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3 Unique Places to Visit in London

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London represents a key travel location visited by many enthusiasts each year. It is also one of the most important cities in the world when it comes to the business world. However, most people visiting London for the first time are only aware of a few popular travel sights such as Big Ben, the London Eye, and, of course, Hyde Park.

However, London is a lot more than just the popular landmarks mentioned above. If you take the less beaten path and start emerging yourself in the English culture and the local communities, you will be able to discover a handful of unique places that must be visited while being there. We will cover three such places in this article.


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God’s Own Junkyard

When talking about neon signs you might first think about the extravagant Las Vegas or some classic venues from the ’30s. London will never be your first thought. However, the city shows a passion for the classic neon signs that anybody can visit at God’s Own Junkyard gallery. The place provides visitors with a psychedelic experience and the ability to explore the depths of the neon world.

Located in East London in an industrial site, the gallery offers quite a unique and colorful experience. You can see anything from Soho signs to materials used in professional shoots and to classic English pub signs. The gallery also features a coffee place, The Rolling Scones Café in case you want to take a break and internalize everything. God’s Own Junkyard is opened every weekend with a free entrance, making this experience available to everybody.

Hippodrome Casino

London is famous around the world for many things but, gambling is not necessarily one of them. If you want to gamble you can go to the classics like Las Vegas and Macau. However, while you are in London you should still check out the Hippodrome Casino as this place it’s not just about gambling.

Situated in Leicester Square, this casino represents the go-to place for English gambling enthusiasts for more than 100 years. The venue features a 180-seat theatre that’s constantly featuring outstanding jazz, soul, cabaret and burlesque shows. You can also take a break at one of the 6 bars located on the premise of the casino or, to enjoy a good meal at the Heliot Steak House.

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If you want to have a fully-immersive “Hippodrome experience” you can always try the casino tables. You can explore three floors full of casino games featuring something for anybody. Many of the games, such as the slots are reminiscent of the classic-looking games found in online casinos like Gametwist online.

Such online casinos can provide an entertaining experience close to the one you can find in the Hippodrome Casino. Whereas in the Hippodrome you have three floors full of gambling, online you have a library featuring hundreds of different games. The casino is a place worth visiting regardless if you want to gamble, enjoy a live jazz performance or to simply eat a great steak.

The Twinings Store

We’re all well aware that there’s a strong connection between Brits and tea, right? Tea is, of course, a well-recognized English symbol. This passion for tea can be understood by exploring the story of Twinings, which can be easily accomplished by visiting the 300-year-old Twinings tea store.

Twinings represents one of the first tea merchants that has been providing UK’s royal households with beverages for centuries. The Twinings Café located on the Strand first opened in 1706. Although many changed since then, people can still explore its story while enjoying a good cup of tea over at the store.

Conclusion

London has many landmarks recognized all around the world. They represent the first go-to locations for tourists. As great as these places might be, there’s still an unexplored English culture that many travelers miss out on. For that reason, everybody should visit the three places mentioned above at least once while being in London.

Art Gallery or Hotel? Hotel Oriental Express in Tokyo Ginza

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Hotel Oriental Express in Tokyo Ginza is scheduled to open on July 26, 2019.

The concept of Hotel Oriental Express Tokyo Ginza is the “Art Gallery Hotel” where guests can experience an extraordinary stay in the whimsical atmosphere of Ginza artworks generated in collaboration with art galleries in Ginza. The hotel also aims to play a role for Japan based young talented artists to express their artworks to guests from all over the world.

The lobby and rooms, which are themed in white with an accent of silver or in Japanese, “Gin” for “Ginza,” are decorated with carefully selected wall art which express the four seasons of Japan. The lobby doubles as a gallery space, featuring beautiful artworks from partnered galleries in Ginza. Hotel guests can purchase their favorite artworks on the spot.

Experience the town of art Ginza

The lobby and rooms, which are themed in white with an accent of silver or in Japanese, “Gin” for “Ginza,” are decorated with carefully selected wall art which express the four seasons of Japan. The lobby doubles as a gallery space, featuring beautiful artworks from partnered galleries in Ginza. Hotel guests can purchase their favorite artworks on the spot.

  • Wall art designTop left: Wisteria in full bloom in early summer, gently blowing in the breezeTop right: Goldfish scooping at a summer festival; Fireworks reflecting on the water surface Bottom left: Melting snow ice, awaiting spring
  • Examples of wall art design in partnership with Nada Art Gallery
  • Wall Art Artist: Ms. Maya Ogata

Ms. Maya Ogata began her art career with a graphic design company after graduating from university. While working for this company, Ms. Ogata  was actively engaged in numerous solo and group exhibitions as a wall art artist. Ms. Ogata has painted walls of guest houses, stores, and event spaces as well as presented her art in live performances nationwide.

