You don’t have to spend tons of money or travel thousands of miles to enjoy a satisfying break. City breaks in London are the perfect way to spend a long weekend, and there is something for everyone to enjoy.

From palaces to museums to parks, there are endless fun and interesting locations to visit.

When visiting London, you should definitely visit Buckingham Palace, an amazing building, which attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world ever year.

The Tower of London, situated on the northern bank of the River Thames, highlights the very essence of the city.

Other landmarks that are worth a visit are the famous Big Ben and St. Pauls Cathedral.

If you’re stuck for ideas on what to do in the evening, then the West End could be the answer. It is home to some of the best theatres in the UK- so you may even be lucky enough to bump into a famous actor!

City breaks to London are suitable for people of all ages, and as there is so much to see and do you will never get bored.

Planning holidays to a city like London can be a confusing affair for people. London as a city is quite expensive and has a whole lot of things to offer to its visitors. In a situation like this one, it becomes extremely important to plan your holidays in advance to be able to extract a whole lot from your trip to one of the world’s most fascinating cities.

The first part of your London trip will begin from you booking an airline ticket to this place. There are a whole lot of low cost airlines which will bring down the price of your holiday by a great extent. Booking in advance will also enable you to take advantage of various special offers that are going around. Finding budget accommodation in London can be slightly tricky as well. One of the best ways to go about it is to travel during the off-season. A lot of hotels bring down the prices of their rooms during such a period and also offer various special offers to their visitors.

While you are planning holidays to London, make sure you also draw a list of all the important places you should visit. If this is your first holiday trip to London, then starting your exploration from Trafalgar Square would be a very good idea. You could also visit one of the numerous parks and museums to add more to your London holiday.

Proper planning will ensure that your London holidays are as memorable as you want them to be.

It seems that thanks to the global recession, city breaks worldwide are generally cheaper than last year according to a Times Online report.

The report shows that figures from a study of 50 worldwide cities suggest that prices this year have fallen by up to 31 per cent since last summer.

The largest price drop appears to be in Spain, with city breaks in Madrid and Barcelona showing the greatest price drop, closely followed by Granada and Valencia.

For those British holidaymakers thinking prices may drop further however, Spanish hoteliers claim prices could now drop any further. Holiday deals in Spain are particularly well priced at the moment as Spain is suffering in the recession.

Similar reductions are being seen in other countries, such as Italy where city breaks to Rome are now 7 per cent lower, and cheap holidays are available in Bologna and Turin with prices at 19 per cent and 12 per cent lower than last year.

City breaks in places such as Venice, Milan, Florence, Geneva, London and Athens are maintaining their prices in comparison to twelve months ago.

With recent surveys showing that Brits are not being put off their summer holidays by the recession, it seems there are some great city breaks to be had at bargain prices.

Earlier this month, Singapore Airlines launched new flights to Hong Kong on the new Airbus A380.

The first flight for the new service launched on the 9th of July and carried more than 450 passengers from Singapore to Hong Kong, both of which are highly popular with British holidaymakers for city breaks. The flight left at 9:50am and landed in Hong Kong at 1:30pm.

Singapore Airlines was the first airline to use the Airbus A380 in the fourth quarter of 2007 and has since flown over 1.4 million travellers on the A380.

As well as the new flights to Hong Kong, the airline uses the A380 to travel to London, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney.

Singapore Airlines’ Executive Vice-President of Marketing Huang Cheng Eng said:

“The A380 is the crown jewel in Singapore Airlines’ young and modern fleet and we are proud to be able to introduce this wonderful aircraft on one of the most important routes in our network. We are delighted that our customers have come to embrace the Singapore Airlines A380 and its industry-leading cabin products.”

The A380 is also used by Emirates airline, which launched flights to Toronto and Bangkok earlier this year with the superjumbo aircraft.

The regional airline, Flybe, has stated that it is now the UK’s leading domestic airline. The claim is based upon new figures recently released by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) showing that in the month of April, Flybe carried 26 per cent of UK domestic travellers. EasyJet carried 23 per cent.

Flybe came first in the list for the total number of individual passengers too with over 450,000 customers, a figure which beat even major airlines such as bmi and British Airways.

In addition, Flybe’s position at London Gatwick Airport was also strengthened in April and May as it carried more domestic passengers from Gatwick than any other carrier.

Mike Rutter, Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer, said:

“Just six years ago, Flybe was a distant fifth in the UK domestic market. It’s a mark of how far we’ve come that, in less than a decade, we’re now number one – a phenomenal achievement. We now serve 35 airports in the UK, affirming our commitment to keeping Britain on the move through these challenging economic times.”

UK holidaymakers can take advantage of international flights from Flybe with city breaks to the likes of Paris and Milan as well as cheap holidays to Alicante and other European destinations.

