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The official home of the Queen, Buckingham Palace is one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, where the changing of the Queen’s guard happens every day (see Buckingham Palace).

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.

This royal abbey has, since 1066, been the place where all Britain’s monarchs have been crowned (seeWestminster Abbey and Parliament Square).

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

Designed by John Nash as a junction in Regent Street, the Circus is the endpoint of the street called Piccadilly. Its Eros statue – erected as a memorial to the Earl of Shaftesbury – is a familiar London landmark and a popular meeting place. Piccadilly Circus is also renowned for its neon advertising displays, which mark the entrance to the city’s entertainment district. On the south side of the Circus is the Criterion Theatre, next to Lillywhite’s – a leading sporting-goods store.

Ornate oriental archways in Gerrard Street mark the entrance to Chinatown, an area of London that has, since the 1950s, been the focus of the capital’s Chinese residents. Here you can shop at Chinese supermarkets, gift shops and martial arts suppliers and, on Sundays, browse the street stalls selling exotic vegetables. The Chinese New Year, celebrated in late January or early February, is a particular highlight. Chinatown abounds with excellent-value restaurants.

The main street in Soho is a lively thoroughfare both day and night. It is also the centre of London’s sex scene, and now the site of popular gay pubs, Compton’s of Soho and the Admiral Duncan. Soho’s vibrant streetlife spills into Frith, Greek and Wardour streets, where pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafés have pavement tables, often warmed by gas heaters in winter. Some, like Bar Italia in Frith Street and Balans Café at 34 Old Compton Street, are open 24 hours. Everywhere fills up when the evening’s performance at the Prince Edward Theatre ends. A delicious breakfast is to be had at Patisserie Valerie, and such long-standing shops as the Italian delicatessen I Camisi, and the Vintage House (700 whiskies in stock), give the area its village feel. Body tattooists are at work here, and fetish shops show that the sex industry still flourishes.

Old Compton Street

Bar Italia, Frith Street

Take the escalator to the top of Funland and make your way down through this electronic jungle of video games and virtual- reality rides. There are dodgem cars, a race-track simulator and a bowling alley. Themed restaurants, bars, shops and cinemas fill up the space, as well as an HMV record store. The Planet Hollywood restaurant is next door.

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

Adjacent to the Piazza, this market sells antiques on Monday and crafts at the weekend. It also sells clothes and tacky souvenirs the rest of the week.

The centre has a restaurant and bar as well as a bookshop on two floors. Ethnic goods are also sold.

This delightful enclave is full of colour, with painted shop fronts, flower-filled window-boxes and oil-drums and cascades of plants tumbling down the walls. This is alternative London, with wholefoods and such alternative therapies as Chinese medicines, walk-in back rubs, acupuncture and self-esteem training. Try the wholesome bread and cakes at Neal’s Yard Bakery and be amazed by the variety of British cheeses on offer in nearby Neal’s Yard Dairy.

The nation’s most important art collections are held in these two galleries, which hold some of the finest paintings in the world (see National Gallery and Portrait Gallery).

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

London’s two Tate galleries house a superb collection of international art. Modern focuses on contemporary work after 1900, and Britain on national art from 1500 to the present (see Tate Modern and Tate Britain).

The enormous and varied collection here explores both the geology of the Earth and the incredible range of life it supports (see Natural History Museum).

A huge museum with fascinating exhibits that demonstrate and explain the wonders of science (see Science Museum).

Based in a clean white 1930s building beside Tower Bridge, this museum is the only one in Britain devoted to 20th- and 21st-century design. Regularly changing exhibitions feature the very best of modern design from the museum’s collection, including both product and graphic design, fashion, furniture, architecture and engineering.

This museum of decorative arts is one of London’s great pleasures, with 145 astonishingly eclectic galleries. One of the highlights is the huge Fashion Collection, with exhibits dating from 1600 to the present day. The museum also has collections of jewellery, ceramics, metalwork, glass, paintings, prints, sculpture and rooms full of Indian and Far Eastern treasures.

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.

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.

When the Pool of London was the gateway to the city’s larder, this flamboyant bridge was constantly being raised and lowered for sail and steam ships bringing their cargoes from all corners of the Empire. Pedestrians who needed to cross the river when the bridge was open had to climb up the 300 steps of the towers to the walkway overhead. Today, visitors on the 90-minute Tower Bridge Exhibition tour still have views from the 40-m (135-ft) high walkways. The entrance is beneath the north pier, where a “journey through time” begins. It ends with a hands-on experience in the massive engine room, and exits via a shop on the south bank of the river.

This stunning, blade-like suspension bridge links Tate Modern on Bankside with St Paul’s and the City opposite. Unfortunately, this new footbridge suffered from excessive movement when it opened to a rush of pedestrians in 2000. It has since reopened and is a delightful and apt approach to Tate Modern.

This gigantic observation wheel (the largest ever built) is opposite the Houses of Parliament, on the South Bank, and offers great views of the city (see London Eye).

A middle-of-the-road department store that sells everything from tools to toys.

This sophisticated department store prides itself on being “never knowingly undersold”. If you can prove another shop sells the same item for less, you pay the lower price. It has a thoughtful gifts department on the ground floor, and the staff are both helpful and knowledgeable.

This flagship British brand is known for its underwear and food.

This innovative London kitchen store has a huge variety of cooking implements, utensils and tableware. Open Sunday afternoons.

Scissors, clocks, books, boomerangs – this store shows what a right-handed world we live in. All left-handed people should find something here.

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

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

The best of British ceramics, made by members of the Craftsmen Potters Association, are on sale here. Prices are reasonable and the work is bright, original and inspiring.

The name is familiar but you will be surprised at the varieties that these boots and shoes come in. Well worth a browse

This basement restaurant is the original of a chain of modern Oriental eating houses, offering fast, efficient service. Inexpensive Japanese dishes are served cafeteria-style, with diners eating side-by-side.

Things don’t get going here much before 9pm, and the jazz and blues go on until 2am Mon–Thu, 3am Fri–Sat. Cajun chicken and fajitas are on the menu.