Instant Cities: London

London › Places and landmarks

Downing Street

Number 10, the home of British prime ministers since 1735, behind black gates off Whitehall.

See it in 3D Watch the tour

Photo: Lewis Clarke, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

George II offered number 10 to Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister, who moved in in 1735. Behind its famous black door with the brass knocker lies a house far bigger than it looks.

Since 1989 the street has been closed off by gates. A cat, the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, also lives there. Visit it in 3D ›

More in London

Big BenThe great bell in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament, whose tower is now the Elizabeth Tower. Houses of ParliamentThe Palace of Westminster on the Thames, rebuilt in Gothic style after the fire of 1834. Westminster AbbeyThe church where English and British monarchs have been crowned since 1066. Trafalgar SquareNelson on his column, four bronze lions and the National Gallery along the north side. National GalleryBritain’s collection of European paintings, free to visit, along the north side of Trafalgar Square. Horse GuardsMounted troopers of the Household Cavalry stand sentry on Whitehall every day. London EyeThe giant observation wheel across the Thames, built for the year 2000. Westminster BridgeThe green bridge over the Thames beside Big Ben, painted the colour of the House of Commons’ benches. Black cabLondon’s taxis, tall enough for a man in a top hat, driven by cabbies who know every street by heart. Red double-deckerThe red two-storey buses that have carried London since the days of the horse bus. Red phone boxThe red cast-iron telephone kiosks of Giles Gilbert Scott, from the 1920s and 1930s. Changing of the GuardThe ceremony in which the King’s Guard hands over to the new guard, in red tunics and bearskins.