LONDON

(includes Twickenham)

BAKERIES, COFFEE, ICE CREAM, JUICE & TEA
Camden (includes Bloomsbury, Euston, Fitzrovia, Hampstead, Highgate, Holborn, Holborn-Temple, King’s Cross, Primrose Hill Regent’s Park & St. Pancras)
●Attendant – 27A Foley Street (Fitzrovia); 011-44-020-7637-3794; the-attendant.com; tiny, quirky coffee bar in restored Victorian public convenience (restroom), serving breakfast & light lunch.
●Gail’s – 11-13 Bayley Street (Fitzrovia); 011-44-020-7323-2356; gailsbread.co.uk; great breakfasts & lunches; fresh, wholesome food in attractive setting; walking distance to British Museum.
●Espresso Room – 31 Great Ormond Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7932-137-380; theespressoroom.com; tiny coffee shop.

Chelsea & Kensington (includes Belgravia, Earls Court, Knightsbridge, Notting Hill & Portobello)
●Blakes – 33 Roland Gardens (South Kensington, at Blakes Hotel); 011-44-020-7370-6701; blakeshotels.com; boutique; subterranean restaurant; Anouska Hempel decorated; for afternoon tea (especially in courtyard), weather permitting.
●Melt Chocolates – 59 Ledbury Road (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7727-5030; meltchocolates.com; also, excellent macarons, called gerbets, but limited selection.
●Pret a Portea – Wilton Place (Knightsbridge, at Berkeley Hotel, Caramel Room); 011-44-020-7201-1619; the-berkeley.com.uk; extraordinary tea room whose pastries designed based on fashion shows.

Hackney (includes Bishopsgate, Broadgate, Clapton, Dalston, Hackney Wick, Hoxton, London Fields & Stoke Newington)
●Tina, We Salute You – 47 King Henry’s Walk (Dalston); 011-44-020-3119-0047; tinawesaluteyou.com; neighborhood coffee shop with mismatched china, battered couch & expert cappuccino.

Islington (includes Angel, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, St. John’s Square, Shoreditch, Smithfield & West Smithfield)
●Leila’s Shop – 15-17 Calvert Avenue (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7729-9789; breakfast & Polish fare all day.
●Old Shoreditch Station Coffee Shop – 1 Kingsland Road (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7686-0027; facebook.com/oldshoreditchstation; more than just coffee shop; converts into bar in evenings & features food menu; also serves as space where artists exhibit work & music fans can catch gigs.
●Prufrock Coffee – 23-25 Leather Lane; 011-44-020-7242-0467; prufrockcoffee.com; owned by world barista champions; cult location.

Lambeth (includes Brixton, Clapham & Vauxhall)
●Federation Coffee – 46 Brixton Village Market, Coldharbor Lane (Brixton); no phone; federationcoffee.com; each cup fair-trade coffee brewed to order; try flat white & Anzac biscuit.

Southwark (includes Bankside, Bermondsey, Borough, Camberwell, Dulwich, Richmond Upon Thames & South Bank)
●St. John Bakery – Railway Arch 72, Druid Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7553-9843; stjohnbakerycompany.com; Saturday & Sunday only; great doughnuts.

Tower Hamlets (includes Bethnal Green, Canary Wharf, East End, Limehouse, Poplar, Spitalfields, Tower Hill & White Chapel)
●Brick Lane Beigel Bake – 159 Brick Lane (East End); 011-44-020-7729-0616; facebook.com/beigelbakelondon; 1-room shop that is among last holdovers from Jewish immigrant community that thrived here in 1800s; deli.
●10 Gales – 10 Gales Gardens (Bethnal Green); 011-44-020-7739-8831; 10gales-london.co.uk; coffeeshop in arts space.

Westminster (includes Bayswater, Charing Cross, Covent Garden, Maida Vale, Marylebone, Mayfair, Millbank, Paddington, Piccadilly, Pimlico, St. James, St. John’s Wood, Soho, Victoria, West End & Whitehall Court)
●English Tea Room – 33 Albemarle Street (Mayfair, at Brown’s Hotel); 011-44-020-7518-4155; roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/browns-hotel; tea.
●Flat White – 17 Berwick Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7734-0370; flat-white.co.uk; coffee.
●Gelupo Gelateria – 7 Archer Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7287-5555; gelupo.com; across street from Bocca di Lupo.
●Milk Bar – 3 Bateman Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7287-4796; milkbarsoho.co.uk; coffee shop; some consider best in London.
●Monocle Cafe – 18 Chiltern Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7725-4388; cafe.monocle.com; coffee, small bites, baked goods.
●Palm Court – 150 Piccadilly (Piccadilly, at Ritz London); 011-44-020-7300-2343; palmcourtlondon.co.uk; spectacular room with 5 fixed-seatings daily; advance reservations necessary.
●Parlour at Sketch – 9 Conduit Street (Mayfair); 011-44-20-7659-4500; sketch.london; excellent macarons at traditional tearoom; worth special trip.
●Twinings Tea Shop – 216 Strand (Westminster); 011-44-020-7353-3511; twinings.co.uk/about-twinings/flagship-store-london-216-strand; flagship store; open for over 300 years.
●Yauatcha – 15-17 Broadwick Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7494-8888; yautcha.com; teahouse with wonderful dim sum; also, pastries, such as macarons (try violet-fig and/or lemon-cashew).



BARS & NIGHTCLUBS
Bromley (includes Bromley-By-Bow, Crystal Palace & Mile End)
●Bow Bells – 116 Bow Road (Bromley-by-Bow); 011-44-020-8980-0744; thebowbellspub.co.uk; haunted East End pub.
●Widow’s Son – 75 Devons Road (Mile End); 011-44-020-7515-9072; fancyapint.com/Pub/london/widows-son/1615; maybe closed by now; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.

Camden (includes Bloomsbury, Euston, Fitzrovia, Hampstead, Highgate, Holborn, Holborn-Temple, King’s Cross, Primrose Hill Regent’s Park & St. Pancras)
●Blackfriar – 174 Queen Victoria Street (Holborn-Temple); 011-44-020-7236-5474; nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/theblackfriarblackfriarslondon; famous for being saved from demolition by Sir John Betjeman; historic Art Nouveau Grade II masterpiece built in 1875; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Fitzroy Tavern – 16a Charlotte Street (Fitzrovia); 011-44-020-7580-3714; pearshapedcomedy.com; known as meeting place for artists, bohemians, intellectuals & writers in 1930-40s; 2 notable regulars were George Orwell & Dylan Thomas; vibrant scene with intimate alcoves & great outdoor seating.
●Flask – 77 Highgate West Hill (Highgate); 011-44-020-8348-7346; theflaskhighgate.com; haunted by snug pub, real fires & beer garden in reputed former haunt of Dick Turpin.
●George Pub & Restaurant – 213 Strand (Holborn-Temple); 011-44-020-7353-9638; georgeinthestrand.com; long-standing Victorian pub with prime Strand location & tastefully updated traditional look; sleek-yet-cozy 1^st-floor restaurant; variety of bar, banquette & dining room seating is available for handsomely plated, seasonal Modern British dishes & local ales & spirits, plus cheese trolley.
●Holborn Whippet – 25-29 Sicilian Avenue (Fitzrovia); 011-44-020-3137-9937; holbornwhippet.com; on 17 October 1814, about 610K liters of beer flooded out of Meux & Co. brewery in 15' high porter wave; wave roared through Tottenham Court Road, flooding cellars & dragging debris, leaving foamy destruction path in its wake; flood caused by ruptured vat that created deadly domino effect, tipping other vats into spilling their contents & creating beer wave of death; flood destroyed 2 houses & claimed 7 lives, 5 of whom were attending wake for child that had died previous day; brewery demolished, Dominion Theater now standing in its place with no memorial or plaque; Holborn Whippet, however, serves special porter that commemorates beer flood once year, on event anniversary.
●Holly Bush – 22 Hollymount (Hampstead); 011-44-020-7435-2892; hollybushhampstead.co.uk; traditional 18^th Century wood-paneled pub, serving cask ales, with fireplace & outdoor space.
●Lamb – 94 Lamb’s Conduit Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7405-0713; thelamblondon.com; small Victorian pub with no-music policy, old-fashioned interior & traditional British menu; built in 1720s; worth special trip.
●Lighterman – 3 Granary Square (King’s Cross); 011-44-020-3846-3400; thelighterman.co.uk; in ultra-moddish, 2-story structure, overlooking Regent’s Canal; great spot for summer lunches or drink while waiting for train; outdoor seating on terrace.
●Princess Louise – 208 High Holborn (Holborn-Temple); 011-44-020-7405-8816; princesslouisepub.co.uk; real ale & pub grub in ornate Victorian bar with tiling, oak furnishings & etched glass panels; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Spaniard’s Inn – Spaniards Road (Hampstead); 011-44-020-8731-8406; thespaniardshampstead.co.uk; wood-paneled pub with homely fireplace & large garden for outdoor pints & comfort food; mentioned in Pickwick Papers; haunted.
●Seven Stars – 53 Carey Street (Holborn-Temple); 011-44-020-7242-8521; timeout.com/london/bars-and-pubs/seven-stars; small pub with 1602 origins, popular for lawyers’ case-closing celebrations (Inns of Court & Royal Courts nearby) & real ale.
●Ye Olde Mitre – 1 Ely Place (Holborn-Temple); 011-44-020-7405-4751; yeoldemitreholborn.co.uk; traditional 1547 real ale pub, tucked away in small alleyway, with framed historical pictures; hardest pub to find in London.

Chelsea & Kensington (includes Belgravia, Earls Court, Knightsbridge, Notting Hill & Portobello)
●Alfred Tennyson – 10 Motcomb Street (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-6074; thealfredtennyson.co.uk; smartly laid-out pub with a more formal upstairs dining room serving Modern European cuisine.
●Anglesea Arms – 15 Selwood Terrace (South Kensington); 011-44-020-7373-7960; angleseaarms.com; everything British pub should be; musty paintings & old-timers, beautiful people backlit, dogs wearing Union Jack vests, long line of tempting tap handles advertising beers available & flower boxes spilling color around picnic tables perfect for warm summer evening; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Aubrey Bar – 109-113 Queen’s Gate (South Kensington, at Kensington Hotel); 011-44-020-7589-6300; doylecollection.com/hotels/the-kensington-hotel; clublike atmosphere; 4 Victorian townhouses linked together; atmospheric.
●Babylon Terrace – 99 Kensington High Street (Kensington, at Kensington Roof Gardens); 011-44-020-7368-3993; virginlimitededition.com/en/the-roof-gardens; high up on 7^th floor with amazing views over London skyline & Kensington Roof Gardens; make reservation online; required to bring valid Passport or Driving License to be scanned, in order to gain entry.
●Botanist – 7 Sloane Square (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-0077; sloanesquare.thebotanistlondon.com; bar off dining room draws crowds, particularly on weekends; try Jasmine Blossom (jasmine syrup, fresh mandarin, mandarin blossom vodka & Champagne) or Lavendar Bloom (lavender, honey, apricot liqueur & Champagne); open until midnight.
●Blue Bar – Wilton Place (Knightsbridge, at Berkeley Hotel); 011-44-020-7235-6000; the-berkeley.co.uk/knightsbridge-restaurants-bars; upscale bar with striking, blue, art deco-accented interior; classic & modern cocktails.
●Builders Arms – 1 Kensington Court Place (Kensington); 011-44-020-7937-6213; thebuildersarmskensington.co.uk; young royal hangout; roaring fire in winter; garden in summer; good foie gras.
●Chinese Bar – 33 Roland Gardens (South Kensington, at Blake’s Hotel); 011-44-020-7370-6701; blakeshotels.com/chinese-room-bar; concealed, intimate (tiny) space, themed around ‘orient’; try Chinese Mojito (infused with ginger) or Gin & Tonic (enhanced with elderflower); expensive & formal.
●Grenadier – 18 Wilton Row (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7235-3074; taylor-walker.co.uk; tiny former officers’ mess with grenadier-themed decor & unique pewter bar, serving ales & food; notable for being haunted; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Kitts – 7-12 Sloane Square; 011-44-020-7881-5990; kittslondon.co.uk; private, members-only, Sloane Square nightclub.
●Orange – 37-39 Pimlico Road (near Sloane Square); 011-44-020-7881-9844; theorange.co.uk; perfect balance between laid-back & luxurious; friendly public-house atmosphere downstairs complemented by well-appointed rooms dressed in muted tones, exposed brick & wood floors.
●Star Tavern (Fuller’s Pub & Restaurant) – 6 Belgrave Mews West (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7235-3019; star-tavern-belgravia.co.uk; elegant pub with bookcases & chandeliers, famous for notorious 1960s criminal/showbiz clientele; where Great Train Robbery planned.
●Thomas Cubitt – 44 Elizabeth Street (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-6060; thethomascubitt.co.uk; modern & traditional British pub grub in oak-floored country-house bar with elegant dining room.

City of London (includes Blackfriars, Financial District, Guildhall & Little Britain)
●Cockpit – 7 St. Andrew’s Hill (Blackfriars); 011-44-020-7248-7315; londonist.com/pubs/the-cockpit; quirky triangular building has been standing as pub on this corner since 16^th Century; stands on site of Blackfriars Gatehouse, purchased by William Shakespeare in 1613; once was major venue for cock fighting before sport banned in England & Wales in 1849.

Hackney (includes Bishopsgate, Broadgate, Clapton, Dalston, Hackney Wick, Hoxton, London Fields & Stoke Newington)
●Bar Nightjar – 129 City Road (Hoxton); 011-44-20-7253-4101; barnightjar.com; make-believe speakeasy; cocktail menu is card deck with drink pictures; try Mexican Swizzle (tequila, tonka bean liqueur, cinnamon, cacao, vanilla syrup, lime & chili).
●Dove Freehouse – 24-28 Broadway Market (London Fields); 011-44-020-7275-7617; dovepubs.com; popular gastro pub with dark wooden floors, candles & dining room; wide selection Belgian Beers; freshly prepared food served all day from 12.
●Hackney Pearl – 11 Prince Edward Road (Hackney Wick); 011-44-020-8510-3605; thehackneypearl.com; neighborhood bar.
●White Lyan – 153-155 Hoxton Street (Hoxton); 011-44-020-3011-1153; whitelyan.com; modern bar.

Islington (includes Angel, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, St. John’s Square, Shoreditch, Smithfield & West Smithfield)
●Queen of Hoxton – 1-5 Curtain Road (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7422-0958; queenofhoxton.com; bar & nightclub; art installations, DJs, film screenings, hula hoop lessons & live bands; rooftop terrace.
●Raffles – 287 Kings Road; 011-44-020-7351-4964; raffleschelsea.com; member’s club.
●Rising Sun – 38 Cloth Fair (Farringdon); 011-44-020-7726-6671; risingsunbarbican.co.uk; said to once have been popular with “Resurrection Men” (grave robbers) due to proximity to Victorian St. Bartholomew’s hospital; haunted.
●Viaduct Tavern – 126 Newgate Street (Farringdon); 011-44-020-7600-1863; viaducttavern.co.uk; wrongly but frequently said to incorporate old Newgate Gaol cells in its cellar (not true); city’s last remaining Victorian gin palace; poltergeist; MUST VISIT; good food.
●XOYO – 32-37 Cowper Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-729-5959; xoyo.co.uk; arts & live music venue.

Lambeth (includes Brixton, Clapham & Vauxhall)
●Eagle London – 349 Kennington Lane (Vauxhall); 011-44-020-7793-0903; eaglelondon.com; gay bar; popular live music venue.
●Horse Meat Disco – 349 Kennington Lane (Vauxhall, at Eagle London); 011-44-020-7793-0903; eaglelondon.com; popular live music venue.
●Zeitgeist (at Jolly Gardeners) – 49-51 Black Prince Road (Lambeth); 011-44-020-7840-0426; zeitgeist-london.com/gastropub; Jolly Gardeners has history as pub for 120 years; Charlie Chaplin was among famous locals; his father played frequently on house’s piano to entertain local community; scenes in 2 famous movies – Snatch & Calcium Kid – shot in pub; after intensive renovation, came back to life under new management as Zeitgeist @ Jolly Gardeners; London’s 1^st German gastropub; offers huge German beer selection (18 on tap & more than 30 bottled, & several German Schnapps); menu has selected specialties from all over Germany like Schnitzel, Schweinebraten or Leberkäse; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.

Lewisham (includes Deptford, Forest Hill, Ladywell & New Cross)
●Amersham Arms – 388 New Cross Road (New Cross); 011-44-020-8469-1499; theamershamarms.com; renovated watering hole that is now “destination club.”
●Maggie’s Cafe & Restaurant – 322 Lewisham Road (Ladywell); 011-44-020-8244-0339; maggiesrestaurant.co.uk; bar & restaurant.
●Royal Albert – 460 New Cross Road (Deptford); 011-44-020-8692-3737; antic-ltd.com; formerly 1 of areas most notorious pubs; now upscale beautiful Victorian structure; serves baked camembert & Trappist beers.

