Blackfriars

Blackfriars occupies a quiet oddity in the London rail network: its overground platforms are built directly across the Thames, offering passengers an open river panorama mid-journey — one of very few stations in London where the ride itself doubles as a bridge crossing. The name traces back to a Dominican priory founded here in the 13th century, whose friars wore black cloaks that gave the area its enduring name. Henry VIII dissolved the monastery in 1538 during his sweeping suppression of English religious houses, and nothing of the priory survives above ground today. Sitting at the edge of the City of London financial district and served by both national rail and the Circle and District underground lines, the station processes more than 27 million journeys a year — making the Thames views between the platforms an easily overlooked pleasure hiding in plain commuter sight.