MILLIONS FOR BACK TO THE FUTURE TRIPS
London Docklands, the London's "Back to the Future" playground is has millions of visitors riding its driverless switchback trains, sailing along ten miles of the River Thames as it snakes through £12 billion (US$19.2 billion) of warehouse and wharf regeneration, and gazing at the world infamous Millennium Dome Canary Wharf's skyscrapers and other sites.

Tourist chiefs are forecasting visitor growth for the next decade to the area that holds out something for everyone. Hotels serving Docklands have doubled in the last four years to 24 with five more in the pipeline.

The contrast with 20 years ago when the world's greatest docks closed for ever is stark. The only sign of the hospitality industry then were a couple of Dockers canteens, one of which remains open today in its original location in Napoleonic buildings alongside Canary Wharf. The hearty English breakfast is in great demand from office workers as it was from the previous workforce of hardworking dockers.

Typical Docklands...keep the best from the past and provide the best for the future.

Travel
The user friendly trains of the Docklands Light Railway run partly over routes that moved millions of tons of goods from the ships to the shops for much of the last century and the tracks provide a theme park mix of old and new as the trains dip and soar along eight miles of elevated tracks from the Tower of London to Maritime Greenwich. It's bigger and better than Disney and it is for real.

It’s the best way to get around and experience 1,000 years of history — from the Tower of London to the Tower of Canary Wharf — in a single day on an unlimited travel tourist ticket that includes a riverboat one-way.

Attractions like centuries old Hawksmoor churches, street markets that escaped the Great Fire of London, boat-filled marinas, friendly East End pubs and music halls, the 21st century splendours of Canary Wharf, which includes Britain's tallest building, the living and breathing Cutty Sark tea clipper and Greenwich Observatory with its Meridian Line that divides and allocates the world's time.

These and more world-class attractions are along the route of the DLR. After seeing the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the warehouse canyons of Shad Thames, alight at stations along the route to wander historic streets and riverside walks or ride horses on Britain's biggest urban farm. The Thames Path loops through Docklands and includes some spectacular new pedestrian bridges and a few watering holes with terraces for the summer.

Pirates
There are now around 150 visitor attractions in and around London Docklands, some of them very secret and requiring seeking out. It was an area with pirate links and the Prospect of Whitby in Wapping was the Devil’s Tavern when pirates and smugglers propped up the riverside bar. Captain Kidd was hung for piracy and someone has left the gallows embedded in the Thames mud as a grim reminder.

Dickens and Pepys scribbled away at the Prospect of Whitby, which is just one of 25 that overlook the river or a dock and Lord Nelson dallied with Lady H. at The Gun, a couple of miles downstream. Wren was a regular at pubs on the south side of the Thames where he could keep his eye on the construction progress at St Paul’s Cathredral. There was a time when British Royal, Princess Margaret and her bloke Anthony Armstrong-Jones (now Lord Snowdon) dallied at misty, riverside Limehouse pubs.

Waterfronts
Victorian Prime Minister, Gladstone took his ministers for whitebait dinners at the Trafalgar Tavern on the Greenwich waterfront where the fish were netted then and can be caught once again now the Thames has been cleaned up. Ask the landlord if the whitebait on his menu came from the Thames?

Some of the newest pubs in London line the waterfronts at Canary Wharf and the Henry Haddington boasts Britain’s longest bar while Davy’s stocks some fine exclusive wines. At Canary Riverside the Four Seasons Hotel has a airy lobby bar, Quadrata, with reasonably priced drinks considering the sleek surroundings. Summertime offers a continental-style terrace overlooking the Thames.

Around the vast docks are sailing and watersports centres including the centre run by Peter Chilvers, the one time Lotus Cars engineer who invented the windsurfer. His schooner headquarters doubles as the best place for topdeck sundowners in summer and snug hole between decks in winter.

After Hong Kong, Docklands is the biggest Dragon Boat racing centre in the world and twilight sailing Perth-style - with tinnies trawling astern - is a summer Thursday evening must, followed by rousing Down Under barbie.

Tour East London visitor guide map for locations www.eastlondon.org.uk
Thames Path maps from London Tourist Info Offices or 020 7831 3510.
NEW London Docklands & Greenwich street map SPECIAL OFFER
Walks in the East End 020 7624 3978, Greenwich walks 020 8858 6169.
Docklands travel hotline 020 7918 4000. River trip info line 0839 123432.
Personal or group conducted tours 020 7363 0176 or 020 7474 4866.

---