Southwark (includes Bankside, Bermondsey, Borough, Camberwell, Dulwich, Richmond Upon Thames & South Bank)
●Anchor & Hope – 36 Cut (Southwark); 011-44-020-7928-9898; anchorandhopepub.co.uk; small gastro-pub.
●Anchor Bankside – 34 Park Street (Southwark); 011-44-020-7407-1577; taylor-walker.co.uk/pub/anchor-bankside-southwark/p0977; situated on among most historical reaches of Thames River; 1615 riverside pub serving food in bar & restaurant, with real ale & outdoor seating; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs; also, ghost of dog!
●Antico Restaurant & Lounge Bar – 214 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7407-4682; antico-london.co.uk; Italian; cozy.
●40 Maltby Street – 40 Maltby Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7237-9247; 40maltbystreet.com; Italian wine bar; worth special trip.
●Jose – 104 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7403-4902; josepizarro.com/restaurants/jose; Spanish sherry & tapas.
●Mayflower Pub – 117 Rotherhithe Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7237-4088; mayflowerpub.co.uk; dates to 1620; along Thames River path; black- & white-timbered frontage set with diamond-leaded windows; small main bar area (cosy alcoves, open fire) leads to waterfront deck outside.
●Rumpus Room – 20 Upper Ground (South Bank, at Mondrian London); 011-44-020-3747-1000; morganshotelgroup.com/mondrian/mondrian-london/eat-drink/rumpus-room; roof-top bar view rivals any in Hong Kong or Manhattan, looking out over London & river.
●Village East – 171-173 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7357-6082; villageeast.co.uk; onetime cloth factory, now multilevel brasserie; try tiramisu martini.

Tower Hamlets (includes Bethnal Green, Canary Wharf, East End, Limehouse, Poplar, Spitalfields, Tower Hill & White Chapel)
●Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club – 42-44 Pollard Row (Bethnal Green); 011-44-020-7739-7170; workersplaytime.net; established in 1953, working pub onsite since 1877, this was originally 1 of many working men’s clubs around Britain; while declining membership has led many others to close, especially in wake of 2007 smoking ban, Bethnal Green branch has adapted & thrived through eclectic program of music, poetry &, in particular, burlesque events; never afraid to pull its punches, venue is home of Tranny Olympics & its regular David Lynch-inspired Double R club has won “Best Ongoing Production” at London Cabaret Awards for last year.
●Blind Beggar – 337 Whitechapel Road (White Chapel); 011-44-020-7247-6195; theblindbeggar.com; public house notable as Manns Albion brewery former tap, where 1^st modern Brown Ale brewed; also where Ronnie Kray shot & murdered George Cornell in front of witnesses; also, William Booth 1^st sermon, which led to Salvation Army creation; takes name from Henry de Montfort legend; built in 1894 on site of inn established before 1654; de Montfort wounded & lost his sight in Battle of Evesham (1265); nursed to health by baroness; together they have child named Besse, who became “Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green” & used to beg at crossroads; story of how he went from landed gentry to poor beggar became popular in Tudor era, revived by Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, published in 1765; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Culpepper – 40 Commercial Street (Whitechapel); 011-44-020-7247-5371; theculpeper.com; creative cocktails in rooftop garden cleverly concealed in industrial area; worth special trip.
●Golden Heart – 110 Commercial Street (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7247-2158; timeout.com/london/bars-pubs/the-golden-heart; arty pub, former Brit pack haunt, with Emin artwork & local celebrity landlady; drinking here is like crashing house party hosted by your mom’s cooler, younger, more fun tipsy sister; watercress soup is good.
●Hung, Drawn & Quartered Pub – 26-27 Great Tower Street (Tower Hill); 011-44-20-7626-6123; hung-drawn-and-quartered.co.uk; in shadows of Tower of London; stately city pub with chandeliers, marble columns & gold-framed historical portraits; among Fuller’s dedicated Ale & Pie pubs.
●Grapes – 76 Narrow Street (Limehouse, in Poplar); 011-44-020-7987-4396; thegrapes.co.uk; narrow downstairs bar with small Thames-side terrace (among best river views) & upstairs restaurant dating from 1583; rare Blitz survivor; owned by Sir Ian McKellen.
●Prospect of Whitby – 57 Wapping Wall (Shadwell); 011-44-20-7481-1095; taylor-walker.co.uk/pub/prospect-of-whitby-wapping/c8166; historic public house on Thames River banks; on site of oldest riverside tavern, dating from around 1520; formerly known as Devil’s Tavern, on account of dubious reputation; before that, called Pelican; all that remains from earliest period is 400 year-old stone floor; in former times was meeting place for sailors, smugglers, cut-throats & footpads; artists such as Turner & Whistler painted views from tavern; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Ten Bells Pub – 84 Commercial Street (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7426-0560; tenbells.com; since 1752; dilapidated but has mural depicting local artists of nearly 50 years, Gilbert & George; supposedly haunted by ghost of 1 of Jack Ripper’s victims, Annie Chapman.

Wandsworth (includes Balham & Battersea)
●Ship – 41 Jews Row; 011-44-020-8870-9667; theship.co.uk; pub on Thames River, favored by royals.

Westminster(includes Bayswater, Charing Cross, Covent Garden, Maida Vale, Marylebone, Mayfair, Millbank, Paddington, Piccadilly, Pimlico, St. James, St. John’s Wood, Soho, Victoria, West End & Whitehall Court)
●American Bar – 100 Strand (West End, at Savoy Hotel); 011-44-020-7836-4343; fairmont.com/savoy-london/dining/americanbar; 125 years-old with authentic retro glamour; showbiz stars’ portraits, tasteful buff/ivory colour scheme, gleaming baby grand (in action every evening), impeccable jazz, polished welcome from tie-&-jacketed waiters who greet you as long-lost friend; cocktails here have always ranked among London’s finest, but prices not out of line with other top hotel bars; not only excellent bar snacks but much less stiff than you might imagine.
●Artesian Bar – 1C Portland Place (Marylebone, at Langham London); 011-44-020-7636-1000; artesian-bar.co.uk; cheesy disco drinks that somehow are fun & work.
●Boyd’s Grill & Wine Bar – 8 Northumberland Avenue (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7808-3344; boydsgrillandwinebar.co.uk; British brasserie with perspex chairs & mustard sofas in grand, Victorian-marble setting; must see.
●Coach & Horses – 29 Greek Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7437-5920; thecoachandhorsessoho.co.uk.
●Connaught Bar – Carlos Place (Mayfair, at Connaught Hotel); 011-44-020-7314-3419; the-connaught.co.uk; intimate nook.
●Crazy Coqs Cabaret & Jazz Club – 20 Sherwood Street; 011-44-020-7734-4888; brasseriezedel.com/crazy-coqs; intimate & unique cabaret & performance venue, in extraordinary Art Deco setting, with mixed programme of live entertainment; jazz.
●Dukes Bar – 35 St. James’s Place (Mayfair, at Dukes Hotel); 011-44-020-7491-4840; dukeshotel.com/dukes-bar; where Ian Fleming 1^st gave Bond’s definitive “shaken, not stirred” instruction; try Miss Moneypenny (Belvedere vodka, Cointreau, fresh lime & passion fruit).
●Footman (I Am Only Running Footman) – 5 Charles Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7499-2988; thefootmanmayfair.com; among oldest pubs in London, since 1749; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Groucho Club – 45 Dean Street (Soho); 011-020-7439-4685; thegrouchoclub.com; well-known private club, members mostly drawn from arts, entertainment, media & publishing industries; 3 bars, 2 restaurants (brasserie & dining room), 20 bedrooms available for members or their guests, billiards room & 4 event rooms available for hire.
●5^th View Bar & Food – 203-206 Piccadilly (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7851-2433; 5thview.com; great location with terrific view.
●French House – 49 Dean Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7437-2477; frenchhousesoho.com; pub; onetime Bohemian hot spot, with claim to poets Brendan Behan & Dylan Thomas as regulars; in fact, Thomas once left only original, handwritten manuscript for his radio drama Under Milk Wood at bar, sending BBC into frenzied search; place for conversation (its website declares “no music, no machines, no television & no mobile phones rule,” though phone rule might not be quite as rigid as others); loud; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Lamb & Flag – 33 Rose Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7497-9504; lambandflagcoventgarden.co.uk; former haunt of Charles Dickens; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Mahiki – 1 Dover Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7493-9529; mahiki.com; tiki bar favorite with young royals.
●Milk & Honey – 61 Poland Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7065-6800; mlkhny.com; feels like Prohibition speakeasy; may have to have membership; definitely need reservations; 3-level cocktail bar.
●Morpeth Arms – 58 Millbank (Pimlico); 011-44-020-7834-6442; morpetharms.com; among creepiest old pubs in London; in addition to originally being used as prison & transfer facility for old Millbank penitentiary, also was deportation holding facility for convicts being shipped off to Australia; convicts would be led from their cells at Millbank through tunnels below ground, where they would be locked up temporarily before being taken aboard carriage or ship; Millbank Prison closed in 1890 & venue became typical London pub; there’s now closed-circuit TV camera fixed on cells for monitoring for spectral activity; another notable feature (in addition to excellent pan-fried haddock) is “Spying Room” on 2^nd floor; decorated in 1920s style with Mata Hari theme; its windows face British Intelligence Service building across street & binoculars provided so pub patrons can spy; CIA, FBI & MI6 agents stop by; as of May 15, 2017, public access re cells severely limited due to health & safety issues.
●Northall Bar – 10 Northumberland Avenue (Westminster, at Corinthia Hotel); 011-44-020-7321-3100; thenorthall.co.uk.
●Old Bell Tavern – 95 Fleet Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7583-0216; nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/theoldbelltavernfleetstreetlondon; supposedly built by Sir Christopher Wren for masons working on nearby St. Bride’s Church; at least 300 years old.
●Pillars of Hercules – 7 Greek Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7437-1179; herculespillars.co.uk; for fans of Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, Charles Dickens & Ian McEwan; dates back to 1910, but tavern of same name here since as early as 1730; inspired Charles Dickens enough for him to drop its name in A Tale of Two Cities (honor returned when road at bar’s side renamed Manette Street, after book’s Doctor Manette); laid-back, mostly quiet pub, with decent beer.
●Portman (formerly Mason’s Arms) – 51 Upper Berkeley Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7723-2131; theportmanmarylebone.com; once upon time, area now known as Marble Arch was called Tyburn, famous in London for its Tyburn “tree”; no ordinary tree, wooden structure for executions by hanging; 1^st in 1196 to final hanging (John Austen) in 1783;; very 1^st hangings actually took place from real Elm trees, growing alongside underground stream known locally as Tyburn Brook; in 1571, at Queen Elizabeth I’s reign’s height, structure that became known as Tyburn Tree erected; triangular structure of substantial wooden crossbeams, 9' long & 18' tall legs; became site for mass executions associated with Tudor period; huge crowds, who would gather at Tyburn Tree on Mondays, traditional execution date, to await prisoners being transported from Newgate Prison; in the 16^th Century, Portman building in Marylebone among many owned as part of Portman Estate (wealthy Portman family); building offers extensive cellars & reputed that in 16^th & early 17^th Centuries, these cellars used to house other condemned prisoners, ready for short journey to their executions at Tyburn; local tradition that those being transported from Newgate to Tyburn permitted to stop off for final jug of ale at local hostelry; sooner or later though, prisoners had to continue their journey & get back “on wagon”; original hostelry of 1778 was rebuilt in 1870, becoming known as Mason’s Arms, which it remained for considerable time; pub changed lease & ownership to become new Portman in 2011, named for famous Portman family who have continued as owners of this estate in London since 1530s & across those Tudor times.
●Red Lion – 2 Duke of York Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7321-0782; redlionmayfair.co.uk; survived Blitz intact; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Red Lion (White hall) – 48 Parliament Street (Westminster); 011-44-020-7930-5826; redlionwestminster.co.uk; closest pub to 10 Downing Street; elaborate ceiling, politicians’ portraits & illustrious former clientele; allegedly, working facsimile installed in secret Cold War-era government bunker in Wiltshire.
●Sherlock Holmes Pub – 10-11 North Umberland Street (Charing Cross); 011-44-020-7930-2644; sherlockholmes-stjames.co.uk; kitschy yet delightful & authentic.
●White Hart – 191 Drury Lane (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7242-2317; whitehartdrurylane.co.uk; large, high-ceilinged pub with snack menu & eclectic decor of lived-in sofas and stripped floors; with roots in 1216, claims to be oldest licensed premises in London; Dick Turpin numbered among its regulars.
●Windsor Castle – 114 Campden Hill Road (Kensington); 011-44-020-7243-8797; thewindsorcastlekensington.co.uk; pub dating to 1830s; outdoor seating.



HOTELS
Camden (includes Bloomsbury, Euston, Fitzrovia, Hampstead, Highgate, Holborn, Holborn-Temple, King’s Cross, Primrose Hill Regent’s Park & St. Pancras)
●London Edition Hotel – 10 Berners Street (Fitzrovia); 011-44-020-7781-0000; editionhotels.com/london; modern with being arrogant.
●St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel – 379-381 Euston Road (St. Pancras); 011-44-020-7841-3540; stpancras.com/hotel; restored Victorian masterpiece; Sir John Betjeman called it “too beautiful & too romantic to survive”; glorious Gothic Revival metalwork, gold-leaf ceilings, hand-stenciled wall designs & grand staircase dazzle as they did day Queen Victoria opened hotel in 1873; current version, results in basically 2 hotels that share 1 lobby; in front, find “Chambers,” imposing edifice with arched windows & cast-iron columns that feels like castle with grand, sweeping staircase that leads up to 38 rooms with high ceilings & sumptuous architectural details; in back is “Barlow House,” modern wing with 207 characterless rooms.
●York & Albany – 127-129 Parkway (Camden, overlooking Regent’s Park); 011-44-020-7387-5700; gordonramsay.com; new restaurant with rooms by Gordon Ramsay.

Chelsea & Kensington (includes Belgravia, Earls Court, Knightsbridge, Notting Hill & Portobello)
●Ampersand Hotel – 10 Harrington Road (South Kensington); 011-44-020-7589-5895; ampersandhotel.com; luxury, Victorian boutique.
●Berkeley Hotel – Wilton Place (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7235-6000; the-berkeley.com.uk; super pool; luxe accommodations; excellent bar (Blue Bar).
●Blakes Hotel – 33 Roland Gardens (South Kensington); 011-44-020-7370-6701; blakeshotels.com; boutique; ask for ground-floor Corfu suite.
●Bulgari – 171 Knightsbridge (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7151-1010; bulgarihotels.com/en-us/london/the-hotel/overview; 85 rooms; silk clad rooms; underground pool decked out in mosaics.
●Cadogan Hotel – 75 Sloan Street (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7235-7141; cadogan.com; where Oscar Wilde arrested.
●Eccleston Square Hotel – 37 Eccleston Square (Belgravia); 011-44-020-3489-1000; ecclestonsquarehotel.com; “London’s Most High-Tech Hotel.”
●Halkin Hotel – 5-6 Halkin Street (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7333-1000; halkin.como.bz; luxury hotel of world member; exclusive.
●Kensington Hotel – 109-113 Queen’s Gate (South Kensington); 011-44-020-7589-6300 or 877-849-6258; doylecollection.com; clublike atmosphere; 4 Victorian townhouses linked together; rooms are ordinary-ish.
●Lanesborough – Hyde Park Corner (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7259-5599 or 800-999-1828; lanesborough.com; renovated former Viscount’s home; each room has private butler.
●Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park – 66 Knightsbridge (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7235-2000; mandarinoriental.com/London; chic, new, subterranean stainless-steel, lap-swimming pool.
●Milestone – 1-2 Kensington Court (Kensington); 011-44-020-7917-1000; milestonehotel.com; 19^th Century Victorian with impeccable service.
●Number 16 – 16 Sumner Place (South Kensington); 011-44-020-7589-5232; firmdalehotels.com; among best choices in London.
●Orange – 37-39 Pimlico Road (near Sloane Square); 011-44-020-7881-9844; theorange.co.uk; perfect balance between laid-back & luxurious; friendly public-house atmosphere downstairs complemented by well-appointed rooms dressed in muted tones, exposed brick & wood floors.
●Portobello Hotel – 22 Stanley Gardens (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7727-2777; portobellohotel.com; bland from outside, intimate & Bohemian on inside; run by same people for years.
●Rembrandt Hotel – 11 Thurloe Place (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7589-8100; sarova-rembrandthotel.com.
●Sheraton Park Tower – 101 Knightsbridge (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7235-8050; luxurycollection.com/parktowerlondon.

City of London (includes Blackfriars, Financial District, Guildhall & Little Britain)
●Andaz Liverpool Street – 40 Liverpool Street (Financial District); 011-44-020-7961-1234; london.liverpoolstreet.andaz.hyatt.com; housed in red brick, 1884 Victorian building; 267 guest-rooms; no reception desk & no check-in queue; check-in comes to you (staff use portable PCs); 5 restaurants & 5 bars; adjacent to Liverpool Street Station; during renovation, forgotten & hidden Masonic Temple located onsite; ask to see; built in 1912, this forgotten chamber is pure jewel of luxury & probably among most grandiose Masonic temples in London; neoclassic in style, windowless room is known as “Grecian Temple”; opulent room includes organ, hand-carved mahogany chairs, bronze candelabras on claw feet & no less than 12 different types of marble used in floor, columns & walls; celling, blue & gold dome, bears 5-pointed “blazed star” & zodiac signs; room conforms to classic Masonic temple setting with checkerboard floor & discreet esoteric insignias.

