Trafalgar Square

Nelson on his column, four lions at the base, and the National Gallery looming over the north side

Address London WC2N 5DN

The heart of public London. Nelson's 50-metre granite column rises above four bronze lions, with the National Gallery filling the entire north side and Whitehall running south towards Big Ben. The Fourth Plinth on the northwest corner, originally meant for a king on horseback, has since 1999 hosted a rotating programme of contemporary art commissions — the most consistently interesting public sculpture in London.

The square is a designated public gathering place — for celebrations, for political protest, for the annual Christmas tree given by Oslo since 1947 in thanks for British support during the German occupation. The fountains, redesigned by Lutyens in the 1930s, are lit blue and white at night.

On the south side, look for the small brass plate marking the official centre of London, from which all distances to the city are measured. Behind it, on the corner of the Strand, the equestrian statue of Charles I faces down Whitehall — towards the spot where he was executed in 1649.

things to do sight square
A story
The four bronze lions at the base of Nelson's Column were designed by the painter Sir Edwin Landseer, who borrowed a dead lion from London Zoo to use as a model. The animal had been kept too long while he procrastinated and the corpse had to be propped up with sticks; Landseer's lions are anatomically a bit off as a result. He delivered them eight years late and was paid £6,000, an enormous sum for the time.

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