City Area Information

Nicknamed the "Square Mile" or just called the City for short, this concentration of ancient streets house the centre of trade and finance in Europe with only New York City acknowledged as the other serious contender for global influence. Astronomical sums are won and lost every day on the trading floors with the traders, bankers and other wage-earners sweating every pound, dollar or yen, so it should come as no surprise that people here expect the best with shops, restaurants and bars all being designed to impress. Likewise, the living accommodation is top-drawer and with two thousand years of history ingrained into every brick, any address in this district is likely to have some sort of cultural talking point attached to it. Rental properties in such locations as Cable Street and West Smithfield are fine examples of the genre. The City roughly follows the boundaries of an ancient Roman capital with plenty of museums (cunningly disguised as churches) on hand should one wish to delve into its history. Indeed the names of some of these churches are sources of great interest in themselves, St Ethelburga Bishopsgate and St Botolph Aldersgate being two fascinating examples.

Of course the City has modernised itself greatly as it now has an upstart rival sitting just a few miles downriver in the gleaming shape of Canary Wharf but it has done so judiciously and creatively. Each new skyscraper has sported a unique shape or position thus earning them nicknames such as "The Gherkin", "The Walkie Talkie" or "The Shard", so rather than detracting from the overall character of the place, they provide it with points of reference and a recognizable skyline. Transport links are varied and numerous with no less than six tube lines intersecting at Bank station which is at the heart of the district and lies equidistant from the two main rail hubs of Liverpool St and London Bridge which in turn respectively open up the East and South-East of the country.

Up until recently, retail outlets had been left behind in the rush to spruce up and gentrify the City's dour exterior but One New Change has turned all that around. Located on Cheapside in the heart of the City of London, it is London's newest shopping destination, complete with cafes and restaurants from renowned chefs and flagship menswear and womenswear fashion brands, all set overlooking London's most famous landmark, St. Paul's Cathedral.

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