Hounslow (includes Chiswick & Isleworth)
●High Road House – 162-166 Chiswick High Road (Chiswick); 011-44-020-8742-1717; highroadhouse.co.uk; home to music & television companies, as well as some chic restaurants & shops; 14 guest rooms; Room #9 is best room.
●Hilton London Heathrow Airport – Heathrow Airport, Terminal 4; 011-44-020-8759-7755; hilton.com; connects to tunnel & train to other terminals.
●Sofitel London Heathrow – Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5; 011-44-020-8757-7777; sofitel.com; pricey, with ultra luxe interior design (bathrooms with Swarovski crystal fixtures).

Islington (includes Angel, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, St. John’s Square, Shoreditch, Smithfield & West Smithfield)
●Boundary – 3 Boundary Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7729-1051; theboundary.co.uk; hotel with 12 rooms & 5 suites; run by Terence Conran; rooftop bar, garden & grill offer panoramic views.
●Hoxton – 81-83 Great Eastern Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7550-1000; hoxtonhotels.com; excellent central location & prices; 205 hotel with great bargain prices (under $200); 4^th & 5^th floor rooms best (#415) overlook Willow Street.
●Malmaison – 18-21 Charterhouse Square (Clerkenwell); 011-44-0844-693-0656; malmaison.com; 97 bedroooms & suites.
●Rookery – 12 Peter’s Lane (Clerkenwell); 011-44-020-7336-0931; rookeryhotel.com; small boutique hotel with polished wood panelling, stone flagged floors, open fires & genuine antique furniture.
●Shoreditch Rooms – Ebor Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7739-5040; hotelshoreditch.com.
●Zetter Townhouse & Restaurant – 86-88 Clerkenwell Road (St. John’s Square); 011-44-020-7324-4444; thezettertownhouse.com; stylish boutique hotel.

Southwark (includes Bankside, Bermondsey, Borough, Camberwell, Dulwich, Richmond Upon Thames & South Bank)
●Hilton London Tower Bridge – 5 More London Place (Thames River, South Bank); 011-44-020-3002-4300; www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/united-kingdom/hilton-london-tower-bridge-hotel-LONTBHI/index.html; best hotel for short stay, only 30 minutes by Thameslink from Gatwick; 10-minute walk from Borough Market, Design Museum, Tate Modern, Tower of London & Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre; comfortable, with 24-hour room service.

Tower Hamlets (includes Bethnal Green, Canary Wharf, East End, Limehouse, Poplar, Spitalfields, Tower Hill & White Chapel)
●Culpepper – 40 Commercial Street (Whitechapel); 011-44-020-7247-5371; theculpeper.com; hidden garden bistro on roof of industrial building offers 5 affordable, lovely modern rooms at reasonable prices; billed as gourmet bolthole.
●40 Winks – 109 Mile End Road (East End); 011-44-020-7790-0259; 40winks.org.
●Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill – 142 Minories (Tower Hill); 011-44-020-7265-1014 or 877-834-3613; ichotelsgroup.com; affordable; walking distance to tower & Tate Modern; stylish rooms (oak floors, 4-poster beds & brick walls).
●Mondrian London – 20 Upper Ground (South Bank); 011-44-020-3747-1000; morganshotelgroup.com/mondrian/mondrian-london; view over London & river (panorama from Rooftop Bar rivals Hong Kong and/or Manhattan); 10-minute walk from Waterloo Station or over bridge to Blackfriars Tube; vast, copper-bottomed ship’s hull ploughs straight through building to river; feels quite nightclubby, with lots of stylish low lighting; blue over-sized ship’s anchor chain unfurls outside & in; deco style is often masculine & 359 rooms are no exception; corridors are bland grey - submarine luxe - so it’s nice surprise when door opens to reveal loads of space, some neat touches (bed on pedestal, so case can fit underneath) & Barbie-pink wardrobe behind sober pleated curtain, along with velvet wingback chair & matching footstool; restaurant.
●Town Hall Hotel & Apartments – 8 Patriot Square (Bethnal Green); 011-44-020-7871-0460; townhallhotel.com; boutique hotel in iconic Edwardian building; Art Deco lobby, vintage furniture, designer bathrooms.
●Townhouse – 5 Fournier Street (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7247-4745; townhousewindow.com or stayinspitalfields.com; inspired location; arty, minimalist, lovely, elegant.

Wandsworth (includes Battersea)
●Rafayel on Left Bank – 34 Lombard Road (Battersea); 011-44-020-7801-3610; hotelrafayel.com; eco-conscious, luxury hotel; rents rooms by square foot; Yangtze Room promises Thames “view” but only sliver between buildings.

Westminster (includes Bayswater, Charing Cross, Covent Garden, Maida Vale, Marylebone, Mayfair, Millbank, Paddington, Piccadilly, Pimlico, St. James, St. John’s Wood, Soho, Victoria, West End & Whitehall Court)
●Arts Club – 40 Dover Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7499-8581; theartsclub.co.uk; private member club that has some rooms available to non-members; glamorous.
●Beaumont – 8 Balderton Street (Brown Hart Gardens); 011-44-020-7499-1001; thebeaumont.com.
●Brown’s – 33 Albemarle Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7493-6020; brownshotel.com; lovely.
●Cafe Royal Hotel – 68 Regent Street (West End); 011-44-020-7406-3333; hotelcaferoyal.com; 19^th Century Regency building near Piccadilly Circus, where Edward VIII drank, Oscar Wilde hallucinated & various rockers have debauched.
●Charlotte Street Hotel – 15-17 Charlotte Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7806-2000; firmdalehotels.com; very nice; ask for Room 403.
●Claridge’s – 49 Brook Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7499-2210; claridges.co.uk; Chihuly sculpture.
●Connaught – Carlos Place (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7499-7070; the-connaught.co.uk.
●Corinthia Hotel – Whitehall Place; 011-44-020-7930-8181; corinthia.com/london; historic luxury hotel on site of former Metropole (between Trafalgar Square & Thames Embankment); commandeered in both WWI & WWII; purchased by Ministry of Defense & used as government offices until declared surplus & sold by Crown Estates; perhaps best hotel gym in city.
●Covent Garden Hotel – 10 Monmouth Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7806-1000; firmdalehotels.com; elegant but cozy.
●Crowne Plaza – 51 Buckingham Gate (St. James); 011-44-020-7834-6655; crowneplaza.com; don’t be put off by name; convenient & 4 stars.
●Dean Street Townhouse – 69-71 Dean Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7434-1775; deanstreettownhouse.com; private club feel at reasonable prices; close to middle London; from here, walkable London experience; room called “Broom Cupboard” is split level with downstairs, tiny bathroom & up spiral staircase is bed area; fairly available room service & good, English food restaurant.
●Dorchester – 53 Park Lane (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7629-8888; thedorchester.com; comfortable & luxurious.
●Dorset Square Hotel – 39-40 Dorset Square (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7723-7874; firmdalehotels.com; among most stylish “house hotels”; actually, 2 Georgian townhouses with antiques, chintz & reproductions; bedrooms decorated with style; 8 rooms feature crown-canopied beds.
●Dukes Hotel – 35 St. James Place (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7491-4840; dukeshotel.com; refurbished in 2007; manor house-style on Hyde Park.
●Hospital Club – Royal Opera House, 24 Endell Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7170-9100; thehospitalclub.com; private member club that has some rooms available to non-members; for media types.
●Four Seasons Park Lane – Hamilton Place (Mayfair, on Regents Park); 011-44-020-7499-0888; fourseasons.com; penthouse spa & restaurant in private garden.
●45 Park Lane – 45 Park Lane (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7493-4545; 45parklane.com; former Playboy Club; contemporary, intimate & relaxed; 45 rooms.
●Goring – 15 Beeston Place (Victoria, at Grosvenor Gardens, next to Buckingham Palace); 011-44-020-7396-9000; thegoring.com; opened in 1910; last hotel built during Edward VII’s reign; stuffed sheep in most rooms.
●Grazing Goat – 6 New Quebec Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7724-7243; thegrazinggoat.co.uk; from the guys who do Orange.
●Haymarket Hotel – 1 Suffolk Place (West End); 011-44-020-7470-4000; firmdalehotels.com.
●Landmark – 222 Marylebone Road (Marylebone, next to Regent’s Park); 011-44-87-1223-5000; landmarklondon.co.uk; 8-story atrium; originally, railway hotel; renovated.
●London Hilton on Park Lane – 22 Park Lane (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7493-8000 or 877-954-8363; www1.hilton.com; recently renovated, with 3 outstanding restaurants; jaw-dropping views of Hyde Park.
●ME London – 337 Strand (Covent Garden); 011-44-80-8234-1953; melondonuk.com; sort of souped-up W, equal parts high design & swinging social scene; rooftop bar with Thames River views.
●Montagu Place – 2 Montagu Place (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7467-2777; montagu-place.co.uk; townhouse hotel, luxurious & affordable.
●Old Fire Station Hotel – 1 Chiltern Street (Marylebone); 212-226-5656; andrebalazsproperties.com; converted 1889 Manchester Square fire station by Andre Balazs.
●One Aldwych – 1 Aldwych Terrace (Covent Garden, near West End); 011-44-87-1223-5000; onealdwych.com; 1 of world’s most lauded hotels.
●London Langham – 1C Regent Street (Marylebone, at Portland Place); 011-44-020-7636-1000; langhamhotels.com; 380-room Victorian property, recently refurbished & heavily buzzed; soaring marble lobby & palatial public spaces; must have tea at least once in its Palm Court; expensive.
●Quality Crown Hotel Paddington – 144 Praed Street (Paddington); 011-44-020-7706-8888; accorhotels.com; actually not all that bad.
●Renaissance Chancery Court – 252 High Holborn (near West End); 011-44-020-7829-9888; chancerycourthotel.com; onetime Pearl Assurance Building renovated under English Heritage Society supervision; lovely spa.
●Rosewood London – 252 High Holborn (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7781-8888; rosewoodhotels.com.
●Royal Horseguards Thistle Hotel – 2 Whitehall Court (Westminster, at Whitehall Court); 011-44-87-1376-9033; thistlehotels.com; recently renovated; reasonably priced.
●Soho Hotel – 4 Richmond Mews (Soho); 011-44-020-7559-3000; firmdalehotels.com; least visually appealing (from exterior) of Firmdale group hotels.
●St. John Hotel – 1-2 Leicester Street (West End); 011-44-020-7251-0848; stjohnhotellondon.com; 15 rooms; modern, sleek & snug; room service.
●St. Martin’s Lane Hotel – 45 St. Martin’s Lane (West End); 011-44-020-7300-5500; stmartinslane.com.
●Savoy – Strand (West End); 011-44-020-7420-2405; fairmont.com/savoy-london; massively renovated as of 2010; glass-enclosed rooftop pool; domed winter garden; 9 “personality suites”; 38 guest rooms & suites total; not unreasonable for London.
●Stafford – St. James’ Place (St. James); 011-44-020-7493-0111; thestaffordhotel.co.uk; hidden gem with garden restaurant.
●W Hotel – 10 Wardour Street (West End); 011-44-020-7851-3228; wlondon.co.uk.



RESTAURANTS
Barbican
●Osteria – Silk Street (Barbican Centre); 011-44-020-7588-3008; barbican.org.uk/restaurants-bars/osteria; refined modern Italian menus in elegant, plush room with views & parquet-floored cocktail bar.

Camden (includes Bloomsbury, Euston, Fitzrovia, Hampstead, Highgate, Holborn, Holborn-Temple, King’s Cross, Primrose Hill Regent’s Park & St. Pancras)
●Archipelago Restaurant – 110 Whitfield Street (Fitzrovia); 011-44-020-7383-3346; archipelago-restaurant.co.uk; exotic fare, like kangaroo.
●Bleeding Heart Crypt – Ely Place; 011-44-020-7242-8238; bleedingheart.co.uk/crypt; 600 year-old locale, hosting celebrity parties ever since King Henry V111 held his 3-day wedding feast there in 1531.
●Dabbous – 39 Whitfield Street (Fitzrovia); 011-44-20-7323-1544; dabbous.co.uk; 1 Michelin star; delicate, fragile, locavore cuisine naïve; among city’s hardest reservations; post-industrial, faux loft décor (metal mesh partitions, bare wood tables, factory lamps) improbably comes off as charming rather than arch; terrific atmosphere primarily due to young staff’s professionalism & warmth; consider opting for 8-course tasting menu; also, consider as alternative snacks menu downstairs at Oskar’s Bar, run by Swedish mixologist.
●Great Queen Street – 32 Great Queen Street (Holborn); 011-44-020-7242-0622; greatqueenstreetrestaurant.co.uk; lively London eatery with heart-stopping, “queen of puddings” dessert: breadcrumbs heated with milk, jam & baked meringue.
●Hampstead Butcher & Providore – 56 Rosslyn Hill (Hampstead); 011-44-020-7794-9210; butcher & delicatessen; free-range meats, wines & artisan deli goods plus hampers & classes/tasting evenings.
●Holly Bush – 22 Hollymount (Hampstead); 011-44-020-7435-2892; hollybushhampstead.co.uk; traditional 18^th Century wood-paneled pub, serving cask ales, with fireplace & outdoor space; chips & sticky toffee pudding.
●Honey & Co. – 25A Warren Street (Fitzrovia); 011-44-020-7388-6175; honeyandco.co.uk; Middle-Eastern food.
●Lighterman – 3 Granary Square (King’s Cross); 011-44-020-3846-3400; thelighterman.co.uk; in ultra-moddish, 2-story structure, overlooking Regent’s Canal; great spot for summer lunches or drink while waiting for train; outdoor seating on terrace.
●Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – 145 Fleet Street (Holborn); 011-44-020-7353-6170; london-attractions.info/ye-olde-cheshire-cheese.htm; venerable pub, dating from mid-17^th Century, whose small rooms warren has attracted as patrons everyone from Samuel Johnson to Mark Twain to Charles Dickens; have steak-&-kidney pie by fire; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs; make sure to see “Polly”; pub had African Grey parrot in late 19^th Century who lived in taproom; Polly was very picky, male parrot who would be rude to visitors that he didn’t like, rendering him local celebrity; his death came at WWI’s end when he died of exhaustion, imitating sound of popping champagne corks over 400 times; mourned all over London, his obituary was published in over 200 newspapers & announced over BBC world service; continues to reside in taxidermized form in taproom.
●York & Albany – 127-129 Parkway (Camden, overlooking Regent’s Park); 011-44-020-7387-5700; gordonramsay.com; off-beaten-path; new restaurant with rooms by Gordon Ramsay.

