Downing Street
Britain is run from a cheaply built 1680s terrace you can only glimpse through a gate.
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This short cul-de-sac off Whitehall holds the Prime Minister's residence at No. 10, the Chancellor's at No. 11, and press offices at No. 12. Since a 2005 anti-terrorism order the public can't enter, so the view from the Whitehall gates is the whole visit.
What to look for
- The brickwork looks black, but 1960s-70s restorers found the brick underneath was yellow — they painted it black to keep the familiar look.
- The black steel security gates across the Whitehall entrance, installed in 1989 — as close as you legally get.
- Armed Diplomatic Protection Group officers on patrol, with at least one posted outside No. 10's door.
No entry — view it through the gates from Whitehall; free and takes minutes.
Downing Street is one of 40 sights worth the detour in London, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the London pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in London
- British MuseumThe room where a dead language got its voice back — and you walk in for free.
- Buckingham PalaceThe balcony where a whole country turns up to watch a family wave — with 775 rooms behind it.
- Westminster AbbeyNearly every English monarch since 1066 has been crowned on the same worn patch of floor.
- Big BenThe clang in a thousand establishing shots comes from a cracked bell that's rung slightly off-key since 1859.
- Tower of LondonWilliam the Conqueror's keep turned royal prison, where two queens lost their heads and the Crown Jewels still sit under guard.
- Tower BridgeA Victorian drawbridge dressed as a Gothic castle, its roadway still splitting open for passing ships.