traveldk.com

When in Soho, you have to do something naughty. Ann Summers sex shops have been around so long they seem quite tame – but their products really are rather risqué.

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

The British royal family have bought their jewels here for more than a century. Other gift items to be found here include pens and silver picture frames.

Creative café, popular with children, where you can decorate your own ceramic, glass, fabric or wooden items. They provide all the equipment as well as coffee, tea and snacks.

Based in the 1930s building that once housed two of London’s major department stores are various fashion outlets including Monsoon, Jigsaw, Hobbs and Karen Millen.

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

Find exquisite crafts and jewellery in this museum shop. Everything from a pair of earrings modelled on those of ancient Egypt or a replica Roman bust to contemporary crafts.

London’s most famous designer clothing store stocks pieces by Jill Sander, Dries van Noten and John Galliano among many others.

As much a society outing as a horticultural event, this is the Royal Horticultural Society’s prestigious annual show. Beautiful and imaginative gardens are created especially for the event.

Scores of international films are shown in this three-week festival when cinemas, including the National Film Theatre, reduce prices. A booth is set up in Leicester Square to take bookings and distribute programmes.

This three-day Caribbean festival is Europe’s largest carnival, with steel bands and DJ’s playing all imaginable kinds of music, street food, brilliant costumes and lively dancers. Children’s parades on Sunday, grown-ups’ on Monday.

Around 1,000 works are selected from the public and academicians for the art world’s most eclectic summer show. Works sell for as little as £100.

The Queen celebrates her official birthday on Horse Guards Parade where troops of the Household Division, in their famous red tunics and bearskin hats, put on an immaculate display of marching and drilling before escorting her to Buckingham Palace.

The world’s top grass-court championships.

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.

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.

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

This edifice to Queen Victoria’s beloved consort, Prince Albert, glowing from a recent restoration, is a fitting tribute to the man who played a large part in establishing the South Kensington museums. Located opposite the Royal Albert Hall, the memorial was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1876. At its four corners are tableaux representing the Empire, which was at its height in Victoria’s reign.

The home of the Duke of Wellington, Apsley House is still partly occupied by the family. Designed by Robert Adam in the 1770s, the mansion is given over to paintings, and memorabilia of the great military leader. Paintings include several fine works by Diego Velázquez, includingThe Waterseller of Seville . Antonio Canova’s nude statue of Napoleon has special poignancy.

This large south London park is ideal for children. There are colourful gardens, an adventure playground, boating lake, deer enclosure and a children’s zoo.

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.

Everyone will find something to delight them here: from dolls and teddy bears to train sets and games through the ages. Each weekend there is a soft play-zone for under-fives and art classes for older kids. There are regular activities themed to complement current exhibitions.

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

All the outdoor gear you could ever want plus lots of useful gadgets and gizmos.

Write a letter home on these fine hand-made papers. The shop is also a specialist on bookbinding.

An up-market, pleasantly small department store.

London’s most elegant store has hardly noticed the arrival of the 21st century. The ground-floor food hall is famous for its traditional English produce, and lavish picnic hampers can be found, along with wines, in the basement. The upper floors sell well-made traditional British fashions and stylish gifts.

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.

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

London’s most exclusive shopping street, Bond Street (known as New Bond Street to the north and Old Bond Street to the south) has long been the place for high society to promenade: many of its establishments have been here for over 100 years. The street is home to top fashion houses, elegant galleries such as Agnews and the Fine Art Society, Sotheby’s auction rooms and jewellers such as Tiffany and Asprey. Where Old and New Bond Street meet, there is a delightful sculpture of wartime leaders Franklin D Roosevelt and Winston Churchill – well worth a photograph.

Once the centre of London’s Jewish population, this street is now the heart of London’s Bangladeshi community. Head here for inexpensive, authentic Indian food at restaurants such as Preem and Shampan, where a three-course meal can be had for a mere £10. Some of the best bagels in the city are made at the Brick Lane Bagel Bake at No. 159 – a famous dawn haunt for late-night revellers. There are vintage clothing/designer shops and, on Sundays, a lively flea market.