Chelsea & Kensington (includes Belgravia, Earls Court, Knightsbridge, Notting Hill & Portobello)
●Alfred Tennyson – 10 Motcomb Street (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-6074; thealfredtennyson.co.uk; smartly laid-out pub with a more formal upstairs dining room serving Modern European cuisine.
●Ametsa (with Arzak Instruction) – 5-6 Halkin Street (Belgravia, at Halkin Hotel); 011-44-020-7333-1234; comohotels.com/thehalkin/dining/ametsa; Basque-inflected, molecular cuisine; uneven quality.
●Apsleys – Hyde Park Corner (Knightsbridge, in Lanesborough Hotel); 011-44-020-7333-7254; apsleys.co.uk; simple Italian fare.
●Babylon Restaurant – 99 Kensington High Street (Kensington, at Kensington Roof Gardens); 011-44-020-7368-3993; virginlimitededition.com/en/the-roof-gardens; high up on 7^th floor with amazing views over London skyline & Kensington Roof Gardens; offers seasonal British menus, prepared by Head Chef Ian Howard; make reservation for lunch or dinner online; if dining with us on Friday or Saturday evening & intend to continue night in Club, required to bring valid Passport or Driving License to be scanned, in order to gain entry.
●Botanist – 7 Sloane Square (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-0077; thebotanistonsloanesquare.com; airy, lively restaurant; good lunches; excellent breakfasts.
●Colbert – 50-52 Sloane Square (Chelsea); 011-44-020-7730-2804; colbertchelsea.com; lovely French bistro atmosphere.
●Daylesford Organic – 30 Pimlico Road (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-2943; daylesfordorganic.com.
●Daylesford Organic – 31 Sloane Square (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7881-8020; daylesfordorganic.com.
●Daylesford Organic – 109-125 Knightsbridge (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7201-8749; daylesfordorganic.com.
●Daylesford Organic – 208-212 Westbourne Grove (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7313-8050; daylesfordorganic.com.
●Dinner by Heston Blumenthal – 66 Knightsbridge (Knightsbridge, at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park); 011-44-020-7201-3833; dinnerbyheston.com; Blumenthal won 3 Michelin stars when at Fat Duck; menu researched from 14^th-16^th Century; must have chicken liver parfait.
●Dock Kitchen – 344/342 Landbroke Grove (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-8962-1610; dockkitchen.co.uk; secret, speak-easy like place: “Once you’ve made it to tough to find address, look for sign tied to metal gate, push buzzer, cross parking lot & climb stairs that rise along canal”; chef worked at Spotted Pig (NYC) & River Cafe; considered among best deals for price in London – southern Indian, Italian & Spanish.
●86 – 86 Fulham Road; 011-44-020-7052-9620; 86restaurant.co.uk; sleek restaurant in Georgian townhouse.
●Electric Brasserie – 191 Portobello Road (Notting Hill, at Electric Cinema); electricbrasserie.com; 011-44-020-7908-9696; Bohemian.
●Foxtrot Oscar – 79 Royal Hospital Road; 011-44-020-7352-4448; gordonramsay.com/foxtrotoscar; classic, simple dishes; popular with younger royals.
●Geale’s – 1 Cale Street (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7965-0555; geales.com; called “Chipriani’s”; fish & chips for royals.
●Julie’s – 135 Portland Road (Notting Hill, Holland Park); 011-44-020-7229-8331; juliesrestaurant.com; intimate honeycomb of rooms with small tables, lovely outdoor seating; Bohemian-ish.
●Mari Vanna – 116 Knightsbridge (Knightsbridge, at Wellington Court); 011-44-20-7225-3122; marivannadeli.co.uk; old-fashioned Russian menu served in a sitting room-style space with books, lace, dolls and curios.
●Marcus Wareing at Berkeley – Wilton Place (Knightsbridge, at Berkeley Hotel); 011-44-020-7235-6000; marcus-wareing.co.uk; 8-course tasting menu.
●Montpeliano – 13 Montpellier Street (Knightsbridge); 011-44-087-1332-8538; montpelianorestaurant.com; on leafy Montpelier Street; secluded, garden-style, Italian restaurant; split-level, upper being top city venue; crisp white table linen illuminated by pin spots, hoards of famous faces; lower is quite simply unique, under sculptured, sliding glass roof with many plants & pretty, dressed tables; perfect place for sunny days & starry evenings; where Saatchi throttled Lawson.
●Harvey Nichols’ 5^th Floor Restaurant – 109-125 Knightsbridge, 5^th Floor (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7235-5250; harveynichols.com/fifth-floor-london; Scandinavian café; open for breakfast, dinner & lunch.
●Orange – 37-39 Pimlico Road (near Sloane Square); 011-44-020-7881-9844; theorange.co.uk; perfect balance between laid-back & luxurious; friendly public-house atmosphere downstairs complemented by well-appointed rooms dressed in muted tones, exposed brick & wood floors.
●Phat Phuc Noodle Bar – 151 Sydney Street (Chelsea); 011-44-020-7351-3843; phatphucnoodlebar.co.uk; Vietnamese, in lovely setting (recessed garden-type, outdoor patio).
●Racine – 239 Brompton Road (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7584-4477; racine-restaurant.com; bustling French restaurant to which Francophiles flock; brasserie with wooden floors, dark-leather banquettes, mirrors & black-and-white-clad waiters; seasonal dishes featured on ever-changing menu; among London’s enduring favorites; classics include Bayonne ham with celeriac remoulade, foie gras with plum jelly & brioche, grilled rabbit with mustard sauce & classic Lyonnais tête de veau (calf’s head) served with ravigote sauce.
●San Lorenzo – 22 Beauchamp Place (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7584-1074; labyrintos.com; known more for famous & rich patrons than food.
●Thomas Cubitt – 44 Elizabeth Street (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-6060; thethomascubitt.co.uk; modern & traditional British pub grub in oak-floored country-house bar with elegant dining room.
●Tom’s Kitchen – 27 Cale Street; 011-44-020-7349-0202; tomskitchen.co.uk/somerset; hearty & well-priced offerings for weekend brunch & daily lunches, focusing on fresh British meats & produce.

City of London (includes Blackfriars, Financial District, Guildhall & Little Britain)
●Hawksmoor – 10 Basinghall Street (Guildhall); 011-44-020-7397-8120; thehawksmoor.com; traditional steakhouse chain with very good, reliable food & generous portions.

Croydon
●Cinnamon Kitchen – 9 Devonshire Square; 011-44-020-7626-5000; cinnamon-kitchen.com; innovative, modern Indian cuisine.

Fulham & Hammersmith (includes Shepherd’s Bush)
●Ginger Pig – 137-139 Askew Road (Shepherd’s Bush); 011-44-020-8740-4297; thegingerpig.co.uk; butcher; carnivore paradise where can order $5 hot sausage roll.
●Kerbisher & Malt – 164 Shepherd’s Bush Road (Shepherd’s Bush); 011-44-020-3556-0228; kerbisher.co.uk; chippery.
●Princess Victoria – 217 Uxbridge Road (Shepherd’s Bush); 011-44-020-8749-5886; princessvictoria.co.uk; proper pub with excellent wine list; affordable & worth special trip.
●River Cafe – Thames Wharf, Rainville Road (Hammersmith); 011-44-020-7386-4200; rivercafe.co.uk; Italian-style, outdoor eating on terrace; “must” experience; must have Chocolate Nemesis for dessert.

Hackney (includes Bishopsgate, Broadgate, Clapton, Dalston, Hackney Wick, Hoxton, London Fields & Stoke Newington)
●L’Anima – 1 Snowden Street (Broadgate, at Broadgate West); 011-44-020-7422-7000; lanima.co.uk; southern Italian cuisine; expensive.
●Cafe Oto – 18-22 Ashwin Street (Dalston); 011-44-020-7923-1231; cafeoto.co.uk; industrial-chic decor with Japanese food.
●Counter Cafe – 7 Roach Road (Hackney Wick); 011-44-78-3427-5920; thecountercafe.co.uk; great breakfasts, in particular; good vegetarian options.
●Dove Freehouse – 24-28 Broadway Market (London Fields); 011-44-020-7275-7617; dovepubs.com; popular gastro pub with dark wooden floors, candles & dining room; wide selection Belgian Beers; freshly prepared food served all day from 12.
●Fifteen London – 15 Westland Place (Hoxton); 011-44-87-1330-1515; fifteen.net; very expensive, Jamie Oliver.
●Hackney Pearl – 11 Prince Edward Road (Hackney Wick); 011-44-020-8510-3605; thehackneypearl.com; artsy; good brunch.
●Little of What You Fancy – 464 Kingsland Road (Dalston); 011-44-020-7275-0060; alittleofwhatyoufancy.info; cheerful brunch spot & general cafe; Mediterranean & Middle Eastern food.
●Premises Cafe – 205-209 Hackney Road (Hoxton); 011-44-020-7729-7593; premisesstudios.com/cafe; attached to famous recording studios; Turkish; notable for breakfasts, in particular; caters to recording industry.
●Rivington Grill – 28-30 Rivington Street (Hoxton); 011-44-020-7729-7053; rivingtongrill.co.uk; traditional English fare, such as rabbit tarragon pie, deviled lamb’s kidneys & nettle soup.

Haringey (includes Cheapside)
●Barbecoa – 20 New Change Passage (Cheapside); 011-44-020-3005-8555; barbecoa.com; has its own butcher; babyback ribs with views of St. Paul’s Cathedral; best for lunch before visit to Tate Modern.

Hounslow (includes Chiswick & Isleworth)
●Hedone – 301-303 Chiswick High Road (Chiswick); 011-44-020-8747-0377; hedonerestaurant.com; 40 minutes by public transit from central London; French & new Nordic; innovative.

Islington (includes Angel, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, St. John’s Square, Shoreditch, Smithfield & West Smithfield)
●Albion Cafe – 2-4 Boundary Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7729-1051; albioncaff.co.uk; bakery, cafe & food store.
●Boundary – 2-4 Boundary Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7729-1051; theboundary.co.uk; in converted, Victorian warehouse; subterranean venue; classic English & French dishes.
●Elk in Woods – 39 Camden Passage; 011-44-020-7226-3535; the-elk-in-the-woods.co.uk; gamy meat dishes; quirky.
●Hix Oyster & Chop House – 36-37 Greenhill Rents (Farringdon, at Cowcross Street); 011-44-020-7017-1930; restaurantsetcltd.co.uk; try salted ox cheek and/or Bakewell pudding.
●Ledbury – 127 Ledbury Road (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7792-9191; theledbury.com; 2 Michelin stars.
●Lyle’s Restaurant – 56 Shoreditch High Street (Shoreditch, in Tea Building); 011-44-020-3019-2468; lyleslondon.com; seasonal English fare.
●Meat Mission – 14-15 Hoxton Market (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7739-8212; meatmission.com; American-style burgers.
●Rochelle Canteen – Rochelle School, Arnold Circus (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7729-5677; arnoldandhenderson.com; lunch-only; English food with ingredient emphasis; casually elegant.
●Saf – 152-154 Curtain Road (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7613-0007; safrestaurant.com; vegan but not obviously so; more nouvelle cuisine-ish.
●St. John Bar & Restaurant – 26 St. John Street (Clerkenwell); 011-44-020-3301-8069; stjohnrestaurant.com; old-fashioned, British food; renowned; try roast suckling pig or pot roast & Eccles cake for dessert.
●Sosharu – 64 Turnmill Street (Clerkenwell); 011-44-020-3805-2304; sosharulondon.com; izakaya order temake.
●Story Deli – 6 Calvert Avenue (Shoreditch); 011-44-079-1819-7352; storydeli.com; decorated by owner & Vogue stylist Ann Shore; 100% organic pizzas constructed by her husband Lee; very finest super-thin-crust yeast-free pizzas with all-organic toppings; cash only; minimalist-style white space with wood tables specializing in creatively topped gourmet pizza.
●Tramshed – 32 Rivington Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7749-0478; chickenandsteak.co.uk; simple chicken & steak restaurant; enormous Damien Hirst work suspended from ceiling is worth special trip.
●Water House Restaurant – 10 Orsman Road (Shoreditch, Regent’s Canal-Victorian Park); 011-44-020-7033-0123; waterhouserestaurant.co.uk.

Brent (includes Kensal Green & Kensal Rise)
●Dock Kitchen – 342-344 Ladbroke Grove (Portobello Docks); 011-44-020-8962-1610; dockkitchen.co.uk.

Lambeth (includes Brixton, Clapham & Vauxhall)
●Bellantoni’s Artisan Pasta & Kitchen – 81 Granville Arcade Brixton Village Market, 5^th Avenue (Brixton); 011-44-787-294-5675; bellantonis.co.uk; delicious, handmade dishes.
●Brixton Cornercopia – 65 Brixton Village Market, Coldharbor Lane (Brixton); 011-44-79-1954-2233; brixtoncornercopia.ning.com; casual restaurant that makes modern dishes out of Brixton Market foods.
●Franco Manca – Brixton Market, Unit 4 Market Row; 011-44-020-7738-3021; francomanca.co.uk; supposedly best pizza west of Naples.

Lewisham (includes Deptford, Forest Hill, Ladywell & New Cross)
●Deptford Project – 121-123 Deptford High Street (Deptford, near London Bridge); 011-44-75-2535-1656; thedeptfordproject.com; colorful café that plans to be art gallery, too.
●A.J. Goddard – 203 Deptford High Street (New Cross); 011-44-020-8692-3601; downscale neighborhood restaurant serving pie & mash since 1890.

Southwark (includes Bankside, Bermondsey, Borough, Camberwell, Dulwich, Richmond Upon Thames & South Bank)
●Anchor & Hope – 36 Cut; 011-44-020-7928-9898; small gastro-pub.
●Antico Restaurant & Lounge Bar – 214 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7407-4682; antico-london.co.uk; Italian; cozy.
●Al Boccon di’Vino – 13 Red Lion Street (Richmond-Upon-Thames); 011-44-020-8940-9060; nonsolovinoltd.co.uk; stellar Venetian restaurant; generally crammed with eager gourmands; neither menu nor wine list, but this adds adventurousness to the culinary occasion, as overseen by owner Riccardo Grigolo; freshest ingredients.
●Borough Market – 8 Southwark Street (Borough); 011-44-020-7407-1002; boroughmarket.org.uk; cheap eats.
●Canteen Restaurant – Belvedere Road (South Bank, at Royal Festival Hall); 011-44- 845 686 1122; canteen.co.uk; chain that provides reliable, “English” food.
●40 Maltby Street – 40 Maltby Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7237-9247; 40maltbystreet.com; Italian; worth special trip.
●Garrison – 99 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7089-9355; thegarrison.co.uk; fresh flowers, teacup chandeliers & wheel-back chairs; open for breakfast but, generally, gastro-pub.
●George Inn – 77 Borough High Street (Borough); 011-44-020-7407-2056; nationaltrust.org.uk/george-inn; only “galleried pub” left in England; 16^th Century coachhouse; great for lunch; courtyard (which offers ample seating) counts Dickens & Shakespeare among patrons (mentioned in Dickens’ Little Dorrit; stunning building, with 2 floors of interlocking, oak-beamed dining rooms, latticed windows & open fireplacesconsidered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Jose – 104 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7403-4902; josepizarro.com/restaurants/jose; Spanish sherry & tapas.
●Mayflower Pub – 117 Rotherhithe Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7237-4088; themayflowerrotherhithe.com; dates to 1620; along Thames River path; black- & white-timbered frontage set with diamond-leaded windows; small main bar area (cosy alcoves, open fire) leads to waterfront deck outside; considered among London’s most authentic & beloved pubs.
●Petersham Nurseries Café – Church Lane (off Petersham Road); 011-44-020-8940-5230; petershamnurseries.com/cafe.asp; bucolic nursery café; try gooseberry fool (whipped cream, gooseberry compote & white wine).
●Pizarro – 194 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7407-7339; josepizarro.com/restaurants/pizarro; Spanish restaurant.
●Roast – 6 Southwark Street (Borough); 011-44-020-7940-1300; roast-restaurant.com; famed for classical English fare with locally sourced ingredients.
●Roast & Conch Cafe – 4 Monmouth Street; 011-44-84-4493-3933; hotelchocolat.co.uk; best chocolate drinks in Europe.
●Sea Containers – 20 Upper Ground (South Bank, at Mondrian London); 011-44-020-3747-1000; morganshotelgroup.com/mondrian/mondrian-london; Seamus Mullen’s 1^st outside America & is wrapped around bar complete with dangling yellow submarine; exquisite meatballs with nutmeg, smoked eggplant, tender meats, all finely presented; menu is bit too minimal.
●Village East – 171-173 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7357-6082; villageeast.co.uk; onetime cloth factory, now multilevel brasserie.
●Zucca – 184 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7378-6809; zuccalondon.com; Italian.

Tower Hamlets (includes Bethnal Green, Canary Wharf, East End, Limehouse, Poplar, Spitalfields, Tower Hill & White Chapel)
●Le Bouchon Breton – 8 Horner Square (Whitechapel, at Old Spitalfields Market); 011-44-80-0019-1704; lebouchon.co.uk; Belle Epoque interiors; huge pewter bar; French brasserie; moderate.
●Canteen Restaurant – 2 Crispin Place (Spitalfields); 011-44-84-5686-1122; canteen.co.uk; chain that provides reliable, “English” food.
●Canteen Restaurant – 40 Canada Square (Canary Wharf, at Park Pavilion); 011-44-84-5686-1122; canteen.co.uk; chain that provides reliable, “English” food.
●Culpepper – 40 Commercial Street (Whitechapel); 011-44-020-7247-5371; theculpeper.com; hidden garden bistro on roof of industrial building; worth special trip.
●Forman’s – Stour Road (Tower Hamlets, overlooking Olympic Stadium); 011-44-020-8525-2390; formansfishisland.com; swanky restaurant by gourmet supplier & smokery; expensive.
●Hawksmoor – 157 Commercial Street (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7426-4850; thehawksmoor.com; traditional steakhouse chain with very good, reliable food & generous portions.
●Hurwundeki – 299 Railway Arches, Cambridge Heath Road (Bethnal Green); 011-44-020-7749-0638; facebook.com/Hurwundeki; Korean; café & goods.
●Narrow – 44 Narrow Street (Limehouse, on Thames River); 011-44-020-7592-7950; gordonramsay.com/thenarrow; outdoor seating.
●St. John Bread & Wine – 94-96 Commercial Street (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7251-0848; stjohngroup.uk.com; “chopped down” (price & range) version of rustic, Modern-Brit menu at original; famous for Old Spot bacon sandwiches & hot-from-oven madeleines; friendly, informal service in basic, laid-back setting; noisy at peak times.
●Towpath – 42 De Beauvoir Crescent (Bethnal Green, on Regent’s Canal towpath); 011-44-020-7254-7606; run by Italian-American food writer, Lori De Mori & husband, food photographer Jason Lowe; right next to towpath on unglamourous Regent’s Canal, just off Kingsland Road; lunch dishes very Italian & strongly ingredient-led: try cavolo nero on toast; celeriac soup; grilled cheese sandwich with Montgomery’s cheddar & quince-&-chilli jelly with honey-like consistency; and/or pork rillettes with piccalilli; blood orange posset dessert is must.

