Queen Elizabeth travels down the Mall enroute to Buckingham Palace.Bruno Vincent/Getty Images
The Question: I will be in England with a girlfriend during the royal wedding. Our accommodation is a 10-minute walk from Westminster, so we absolutely plan to see as much of the wedding as possible. Any suggestions on the best place to photograph and cheer the royal couple?
There are two options: Stake out a spot along the royal route. Or join the crowd at one of the live sites where the city will screen the wedding on the big screen.
Unfortunately, viewing locales for the latter have not, at press time, been confirmed. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to stay in the loop in this digital era including these official sites, direct.gov.uk/royalwedding and officialroyalwedding2011.org, which offers a confetti-sprinkled royal route map.
"The couple will return to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey in a carriage procession along a route which will include Parliament Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade and the Mall," says Rebecca Smith from Visit London ( visitlondon.com), the city's tourism site, which also offers a number of Kate-and-William-inspired touring ideas. "It is anticipated that the public will line these streets in order to catch a glimpse of the couple."
As for the best spot? The Globe and Mail's Elizabeth Renzetti, a London resident for seven years, suggests heading to the north side of the Mall, next to the Institute of Contemporary Arts. "There's a set of stairs that should be a great vantage point and with luck not as crowded as the Westminster Abbey/Whitehall part of the route," says Renzetti. "Also, right across from that, on the south side of the Mall, all along the edge of St. James' Park would also be good - there are several little stepped areas where they could stand, and trees for shade."
E-mail your travel questions to concierge@globeandmail.com.
Karan Smith is a former Globe Travel editor. Special to The Globe and Mail