It has recently been announced that the Donmar West End production of Hamlet, still currently on show at London’s Wyndham Theatre, is to transfer to New York later this year and there will be many lucky people on city breaks in New York wanting to take the opportunity to view this one.

Jude Law is to continue his role as the lead character, Hamlet, of the Shakespeare tragedy and when the show moves to Broadway in New York on the 12th September at the Broadhurst Theatre he will continue that role.

The remainder of the London cast is also to remain in the show for its three month stint in New York, which includes Claudius played by Kevin McNally.

Michael Grandage, Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, said:

“Following our recent productions of Frost/Nixon and Mary Stuart, I am delighted we have been invited to bring another of our productions to Broadway. We feel very privileged to be part of such a vibrant theatre community and it is exciting to think that so many people will get to engage with our work and to witness Jude Law’s extraordinary performance.”

For those wanting city breaks a little closer to home, Hamlet is to continue in London until the 22nd August when it will be replaced by the stage show of The Shawshank Redemption which will open on 13th September.

Free Wi-Fi services are now being offered to those members of the Skyteam airline alliance who are going on holiday, at the lounge in London Heathrow airport’s Terminal 4.

BT’s wireless internet subsidiary company, BT Openzone has completed a three year agreement with Skyteam to offer the Wi-Fi internet network in the lounge so holidaymakers can now use the internet before they fly and even make cheap voice call across the web using the VoIP service.

BT Openzone general manager Chris Bruce said: “Wi-Fi is essential for business and leisure travellers wanting to be productive or relax online before their flights.”

More and more holidaymakers, when seeking holiday deals, look to book some sort of airport lounge to relax or work prior to their flight.

The Skyteam airline alliance opened the co-branded lounge at Terminal 4 in June this year, which offers facilities such as a wine bar, showers, a wellness centre and massage chairs to its travellers.

There are several major airline carriers as members of the Skyteam airline alliance, such as KLM, Continental Airlines, Air France and Alitalia and between them they offer a large network of flights to a number of countries from London Heathrow airport.

New figures have recently been released showing that UK airport punctuality figures have improved so far this year, which is good news for those taking holidays from the UK.

The figures were released by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) showing the results of monitoring ten of the UK’s busiest air transport hubs. The punctuality in the first quarter of 2009 improved for all ten.

For those on city breaks in London, travellers would be pleased to note that the largest improvements were seen for the airports at London City and London Heathrow airports, which showed a year on year increase in rate of punctuality of 18 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

London Heathrow airport actually halved its delay on average, from 24 minutes down to just 12 minutes whilst London City airport reduced its average delay to just nine minutes.

One of the best performers in areas outside London was Edinburgh.

When taking holidays abroad, flight schedule punctuality is a key area for improvement in airports and one that every air carrier looks to improve. The CAA monitored flights travelling to 75 of the most popular holiday destinations and the best punctuality rate of 91 per cent was for flights to Rotterdam.

Earlier this month, on the 16th June, visitors on city breaks to London were able to participate in the game that gave Pall Mall its name.

Pall Mall is a famous street in London, known to many due to its appearance in the board game of Monopoly. The game that gave Pall Mall its name was a 17th century game called ‘paille maille’ and the game was played this month for the first time in over 400 years on Pall Mall itself. Both city locals and tourists were invited to participate.

Paille Maille is like croquet and comes from an Italian word ‘pallamaglio’, a word that when translated literally means “ball mallet”.

The game was arranged by the London marketing agency Visit London to highlight the experiences available in London as part of the campaign ‘Only in London’ launched earlier this year. The promotional campaign is designed to highlight the unique experiences on offer in the capital.

Sally Chaterjee, chief executive of the tourism agency said:

“One of the things that makes London such a unique city is its rich history and heritage. [By] revealing the street stories of London and the re-enactment of paille maille, we want to celebrate the unusual and world-famous heritage of London’s streets, bringing them back to life in a really fun and engaging way.”

The number of visitors taking city breaks to London has increased so far this year due to the weak pound.

One benefit coming from the recession and the weak pound is the number of tourists being attracted to city breaks in London at the moment as the message that the low strength of the sterling pound is giving good value is now getting through to people.

The Chief Executive of UKInbound, Mary Rance has stated this month that the number of European visitors to the capital has increased so far in 2009 as a result of the promotional messages being broadcast, although American tourist numbers are still quite low. She explained:

“The European message is getting through and we have seen quite an influx of Europeans coming to London. They know that there is exceptional value for them at the moment and they are coming for shorter times and spending money. With the US, that message isn’t getting through as well and it is a question of keeping that marketing message going.”

It isn’t only foreign visitor numbers increasing however, as Brits are also taking city breaks in the UK and see London as an alternative to travelling abroad. The ‘Only in London’ campaign launched earlier this year by Visit London is highlighting the great number of activities, experiences and unique sights available in London right now.