Wandsworth (includes Balham & Battersea)
●Duke of Cambridge – 30 St. Peter’s Street (Battersea); 011-44-020-7359-3066; dukeorganic.co.uk; local, eco-friendly cuisine; excellent.
●Kastoori Restaurant – 188 Upper Tooting Road (Wandsworth); 011-44-020-8767-7027; kastoorirestaurant.com; try “taste bomb” (puffed rice snack filled with potatoes, chick peas & sweet-sour sauce, topped with yoghurt dollop).

Westminster (includes Bayswater, Charing Cross, Covent Garden, Maida Vale, Marylebone, Mayfair, Millbank, Paddington, Piccadilly, Pimlico, St. James, St. John’s Wood, Soho, Victoria, West End & Whitehall Court)
●Arbutus – 63-64 Frith Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7734-4545; arbutusrestaurant.co.uk; french peasant fare; outstanding.
●Atami Japanese Restaurant – 37 Monck Street (Westminster); 011-44-020-7222-2218; atami-restaurant.com; sushi.
●Balthazar – 4-6 Russell Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-20-3301-1155; balthazarlondon.com; as good as American version (which is good); classic French brasserie.
●Barrafina – 54 Frith Street (West End); 011-44-020-7813-8016; barrafina.co.uk; Spanish food; no reservations so long lines.
●Beast – 3 Chapel Place (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7495-1816; beastrestaurant.co.uk; Norwegian crab or Angus steak at communal, candlelit tables.
●Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill – 11-15 Swallow Street (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7734-4756; bentleys.org; original Art Deco windows & marble oyster bar.
●Bluebird Cafe – 350 Kings Road; 011-44-020-7559-1141; bluebird-restaurant.co.uk; where Kate Middleton lunches.
●Bocca di Lupo – 12 Archer Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7734-2223; boccadilupo.com; Italian classics in brightly-lit, industrial kitchen, ringed by bar (great seat).
●Le Boudin Blanc – 5 Trebeck Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7499-3292; boudinblanc.co.uk; good, traditional French restaurant on Shepherd’s Market walk.
●Boulestin – 5 St. James’ Street (St. James; 011-44-020-7930-2030; boulestin.com; century after Xavier Marcel Boulestin opened his eponymous restaurant showcasing Simple French Cooking for English Homes, his spirit has been resurrected at this elegant brasserie.
●Boyd’s Grill & Wine Bar – 8 Northumberland Avenue (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7808-3344; boydsgrillandwinebar.co.uk; British brasserie with perspex chairs & mustard sofas in grand, Victorian-marble setting; must see.
●Brass Rail – 400 Oxford Street (Marylebone, at Selfridges & Co.); 011-44-87-0837-7377; selfridges.com; upscale department store restaurant; ultimate salt-beef sandwich.
●Brasserie Chavot – 41 Conduit Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7183-6425; brasseriechavot.com; try beef stew.
●Canteen Restaurant – 55 Baker Street (Marylebone); 011-44-84-5686-1122; canteen.co.uk; chain that provides reliable, “English” food.
●Canteen Restaurant – 21 Wellington Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7836-8368; canteen.co.uk; chain that provides reliable, “English” food.
●Le Caprice – Arlington Street (St. James, off Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7629-2239; le-caprice.co.uk; brasserie food.
●Cha Cha Moon – 15-21 Ganton Street (Soho); 011-44-87-1962-0700; chachamoon.com; Hong Kong Chinese, primarily noodles.
●Chiltern Firehouse – 1 Chiltern Street (Marleybone); 011-44-020-7073-7676; chilternfirehouse.com; Andres Balaz’s celebrity-packed newest venture.
●Cinnamon Club – 30-32 Great Smith Street (Westminster, in Old Westminster Library); 011-44-020-7222-2555; cinnamonclub.com; high-end Indian; popular with politicians.
●Coya – 118 Piccadilly; 011-44-20-7042-7118; coyarestaurant.com; painted murals & colonial relics straight from Lima; Peruvian cuisine; live music Thursday through Saturday; if you join member’s club, have dining access to private terrace.
●Helene Darroze – Carlos Place (Mayfair, at Connaught Hotel); 011-44-020-7499-7070; the-connaught.co.uk.
●Daylesford Organic – 400 Oxford Street (West End, at Selfridges); 011-44-020-800-123-400; daylesfordorganic.com.
●Delaunay – 55 Aldwych (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7499-8558; thedelaunay.com; pricey; feels like stepping into Titanic grand salon; comforting menu Modern Euro classics.
●Domino Room – 68 Regent Street (West End, at Café Royal Hotel); 011-44-020-7406-3333; hotelcaferoyal.com; 19^th Century Regency building; Egyptian cartouches.
●Duck Soup – 41 Dean Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7287-4599; ducksoupsoho.co.uk; little signage outside this tiny space; hand-scrawled menus are similarly anonymous; no bookings taken in evening, diners can sit at long bar & chef serves; bare walls, lightbulbs & barely any decoration; from bar menu, try girolle mushrooms with triple-cream Brillat-Savarin cheese slices and/or cured pork leg & pappa al pomodoro soup; excellent wine list; very popular.
●Fera – 49 Brook Street (Mayfair, at Claridge’s Hotel); 011-44-020-7107-8888; feraatclaridges.co.uk; elaborate tasting menus in art deco space.
●Fino – 33 Charlotte Street (West End); 011-44-020-7813-8010; finorestaurant.com; Spanish; tapas.
●Fischer’s – 50 Marylebone High Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7466-5501; fischers.co.uk; Viennese restaurant by those behind Wolseley.
●La Fromagerie – 2-4 Moxon Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7935-0341; lafromagerie.co.uk; cheese shop where can have breakfast on site.
●Galvin at Windows – 22 Park Lane (Mayfair, at London Hilton on Hyde Park); 011-44-020-7208-4021; galvinatwindows.com; Michelin-starred chefs run kitchen; 360° city view.
●Gauthier Soho – 21 Romilly Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7494-3111; gauthiersoho.co.uk; modestly-sized restaurant in 4-story, Georgian town house; ring bell for entrance; politely reserved atmosphere; 1 Michelin star; 1 nightly setting, 3 courses.
●Le Gavroche – 43 Upper Brook Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7408-0881; le-gavroche.co.uk; Michel Roux Jr.’s famous fine-dining restaurant offering luxe French food & impeccable service.
●Grazing – 19-21 Great Tower Street (Maida Vale); 011-44-020-7283-2932; grazingfood.com; breakfast & lunch near Tower.
●Grazing Goat – 6 New Quebec Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7724-7243; thegrazinggoat.co.uk; from the guys who do Orange.
●Hawksmoor Seven Dials – 11 Langley Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7856-2154; thehawksmoor.com; glorious temple to steak expensive; superb sides too.
●Hereford Road – 3 Hereford Road (Bayswater); 011-44-020-7727-1144; herefordroad.org; local, English fare that is seriously good at moderate prices; seasonal ingredients & good service, too.
●Hix – 66-70 Brewer Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7292-3512; hixsoho.co.uk; see & be seen place, with art by contemporary, local artists; seasonal British food.
●Ivy – 1-5 West Street (West End); 011-44-020-7836-4751; the-ivy.co.uk.
●Jamie’s Diner – 23 Shaftesbury Avenue (Soho, Piccadilly Circus); 011-44-020-3697-4117;jamieoliversdiner.com; comfort food.
●J. Sheekey Fish & Seafood Restaurant – 28-34 St Martin’s Court (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7240-2565; j-sheekey.co.uk; tucked into small alleyway off St. Martin’s Lane; Theatreland favorite for both famous (Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier) & not-so-famous; charming dining room with theatrical greats’ portraits lining walls; for dessert, baked pear tart with hazelnut cream on winter menu is must.
●J. Sheekey Oyster Bar – 33-34 St. Martin’s Court (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7240-2565; j-sheekey.co.uk; more casual offshoot of J. Sheekey Fish & Seafood Restaurant offers same classics & smaller dishes.
●Koya Bar – 49 Frith Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7434-4463; koya.co.uk; freshly made udon noodles; for breakfast, lunch & dinner; must try English breakfast fixings on noodles.
●Langan’s Brasserie – Stratton Street (Mayfair, at Stratton House); 011-44-020-7491-8822; langansbrasserie.com; steaks; where UK sports personalities hang.
●Lockhart – 22-24 Seymour Place (Lockhart); 011-44-020-3011-5400; lockhartlondon.com; southern food like fried chicken.
●Mahiki – 1 Dover Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7493-9529; mahiki.com; royals’ hangout; tiki-themed bar & pub.
●Mandalay Way – 444 Edgware Road (St. John’s Wood); 011-44-020-7258-3696; manadalayway.com; cheap & tasty Burmese food.
●Meat Liquor – 74 Welbeck Street; 011-44-020-7224-4239; meatliquor.com; what may be currently London’s hippest restaurant; highend burgers.
●Neal’s Yard Dairy – 17 Shorts Gardens (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7240-5700; nealsyarddairy.co.uk; small cheese shop.
●Nobu Berkeley – 15 Berkeley Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7290-9222; noburestaurants.com.
●Nobu London – 19 Old Park Lane (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7447-4747; noburestaurants.com.
●Polpetto – 49 Dean Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7734-1969; polpetto.co.uk; 12 tables (above French House pub); for wine, make sure to order Barbera d’Alba.
●Polpo – 41 Beak Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7734-4479; polpo.co.uk; tin-ceilinged, filament-bulb-lit hipster hangout; Venetian Italian; try apricot-studded rabbit terrine; affordable.
●Punch Bowl – 41 Farm Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7493-6841; punchbowllondon.com; unselfconscious gastropub owned by Guy Ritchie; fish & chips in beer batter are must.
●Quo Vadis – 26-29 Dean Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7437-9585; quovadissoho.co.uk; Karl Marx once lived in garret; great people-watching; steaks.
●Roux at Parliament Square – 11 Great George Street (Westminster, inside Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, just off square); 011-44-020-7334-3737; rouxatparliamentsquare.co.uk; light floods through Georgian windows; carefully crafted, contemporary cuisine, with some interesting flavor combinations.
●Rules – 35 Maiden Lane (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7836-5314; rules.co.uk; established by Thomas Rule in 1798, making it London’s oldest restaurant; traditional British food, specializing in classic game cookery, oysters, pies & puddings; owns Lartington Estate, in High Pennines, where sources game birds, roe deer & Belted Galloway beef.
●San Carlo Cicchetti – 215 Piccadilly (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7494-9435; sancarlocicchetti.co.uk; great Italian.
●St. John Hotel – 1 Leicester Street (West End); 011-44-020-3301-8020; stjohnhotellondon.com/restaurant; spare; housemade bread; marvelous food; popular with cognoscenti; unforgettable breakfast.
●St.-Martin-in-Fields – 5 Trafalgar Square; 011-44-020-7766-1100; stmartin-in-the-fields.org; cafeteria is great.
●Savoy Grill – Strand (West End); 011-44-020-7592-1600; gordonramsay.com/thesavoygrill; institution that invokes pin-striped power brokers; iconic Art Deco exterior.
●Scott’s – 20 Mount Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7495-7309; scotts-restaurant.com; liveried doorman greets you at this venerable institution (since 1851) that serves seafood; superb fish restaurant, answer to Les Deux Magots; tough to get table; Dover sole is legendary; Harold Pinter’s & Lady Antonia Fraser’s hang-out.
●Sketch – 9 Conduit Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7659-4500; sketch.uk.com; art-meets-food-meets-fashion at Mourad Mazouz’ gastro-emporium off Regent Street; all-white Gallery dining room (true art gallery by day) serves contemporary cuisine to video projections & ambient beat; late-night club Wednesday-Saturday nights, as soon as staff clear floor; fashionistas enjoy tea in less pricey Parlour; science-based “molecular gastronomy” in 1^st-floor Lecture Room.
●Spatisserie – 53 Park Lane (Mayfair, at Dorchester Hotel); 011-44-020-7629-8888; thedorchester.com; 18-seat boite with Art Deco aesthetic; light meals (warm lobster salad or sushi) from noon & afternoon tea; try bavoir (sweet pastry case filled with diced strawberries & strawberry mousse, topped with gold gel & silver leaf), or white macarons filled with chocolate ganache.
●Wheeler’s of St. James – 72-73 St. James Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7408-1440; wheelersrestaurant.org; long-established; home of aristocracy, avant garde & Bohemian in 1930-1940s; seafood; famous for oysters.
●Windsor Castle – 114 Campden Hill Road (Kensington); 011-44-020-243-8797; thewindsorcastlekensington.co.uk; pub dating to 1830s; outdoor seating.
●Wolseley – 160 Piccadilly (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7499-6996; thewolseley.com; French; high-ceilinged; Viennese feel; some of city’s best food; try Welsh rarebit; also, good breakfasts; regulars have included Lucian Freud, art dealer Daniel Katz & Tom Stoppard; order small egg Benedict.
●Wonder Bar – 400 Oxford Street (Marylebone, at Selfridges & Co.); 011-44-87-0837-7377; selfridges.com; good for wine, cheese, etc.; noshing.
●Wright Brothers Soho Oyster House – 13 Kingly Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7434-3611; thewrightbrothers.co.uk; spread across multiple levels; several bars.



SERVICES
●Art of Dining – 011-44-79-3265-4774; theartofdining.co.uk; pop-up dining that joins artistic & culinary worlds.
●Context Travel – 2216 South Street (Philadelphia, PA (main office)) or 2 College Place (London); 215-392-0303, 800-691-6036, 011-44-020-3514-1780 or 011-44-020-3318-5637 (from within UK); contexttravel.com/city/London; scholar & specialist network (archaeology, art history, classics, cuisine, environmental science, history & urban planning); design & lead small groups (6 maximum) on walking tours.
●Jason’s Trip – opposite 42 Blomfield Road (Paddington, in Little Venice, just beside Westbourne Terrace Road Bridge); 011-44-020-7286-3428; jasons.co.uk/booking.php; for “narrowboat” trip down Regent Canal.
●London Wall Walk – archaeology-travel.com/travel-reports/the-london-wall-walk; 1.75 mile walk follows what remains of London Wall built by Romans & maintained & rebuilt during Medieval times; starts at Tower of London & leads you to Museum of London.
●Oyster Card – 011-44-843-222-1234 (24 hours daily) or 011-44-020-7918-3015 (text only); tfl.gov.uk; ½ price Underground pass.
●Secret Cinema – secretcinema.org; film-showing events at various times of year; whole event; audience of 15K will dress up & take buses to outdoor screenings.
●Secret London – secret-london.co.uk; take walk with Blue Badge Guide.
●Walking Tours – 011-44-843-222-1234 (24 hours daily) or 011-44-020-7918-3015 (text only); tfl.gov.uk; downloadable walking tours, including “Jubilee Walkway,” which takes you on 14-mile route past all of London’s major sites, from Trafalgar Square to Tower Bridge.

Camden (includes Bloomsbury, Euston, Fitzrovia, Hampstead, Highgate, Holborn, Holborn-Temple, King’s Cross, Primrose Hill Regent’s Park & St. Pancras)
●Hale Clinic – 7 Park Crescent (Fitzrovia); 011-44-020-7631-0156; haleclinic.com; founded by Prince Charles; get bee-venom facial by Deborah Mitchell (natural alternative to Botox.)
●Triyoga Center – 6 Erskine Road (Primrose Hill); 011-44-020-7483-3344; triyoga.co.uk.

Chelsea & Kensington (includes Belgravia, Earls Court, Knightsbridge, Notting Hill & Portobello)
●Phoenix House – 1 Wilbraham Place (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7259-8222; chevalgroup.com; high-end, full service apartments at reasonable rates.
●Sarah Chapman London – 106 Draycott Avenue; 011-44-020-7589-9585; sarahchapman.net; facials.
●Uptown Reservations – 8 Kelso Place (Kensington); 011-44-020-7937-2001; uptownres.co.uk; to stay in London’s toniest neighborhoods at bargain rates.
●Richard Ward – 82 Duke of York Square; 011-44-020-7730-1222; richardward.com; hair styling; where Kate Middleton goes.

Westminster (includes Bayswater, Charing Cross, Covent Garden, Maida Vale, Marylebone, Mayfair, Millbank, Paddington, Piccadilly, Pimlico, St. James, St. John’s Wood, Soho, Victoria, West End & Whitehall Court)
●Espa Life – Whitehall Place (Westminster); 011-44-020-7930-8181; espaonline.com or corinthialondon.com; 4-story, 35K' square spa with 17 treatment rooms, indoor pool & lounge that serves pastries & tea.
●Fortnum & Mason – 181 Piccadilly (Mayfair); 011-44-75-1609-9010; fortnumandmason.com or demamiel.com; offers Annee De Mamiel-approved, product facials (she no longer takes clients).
●Daniel Hersheson – 45 Conduit Street (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7434-1747; danielhersheson.com; hair-stylist; also has space at Harvey Nichols.
●Yvonne Martin – 5-6 Clarendon Terrace (Pimlico, Little Venice-Maida Vale); 011-44-020-7266-2127; yvonnemartin.co.uk; facialist.



SHOPPING
Brent (includes Kensal Green & Kensal Rise)
●Circus Antiques & Interiors – 60 Chamberlayne Road (Kensal Rise); 011-44-020-8968-8244; circusantiques.co.uk; antique furniture, including mid-century modern.
●Howie & Belle – 52 Chamberlayne Road (Kensal Rise); 011-44-020-8964-4553; howieandbelle.com; vintage clothes.
●Scarlet & Violet – 76 Chamberlayne Road (Kensal Rise); 011-44-020-8969-9446; scarletandviolet.com; great florist.