Revive Your Senses

Breakfast: On a daily basis, the breakfast buffet offers five types of seasonal soups. The hotel’s chef recommends this simple but nutritious breakfast to revive your senses and to start your day. The soups can also be made to go, so guests can enjoy their breakfast at their convenience.

Cafe: During the daytime, the restaurant area is exclusively open to all hotel guests to be used at their leisure. Guests can freely relax and enjoy their time surrounded by artworks, with a drink of their choice from the hotel’s selection of coffee, herbal tea, green tea etc.

Enhance your sensitivity

Music: All guest rooms are equipped with a Bluetooth speaker and embellished with carefully selected wall art depicting beautiful flowers of each season in Japan. Guests can look, feel, and embrace the art and sounds while spending a relaxing time in their room.

https://tokyoginza.hotelorientalexpress.com/

 

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India’s tea gardens beckon tourists

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India, one of the top tea producers in the world, is experimenting with tea tourism in view of the growing interest shown by tourists to visit tea plantations and tea factories. Ambling through a sprawling tea plantation with greenery all around in the early hours of the day watching a group of local women plucking two leaves and a bud at a fast pace with their nimble hands and collecting them into baskets slung on their shoulders is a winning sight for tourists. India now leads to give tea-buffs and tourists a closer understanding of tea by organizing tea tourism at places like Assam, Darjeeling (West Bengal), Nilgiris belt in Tamil Nadu, and a few pockets in Kerala and Karnataka.

Tea tourism is defined as tourism that is motivated by an interest in the history, culture, traditions and consumption of tea. Estate bungalows amidst sweeping acres of manicured tea plantations have now been converted into tourist accommodations. Not just staying in the midst of tea gardens, tea tourists  are taken to a tea factory, where they get to experience how the fresh green leaves are brought into the tea factory for withering to the rolling, drying and shifting stages, grading and packaging and followed by  a tea-tasting session where they could sip some of the finest tea that is grown in that area.

A view of Tea plucking in a tea garden of Assam

Assam in the lead for tea tourism

The first name that crops up in mind for tea tourism is Assam, the largest tea producing region in India.  The Assam Tea Tourism Festival held at Jorhat every year is a big hit with tourists. Staying in a rustic  colonial-era planter’s bungalow has its own charm. Home to more than 800 tea estates in the state,  where amidst luxury and serenity one can drift back in time to days of that elegant colonial aristocracy.  The B & A Limited operates through seven quality Tea Estates in the India’s largest tea growing region of Assam. The Guwahati Tea Action Centre, one of the busiest tea trading facilities in the world, is a place not to be missed. Others  include Corramore Tea Estate, Teloijan Tea Estate and Khongea Tea Estate besides a host of others.

Another major development which is currently in progress is the tourist-friendly makeover of  world’s oldest and biggest tea research center at Tocklai (Assam), with edifices  that each have a story to tell. A.K. Barooah, director of the Tea Research Association, said recently that the Tocklai Guest House, a heritage building, was home to  British tea planters A tea museum will be built with suitable dioramas, models and displays. He said Tocklai can tie-up with other tea tourism enterprises like Kaziranga Golf Resort (Bura Sahib bungalow), Banyan Grove and Thengal Manor bungalow in Jorhat district, the Mancotta chang bungalow and Chowkidingee chang bungalow situated in the heart of Dibrugarh town.”

West Bengal is also fast catching up with Assam in promoting tea tourism. Its Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last month mentioned that her government will consider tea tourism to benefit tea plantations in the state.

She said, “We have allocated more than Rs. 1,000 crore for the welfare of tea garden workers since 2011. Tea tourism is also under our consideration.”

The WB state government permits one acre of tea estates to be used for tourism purposes. Currently there are 87 operational tea gardens in Darjeeling district covering an aggregated area of about 19,000 hectares under tea plantation. Darjeeling surrounded by tea orchards that produce the famous light-colored and aromatic Darjeeling Tea has the right ingredients for tea tourism. Makaibari Tea Estate and Homestay in Kurseong, 37 kms from Darjeeling, is one of the top tea producing gardens in the world. In the vicinity of  Darjeeling is the Happy valley Tea Estate, one of the highest tea gardens in the world. Raj-era estates located in some of the most scenic destinations in India — the rolling Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling and Dooars beckon tourists. Some famous estates include Glenburn Tea Estate, Sourenee Tea Estate, Singtom Tea Estate and Resort, Ambootia Tea Garden, Barnesbeg Tea Estate and  Castleton Tea Estate among others. Goodricke Group Ltd. is offering tourism opportunities in one of its tea estates in  Darjeeling where it has five gardens.