The highest observational wheel in the world, offering amazing views of the city and beyond. While waiting for a flight, visit the attractions in nearby County Hall –Saatchi Gallery, London Aquarium, Namco Station and Dalí Museum.

At 190 m (620 ft), this was the tallest building in London when it opened in 1965. Sadly, the revolving restaurant on top has been closed, for security reasons, but the Tower Tavern in Cleveland Street has a good large-scale diagram explaining the tower’s constituent parts (as well as hand-pulled beer).

Built in 1703, Burgh House houses Hampstead Museum, which has a good selection of local books and a map of the famous people who have lived in the area. The panelled music room is used for art exhibitions, concerts and meetings, and there is a pleasant café with garden tables.

This arcade of bijou shops was built in 1819 for Lord George Cavendish of Burlington House (see Royal Academy of Arts) to prevent people from throwing rubbish into his garden. The arcade is patrolled by uniformed beadles who make sure that no unseemly behaviour, such as whistling, takes place.

During the dark days of World War II, Winston Churchill and his War Cabinet met in these rooms beneath the Government Treasury Chambers. They have been kept just as they were left in 1945, with sandbags piled up outside and colour-coded phones. Take a guided audio tour through the rooms where ministers plotted the course of the war or visit the Churchill Museum which opened here in 2005.

The most exciting North London markets are open every weekend, and linked by the busy and colourful Camden High Street. Camden Market, near the tube station, is packed with stalls selling clothes, shoes and jewellery. Further up the road, by the canal, Camden Lock Market focuses on crafts and ethnic goods. Stalls in the warehouses of Stables Market have great food on sale. Open weekends only between 8am and 6pm.

Regent’s Canal, Camden Lock

The centrepiece of the Docklands development is Canary Wharf and the 240-m (800-ft) -high, 50-storey Canada Tower designed by the US architect, Cesar Pelli. Although the tower is not open to the public, parts of the complex are open to visitors, including the mall, where there are shops, restaurants and bars. The star of area’s exciting architecture is the magnificent Canary Wharf station, designed by Norman Foster.

Vaulted glass roof, Canary Wharf DLR station

Home to Charles Dickens from 1837–39, during which time he completed some of his best work (includingOliverTwist ,Nicholas Nickleby andPickwick Papers ), this four-storey terraced house offers a fascinating glimpse into the life and times of the great Victorian author and social reformer. Some rooms have been laid out exactly as they were in Dickens’ time. Nearby Doughty Mews provides another step back to Victorian times.

This piece of Italy in London is a high spot of English 18th-century architecture. The square villa, with its dome and portico, was built for Lord Burlington, with beautifully painted interiors by William Kent. Temples, statues and a lake complete the Italianate gardens.

Londoners head east on Sunday mornings for the bustling street markets. In addition to Petticoat Lane in Middlesex Street, with its bargain clothes and household items, and Brick Lane’s bric-à-brac, there is the teeming plant and flower market in Columbia Road. Ten minutes’ walk from the north end of Brick Lane, Columbia Road is a delightful cornucopia of all things horticultural at bargain prices.

Columbia Road Market

The official home and office of Britain’s Prime Minister is one of four surviving houses built in 1680 for Sir George Downing (1623–84) who went to America as a boy and returned to fight for the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. The building contains a State Dining Room and the Cabinet Room, where a group of 20 senior government ministers meets regularly to formulate policy. Next door, No. 11, is the traditional residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Downing Street has been closed to the public for security reasons since 1989.

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.

Every kind of souvenir commemorating Britain’s most famous band is on sale here. The Elvis Presley shop is next door.

Once London’s longest street market, stalls sell inexpensive music, clothes, hardware and food. Open mornings Mon–Fri.