Camden (includes Bloomsbury, Euston, Fitzrovia, Hampstead, Highgate, Holborn, Holborn-Temple, King’s Cross, Primrose Hill Regent’s Park & St. Pancras)
●All Visual Arts – 2 Omega Place; 011-44-020-7843-0410; allvisualarts.org; see, in particular, works by Kate MccGwire (long flowing feather pieces).
●Hampstead Butcher & Providore – 56 Rosslyn Hill (Hampstead); 011-44-020-7794-9210; butcher & delicatessen; free-range meats, wines & artisan deli goods plus hampers & classes/tasting evenings.
●L. Cornelissen & Son – 105 Great Russell Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7636-1045; cornelissen.com; old-world art supplies shop.

Chelsea & Kensington (includes Belgravia, Earls Court, Knightsbridge, Notting Hill & Portobello)
●Ananya – 196 Kensington Park Road (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7792-3339; ananyalondon.co.uk; women’s clothing.
●Hilary Batstone Antiques – 8 Holbein Place (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-5335; hilarybatstone.com.
●Bentleys Antiques – 204 Walton Street; 011-44-20-7584-7770; bentleyslondon.com; for vintage luggage.
●Core One – Gas Works; 011-44-020-7371-7422; coreoneantiques.com; antique dealers’ cooperative.
●Couverture – 188 Kensington Park Road (Portobello); 011-44-020-7229-2178; couvertureandthegarbstore.com; mini-style-emporium; children’s, men’s & women’s wear.
●Egg – 36-37 Kinnerton Street (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7235-9315; eggtrading.com; in residential area short walk from Harvey Nichols; brainchild of Maureen Doherty, once Issey Miyake’s assistant; unstructured styles for men & women in natural fabrics; artisanal; ceramics & jewelry also on display.
●Finch & Co. – 2 Old Brompton Road (Kensington); 011-44-020-7413-9937; finch-and-co.co.uk; collection includes antiquities, curiosities, ethnographic items, European works of art, maritime art, objects from Orient, photographic images, pictures & drawings; wide range of esoterica, from shrunken Amazonian skull, to ancient Nigerian club used to kill unwanted babies, to over 150 year-old letters from Anglican Church preacher chronicling his experiences amongst “Indian heathens”; also among collection are English carved Sperm Whale tooth snuff box, unusual English carved & polychromed coconut flash, prehistoric carving tools & more.
●Gallery 25 – 26 Pimlico Road (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-7516; gallery25.co.uk; 20^th Century decorative arts.
●Jimmie Martin – 77 Kensington Church Street; 011-44-020-7938-1852; jimmiemartin.com; remarkable furniture designers & related home accessories.
●Lulu Guiness – 3 Ellis Street (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7823-4828; luluguinness.com/stores.aspx; purses.
●Harrods – 87-135 Brompton Road (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7730-1234; harrods.com; department store.
●Anya Hindmarch – 63 Ledbury Road (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7792-4427; anyahindmarch.com; designer handbags.
●Emma Hope – 53 Sloane Square (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7259-9566; emmahope.com; shoes.
●Jigsaw – Chapel, Duke of York’s Square, King’s Road; 011-44-020-7730-4404; jigsaw-london.com; women’s clothing chain.
●Peter Jones – Sloane Square (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7730-3434; johnlewis.com/Shops/DSShop.aspx?Id=25; classic British department store; 6^th floor café has great views of surrounding Knightsbridge.
●Heidi Klein – 174 Westbourne Grove (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7243-5665; heidiklein.com; resort wear.
●Love Bakery – 319 Kings Road; 011-44-020-7352-3191; lovebakery.co.uk; famous for mini-cupcakes.
●Harvey Nichols – 109-125 Knightsbridge (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7235-5000; harveynichols.com; high-end department store.
●Miller Harris – 14 Needham Street (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7221-1545; millerharris.com; candles & fragrances taken to whole new level; master perfumer, Lyn Harris will create scents for customers.
●Partridges – 2-5 Duke of York’s Square; 011-44-020-7730-0651; partridges.co.uk; grocer to royal family.
●Proud – 161 Kings Road; 011-44-020-7349-0822; proud.co.uk; photography gallery.
●Reiss – 114 Kings Road; 011-44-020-7225-4900; reissonline.com; men’s & women’s clothing.
●Rellik – 8 Golborne Road (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-8962-0089; relliklondon.co.uk; vintage store favored by Rihanna.
●Jane Sacchi Linens – 132-134 Lots Road; 011-44-020-7349-7020; janesacchi.squarespace.com; antique & customized linens, some dyed with woad plant extract.
●John Sandoe (Books) Ltd. – 10 Blacklands Terrace; 011-44-020-7589-9473; johnsandoe.com; more than 24K volumes; founded in 1957; crammed into 3 stories of 18^th Century structure; books stacked on tables, on floor, on corkscrew stairway risers & shelved in places 2 or more deep.
●Shop at Bluebird – 350 Kings Road; 011-44-020-7351-3873; theshopatbluebird.com; eclectic fashion & housewares.
●Pippa Small – 201 Westbourne Grove (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7792-1292; pippasmall.com; jewelry, sale of which supports causes such as Afghan women empowerment.
●Soler – 88 Bevington Road (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-8968-4694; soler.co.uk; bright boutique that focuses on simple cuts, bold colors & all-natural fabrics; hand-painted silk dresses & scarves.
●Summerill & Bishop – 100 Portland Road (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7221-4566; summerillandbishop.com; kitchen boutique.
●Rigby & Peller – 13 Kings Road; 011-44-84-5076-5545; rigbyandpeller.com; bespoke lingerie.
●Gordon Watson – 50 Fulham Road (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7589-3108; gordonwatson.co.uk; top-end 20^th Century antique dealer.
●Whistles – 31 Kings Road; 011-44-020-7730-2006; whistles.co.uk; women’s clothing.
●Emilia Wickstead – 28 Cadogan Place (Belgravia); 011-44-020-7235-1104; emiliawickstead.com; New Zealand-born, Milan-informed designer who makes desirable affordable.
●Jack Wills – 125 Kings Road; 011-44-020-7351-6200; jackwills.com; sportswear modeled on British public school look.

Fulham & Hammersmith (includes Shepherd’s Bush)
●Ginger Pig – 137-139 Askew Road (Shepherd’s Bush); 011-44-020-8740-4297; theingerpig.co.uk; butcher; all rare breed beef (Galloway & Longhorn), lamb (Charollais & Dorset) & pork (Berkshire & Tamworth); carnivore paradise.
●Katherine Hooker – 19 Ashburnham Road (Fulham); 011-44-020-7352-5091; katherinehooker.com; women’s custom-made jackets.

Hackney (includes Bishopsgate, Broadgate, Clapton, Dalston, Hackney Wick, Hoxton, London Fields & Stoke Newington)
●Arch 389 – Mentmore Terrace (Hackney); 011-44-79-5749-1644; facebook.com/arch389; antique, Victorian & vintage furniture & home items.
●Broadway Market – Broadway Market (London Fields); 011-44-78-7246-3409; broadwaymarket.co.uk; open-street market on Saturdays; worth special trip.
●FARM:Shop – 20 Dalston Lane (Dalston); 011-44-020-3490-5124; farmlondon.weebly.com/farmshop.html; radical experiment in arts project building; local, urban farming with goods sold on premises.
●LN-CC – 18-24 Shacklewell Lane (Stoke Newington); 011-44-020-3174-0741; ln-cc.com; book appointment on website at this former boxing gym, now high concept, Japanese “cult label” clothing store; worth visit alone.
●Violet – 47 Wilton Way (Hackney); 011-44-020-7537-1002; violetcakes.com; bakery.

Islington (includes Angel, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, St. John’s Square, Shoreditch, Smithfield & West Smithfield)
●Albion Cafe – 2-4 Boundary Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7729-1051; albioncaff.co.uk; bakery, cafe & food store.
●Annie’s Vintage Costume & Textiles – 12 Camden Passage (Angel); 011-44-020-7359-0796; anniesvintageclothing.co.uk; flapper dresses & Edwardian lace jackets; vintage costume wear.
●Columbia Road Flower Market – Columbia Road (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7377-8963; columbiaroad.info/home.html; 60 vendors; also, antique shops, art galleries, gardening stores & patisseries.
●D.S. Dundee – 18 Lamb Street (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7375-2803; dsdundee.com; mens’ wear.
●Get Stuffed – 105 Essex Road (Canonbury); 011-44-020-7226-1364; thegetstuffed.co.uk; taxidermy specialists; shop open by appointment.
●Kirt Holmes – 16 Camden Passage (Angel); 011-44-020-7226-1080; a-kind-of-fine.com; jewelry, such as signature black pearl & crystal collar necklaces; popular with Hollywood (Scarlett Johansson & Charlize Theron).
●Hurwundeki – 98 Commercial Street (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7392-9194; hurwundeki.com; Korean; café & goods.
●Leila’s Shop – 17 Calvert Avenue (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7729-9789; foodie shop; cookbooks & foods, with emphasis on Polish fare.
●No-One – 1 Kingsland Road (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7613-5314; no-one.co.uk; fashion boutique.
●Old Spitalfields Market – 16 Horner Square (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7247-8556; oldspitalfieldsmarket.com; among best markets for antiques & vintage clothing.
●Smug – 13 Camden Passage (Angel); 011-44-020-7354-0253; ifeelsmug.com; lifestyle shop; everything from glass & tableware to hand-painted enamel brooches.
●Spitalfields Market – Brushfield Street (Spitalfields); spitalfields.co.uk; 110 stalls.
●Sunday UpMarket – Ely’s Yard, Old Truman Brewery (Shoreditch, on Brick Lane); 011-44-020-7770-6028; sundayupmarket.co.uk; bring cash because only 1 ATM nearby & always line; trendy.
●Westland London – Leonard Street (Shoreditch, at St. Michael’s Church); 011-44-020-7739-8094; westlandlondon.com; high-end antique chimneypieces, furniture, sculpture & lighting in dramatic church showroom.
●Paul A. Young – 33 Camden Passage (Angel); 011-44-020-7424-5750; paulayoung.co.uk; experimental chocolatier; 85 varieties.

Lambeth (includes Brixton, Clapham & Vauxhall)
●Bellantoni’s Artisan Pasta & Kitchen – 81 Granville Arcade Brixton Village Market, 5^th Avenue (Brixton); 011-44-787-294-5675; bellantonis.co.uk; delicious, handmade dishes.
●Brixton Cornercopia – 65 Brixton Village Market, Coldharbor Lane (Brixton); 011-44-79-1954-2233; brixtoncornercopia.ning.com; Brixton Market foods.
●Circus – 70 5^th Avenue, Brixton Village (Brixton); 011-44-773-667-9676; circus5thave.blogspot.com; housewares.

Southwark (includes Bankside, Bermondsey, Borough, Camberwell, Dulwich, Richmond Upon Thames & South Bank)
●Lovely & British – 132 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7403-9474; facebook.com/LovelyandBritish; home goods & jewelry boutique.
●Maltby Street Market – at Bermondsey railway arches (Bermondsey); maltbystreet.com; numerous food shops & stalls; lovely stroll.
●Rabot Estate – 3 Stoney Street; 011-44-020-7403-9852; rabotestate.com/boroughmarket.html; chocolates.
●Whitbread & Wilkinson – 2.01/02 Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street (South Bank); 011-44-020-7922-1444; w2products.com; stylish home accessories.
●White Cube Gallery – 144-152 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7930-5373; whitecube.com; has shown Anselm Kiefer.

Tower Hamlets (includes Bethnal Green, Canary Wharf, East End, Limehouse, Poplar, Spitalfields, Tower Hill & White Chapel)
●Beyond Retro – 110-112 Cheshire Street (East End); 011-44-020-7613-3636; beyondretro.com; vintage clothing.
●Hurwundeki – 299 Railway Arches, Cambridge Heath Road (Bethnal Green); 011-44-020-7749-0638; hurwundeki.com; Korean; café & goods.
●Marianna Kennedy – 3 Fournier Street (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7375-2757; mariannakennedy.com; bespoke objects (chinoiserie lacquer tables with spindly gold-leaf legs, plaster wall casts of 18^th Century architectural motifs, carved-wood standing lamps & lampshades made from book-binding paper).
●Labour & Wait – 18 Cheshire Street (East End, off Brick Lane); 011-44-020-7729-6253; labourandwait.co.uk; curious, little emporium; emphasizes handmade, utilitarian & bygone objects.
●Levisons – 1 Cheshire Street (East End); 011-44-77-6279-3273; vintage clothes.
●Maltby Street & Spa Terminus – high-end food market under Victorian railroad arches; seek out Butchery, Catalan Cooking (for bunyols de bacalla (salt cod fritters)), Hansen & Lydersen (cheese), Kernel Brewery, La Grotta Ice Cream, Monmouth Coffee Co., Mons Cheesemongers, Neal’s Dairy Yard & St. John Bakery, Tayshaw Ltd. (produce).
●Mar Mar Co. – 16 Cheshire Street (East End); 011-44-020-7729-1494; marmarco.com; globally-sourced home & kitchen design products.
●10 Gales – Railway Arch #10 (Bethnal Green); 011-44-020-7729-8416; 10gales-london.co.uk; gallery & vintage store.
●Townhouse – 5 Fournier Street (Spitalfields); 011-44-020-7247-4745; townhousewindow.com; antiques.

Westminster (includes Bayswater, Charing Cross, Covent Garden, Maida Vale, Marylebone, Mayfair, Millbank, Paddington, Piccadilly, Pimlico, St. James, St. John’s Wood, Soho, Victoria, West End & Whitehall Court)
●Aesop – 91 Mount Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7409-2358; aesop.com; England outpost of Australian apothecary, equivalent to Kiehl’s.
●Belmacz – 45 Davies Street; 011-44-020-7629-7863; belmacz.com; art, beauty products & jewelery.
●British Red Cross – 85 Ebury Street (Belgravia, near Victoria Station); 011-44-020-7730-2235; redcross.org.uk; high-end, vintage clothing.
●Cadenhead’s – 26 Chiltern Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7935-6999; whiskytastingroom.com; old school Scottish spirits shop; extensive inventory rare scotches, all available for sample.
●Chucs Dive & Mountain Shop – 31 Dover Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7734-6402; chucs.com; run by Peter Finch’s son.
●Cire Trudon – 36 Chiltern Street (Marylebone); 011-40-020-7486- 7590; ciretrudon.com/en/univers-cire-trudon-historique.php; world’s oldest candlemaker; store is like cabinet of curiosities.
●Cocomaya – 35 Connaught Street (Paddington); 011-44-020-7706-2770; cocomaya.co.uk; artisan chocolates, some styled as ancient coins.
●Dover Street Market – 17-18 Dover Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7518-0680; doverstreetmarket.com; 6 spartan floors of cutting edge design; accessories & clothing.
●Alfred Dunhill Bourdon House – 2 Davies Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7853-4444; dunhill.com; 2^nd Duke of Winchester’s 18^th Century London residence; brand’s home; bar, spa & store.
●Fenwick Department Store – 63 New Bond Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7629-9161; fenwick.co.uk.
●Simon Finch Rare Books – 26 Brook Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7499-0974; simonfinch.com.
●Fortnum & Mason – 181 Piccadilly (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7734-8040; fortnumandmason.com; food hall.
●Martha Freud Design – 65 Alfred Road (Maida Vale); 011-44-020-7221-0100; marthafreud.com; furniture, home accessories & lighting.
●La Fromagerie – 2-4 Moxon Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7935-0341; lafromagerie.co.uk; cheese shop (and other items); can have breakfast on site.
●Garrard & Co. – 24 Albemarle Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7518-1070; garrard.com; jeweler.
●Hackett House – 37 King Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7240-2040; hackett.com; men’s clothing.
●Hedonism Wines – 3-7 Davies Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7989-0085; hedonism.co.uk; exclusive, extraordinarily expensive, wine store.
●G. Heywood Hill Ltd. – 10 Curzon Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7629-0647; heywoodhill.com; antiquarian bookseller; where Nancy Mitford during wartime years as clerk.
●John Lewis’ Food Hall – 300 Oxford Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7629-7711; johnlewis.com; 17K square foot gourmet shop.
●Liberty – Great Marlborough Street (Soho); 011-44-020-7573-9645; liberty.co.uk; numerous locations.
●Lock & Co. – 6 St. James’s Street (St. James’s); 011-44-020-7930-8874; lockhatters.co.uk; claiming to be oldest hat store in world, this historic haberdashery had hand in creatiing Bowler hat.
●Magg’s Bros. – 46 Curzon Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7493-7160; maggs.com; established antiquarian bookseller offering rare books & manuscripts in haunted Georgian townhouse; .
●Maison Assouline – 196A Piccadilly (Piccadilly); assouline.com/boutiques/europe/london-piccadilly; books & luxury lifestyle wares.
●Matches – 87 Marylebone High Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7487-5400; matchesfashion.com; retail outlet for top designers; looks like art gallery.
●Miller Harris – 14 Monmouth Street (Covent Garden, at Seven Dials); 011-44-020-7836-9378; millerharris.com; candles & fragrances taken to whole new level; master perfumer, Lyn Harris will create scents for customers.
●Miller Harris – 21 Bruton Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7629-7750; millerharris.com; candles & fragrances.
●Mouki – 29 Chiltern Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7224-4010; moukimou.com; elegant concept store; clothing that is more than seasonal; pieces you can fall in love with.
●Nellie’s – 113 3^rd Avenue (Westminster); 011-44-78-3454-2022; nelliesflowers.co.uk; florist who works out of kitchen; Nigella Lawson’s florist.
●Neal’s Yard Dairy – 17 Shorts Gardens (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7240-5700; nealsyarddairy.co.uk; small cheese shop.
●Michelle Roques O’Neil – 326 Kensal Road (Westminster, Saga Centre, Unit 214); 011-44-020-8969-1221; roquesoneil.com/blog; bespoke scents; by appointment only; some products sold at Sarah Chapman, Cowley Manor, etc.
●Opening Ceremony – 35 King Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7836-4978; openingceremony.us; indie-fashions.
●Rubinacci – 96 Mount Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7499-2299; marianorubinacci.net; tailor.
●Brian Russell Tailors – 6 Sackville Street (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7287-4880; brianrusselltailors.co.uk; tailor.
●Henry Sotheran’s – 2-5 Sackville Street (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7439-6151; sotherans.co.uk; fine books & prints.
●St.-Martin-in-Fields – 5 Trafalgar Square (Westminster); 011-44-020-7766-1100; stmartin-in-the-fields.org; beautiful 18^th Century brick-vaulted crypt; treasure-trove packed with CDs, books, clothing, jewelery, linen & pictures, as well as religious books.
●Selfridges & Co. – 400 Oxford Street (Marylebone); 011-44-87-0837-7377; selfridges.com; upscale department store.
●Shepherds – 46 Curzon Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7495-8580; bookbinding.co.uk; address books, photo albums, etc.
●Shepherds – 76 Rochester Row (Westminster); 011-44-020-7620-0060; bookbinding.co.uk; address books, photo albums, etc.
●Shizaru Gallery – 112 Mount Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7499-2266; shizaru.com; art.
●Stephen Webster – 93 Mount Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7486-6756; stephenwebster.com; jewelry, from big & flashy to more subdued.
●Sunspel – 13-15 Chiltern Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7009-0650; info.sunspel.com/contact-us; traditional English clothing since 1860; this is company that introduced boxer shorts to Britain in 1947.
●Top Shop – 216 Oxford Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7636-7700; topshop.com; designer clothing at cheap prices.
●Trunk Clothiers – 8 Chiltern Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7486-2357; trunkclothiers.com; men’s clothing from foot to head; worth visit.
●Turnbull & Asser – 71-72 Jermyn Street (St. James); 011-44-020-7808-3000; turnbullandasser.com; menswear.
●VV Rouleaux – 102 Marylebone High Street (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7224-5179; vvrouleaux.com; beaded trim, bullion fringes, flowers, ribbons, taffeta, tiebacks.
●Waterstones – 203-206 Piccadilly (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7851-2400; waterstones.com; bookstore.