South India also catching up fast

Besides the Northeast belt, in south it is Tamil Nadu which is home to some of the largest tea-growing belts in the country. Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu is the largest tea producing district in South India, and its tea is  renowned for its aroma and flavor. With Tamil Nadu producing  65% of tea in South India spanning an area of 65,000 hectares, the Nilgiris area offers great scope for tea tourism. Valparai, a quaint hill station located about 100 km from Coimbatore, is teeming with tea plantations. Billimalai Tea Estate at Glendale, about 10 kilometers from Coonoor, is a perfect place to experience  how tea is processed.

Munnar in Kerala is rustic belle of hill stations where acres and acres of tea plantations feast one’s eyes. A visit to country’s first Tea Museum at Nallathanni Estate is highly recommended at it narrates the history of tea production in the region. The Kundala Tea Plantation in Munnar offers tourists the tea making process in great detail. Tea Sanctuary here is home to refurbished vintage colonial style bungalows amidst misty tea plantations. Considered the  highest altitude tea plantation in the world, Kolukkumalai, near Munnar, is known for  preserving the British heritage in tea-making at the factory here. Wayanad in Kalpatta district produces substantial amount of tea whose lush green tea gardens are a feast for the sore eyes. The Wayanad Tea County in the midst  of the picturesque  395 acre estate, many  vantage viewpoints, and trekking routes is a better option.

In Karnataka, Coorg, and  the Baba Budan Hills in Chickmagalur are tea-producing regions, but tea tourism is yet to catch here.

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Jane Austen leads the way for a new themed guided tour of Winchester in England 

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In conjunction with Winchester Cathedral, Visit Hampshire announced a new Jane Austen-themed product to meet increased demand from US visitors to explore the literary legend. 

In partnership with England’s Literary Greats project, Visit Hampshire and Winchester Cathedral have created a new travel trade friendly product, which packages a Jane Austen-themed tour with an afternoon tea in the Cathedral Refectory for the first time.

The new package will encourage tourists to visit Hampshire and immerse themselves in the literary roots of one of England’s greatest writers. The themed tour provides tourists with an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Austen, offering unique insights into her life, her connections to the Cathedral and how it came to be her last resting place. The itinerary also invites visitors on a walk through the Cathedral’s historic ‘Inner Close’ to the house on College Street where Jane spent her final days, with her sister Cassandra.

Catherine Hodgson, Marketing Manager for Winchester Cathedral comments, “We feel most privileged to be able to share the story of Jane Austen and how her life came to be so intertwined with our Cathedral. Today, tourists come from all over the world to stand at her grave here and they can also see her brass plaque and memorial window – three memorials to a remarkable woman whose novels so brilliantly capture the quiet drama of human relationships.”

The experience has been created following extensive international research which identified that more than a third of overseas visitors want to see places from film and literature, and that almost half of them visited museums, art galleries, castles or historic houses on previous trips.

Andrew Bateman, Tourism Manager for Visit Hampshire comments, “We are very excited about launching the new version of this tour as it has such a broad appeal for international visitors. There is something very special about inviting people to step into a landscape that has inspired one of Britain’s best loved authors and are very much looking forward to celebrating her life and the wonderful literary contributions that she made to our country.”

The bookable products can be bought independently or incorporated into a new wider itinerary. The tour and can be purchased by a tour operator ‘off the shelf’ or tailored as required. The itinerary also recommends accommodation, with a focus on travel trade or group-friendly properties and those that relate to the theme or are quintessentially English. Also recommended are complementary experiences including food experiences, landscapes famous for film locations or other local sites of interest.

The Jane Austen itinerary and new bookable products can be found here.

The Discover England Fund project, England’s Literary Greats, is one of a number of projects to benefit from the UK Government’s £40 million Discover England Fund. The Fund is administered by VisitBritain/VisitEngland and involves a program of activity to ensure that England stays competitive in the rapidly growing global tourism industry, by delivering world-class English tourism products to the right customers at the right time. The Fund is a central government funded programme of activity, supported by match funding by partners in the public and private sectors.