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

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

A welcome retreat from the city, this large, open area is one of the best places in London for walking. Covering 800 acres of countryside, it contains ancient woodlands and ponds for swimming and fishing. The high point of Parliament Hill has great city views and is a popular place for kite-flying.

Hampstead Heath

Visiting this historic, royal Tudor palace and its extensive grounds is a popular day out from London. As well as family trails and special exhibitions, tours of six separate areas with costumed or audio guides are available. Events held here throughout the year include a week-long music festival in June, which regularly attracts big-name performers. In July, the grounds are filled by the world’s largest flower show, organized by the Royal Horticultural Society. A frequent train service from Waterloo takes about half an hour but for a delightfully leisurely trip, catch a boat from Westminster Pier, which takes about four hours.

Opened in 1909, this store has a handsome neoclassical façade adorned with imposing columns and a huge clock. A London institution, Selfridges is still popular for women’s fashion.

Selfridges window

View everything from pop star memorabilia to Old Master paintings at this fine arts auction house founded in 1744.

Free concerts are held at both the Royal Festival Hall (currently undergoing refurbishment) and the National Theatre. Both have shops selling books and music. Secondhand books are sold under Waterloo Bridge.

With an extensive range of travel guides, literature and maps, this shop is a traveller’s paradise. The basement is devoted to the British Isles and sailing.

A wide selection of audio books, including many English classic works. Most are read by famous actors.

Here you can pick up a CD of a musical you’ve just seen and, in the basement, buy the song sheets and books so you can sing along at home.

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

This is a delightful royal residence on a domestic scale, still in use by members of the royal family: Diana, Princess of Wales lived here as did Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister. The first-floor state apartments, built by Sir Christopher Wren for King William III and Queen Mary, are open to the public, and the audio guide (free; pick one up as there is no literature or labelling in the rooms) evokes 17th–18th-century court life. Rooms on the ground floor have a collection of royal costumes, including those belonging to Queen Elizabeth II and Diana.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s official London residence is a famous riverside landmark. It dates from the 13th century, but it is the red-brick Tudor Gatehouse, from 1485, that gives the palace a distinctive appearance.

When this square was originally laid out in 1670 it was a grand and fashionable place to live. Celebrities of the 17th and 18th centuries to live here include Sir Isaac Newton and the painters Joshua Reynolds and William Hogarth. Today the square forms the heart of London’s West End entertainment district and houses the Empire and Art Deco Odeon cinemas. There is also a cut-price theatre ticket booth called “Tkts” on the southside of the square.

Seven watery environments are spread across two floors in this engaging display. They range from freshwater ponds to coral reefs, mangrove swamps to deep mysterious oceans. Sit and watch the sharks and piranhas being fed, or pick up a crab or starfish in the hands-on tidal- pool exhibit.

The scariest experience in town celebrates an “orgy of grisly entertainment”, with death, torture and violence at every turn. Follow in the bloody footsteps of the Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper, witness medieval murders, the 17th-century Fire of London, or go to your own execution on Judgment Day. Not for the faint-hearted.

London Dungeon

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.

There’s a full day out to be had in this 36-acre zoo. Home of the Zoological Society of London, the zoo emphasizes its important international role in conservation and research work. Its cages and enclosures have won awards, such as the aviary designed by Lord Snowdon. The children’s zoo is full of things to do, with a pet care centre, Animals in Action and Predatory Birds displays.

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.

One of London’s most popular attractions, this is where you can see everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Queen. A Spirit of London ride takes you on a whistle-stop tour of the city’s history. The famous Chamber of Horrors puts you face-to-face with London’s most infamous criminals and has the very guillotine that beheaded Queen Marie Antoinette in the French Revolution. The next-door Planetarium has a 30-minute star show and two interactive exhibits unravelling the mysteries of space. Get there early to avoid waiting in long lines.

