These two areas collectively known as Clerkenwell act as a buffer zone between the City and the trendy London suburbs lying due north and are a prime example of how a new zest for life can emerge from what was once an office overspill area from the city centre. High culture is well to the fore in the shape of The Royal Shakespeare Company which is based in the sprawling Barbican Arts Centre and all the districts' eateries benefit from the proximity of Smithfield's meat market. Smithfield's is an institution that is as necessary today as it has always been and is worthy of a passing visit on the way to St Paul's or before trying one of the popular bars and restaurants in the Farringdon area which has developed a trendy reputation over the past few years. That quintessentially London synthesis of old world and new ideas is embodied by the former headquarters of Zetters football pools, a 19th-century, five-storey building that has been transformed into a hotel of quirky distinction.

Excellent bus and underground travel connections from Barbican tube and Farrington Street secure easy journeys toward Oxford Circus, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Covent Garden or Tower of London and Liverpool Street. Bank Station (DLR rail and Central, Northern, District, Circle and Waterloo & City lines) is a key travel and transport interchange serving the heart of the City. Journeys to Canary Wharf via DLR take only 12 minutes. A large number of local buses connect the area with almost every corner of London.

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