The ‘England’s Literary Greats’ project will fine tune itineraries based around literary figures, adding associated film locations and deepening trade engagement.

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The pulse of Brexit Britain captured by Martin Parr

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With Britain deeply divided over Brexit, an exhibition by one of the country’s best-known and celebrated photographers, Martin Parr, vividly captures images which help one to understand what makes the country tick. New and previously-unseen photographs revealing Parr’s unique take on the social climate in the aftermath of the EU referendum, have gone on public display for the first time in a major new exhibition of his works at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

“Only Human: Martin Parr” brings together some of the photographer’s best-known works with the focus on one of his favorite subjects – people. Featuring portraits of people from around the world, the exhibition examines national identity today, both in the UK and abroad, with Parr’s characteristically-wry observations of Britishness.

Although best known for his images of ordinary people, Parr has also photographed celebrities throughout his career. For the first time, “Only Human: Martin Parr” reveals a selection of portraits of renowned personalities, most of which have never been exhibited before, including British fashion legends Vivienne Westwood and Paul Smith, contemporary artists Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry, and world-renowned football player Pelé.

 

Parr is modest and refreshingly self-deprecating. He does not judge his subjects, letting the photos speak for themselves. His works record the way the British look at themselves before and after the Brexit debate and at other moments of change. At the press preview, Parr explained that his intention was to examine identity and reflect what the British think of themselves and how others see them.

 

The exhibition charts Parr’s changing interests and perspectives as he grows older. As well as Britain in the time of Brexit, the exhibition focuses on the British abroad including photographs of British Army camps overseas, and Parr’s long-term study of the British “Establishment” including recent photographs taken at Christ’s Hospital school in Sussex, Oxford, and Cambridge Universities and the City of London, revealing the obscure rituals and ceremonies of British life.

 

Some of his new works explore the quirks of leisure activities today, a subject Parr has explored since the 1980s. Parr photographs trips to the beach, tennis tournaments – from Wimbledon to the US Open – and a day at the races, to reveal the eccentricities of everyday life. These images take the visitor on a color-saturated journey through places where public and private worlds intersect.

Other photographs capture the infectious joy of dancing, an everyday activity enjoyed by people across the globe. There are photos of men stripping off their shirts along with their inhibitions in hot and sweaty dance clubs and others taken at more formal balls in Oxford and Cambridge.

 

“Only Human: Martin Parr” also features the unforgettable self-portraits Parr has made throughout his career. For over thirty years, Parr has visited studio photographers, street photographers, and photo booths across the globe to have his portrait taken. The resulting Autoportraits raise questions about portraiture and the business of portrait photography, showcasing a range of fascinating and often humorous settings employed by professional portraitists. Works on display include his Photo Escultura, a group of shrine-like carved photo-sculptures, based on Parr’s likeness and commissioned from the last remaining traditional maker in Mexico City, which have never been exhibited in the UK before.

The exhibition also includes a pop-up café inspired by Martin Parr’s iconic food photography and the traditional British “caff.” Visitors can purchase a selection of Great British tea-time treats and beverages such as a “nice cup of tea” and a slice of Battenberg, or an exclusive “Only Human” beer created in collaboration with British craft brewery Lost and Grounded Brewers, Bristol, during the Gallery’s Friday Lates (18.00-21.00).

Dr. Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, said: “We are delighted to be able to display so many new works by one of Britain’s most widely-celebrated photographers in this major new exhibition. Martin Parr’s witty, surprising, and ingenious photographs not only reveal the eccentricities of modern life with affection and insight, they also change the way we look at ourselves, and the way we consider our relationship to the wider world. ‘Only Human’ contributes to an ongoing debate about what it means to be British in an international context and reflects on the shared cultural and social history that defines the United Kingdom during a moment of change.”

Philip Prodger, curator of “Only Human: Martin Parr” says: “Provocative, surprising, and ultimately uplifting, Martin Parr explores the great issues of our time with sensitivity, compassion, and a sense of fun. This is an exhibition that will make you think and leave you with a smile on your face.”

Martin Parr has been able to build his lifelong interest in people-watching into a successful and lucrative professional career. He loves all things British, embracing its diversity but admits to being a Remoaner and finding some extreme attitudes difficult to accept. He observed ruefully, you have to have a sense of mischief or you’ll end up crying. Parr said: “I am very excited to have the opportunity to show my work at such a prestigious gallery. One of the main themes is British identity, and given March 2019 is when we are supposedly leaving the European Union, the timing could not be better.”

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