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Located adjacent to each other at the top of Trafalgar Square, these comprehensive galleries make up the core of Britain’s art collection.

The oldest museum in the world, it contains a rich collection of treasures and artifacts from every corner of the globe (see British Museum).

The world’s largest maritime museum, perfectly located in part of Wren’s Royal Naval Hospital, has much to offer. The 1805 Battle of Trafalgar is re-enacted, and Admiral Nelson’s fatally pierced tunic is on display. Antarctic expeditions are recalled and there is a collection of boats, from coracles to royal barges. State-of-the-art simulators give an idea of modern navigation and what it was like when theTitanicwent down.

In this museum, which is housed in part of the former Bethlehem (“Bedlam”) Hospital for the Insane, a clock in the basement moves remorselessly on, recording the world’s war dead – a figure that has now reached 100 million. Six million of them are commemorated in the Holocaust Exhibition. Other displays include evocative re-creations of World War I trench warfare and the life of Londoners during the World War II Blitz. Now it is “total war” that we have to contemplate, and this, too, is explored.

The ancient Palace of Westminster is the seat of the two Houses of Parliament – the Lords and the Commons. A Union flag flies on the Victoria Tower when the Commons is in session. Night sittings are indicated by a light on the Clock Tower – the tower that houses Big Ben, the 14-ton bell whose hourly chimes are recognized around the world.

To see a Shakespeare play at the reconstructed Globe is a magical experience. Seated in three tiers, open to the skies, the audience is encouraged to heckle and shout as they did in Shakespeare’s day. Except when a matinee is playing, visitors to the exhibition next door are given guided tours of the theatre by staff.

Some of the most innovative British designers have worked for London Transport, and their posters and furnishings are on display here. See vehicles that have served the city for two centuries. The bookshop sells souvenir model buses, taxis and goods displaying the distinctive London Underground symbol.

Trafalgar Square – once the royal mews – is a hub of the West End and a venue for public rallies and events. From the top of a 50-m (165-ft) column, Admiral Lord Nelson, who famously defeated Napoleon’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, looks down Whitehall towards the Houses of Parliament. The column is guarded at its base by four huge lions – the work of Edwin Landseer. On the north side of the square is the National Galleryand the church of St-Martin-in-the-Fields while, to the southwest, Admiralty Arch leads to Buckingham Palace.

Admiralty Arch

When Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for The Hall of Arts and Sciences, to everyone’s astonishment she put the wordsRoyalAlbertbefore its name, and today it is usually just referred to as the Albert Hall. It is a huge, nearly circular building, modelled on Roman amphitheatres, and seats 7,000. Circuses, boxing matches and all manner of musical entertainments are held here, notably the Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.

Royal Albert Hall

The World Heritage Site of Greenwich includes Sir Christopher Wren’s Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory Greenwich where the Prime Meridian, Longitude 0 , was established. In the fine park are the Queen’s Houseand National Maritime Museum. Greenwich has several excellent restaurants and marine-related shops as well as a market selling arts, crafts and antiques. The old tea clipper, theCutty Sark , is nearby.

Clock at Royal Observatory

This comprehensive museum located near the Barbican Centre provides a detailed account of London life from prehistoric times to the present day. It is particularly strong on Roman Londinium, but also has a model re-creating the Great Fire of 1666 and a reconstruction of a Victorian street including several original shopfronts.

Take a camera when you visit here so you can have your picture taken sitting by the fire in the great detective’s front room, wearing a deerstalker hat and smoking a pipe. This museum is great fun, brilliantly reconstructed with some excellent touches. A Victorian policeman stands guard outside, uniformed maids let you in and, upstairs, wax dummies (including the villainous Moriarty) re-enact moments from Holmes’s most famous cases.

A great place to spend a Saturday, this rambling market around Camden Lock takes in several streets and buildings. Street fashion, world crafts... it’s as if the 1960s never ended. Sundays are a crush.

West London’s liveliest street starts off selling quality antiques, and continues through to bric-à-brac indoor galleries. As it heads north, there are food stalls, crafts, clothes and music. The market is held on Saturdays only.

There has been a market here since the 18th century, and the daily fruit and vegetable stalls remain cheap, cheerful and thoroughly Cockney. Half the time, traders talk in old money (“ten bob” is 50p) and round things up to a “nicker” or a “quid” (£1). It opens around 9am six days a week.

