walk South; Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
walk North; Leicester Square, Picadilly
walk West; Buckingham Palace
walk East; towards the City; Strand; Aldwych; Fleet Street;
When this webcam faces forward, you can see the fountains next to the base of Nelsons Column, and the National Gallery is the large magnificent building in the background.
There are excellent public toilet facilities at Trafalgar Square.
It's a really nice place to sit, eat a sandwich, watch people and watch the world go by.
For food, there are sandwich bars around, and some cafes. Leicester Square is 4 minutes walk away, good for fast food.
It's very close to many other London sights, making it really convenient as a regular stop-off point.
A good description can be found here, but be sure to come back.
and here.
The Fourth Plinth is kind of neat. Built in 1841. Originally intended for a horsey-type statue thing. It was never filled, for some reason, and now it's the location for specially commissioned artworks - or anything else that people can dream up.
In 2009, they decided to put people, one at a time, for an hour each, 24 hours a day, for 100 days. This is a pic of them swapping people - one goes up, one comes down.
The National Portrait Gallery is right next door, their website is here.
There's a magnificent crypt downstairs, alas with a cafe now ! Where did the creepiness go ? But it's a lovely place to visit.
Site of many protests during the Apartheid era.
Incidentally, just up the Strand on the left hand side is the Zimbabwean embassy. It still seems open, but strangely few visitors.
