.
11. The underground stations in London were all named after pubs. As more undergrounds have sprung up the naming convention has now changed.
12. The Ring Road in London is the largest orbital road in the world spanning some 122 miles.
13. The city has been burned to the ground a few times. In AD 61 when Boudica, the Queen of The Iceni burnt it down, 9th century when the Danes driven out by Alfred in 883 and during The Great Fire of London in September 1666, which started in Pudding Lane and spread across the city lasting 4 days.
The Pudding Lane fire managed to wipe out at least 80% of the city. Also as far as interesting facts about British history go, make sure your check out the story of Boudica. You will appreciate the Boudica statue (Boadicea and Her Daughters) at Westminster Bridge much more. You can see a picture of this in below.
14. The Plague claimed the lives of over 100, 000 people across the UK. The bubonic plague was brought into London by trading ships.
15. As far as interesting London facts or random facts about London go, did you know that it is against the law to die inside the Palace of Westminster? Not sure how this law even came about. How would one go about even punishing the dead?
So, any other cool and interesting facts about London that you know about that should be included in the list?
14 comments
Wow! You have stayed at the Shangri La Hotel? Lucky you are! I wish I could stay there one day! 🤞🤞🤞 Cool to learn about interesting facts about London attractions.
Yep, Shangri-La is beautiful! Would love to repeat the experience but will need to count my change first.
We have never been to London! Your post has given us inspiration and a will to go spend a few days there. Always great to learn of some cool facts about London landmarks.
Thanks for your comment Christina. Glad you found the post useful. Even Londoners themselves sometimes take living in London for granted that they also might not know these interesting facts about London and United Kingdom.
Interesting facts about ancient London you got there. Some of them I didn’t really know about. Perhaps the most interesting is the last one. I would love to know how the law came around.
Haha Exactly! You would be surprised just how many other random laws the UK still has, many of them stem from when the royal families heeled more power over the UK than they do now. That’s a whole new list of fun facts about London England, albeit thousands of lines longer.
These are awesome facts. I did not know that London has the most visitors in the world. However, if you go in the summer, it certainly feels like it!
Yep, dont we know it. I usually stay well away from the busy tourist attractions in London during the summer period.
I didn’t know any of these– super interesting! I can’t believe how many people live in London!!!! Loved this article, beautiful photos! 🙂
So many cool random facts about London. Havent been to London yet but its definately high up on my list. Your pictures are looking incredible and hope to visit here soon to try out that huge selection of foods 😍😍
Laws around the world are crazy! I’ve never been to London, but I feel like I will absolutely love it when I go! These are some random facts for sure.
This post is a very interesting read. I wasn’t aware of many of these facts cool and interesting facts about London!
I lived there due two years and loved it! So many new things to learn. One of my favourite places in London is London Bridge. Would love to know if there are any interesting fun facts about London Bridge if you know of any.
Hmm, I cant say I do. I might have to look into that.