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 62-m (202-ft) monument by Sir Christopher Wren is the world’s tallest free-standing stone column. Its height is equal to the distance from the baker’s shop in Pudding Lane where the Great Fire of London began in 1666 – the event that it marks. Inside, 311 stairs spiral up to a viewing platform; when you return to the entrance, you will receive a certificate to say that you have made the climb.

Children are invited to spend the day at this East End museum, which has one of the largest toy collections in the world, including dolls, teddies, puppets, games and children’s costumes. Activities are organized on weekends.

An essential visit for anyone interested in the history of London. The city of the past is evoked through reconstructed streets, shops and domestic interiors and visits are organized to historic London buildings. Don’t miss the Lord Mayor’s coach.

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 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

This lively park is not just for children. It has a pleasant riverside promenade beside a Buddhist Peace Pagoda, lakeside walks and the Festival Gardens.

Rent bikes from On Your Bike in London Bridge (020 7378 6669) and The London Bicycle Tour Company in Gabriel’s Wharf (020 7928 6838).

The best place is the stables at Hyde Park.

Central London’s largest green area can tire out any walker. It takes about an hour and a half to walk around, but there are plenty of diversions, from the Serpentine Gallery, to cafés, fountains and flower gardens.

Indoors at the Leisurebox in Queensway. Outdoor winter rinks are at the Broadgate Centre and Somerset House.

London’s open spaces and woodlands are full of plants and wildlife to discover.

It’s possible to walk along the whole 14-km (8.5-mile) canal from Paddington to Limehouse. The most accessible part lies between Camden Lock and Regent’s Park, where grand houses back on to the water. Further on, in Little Venice, moored “narrowboats” are owned by the wealthy.

Richmond has a lovely aspect on the River Thames. Apart from its royal parkthere is a lot to see and do, with riverside pubs and cafés, and boats to rent. It’s a half-hour walk along the towpath to the 17th-century Ham House, owned by the National Trust. In summer you can take a ferry across to Marble Hill House in Twickenham.

For indoors try Islington Tennis Centre, Market Rd N7. Outdoors, Holland Park, Battersea Park or Regent’s Park.

There are a number of public indoor pools.

Start by the London Eye and walk along the South Bank downstream to London Bridge and the Design Museum beyond Butler’s Wharf. This stretch of the Thames Path has enough to distract you all day.

It is easy to get lost in this wild public space. Start by the Windmill and go down to Queens Mere Pond or stride out along the cinder horse track to the pine copse of Caesar’s Camp, an old Iron Age hill fort.

A stylish pizza and pasta restaurant behind Oxford Street.

Trendy cocktail bar and restaurant serving modern European cuisine. Open until 3am Mon–Sat.

London’s impressive premier music venue is home to both the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet Companies. The present Neo-Classical theatre was designed in 1858 by E M Barry and incorporated a portico frieze recovered from the previous building, which had been destroyed by fire. The Opera House has recently spread its wings into the lovely Floral Hall, once part of Covent Garden market and now housing a champagne bar.

This former royal garden holds the world’s largest plant collection of around 30,000 specimens. Kew Palace and Queen Charlotte’s Cottage were used as residences by George III, whose mother, Princess Augusta, laid the first garden here. Take a Kew Explorer Bus tour of the gardens – you can get on and off it any time.

Queen Charlotte’s Cottage

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

Major visiting art exhibitions are staged at Burlington House, home of Britain’s most prestigious fine arts institution. The building is one of Piccadilly’s few surviving 17th-century mansions – you can see the former garden front on the way up to the Sackler Galleries. Near the entrance to the galleries is Michelangelo’sMadonna and Child (1505) – part of the Royal Academy’s permanent collection and one of only four Michelangelo sculptures outside Italy. In the Academy’s popular, annual summer exhibition, new works by both established and unknown artists are displayed.

