Embankment

Charing Cross in front of Charing Cross Station

Charing Cross is a spectacular piece of architecture. Set back from the river some 150 metres and located in front of the railway station of the same name, this Victorian stone gem is built to replicate one of the original Eleanor crosses built to commemorate the resting place of the body of Queen Eleanor. She was the wife of King Edward the First and she bore him 16 children before dying in Lincolnshire. The King was distraught and he arranged for her body to be conveyed to Westminster Abbey. Where it rested overnight the distraught King had built 7 beautiful stone crosses. The one at Charing Cross was originally called "Chere Reine" - beloved Queen in French - and this became corrupted by Londoners into "Charing" over the passing of the years.

Charing Cross station and the hotel above it are located close to the river, Trafalgar Square and the Strand. Plenty to eat and drink nearby and an assortment of little and big shops too in adjacent Villiers Street.

The area of the Strand beyond Charing Cross is famous for its theatres and restaurants.

Towards the river again and past the station lies the Playhouse theatre and the newly modified Embankment Place with a dozen or so shops and businesses (see also Craven Passage).

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