London Guide
Sassy, noisy and brash, Europe’s biggest city is an eccentric collection of villages, obsessed with celebrity, fame and fortune. London's buildings, art and street culture have thrilled visitors for generations. Now it's your turn...
The cavernous power station of modern art, the Tate Modern sits just across the Thames from Sir Christopher Wren’s domed St Paul’s Cathedral. Big Ben tolls out of tune while London's posh ferris wheel, the London Eye keeps on turning. Traditional and tomorrow's culture is what London is all about.
Find fashion funhouse Top Shop and trendy department store Selfridges on Oxford Street, designer wear on Bond Street, glamour in Knightsbridge and electronics on Tottenham Court Road. Create a vintage look with fashion finds from London’s best street markets – Spitalfields, Camden and Portobello Road in Notting Hill.
When the sun shines, relax in London’s parks. The biggest and best are pristine Regent’s Park, where you can row on the lake or take the kids to London Zoo, centrally-located Hyde Park, hilly Hampstead Heath, which is perfect for kite-flying and mingling with the literati, and vast deer-dotted Richmond Park.
Evening lights up the theatres of the West End, home to long-running mega musicals and top quality drama. Enjoy ballet and great voices at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and dance at Sadler's Wells. The English National Ballet produces spectacular productions at the Royal Albert Hall.
The world in one city promises a huge choice of cuisines. Splash out on a top table at J Sheekey or Nobu, or enjoy a traditional pint of beer and Modern British cuisine in gastro pubs around Clerkenwell. Try Lebanese on Edgware Road, Chinese in Soho, Vietnamese around Old Street and Bangladeshi curries on Brick Lane.
Drink bubbly and snack on canapes in the Vertigo 42 champagne bar at the top of Tower 42, in the City. Look through the floor-to-ceiling windows for an aerial view of the whole of London.