This attractive, wealthy riverside suburb, with its quaint shops and pubs and pretty lanes, is particularly worth a visit for its attractive riverside walks and its vast royal park. There is also a spacious Green, where cricket is played in summer, which is overlooked by the lovely restored Richmond Theatre and the early 18th-century Maids of Honour Row, which stands next to the last vestiges of an enormous Tudor Palace. For some history visit the local Museum, in the Old Town Hall, where the Tourist Information office is based.

Carving over entrance to remains of Richmond Palace

Restored façade of Richmond Theatre

Richmond alley

The best part of Regent’s Park lies within the Inner Circle. Here are Queen Mary’s Gardens, with beds and bowers of wonderfully fragrant roses, the Open Air Theatre with its summer Shakespeare productions and the popular Park Café –one of half a dozen cafés in the park. Rowing boats, tennis courts and deck chairs can be rented and in summer musical performances take place on the bandstand.

John Nash wanted the canal to go through the centre of his new Regent’s Park, but objections from neighbours, who were concerned about smelly canal boats and foul-mouthed crews, resulted in it being sited on the northern side of the park. In 1874, a cargo of explosives demolished the North Gate bridge beside London Zoo.

Running through the centre of the decidedly fashionable Notting Hill, Portobello Road, with its extensive selection of antique shops, is a great place to spend some time. It is especially good on Saturday when the market is in full swing. This starts just beyond Westbourne Grove, with fruit and vegetables, bread, sausages, cheeses, then music, clothes and bric-à-brac. Beyond the railway bridge it becomes a flea market. Sit upstairs in the Café Grove (No. 253a) and watch it all go by, or quench your thirst in Fluid’s juice bar (13 Elgin Crescent). Ethnic food is otherwise what goes down best, and the West Indian flavour spills over into the vibrant music and colourful clothes stalls.

This delightful child-sized museum is a treasure-trove of historic toys. The shop below is crammed with old-fashioned playthings including Victorian toy theatre sheets, originally published by Benjamin Pollock.

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.

Invariably packed in the evenings, this lively bar stays open 24 hours. Hot dishes and sandwiches are on hand to keep people on their feet. Their eggs benedict is to die for!

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.

This modern reconstruction in oak, thatch and 36,000 handmade bricks is near the site of the original Globe Theatre, which burned down in 1613. The centre of the theatre is uncovered, so performances only happen during part of the year, but there is an interesting exhibition, plus a café and restaurant with river views.

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.

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.

This pleasant square, spiked with palms, is popular at lunchtime, after work and at weekends, when there’s always a friendly atmosphere, especially in summer. With the most fashionable address in London, many of the square’s buildings are now occupied by film companies. On the north side is a church built for French Protestants under a charter granted by Edward VI in 1550. The redbrick St Patrick’s, on the east side, sometimes has music recitals. On the corner of Greek Street is the House of St Barnabas in Soho, a charitable foundation in an 18th-century building which is occasionally open to visitors.

Once a grand riverside palace, and later home to the Navy Board, Somerset House is now partly occupied by the Civil Service. A large amount of the building, though, is open to the public. Aside from the Courtauld Gallery it houses the Gilbert Collection of decorative art and the Hermitage Rooms, which display a collection of art from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia.

Mussels with mayonnaise and fries, washed down with one of a 100 different beers, are the mainstay here, with waiters dressed as monks serving at the long refectory tables. Try the set- price £6 lunches.

The most accessible arts centre in London still has the air of friendly, egalitarian optimism that brought it into life in the 1950s and 60s. The Royal Festival Hall’s three concert halls have diverse programmes while the Hayward Gallery is a major venue for large art exhibitions. The National Film Theatre, run by the British Film Institute, puts on a full programme of movies. The Royal National Theatre’s three theatres (Olivier, Cottesloe and Lyttleton) are further east along the riverside.

