Travel Advice for London Visitors

"Our hearts at Suite101 go out to all those who have suffered loss and injury in the London bombings of 7 July. I wish to thank all those who have emailed and telephoned me requesting me to extend their thoughts to the bereaved and maimed through these pages. Let me assure all London's wellwishers that we shall not be cowed by these acts of barbarism by terrorist fanatics who bomb mindless of their innocent victims' age, sex, race or creed."

London's Wednesday euphoria at gaining the 2012 Olympic Games turned to Thursday's horror as terrorists struck, killing over 50 and maiming many hundreds. Eschewing the high profile, strongly guarded national treasures like the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, or the obvious targets, (also strongly guarded), such as the London airports, the bombers struck at the soft underbelly of the city's transport system at a time when it is most crowded; the morning rush hour.

The four bombs planted in the London Transport network, (three in the Subway system and one in a red double decker bus) brought the great city to a standstill and it will be some days before all systems are properly working again.

The impact of these blasts has altered forever people's picture of a city secure from such indiscriminate acts of barbarism and torn a hole in a summer tourist season that was shaping up to be a bumper year for London and Britain. These attacks are unlikely to have a long-term impact of tourism in London and UK. Similar acts of barbarism elsewhere, as in Madrid, have shown that the desire of people in democratic countries to travel, experience new cultures and new places quickly returns.

London will certainly prove to be an uncomfortable and uneasy place for visitors to move about in over the next two weeks or so. London Transport, which relies so heavily upon its subway system has been severely tested and disrupted. There will be many alerts in the days to come, bringing transport to a halt. A number of events have been cancelled or rescheduled.

The Travelsleuth's recommendation is to cancel any plans to visit London this side of August while the Metropolitan Police seek to track down the perpetrators, the city's transport system is brought back to normal and new security measures are put in place.