London (Tilbury)
From Soho’s buzz and Mayfair’s boutiques to Covent Garden’s theatres, there is no denying that London is one of the greatest cities on earth. Admire the masterpiece-strewn walls of the Tate Modern, enjoy the pageantry of the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, or pop into Shakespeare’s Globe to see a play performed in iambic pentameter. At just 25 miles east, Tilbury serves as a gateway to it all—but for those who prefer to stay closer to port, the town has stories of its own to tell as the place where Elizabeth I rallied her troops against the Spanish Armada in 1588.