Streets such as Fournier Street, lined with 18th-century Huguenot silk weavers’ houses, are a reminder that this area, just east of the City, has provided a refuge for immigrant populations for centuries. London’s oldest market, Old Spitalfields Market still has stalls selling food, as well as several cafés and shops dotted around its edge. But Sunday is the day when the market draws hundreds, eager to find a bargain among the fashion, vintage clothing, and crafts stalls here. Opposite the market is one of Europe’s great Baroque churches. Christ Church (1716) was designed by Wren’s pupil, architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661–1736).

Built by Henry VIII, on the site of the former hospital of St James, the palace is the official residence of Prince Charles. The red brick Tudor gatehouse is a familiar landmark.

This is undoubtedly London’s most elegant park, with dazzling flower beds, exotic wildfowl on the lake (watch the pelicans being fed at 3pm), a good café with outdoor seating and music on the bandstand in summer. The bridge over the lake has a good view to the west of Buckingham Palace and, to the east, of the former Colonial Office where just 125 civil servants once governed the British Empire that covered one fifth of the world.

Near Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, this is the place to come and relax, to watch the rich on their yachts and the working sailors on the Thames barges. There are several cafés, the Dickens Inn, with outside tables, and the Aquarium restaurant for a serious meal.

One of the glories of Victorian Gothic architecture, this railway terminus was designed in 1874 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, who also designed the Albert Memorial. Most of the frontage is in fact the former Midland Grand Hotel, which is presently being refurbished as part of the current Channel Tunnel railway terminus project.

Carved figures, St Pancras Parish Church

Inigo Jones built this church (known as the actors’ church) with the main portico facing east, onto the Piazza, and the altar at the west end. Clerics objected to this unorthodox arrangement, so the altar was moved. The entrance is via the west portico while the grand east door is essentially a fake.

Tex-Mex food and western music to put you in the mood. DJs keep the music flowing through to 3am from Wednesday to Saturday.

Sandwiches, salads and light meat and fish dishes are served until 3am Monday to Saturday and 11pm on Sunday.

This huge barrier across the lower reaches of the Thames, just past Greenwich, was built in 1982 to prevent the dangerous combination of wind and tides from flooding the city. The Visitors’ Centre explains the problem, detailing a long history of flooding in London.

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

Right in the heart of theatreland, this museum thrives on regular exhibitions and events, including costume workshops and make-up demonstrations. The galleries chart the development of British theatre from Shakespeare’s day. Buy a ticket for a combined tour of the museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Drury Lane is synonymous with the London stage and this glorious theatre explains why. It has a splendid entrance, with magnificent stairways leading to the circle seats. The auditorium is large enough to put on the biggest musical extravaganzas, includingSouth Pacific ,My Fair Lady ,Hello Dolly and Miss Saigon . The first theatre on this site was built in 1663 for Charles II whose mistress Nell Gwynne trod the boards.

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.

London’s enduring landmark is a neo-gothic wonder. A masterly piece of civil engineering, the bridge was built in 1894 with steam pumps to raise its two halves. Guided tours include views from the top.

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

Founded in 1836, UCL is the oldest college of London University and owns several fine academic collections. In the Petrie Museum is one of the largest collections of Egyptian archaeology in the world. Etchings, engravings and early English Mezzotints from the college’s art collection are exhibited in the Strang Print Room.Check out performances at the college’s Bloomsbury Theatre in Gordon Street.

A cornucopia of treasures is housed in this enchanting museum named after the devoted royal couple. There are fine and applied arts from all over the world, from ancient China to contemporary Britain. Highlights include extraordinary plaster copies of statues, and monuments and artifacts from the Italian Renaissance. Displays are arranged over six floors of galleries. The stunning new British Galleries display more than 3,000 objects illustrating the best of British art and design since 1500. There are restored period rooms and touchable objects.

London’s most venerable and most beautiful church, the scene of coronations and royal weddings and the resting place of monarchs.

With a view of the famous Centre Court, the museum tells the story of tennis, from its gentle, amateur beginnings to its exciting professional status today. The first tennis championship were held in Wimbledon in 1877.