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Leicester, England: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leicester_from_Welford_Place.jpgAuthor: esther
Leicester (pronounced "les-ter") is a city in East Midlands, England. It is the county town of Leicestershire. The city is located on the River Soar. It has a population of around 290,000 people with some 440,000 living in the Leicester Urban Area.
Leicester was founded as Ratae Coritanorum by the Romans in AD 50, making it one of the oldest cities in England. At that time it was a military outpost where the people were mostly of the Celtic Corieltauvi tribe.
Leicester became a center of industry for East Midlands in the 19th century when a network of railroads and canals were constructed. It specialized in the engineering, shoemaking and hosiery production. The growth of Leicester resulted in it being granted city status in 1919.
Today Leicester is regarded as one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United Kingdom. It has sizable population of people of South Asian ethnic origin. As a result, the city also has a number of Hindu, Sikh and Muslim places of workship. The Melton Road district of Leicester is where one can find a large number of Asian businesses, from restaurants to groceries.
Leicester Guildhall: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leicester_Guildhall.jpgAuthor: NotFromUtrecht
Going to Leicester
By Road: It is easiest to drive to Leicester from London, as the city is located adjacent to the M1 motorway. There are regular bus services by National Express from London and Birmingham to Leicester.By Plane: It is not as convenient to fly to Leicester than to take the road. To get to Leicester by plane, you need to fly to the East Midlands Airport and then take a bus (called "Airbus") from there to St Margarets Bus Station in Leicester. Alternatively, you can fly to Birmingham International Airport and then take the road to Leicester from there - the journey is 1 hour from the airport. By Train: The train by East Midlands Trains from London to Leeds stops at Leicester. It takes one hour and ten minutes from London.
Going around Leicester
There is an extensive bus network in Leicester operated by two companies, First Leicester and Arriva.
Jewry Wall, Leicester: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jewry_Wall_Dec09.jpgAuthor: NotFromUtrecht
Places of Interest in Leicester
- Gas Museum: Museum with exhibit on the gas industry.
- National Space Centre: The largest space visitor attraction in the United Kingdom.
- Leicester Guildhall: Grade 1 listed timber frame building dating back to the 14th century.
- Jewry Wall Museum: Museum on the grounds of Leicester's famous landmark, the Jewry Wall, which is part of the Roman public bath.
- New Walk Museum and Art Gallery: Museum and art gallery with exhibits of 20th century artists such as Francis Bacon and Peter Doig as well as Old Masters and ethnic artists.
- Abbey Park: Public park bought from the Earl of Dysart for flood alleviation in 1876.
- The Golden Mile: A stretch of Belgrave Road in Leicester, named for the number of gold jewellery shops there.
Leicester is 
on the Map of cities in England
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Map of Ceremonial Counties of England
About this website
Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.
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