The market was named after Edward Shepherd who built a two-storey house here in around 1735. Today, this pedestrianized area in the heart of Mayfair is a good place to visit on a summer evening for a drink or meal. Ye Grapes, dating from 1882, is the principal pub, while local restaurants include L ’Artiste Musclé, Le Boudin Blanc and The Village Bistro. During the 17th century, an annual May Fair was held here, giving the area its name.

For 300 years, Covent Garden was a fruit, vegetable and flower market – immortalized by Lerner and Loewe’s hit musicalMy Fair Lady . In 1980 the Victorian halls, with their lovely iron and glass roofs, were transformed into a vibrant, modern-day market place, surrounded by cafés and bars and enlivened by regular street entertainment.

Shops and cafés in the former market area

Street entertainment in Covent Garden

Clowns in Covent Garden

In a street of bookshops, this grandmother of all bookshops is something of an institution. A vast range of subject matter is covered.

In business since 1870, this traditional perfumery carries a glorious range of old-fashioned English scents and soaps for men and women. Perfect for gifts.

Claimed to be the largest bookshop in Europe, Waterstone’s stocks a quarter of a million titles. There’s a restaurant, cafés and bars.

London’s most famous and exclusive department store is more of an event than a shop. Covering seven bustling floors, it is full of extraordinary things to buy – from wild animals to pianos to children’s racing cars – all with equally extraordinary prices. The food hall is rightly famous, and don’t miss the tiled meat hall or basement pantry and cheese hall.

Opened in 1887, this is one of the oldest shops in Soho. It exudes a wonderful aroma of the many kinds of coffee it sells. Speciality teas and herbal infusions can also be bought here.

Coffee makers, Algerian Coffee Stores

Famous for its food hall and restaurants, this elegant department store still has male staff who wear coat tails. Try the extravagant ice creams in the Fountain restaurant.

Good food from all over the country comes to this traditional covered market near Southwark Cathedral. Try some cheeses, breads, chocolate and local beer.

One of London’s best-known delicatessens, famous for its fresh pasta, this is like stepping into a 1950s Italian grocery store.

One of the best chocolate shops in town selling a tempting array of handmade chocolates. Fill one of the pretty boxes, which come in a range of sizes, with your own choice of chocolates.

Over a hundred teas – from Moroccan Minty to Mango & Maracuja – are on sale at this speciality shop in Neal Street. There are also novelty teapots and books on how to master the very English art of tea-making.

A West End whisky specialist, Milroy’s has a small bar where malts can be sampled.

Wines can be tried out on a tour of this exhibition of viticulture, and the shop stocks over a thousand varieties.

A classic Soho café with a wide range of delicious cakes and pastries: the fresh croissants make it a good place for breakfast. Its Frenchness extends to the smoky atmosphere, but there is a no-smoking area downstairs.

Snug, old English pub with tables outside in summer. The dining room upstairs serves traditional English food.

Sausages and beer are the things to have in this trendy restaurant.

A great restaurant near Smithfield meat market, this is in a converted smokehouse. It serves tasty variations of offal, tripe, tongue, heart and other traditional British dishes which 21st-century Londoners find rather daring. Bar-menu snacks are not expensive.

One of London’s best kosher restaurants offering such comfort food as chopped liver and salt beef.

Genuine Irish pub serving modern European food with Irish overtones, Guinness and a good choice of whiskeys.

Combining artistry and craftsmanship, Gerald Coleman creates some of London’s most innovative chocolates.

Sit at the bar or out on the heated pavement and enjoy the best Italian coffee in London. A huge screen at the back of the bar shows Italian football matches. Open 24 hours.

Solid French food, such as fried goose liver, is served here. Nico Ladenis, one of London’s best chefs, is now retired and the restaurant is run by his daughter.

Indian curries are almost a national dish in Britain, but this is quite different from the norm. The cooking is stunning, and first-timers will need talking through the unusual menu, which includes delicious fish dishes.

This is simply the best place in central London for traditional British fish and chips.

London’s oldest restaurant (1798), Rules has a wonderful, genuine Belle Epoque atmosphere, and remains a great British institution, not resting on its laurels. It specializes mainly in game – much of it from the northern estates of its owner, John Mayhew.

Dating from 1700, this pub has a country atmosphere and good cask beer. It serves home-made pub food, lunchtime and evenings between 6 and 8:30pm.

Another carnivores’ delight, this large warehouse restaurant serves daily meat market specials.

Attached to an excellent food shop, the restaurant has a simple French-based menu that changes twice a day.