The City of London is a strange place. To a Brit, the 'City' does not mean the whole of London but simply the 'Square Mile' as it is colloquially known. Its boundaries encompass the financial heart of London: an area where 30% of the high-tech office buildings were built within the last ten years; an area which houses the London exchange market where a staggering $637 billion worth of trading (32% of global business) takes place every day. That's more than the turnover of the next three largest centres, New York, Tokyo and Singapore combined. 'City gents', stockbrokers, traders and shopkeepers pile into the City every weekday morning and pile out every evening.

Here you will find the very heart of London: the original settlement from which the rest of London has sprawled. Between the ultra modern office buildings lies a diaspora of history from the great Victorian and Edwardian edifices of commerce such as the Royal Exchange to the Roman Temple of Minerva on Queen Victoria Street. Around you are a dazzling array of churches, many built by Wren as part of his grand scheme to resurrect London after the Great Fire of 1666 which decimated much of the city.

The City's major landmarks are of course St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London. The former was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and the sense of space when looking up at the vast dome is awesome enough to make one feel quite dizzy. The Tower of London has of course an extremely dark and bloody history, with prisoners and executions. The tone of the place is cheered by the ever-beaming Yeoman Warders who are also popularly known as Beafeaters. The Crown Jewels are also housed here - a superb display allows the visitor to come within an inch of the exhibits including the First Star of Africa - the world's largest diamond. The Ceremony of the Keys is a ritual, which is performed at the Tower of London every evening.

There is also Christopher Wren's monument to the Fire of London, the Lloyds Building, the Museum of London and the Old Bailey. So for tourists, this part of London is a must.

A visit to the City should never be on a weekend if you really want to embrace the heady atmosphere of the place, as the area is quite silent at that time.  For food, try Sweetings on Queen Victoria Street. This restaurant accepts no credit cards, no bookings, opens for luch and seems to have barely changed since people realized the world round. They serve excellent fish dishes here. El Vinos is something of an institution and has a couple of ancient wine bars in a formal atmosphere. Just off Fleet Street is the exceptional Olde Cheshire Chese - the haunt of such literary luminaries as Dickens, Bernard Shaw and Thackeray.

All in all, The City is a very special part of London with a wonderful atmosphere of history combined with money, power and exclusivity.

For business and pleasure this location is ideal, being in the City of London.