SIGHTS & SITES
Barbican
●Barbican Centre – Silk Street; 011-44-020-7638-4141 (Switchboard); barbican.org.uk; Brutalist structure; performing arts center; largest of its kind in Europe; hosts classical & contemporary art exhibitions, film screenings, music concerts & theatre performances.

Barnet
●Royal Airforce (RAF) Museum – Grahame Park Way; 011-44-020-8205-2266; rafmuseum.org.uk.

Brent (includes Kensal Green & Kensal Rise)
●Kensal Green Catacombs & Cemetery – Harrow Road (Kensal Green); 011-44-020-8969-0152; kensalgreen.co.uk; inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris; founded by the barrister George Frederick Carde; Wilkie Collins & Anthony Trollope buried here.

Bromley (includes Bromley-By-Bow, Crystal Palace & Mile End)
●Crystal Palace Dinosaurs – 13 Orchard Grove (Bromley); cpdinosaurs.org; collection of over 30 statues created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins (1807-1894) around 1854; this set includes 1^st ever attempt anywhere in world to model dinosaurs as full-scale, 3-D, active creatures; set also includes models of other prehistoric creatures, including plesiosaurs & ichthyosaurs discovered by Mary Anning in Lyme Regis & South American Megatherium brought back to Britain by Charles Darwin on his voyage on HMS Beagle; Queen Victoria & Prince Albert were fascinated by dinosaur displays in Crystal Palace & visited site several times.
●Crystal Palace Museum – Anerley Hill (Crystal Palace); 011-44-020-8676-0700; crystalpalacemuseum.org.uk; small museum that details crystal palace history.
●Crystal Palace Park – Thicket Road (Crystal Palace); 011-44-020-8778-9496; visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/198408-crystal-palace-park#gz60rZT1JjBKD28D.97; Victorian pleasure ground, now used for cultural & sporting events; named after Crystal Palace Exhibition building, which was moved from Hyde Park after 1851 Great Exhibition; destroyed by fire in 1936; features full-scale models of dinosaurs in landscape, maze, lakes & concert bowl; difficult to imagine enormous glass masterpiece of Victorian engineering that once stood on this spot but traces remain - just few stairwells guarded by old sphinx & some foundation stones, just off Old Cople Lane.

Camden (includes Bloomsbury, Euston, Fitzrovia, Hampstead, Highgate, Holborn, Holborn-Temple, King’s Cross, Primrose Hill Regent’s Park & St. Pancras)
●Admiral’s House – Admiral’s Walk (Hampstead); hampsteadheath.net/admiral-s-house.html; eccentric 18^th Century naval officer named Fountain North missed naval life so much that he constructed ship’s quarterdeck on his housetop; even mounted cannons from which he fired salutes on king’s birthday & after Britain’s naval victories; immortalized in literature by P.L Travers’s Mary Poppins series; Travers, Hampstead local, got idea from her own eccentric neighbor; inspired many artists over years; subject of John Constable’s painting Romantic House at Hampstead (on display at Victoria & Albert).
●British Library – 96 Euston Road (Euston); 011-44-84-3208-1144; bl.uk; real highlight is visit to Sir John Ritblat Gallery where most precious manuscripts, spanning almost 3K years, held; here you’ll find Codex Sinaiticus (1^st complete New Testament text), Gutenberg Bible (1455), stunningly illustrated Jain sacred texts, Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, Magna Carta copy (1215), explorer Captain Scott’s final diary, Shakespeare’s 1^st Folio (1623), & A Hard Day’s Night lyrics (scribbled on back of Julian Lennon’s birthday card), plus original scores by Handel, Mozart & Beethoven.
●British Museum – Great Russell Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7636-1555; britishmuseum.org; human culture & history museum; collections number more than 7M objects; established in 1753, largely based on physician & scientist Sir Hans Sloane’s collection; serenely displayed in Room 95 are 1.7K objects from Sir Percival David’s collection; arrayed in small groupings; Ru ware objects glazed in indefinable colors, something between lavender-blue & celadon green; experts consider Ru ware Chinese ceramics’ acme; there exist perhaps 100 examples of these refined Song dynasty objects, made around time Normans pillaging England; 12 are in British Museum, 7 in one case; make sure to see Lindow Man exhibit (2K year-old mummified remains).
●Camden Stables Market – 42 Chalk Farm Road (Camden); 011-44-020-7485-5511; camdenmarket.com; gets its name from its previous incarnation as horse hospital; in Victorian times, stables were where horses injured pulling barges down canals would come for treatment; now it & catacombs under arches opposite have been combined under umbrella term “Stables Market” & together make up popular market spaces; over 450 shops & stalls.
●Cartoon Museum – 35 Little Russell Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7580-8155; cartoonmuseum.org; in 2006 dedicated cadre of cartoonists, comic artists & collectors known as Cartoon Art Trust created permanent home for collection; resulting Cartoon Museum, housed in old London dairy, is devoted to exploring sometimes overlooked art form; museum has over 5K books, 4K comics & 1.7K original strips, graphic novels, animation & caricatures, continually updated & curated, with 100s of examples always on rotating display; some past exhibits have been artist retrospectives (Ronald Searle, H.M Bateman & Ralph Steadman have all been focus of past shows), while others have been cross-cultural (“Dr. Who in Comics,” “Drunken Cartoonists & Drink in Cartoons”), & many have highlighted historical & political cartooning (“Heckling Hitler: World War II in Cartoons & Comics”).
●Charles Dickens Museum – 48 Doughty Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7405-2127; dickensmuseum.com; based out of house in which he lived 1837–39; shop is stocked with such Dickensian delights as bronze & plaster busts, ceramic figurines, embroidered towels, feather quill pens & stationery sets; attached café with pretty killer lemon cake; make sure to tour all 4 flours.
●Dr. Johnson’s House – 17 Gough Square (Holborn-Temple, off Fleet Street); 011-44-020-7353-3745; drjohnsonshouse.org; 18^th Century English writer, Samuel Johnson’s, former home; rare example of 1700s house in Greater London; Johnson lived & worked in house from 1748-59, where compiled Dictionary of English Language; make sure to see statue of his cat, Hodge.
●First Public Drinking Fountain – Holborn Viaduct (Holborn, at very eastern end, in railings of St. Sepulchre-Without-Newgate Church); historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Londons-First-Drinking-Fountain; in 1859, free, public drinking water became “thing”; philanthropist Samuel Gurney built 1^st fountain on Holborn Hill, simple granite basin attached to St. Sepulchre-Without-Newgate Church gates.
●Freud Museum – 20 Maresfield Gardens (Hampstead); 011-44-020-7435-2002; freud.org.uk; contains exact replica of Freud’s office.
●Garden Squares of Bloomsbury – between Euston Road & Holborn (Camden); for fans of T.S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, John Maynard Keynes, Mary Shelley, Lytton Strachey & Virginia Woolf; idyllic area famous for being home & meeting grounds to great artists, intellectuals & writers of 1920-30s known as Bloomsbury; actually, even longer history of literary ties; see 46 Gordon Square (John Maynard Keynes home), 50 Gordon Square (Virginia Woolf home) & 51 Gordon Square (Lytton Strachey home); enjoy fountain plaza at Russell Square & check out where T.S. Eliot once worked (Faber & Faber); swing by 87 Marchmont Street (former home of Mary & Percy Bysshe Shelley, plaque almost hidden above what is now grocery store); or claim spot on grass at Tavistock Square.
●Grant Museum of Zoology – University College London, Gower Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7679-2000; ucl.ac.uk.
●Hunterian Museum – 35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields (Holborn-Temple); 011-44-020-7869-6560; rcseng.ac.uk/museums; Royal College of Surgeons museum.
●Highgate Cemetery – Swain’s Lane (Highgate); 011-44-020-8340-1834; highgatecemetery.org; famed for people buried in its leafy grounds; visitors can take guided tours to see graves of poets, artists & musicians; punk revolutionary Malcolm McLaren, artist Anna Mahler, writer T.S. Eliot & philosopher Karl Marx are all buried in Highgate Cemetery East; reputedly haunted; beautiful setting; make sure to see “World’s Largest Potted Plant”; at cemetery’s west side is “Circle of Lebanon,” round of mausoleums creating massive pot, containing ancient Cedar of Lebanon; tree long predates graveyard.
●King’s Cross Railway Station – Euston Road; 011-44-084-5711-4141; networkrail.co.uk/london-kings-cross-station/departures-arrivals; visit Platform 9 & 3/4s for Harry Potter photos (also shop near spot).
●London Canal Museum – 12-13 New Wharf Road (Kings Cross); 011-44-020-7713-0836; canalmuseum.org.uk; make sure to see King’s Cross Ice Well.
●Lullaby Factory – 3 Powis Place (Bloomsbury, wedged between 2 buildings at Great Ormond Street Hospital); 011-44-020-7405-9200 (Great Ormond Street Hospital main number); studioweave.com/projects/detail/lullaby-factory or gosh.nhs.uk/lullaby-factory; enter Children’s Hospital, opposite 47 Great Ormond Street; at reception desk, ask for directions to Lagoon restaurant; at 1 side of restaurant; concoction of pipes & horns that covers 1 of hospital’s old brick buildings; lodged in courtyard created when new glass building was constructed next door; Studio Weave designed this hidden sound installation to add discovery & joy for young patients; interesting factoid - funded in part by Peter Pan royalties, which J.M. Barrie signed over in 1929.
●Magic Circle Museum (Centre for Magic Arts) – 12 Stephenson Way (King’s Cross); 011-44-020-7387-2222; themagiccircle.co.uk; magic society’s intimate HQ, with theatre, library, museum & club room.
●Old Curiosity Shop – 13-14 Portsmouth Street (Holborn); 011-44-020-7405-9891; timeout.com/london/shopping/old-curiosity-shop; tucked away among London’s School for Economics’ buildings; small, wood-beamed shop; dating to 16^th Century, with sloping roof, overhanging 2^nd floor, & uneven Tudor gabling; among London’s oldest shops; constructed from ship salvaged wood, survived not only Great Fire of London (1666), but also Blitz; while living in neighboring Bloomsbury, Charles Dickens visited on numerous occasions; although name added after novel released, was inspiration for his 1841 novel, Old Curiosity Shop; Old Curiosity Shop of Dickens’ imagination was home of virtuous teenage orphan, Nell Trent & grandfather; original shop itself started as dairy, given as present by King Charles II to mistress; hidden away on Portsmouth Street just south of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Old Curiosity Shop today is retailer of high end shoes & still open for business as it has been for over 500 hundred years.
●Novelty Automation – 1 Princeton Street (Holborn); 011-44-078-8680-1461; novelty-automation.com; little arcade of 18 games made of everything from old photobooths to rubber gloves; most built by Tim Hunkin, illustrator-slash-engineer best known for making Pink Floyd’s floating pigs & sheep; games range from tongue-in-cheek to truly surreal; think of it as little piece of eccentric English seaside slap-bang in middle of London’s traditionally po-faced legal & accounting district.
●Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology – University College London, Gower Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7679-2884; petrie.ucl.ac.uk; over 80K historical items & ranks among world’s leading Egyptian ancient historical items collections.
●Pollock’s Toy Museum – 1 Scala Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7636-3452; pollockstoys.com; in dimly lit Victorian building with rickety staircases; especially worth seeing, toy theaters of 1800’s, forgotten craft that required intricate printing plates & lovingly constructed characters; named after Benjamin Pollock, among last printers in toy theater trade; housed in 2 adjacent buildings that serve as retail shop as well.
●St. Bride’s Fleet Street Cathedral – St. Bride’s Fleet Street (Holborn-Temple); 011-44-020-7427-0133; stbrides.com; current church is 8^th that has stood here; after Great Fire destroyed prior church in in 1666, Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt with spire described as “madrigal in stone”; after church bombed in 1940, archaeologist excavated crypts & was able to confirm much of site’s legendary history; Roman house discovered; also established that in 6^th Century, Ireland’s St. Brigit (St. Bride) founded 1^st Christian church built here; famous parishioners have included John Dryden, John Milton, Richard Lovelace, John Evelyn, Samuel Pepys & Samuel Richardson; now is museum.
●St. Pancras Old Church – Pancras Road (Camden); 011-44-020-7424-0724; posp.co.uk/st-pancras-old-church; working church; among oldest sites of worship in Britain; also spectacular intimate venue for music (check calendar); on grounds, make sure to see Hardy Tree (tree under which Thomas Hardy placed tombstones) in adjacent cemetery.
●Sir John Soane’s Museum – 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields (Holborn-Temple); 011-44-020-7405-2107; soane.org; architect’s home & museum; perhaps no museum has more devoted fan base.
●Temple Church – Fleet Street (Holborn-Temple); 011-44-020-7353-3470; templechurch.com; late 12^th Century church (located between Fleet Street & Thames River), built for & by Knights Templar as English headquarters; famous for its effigy tombs & being round church; heavily damaged during WWII but largely restored.

