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Home > Travel Europe > Europe Destinations > St Albans
St Albans
Europe is one of the five inhabited traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and to the southeast by the waterways adjoining the Mediterranean to and including the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains. On the east, Europe is divided from Asia by the water divide of the Ural Mountains and by the Caspian Sea. Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area and third-largest continent after Asia and Africa in population.
St Albans is the main urban area of the city and district of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles north of central London. It was the first major town on the old Roman road Watling Street for travelers heading north and was previously the Roman city of Verulamium. After the Roman withdrawal, and prior to becoming known as St Albans, the town was called Verlamchester or Waeclingacaester. It has the total population of 82,429 inhabitants.
Housing is expensive relative to England in general, mainly due to fast commuting to London, especially the City, by train. The local road transport network is another factor, St Albans is at the meeting point of the A5183 and the A1081. The M25 runs east-west just south of the city; and both the M1, only a few miles to the west, and the A1, five miles to the east, can provide fast connections to London and the north. Apart from its historic core, St Albans is highly suburban in character, with much of its housing stock built in the inter-war years and during post-war expansion. Now entirely surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt, it is seeing significant infill development and pressure to relax the Green Belt restrictions.
The St Albans area has a long history of settlement. The Celtic Catuvellauni tribe had a settlement at Prae Hill a mile or so to the west. The Roman town of Verulamium, second-largest town in Roman Britain after Londinium, was built alongside this in the valley of the River Ver a little nearer to the present town centre. The mediaeval town grew up on the hill to the east of this around the Benedictine foundation of St Albans Abbey.
The picturesque scenery, the majesty of nature, the slow pace of life, and the welcoming nature of its people all combine to make this region one of the most important tourist attractions in Europe.
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