Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: Parliament Square, Westminster SW1A
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to Parliament Square takes 10 to 15 minutes.
Which buses go to Parliament Square?
Bus routes 11, 24, 148 and 211 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Westminster, which connects with the Circle District and Jubilee lines. It only takes a minute to walk to Parliament Square.
Which other attractions are nearby?
These attractions are all within 15 minutes walk of Parliament Square: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, Houses of Parliament, Jewel Tower, Downing Street, Banqueting House, Horse Guards, Household Cavalry Museum, St. James’s Park, SEA LIFE London Aquarium, London Eye, London Dungeon, Guards’ Museum and Benjamin Franklin House.
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Email My review of Parliament Square
Parliament Square has changed a lot since I was a kid. I remember when it was still a messy cub camp of permanent protesters with banners and placards saying I hate this and I hate that. America? Yeah… Woo hoo! Let’s have a shout about them. George Bush? Yeah, we hate George Bush and Tony Blair and Maggie Thatcher the milk snatcher! Arrest them all for war crimes! They’d shout through their loudhailers and bash some pots and pans about and it was just… well… let’s just say that it wasn’t very scenic.
Photo: londondrum.comHappily it’s all calmed down now and you can take your time to admire Britain’s mini Mount Rushmore, neatly bordered by three different institutions: legislature to the east (Houses of Parliament), judiciary to the west (Supreme Court) and religion to the south (Westminster Abbey).
Photo: londondrum.comIt’s supposed to be a place of honour for our most able politicians but in recent years it seems to have morphed into an open-air Madame Tussauds for other countries’ heroes. Churchill still has the best statue (of course) but where’s Walpole? And Pitt? Benjamin Disraeli and David Lloyd George are well known but the only other British Prime Ministers on show are Palmerston, Derby, Canning and Peel.
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If you’re looking for the greatest Parliamentary champion of all – Oliver Cromwell – then you’ll find him sunk into a walled-off pit on the other side of the road. We can’t put him in the main square because it might upset the Irish, and we can’t honour Thatcher in case it annoys the Scots. And Blair is out of the question because that will annoy just about everybody. Even people like Attlee and Gladstone are missing, but if fame is the qualifier then surely a case can be made for all of them.
Unfortunately we’re no longer willing to look past decisions that we disagree with so we’re stuck with the Holy Trinity of social saints – Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi. I get that they’re noble names but why are they here, in Parliament Square? What did they actually do for Britain?
Parliament Square appears in my best way to see London in a day itineraries, two free London itineraries, three 2-day London itineraries and 7-day London plan
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What do you think? (2)
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AM Why is there a statue of Abraham Lincoln in your Parliament Square? (reply)
Craig Hi Am. Apparently it was put there in 1920 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of peace between Britain and the United States. (The war was actually in 1812, so they were a few years out.). (reply)
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