Famous London Bridges To Visit

London is a city with a long history and a number of fantastic bridges that you should visit. There are certain famous bridges that you need to see when you visit London.

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is an iconic London site along with Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. Compared to some of the bridges in the UK, Tower Bridge is fairly young having been built in 1894. This bridge is an impressive feat of engineering from the time and is 244 meters long and has over 40,000 people crossing each day.

It is possible to find out more about the history and behind-the-scenes features of the bridge%u2019s working by going to the Tower Bridge Exhibition. The bridge leads directly to the Tower of London and has a history of not always working correctly.

London Bridge

The neighbor of Tower Bridge, London Bridge is much more understated than its flashier companion. However, London Bridge is argued by some as being much more famous than Tower Bridge. The first London Bridge was built by the Romans when they settled in the area. Later bridges were also built during the medieval times with houses situated on the bridge.

A stone bridge was commissioned by then king Henry II and it lasted until 1831. The current bridge was bought by an American company on 1971 as a tourist destination. There was a myth at the time that the buyers were actually looking to buy Tower Bridge, but made a mistake by thinking that London Bridge was actually Tower Bridge.

Millennium Bridge

On 10 June 2000, the Millennium Bridge first opened to the public. This bridge crosses the Thames and links many tourist destinations. The north bank of the bridge is close to St Paul%u2019s Cathedral while the south end of the bridge is close to the Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre. Many people still call this bridge the %u2018wobbly bridge%u2019 because of the footbridge tremors, but this has now been fixed.

Southwark Bridge

If you are looking for a bridge that is very close to the Globe Theatre and offers less traffic then Southwark Bridge is the one for you. This bridge was built to connect Southwark to the City of London. The understated nature of the bridge and its location makes it the quietest of all the famous London bridges.

Blackfriars Bridge

Blackfriars Bridge was built in 1869, but became famous in 1982 when the Chairman of the Vatican Bank Robert Calvi was seen hanging from it. At the time Calvi was part of a series of financial scandals and was a member of the Masonic lodge Propaganda Due also known as Black Friars.

Waterloo Bridge

Waterloo Bridge was first opened in 1945 and has been named Ladies Bridge due to the fact that is was built by women during the Second World War. There was a different bridge on the site which was built in 1817 and was a commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo. The original bridge has 9 granite arches.

Westminster Bridge

If you are looking to get to Big Ben then you will need to cross Westminster Bridge. Big Ben is located on the north end of the bridge with the London Eye on the south end. This bridge is the oldest road across the Thames and was designed by the architect who created the Palace of Westminster.

Albert Bridge

In west London, Albert Bridge is a road bridge that connects Chelsea with Battersea. This is one of two bridges in London that has never been replaced. There were calls for the bridge to be demolished in the 20th century when it started to struggle with the number of vehicles on it, but the bridge is now a heritage building.