U.K./Ireland Travel


Feature Writer: Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard, Photo by Donna Dailey

Welcome to your gateway to the UK and Ireland, the place to find out about hotels and restaurants, read exclusive travel features and get the lowdown on England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland.

We cover some of the world's most exciting cities like London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast and Dublin, as well as the region's most beautiful countryside: The Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Cornwall, Devon, the Scottish Borders, the Highlands, Snowdonia, the Antrim Coast, the Ring of Kerry.

Check in for book reviews, recommendations for food and drink, the outdoors, museums, cathedrals, Royal London and quirky local hotspots throughout the British Isles.

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Mike Gerrard

Sherlock Holmes London Walk Guide

In: England Travel

The Sherlock Holmes Walk from Louis' London Walks leads fans of the detective to 221b Baker Street, Scotland Yard, Conan Doyle's surgery and many more Holmes locations. more...

London's Brick Lane Audiowalk

In: England Travel

Soundmap's new London Audiowalk for iPod or MP3 player has author Tarquin Hall guiding walkers around Brick Lane with music and tales of Banglatown and Jewish history. more...

Jack the Ripper Tour of London

In: England Travel

Make your own Jack the Ripper tour of London using this Louis' London Walks book to guide you round the notorious Ripper murder sites in east London's Whitechapel. more...

Historic Riverside London Pub Walk

In: England Travel

A walking guide to historical Riverside London pubs takes visitors off the beaten path to the city's oldest inns and taverns, haunts of pirates & smugglers in Wapping. more...

The Good Food Guide London

In: England Travel

The Good Food Guide London is from the same Which? team that publishes the Good Food Guide to Britain. This city guide reviews the capital's top tables independently. more...

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Mike Gerrard

May 11, 2008

This Man Isn't Tired of London

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life. Dr Johnson's famous quotation to James Boswell about London is as true today as it was when he said it in 1777.


It was September 20, 1777, when Dr Samuel Johnson made his famous remark about London to James Boswell:

"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

I am indebted to the Samuel Johnson Soundbite Page, for this and other marvelous quotes by Dr Johnson. This in particular appealed to me right now:

"Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts."

The reason I went looking for that famous Johnson quotation, which is as true today as it was when it was said, over 200 years ago, is because of some London walks I've been reviewing lately. What would Dr Johnson have made of audiowalks, or podcasts? As he was a man of intellectual energy and great curiosity, I'm sure he would have loved them. He would have been fascinated by the way Brick Lane, for example, had changed over the centuries.

And he would have loved the London walks booklets produced by Louis' London Walks, which explore those little lanes and courts, and cover the tapestry of London life that Johnson relished so much, from the Beatles to Jack the Ripper, from the historic riverside pubs (old enough for Johnson to have drunk in them) to Princess Diana, and from the fictional London of Sherlock Holmes to the all-too-real London of the Kray Twins.

Next weekend I'm off exploring Maritime Greenwich, and can't wait. I'm not yet tired of London, and so thankfully not yet tired of life.

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