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Morning

Before setting out for the day, reserve a ticket for MadameTussaud’s for the afternoon. Start at Bond Street Underground, exiting on Oxford Street. Opposite is St Christopher Place, a narrow lane with charming shops, which opens into an attractive pedestrian square. Stop for a coffee break at one of Sofra’s pavement tables.

Continue into Marylebone Lane, a pleasant side street of small shops, which leads to Marylebone High Street and its wide choice of designer shops, including The Conran Shop . Stop awhile in the peaceful memorial garden of St Marylebone Parish Church, planted with various exotic trees. Methodist minister and hymn-writer Charles Wesley (1707-88) has a memorial here

Afternoon

For lunch, the Orrery , beside The Conran Shop, is recommended. For a lighter snack, try Patisserie Valerie at 105 Marylebone High Street.

After lunch, bypass the legendary lines of people outside Madame Tussaud’sand spend an hour and a half checking out celebrity wax figures and the Planetarium.

Cross Marylebone Road to Baker Street, for tea and a sandwich at Reubens , before heading for the charming Sherlock Holmes Museumat No. 221b, a faithful reconstruction of the fictional detective’s home.

Morning

Starting from St James’s Park Underground, walk up through Queen Anne’s Gate, noting the lovely 18th-century houses. Pass through the alley in the corner into Birdcage Walk then into St James’s Park . Get a coffee from the café by the lake and watch the pelicans before heading up to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard at 11am. After the ceremony, head up The Mall, past St James’s Palace and into St James’s Street. Turn right into Jermyn Street, and check out such traditional shops as cheese seller, Paxton and Whitfield, and perfumery, Floris. Walk through Wren’s St James’s Church near the end of the street, leaving by the north exit where a craft market is held. Head west down Piccadilly to Fortnum’s.

Afternoon

Fortnum & Mason is the perfect place to buy tea, as a souvenir, and to have lunch, in the Fountain restaurant, where the dieter’s choice is caviar and half a bottle of champagne.

Cross Piccadilly to the Royal Academy of Arts and spend an hour on their permanent collection, including Michelangelo’s sculpture,Madonna and Child . Window shop along Burlington Arcade and then the galleries of Cork Street . Turn left into Bond Street, heading for Brown’s stylish hotel in Albemarle Street, where you can relax over a lavish English tea.

Morning

Starting at Hampstead tube station, head left down pretty Flask Walk (The Flask pub once sold spa water) to the local museum in BurghHousefor some background on the area. Then spend some time exploring the many attractive back streets, which are lined with expensive Georgian houses and mansions. Visit Well Walk, fashionable in the days of the Hampstead spa (a fountain in Well Passage on the left still remains), and Elm Row, where D H Lawrence lived at No. 1.

Stop for a coffee at one of the many cafés along Hampstead High Street and then make your way to Keats House , spending half an hour looking around. Afterwards, a stroll across Hampstead Heath to Kenwood Housewill prepare you for lunch.

Afternoon

The Brew House Café at Kenwood serves excellent light meals and has a fine position beside the house, overlooking the lake. After lunch, a visit to the house will take an hour or so.

Leave the Heath by the nearby East Lodge and catch a No. 210 bus back towards Hampstead. The bus passes the Spaniards Inn and Whitestone Pond - the highest point on the Heath. Alight at the pond and walk to the tube station, taking a train to Camden Town. Get lost for the rest of the afternoon in lively Camden Lock Market , ending the day with a drink and some food on the LockTavernroof terrace.