Chelsea & Kensington (includes Belgravia, Earls Court, Knightsbridge, Notting Hill & Portobello)
●Jeremy Bentham’s Auto-Icon – 31-34 Gordon Square (Bloomsbury, UCL South Cloisters); 011-44-020-7679-7495; ucl.ac.uk/maps/jeremy-bentham-room; when philosopher Jeremy Bentham died in 1832, he left specific instructions re “disposal & preservation of several parts of my bodily frame”; his skeleton was to be clad in black suit as “occasionally worn by me” & seated upright on chair, under placard reading “Auto Icon”; Bentham suggested his corpse might then be able to preside over regular meetings of his utilitarian followers; for 10 years prior to death, Bentham purportedly carried in his pocket pair of glass eyes to be embedded into his embalmed head; here, however, plan went awry; face grossly disfigured in embalming & substitute wax replacement had to be created; real embalmed head placed on floor between Bentham’s legs, where resided until 1975, when kidnapped by students demanding £100 for charity; university paid £10 & head returned; since 2002, Bentham’s real head resides in climate-controlled storeroom at UCL Institute of Archeology; those with appropriate reasons to pay visit may still do so by appointment, upon emailing nicholas.booth@ucl.ac.uk.
●Brompton Cemetery – Fulham Road (Kensington, enter through South Gate off Fulham Road or North Gate off Old Brompton Road); 011-44-020-7352-1201; royalparks.org.uk/parks/brompton-cemetery; famous burials include Emmeline Pankhurst; Beatrix Potter, seeking names for her animal characters, would often visit for inspiration (among cemetery’s estimated 205K interments are familiar names like Peter Rabbett & surnames Nutkins & McGregor; established in 1840 as 6^th of London’s “Magnificent Seven” Victorian era park-cemeteries; covers 39 acres; originally closed to burials in 1952, but now once again interring city’s dead.
●Carlyle’s House – 24 Cheyne Row; 011-44-020-7352-7087; nationaltrust.org.uk/carlyles-house; Jane & Thomas Carlyle’s former home; they courted 19^th Century literary celebrities; snug, 4-story dwelling behind which lies modest garden patch.
●Chelsea Old Church – 64 Cheyne Walk (Chelsea, near Albert Bridge); 011-44-020-7795-1019; chelseaoldchurch.org.uk/history; dates back to 1157 & stands behind bronze monument to Thomas More (1477-1535), who had close association with it; original features of largely rebuilt church (badly bombed in 1941) include more than 100 monuments dating from 1433-1957, including Thomas More (1532) & Henry James (1916); don’t miss chained books at southern aisle’s western end (only ones of their kind in London church); small collection includes “Vinegar” bible (so named for error in 1717 edition mis-translating “vineyard” to “vinegar”) along with other religious works; books were donated by avid book & curiosity collector, Hans Sloane, today best remembered for his personal collection, bequeathed to UK & forming British Museum’s & Natural History Museum’s foundations; he also deserves remembrance for leaving funds for Chelsea Physic Garden & for introducing chocolate to England; he was buried at Chelsea Old Church in 1753.
●Chelsea Physic Garden – 66 Royal Hospital Road (Chelsea); 011-44-020-7352-5646; chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk; limited public access so check website; Worshipful Society of Apothecaries initially established garden on leased site of Sir John Danvers’ well-established garden; this house, called Danvers House, adjoined mansion that had once been Sir Thomas More’s house; Danvers House pulled down in 1696 to make room for Danvers Street; in 1713, Dr. Hans Sloane purchased from Charles Cheyne adjacent Manor of Chelsea, about 4 acres, which he leased in 1722 to Society of Apothecaries for £5 year in perpetuity, requiring only that Garden supply Royal Society, of which he was principal, with 50 good herbarium samples per year, up to total of 2K plants; that initiated Chelsea Physic Garden’s golden age under Philip Miller (1722–1770); became world’s most richly stocked botanic garden; seed-exchange program established following visit in 1682 from Paul Hermann, Dutch botanist connected with Hortus Botanicus Leiden & has lasted till present day; seed exchange program’s most notable act may have been introduction of cotton into Georgia & more recently, worldwide spread of Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus).
●Courtauld Institute of Art – Somerset House (South Kensington, on Strand); 011-44-020-7872-0220; courtauld.ac.uk; gallery containing 530 paintings & over 26K drawings & prints; founding collection donated by Samuel Courtauld, including Manet’s A Bar at Folies-Bergère & version of Déjeuner sur l’Herbe, Renoir’s La Loge, landscapes by Monet & Pissarro, ballet scene by Degas, 8 major works by Cézanne, Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear & Peach Blossoms in Crau, Gauguin’s Nevermore & Te Rerioa, important works by Seurat, Rousseau, Toulouse-Lautrec & Modigliani; in 1934, Institute received eminent art critic Roger Fry’s 20^th Century art collection; after WWII, Lord Lee donated his Old Master paintings, which included Cranach’s Adam & Eve & sketch in oils by Rubens for his Deposition altarpiece in Antwerp Cathedral; Sir Robert Witt bequeathing his important Old Master & British drawings collection in 1952; in 1966, Mark Gambier-Parry bequeathed his grandfather’s (Thomas Gambier Parry) diverse art collection, ranging from Early Italian Renaissance painting to majolica, medieval enamels & ivory carvings; Dr. William Wycliffe Spooner’s 1967 bequest added English watercolors, including works by J.R. Cozens & Francis Towne; in 1974, 13 watercolors by Turner presented in Sir Stephen Courtauld’s memory; in 1978, Courtauld received Count Antoine Seilern’s Princes Gate Collection of Old Master drawings & paintings, which included paintings by Bruegel, Matsys, Van Dyck, Rubens & Tiepolo, as well as 19^th-20^th Century works by Pissarro, Degas, Renoir & Kokoschka.
●Crosby Hall – Cheyne Walk (Chelsea); christophermoran.org/news/crosby-hall-‘the-most-important-surviving-domestic-medieval-building-in-london’; built in 1466 in Bishopsgate; moved in 1910 to present site; now private residence; only example of medieval City merchant house surviving in London; Great Hall is only surviving medieval mansion part, built in 1466 by wool merchant Sir John Crosby; by 1483, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III, acquired it from widow Crosby; is setting for scene in William Shakespeare’s Richard III; during Henry VIII’s reign, belonged to Antonio Bonvisi; from 1621-38, East India Company’s home; following fire in 1672 only Great Hall & Parlor wing survive; then became Presbyterian meeting house; then warehouse with inserted floor; in 1910, medieval structure reprieved from threatened demolition & moved stone by stone to present site, provided by former London County Council, largely at public expense; neo-Tudor brick additions designed by Walter Godfrey constructed around it; salvage, catalogue & storage paid for by Bank of India, who had purchased Bishopsgate site to build offices; in 1916, housed Belgian refugees; Godfrey added north wing in 1925–26 as women’s university residence hall; bought in 1989 by Christopher Moran, businessman who is Chairman of Co-operation Ireland.
●Estonian Embassy – 16 Hyde Park Gate; 011-44-020-7838-5388; estonia.gov.uk; not open to public; featured in Room with View (1985).
●Fitzroy House – 37 Fitzroy Street (Bloomsbury); 011-44-020-7255-2422; fitzroyhouse.org; dating back to 1791, London’s Fitzroy House was in spitting distance of some of literature’s greatest minds, but house itself is best known for tenure of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology & Guinness World Record Holder for Most Published Works.
●Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn (former site) – 36 Blythe Road; toffeewomble.blogspot.com/2006/01/wickedest-building-site-in-world.html; after being drawn in by friends with similar interests in alchemy & occult, young Aleister Crowley was initiatated by Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn founder, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers; Golden Dawn was among many secret societies in 19^th Century; practices centered on ancient magic & mystic philosophy; Crowley, charismatic & confident, rose quickly in Order ranks; when Crowley attempted to join Order’s 2^nd rank, London chapter denied admission; Crowley went directly to Mathers in Paris, where immediately entered into 2^nd rank’s highest level (“Adeptus Exemptus”); London chapter requested evidence & reasoning behind Crowley’s promotion, Mathers declined & dismissed chapter; in response, London chapter renounced Mathers as leader; on 19 April 1900, while poet & chapter leader W. B. Yeats heading meeting at Order’s London temple, attacked by “astral siege” (Crowley, wearing black Osiris mask & kilt, & his mistress, casting spells & brandishing daggers); police came, scuffle went to court & London chapter won but disbanded few years later.
●Kensington Palace – Kensington Gardens (Kensington); 011-44-020-3166-6000; hrp.org.uk; royal residence since 17^th Century; today, official residence of Duke & Duchess of Gloucester, Duke & Duchess of Kent & Prince & Princess Michael of Kent; also used on unofficial basis by Prince Harry & his cousin, Zara Phillips; Princess Alices’, Diana’s & Margaret’s official residence; make sure to see Peter Pan statue in gardens.
●Kensington Roof Gardens – 99 Kensington High Street (Kensington); 011-44-020-7937-7994; virginlimitededition.com/en/the-roof-gardens; gardens are often hired for private events so phone ahead.
●Leighton House Museum – 12 Holland Park Road (Kensington); 011-44-020-7602-3316; rbkc.gov.uk/leightonhousemuseum; opulent house constructed in 1860s (with important later extension); Sir Frederic Leighton’s (leading Victorian painter) home; one of so-called Studio Houses of Holland Park Circle; building is unlikely period & style relic that somehow survived fashion’s vagaries; house’s 1^st part built in blocky, restrained classical style (George Aitchison-designed), notable mainly for its functional segregation (servants below ground, separate entrance & stair for Leighton’s models, only 1 bedroom in this vast structure, for master himself); what makes house modern is how it evolved to accommodate artist’s singular mania for collecting, in particular antique Islamic tiles he & his purchasing agents ransacked Middle East to acquire mid-19^th Century (Arab Hall); by time Leighton conceived idea of building opulent domed & columned Arab Hall, he’d amassed Ks tiles stripped from houses, mosques & tombs in Iran, Syria & Turkey.
●Linley Sambourne House – 18 Stafford Terrace; 011-44-020-7602-3316; rbkc.gov.uk; former London home of Victorian Punch cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne; now open to public as museum; from 1874, Sambourne & family lived in typical, newly-built Kensington town house; interiors decorated in Aesthetic style & feature fine selection of William Morris wallpapers; house largely unchanged (including decoration & furniture) until 1946, then left unoccupied until 1960; thereafter, Victorian Society continuously preserved.
●Freddie Mercury Courtroom – 1 Logan Place (Kensington); rockandrollgps.com/freddie-mercury-former-home-and-place-of-death; not open to public; exterior covered with fan mail.
●Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising – 111-117 Lancaster Road (Notting Hill); 011-44-020-7243-9611; museumofbrands.com; examines history of consumer culture from Victorian times to present day.
●York Watergate – Buckingham Street, at Thames Embankment Gardens (Kensington, on Strand); designed by Inigo Jones, now marooned some 150 yards from Thames River; built in 1626 for George Villiers, 1^st Duke of Buckingham; gate served as primary exit from gardens belonging to nearby York House, mansion along Strand & on pre-Roman track; with Thames Embankment construction in 1864-70 by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, gate ended up landlocked.
●Serpentine Sacklery Gallery Pavilion – Kensington Gardens; 011-44-020-7402-6075; serpentinegalleries.org; designed by Zaha Hadid.
●Sloane House – 149 Old Church Street; historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1266196; not open to public; can glimpse from street; 18^th Century city residence for aristocratic families; notable residents include Jennifer Fry.

City of London (includes Blackfriars, Financial District, Guildhall & Little Britain)
●Aldgate Pump – 65-68 Leadenhall Street (at junction of Aldgate High Street, Fenchurch Street & Leadenhall Street); lookup.london/aldgate-pump; water pump dates from 1876, standing slightly west to site of ancient well that stood before it (well 1^st mentioned in John Stow’s 1598 survey of London); famous for Aldgate Pump Epidemic, where 100s people died as result of drinking polluted water; following investigation by City Medical Officer found that water that fed fountain had been drained all way from Hampstead in North West London & during its passage underwater had drained through numerous new graveyards; pump closed & reconnected to New River Company’s supply in 1876.
●All Hallows-by-Tower Church – Byward Street; 011-44-020-7481-2928; allhallowsbythetower.org.uk; previously dedicated to St. Mary Virgin & sometimes known as All Hallows Barking; ancient Anglican church founded in 675; among oldest churches in London; inside there is 7^th Century Anglo-Saxon arch with recycled Roman tiles, oldest surviving piece church fabric in city; badly damaged by explosion in 1650 caused when some gunpowder barrels in churchyard exploded; narrowly survived Great Fire of London; gutted by German bombers during WWII & required extensive reconstruction; church has museum called Undercroft Museum, containing portions of Roman pavement & exhibits focusing on church history (on display are registers dating back to 16^th Century & notable entries include William Penn’s baptism & John Quincy Adams’ marriage; altar in crypt is of plain stone from Richard I’s castle Athlit in Holy Land; hidden away in crypt below church is peculiar artifact: original crow’s nest from ship Quest, which was vessel that was fielded on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s final voyage; Quest was schooner-rigged steam ship; with much same crew from Endurance, Quest left England on 24 September 1921; Shackleton reached South Georgia by January 1922, but by this time, his health was rapidly deteriorating; on 5 January 1922, he summoned physician Alexander Macklin to his cabin, who told Shackleton that he had been overdoing things & should try to “lead more regular life,” to which Shackleton answered: “You are always wanting me to give up things, what is it I ought to give up?” “Chiefly alcohol, Boss,” replied Macklin; moments later, Shackleton died of a heart attack; Emily Shackleton wired expedition, requesting that her husband’s body be buried in South Georgia, where he rests to this day, in remote Grytviken cemetery; Quest survived WWII, working as mine sweeper, but was eventually sunk by ice in 1962 off Labrador coast while on seal hunting expedition; Shackleton’s original cabin, as well as crow’s nest, salvaged before ship sank; cabin ended up in Norway, with plans to restore it & send it to South Georgia Polar Museum; crow’s nest was “brought here by Tubby in Quest of Siller for Talbot House”; “Tubby” was then-vicar of All Hallows, Reverend Philip Clayton, who opened Talbot House as rest home for wounded & shellshocked WWI soldiers; “Siller” was Old English name for money, being Scottish variant of “silver”; Tubby toured with crow’s nest using it as attraction to raise funds for his Talbot hospice; at back of All Hallow’s church today, narrow staircase leads into crypt; original Roman road is still here, perfectly preserved; walking past church register (opened to day John Quincy Adams married here), take narrow subterranean passage to small underground chapel.
●Barber-Surgeons’ Hall Garden – Monkwell Square (Moorgate, at London Wall, Wood Street); 011-44-020-7734-3922; cityoflondon.gov.uk/citygardens; fragrant garden; created by Worshipful Company of Barber Surgeons to present broad view of way plants used from earliest times in medical & surgical practice.
●Christchurch Greyfriars (Christ Church Newgate Street) – King Edward Street; 011-44-020-7374-4127; cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/city-gardens/visitor-information/Pages/christchurch-greyfriars-church-garden.aspx; established as monastic church in 13^th Century; became parish church after monastery dissolution; following destruction in Great Fire (1666), rebuilt to Sir Christopher Wren’s designs; except for tower (now private residence), largely destroyed by bombing during WWII; ruins are now public garden; buried in cemetery are Isabella of France, Marguerite of France & Joan of Scotland.
●Cleary Garden – off Queen Victoria Street (at Huggin Hill); cityoflondon.gov.uk/citygardens; benches under tree & vine canopies; sunken lawn; during Middle Ages area was wine trade hub; separated into 3 tiers, garden’s wooden arbors, shaded seats & large lawn, which covers Roman bathhouse site.
●Finsbury Circus – Moorgate (at London Wall); londontown.com/LondonStreets/finsbury_circus_a30.html; largest & oldest park in London city.
●Inner Temple Garden – 11 King’s Bench Walk (City of London, pedestrian gate on Middle Temple Lane or enter off Victoria Embankment, via Tudor Street); 011-44-020-7797-8243; innertemple.org.uk/index/the-inner-temple-garden; open 12.30-3.00 pm on weekdays; “Temple” comes, via Knight’s Templar, from Temple Mount in Jerusalem; when order dissolved site passed to Knights Hospitaller & then, in 1608, to barristers; walking down narrow alley from Fleet Street into Temple gives real sense of passing from Medieval London to 18^th Century London, still pleasantly free of vehicular traffic; grand terrace houses barristers’ chambers; garden spaces managed like 18^th Century garden squares.
●Leadenhall Market – Gracechurch Street (Financial District); 011-44-020-7909-1073; cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/leadenhall-market/Pages/default.aspx; ornate Victorian marketplace that is setting for Diagon Alley & Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter films.
●London Stone – 111 Cannon Street (currently housed in London Museum while Cannon Street location refurbished; wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Stone; historic artifact; limestone block not naturally found in or around London area; geologists have concluded that nearest source for its origin would be in Kent, which is 60 miles away; original reason it was brought to London is unknown; earliest written reference to London Stone is in book belonging to King Athelstan in early 10^th Century; used as common transportation landmark in 12^th Century, when it was referred as Londenstane; texts from 17^th & 18^th Centuries suggest that it was actually central marker from which all distances to related cities or townships were measured back in Roman times; sometimes called Stone of Brutus, referring to mythical Trojan founder of London; in 1450, Jake Cade, leader of rebellion against Henry VI, struck his sword against it & declared himself “Lord of City,” which event Shakespeare dramatized in Henry VI.
●London Wall – Cooper’s Row (City of London); londonhistorygroup.com/archives/listings/london-wall-coopers-row; among most impressive examples of juxtaposition ancient & modern is elaborate section of London Wall standing beneath & between ultramodern glass-&-steel buildings that were literally designed around it.
●Museum of London – 150 London Wall; 011-44-020-7001-9844; museumoflondon.org.uk; world’s largest urban museum; documents city’s history from prehistoric to present; may want to use as starting point to see actual remains of London Wall, encircling City.
●Philpot Lane Mice Sculpture – 23 Eastcheap; lookup.london/philpot-lane-mice-londons-tiniest-sculpture; plaque indicates buildings constructed in 1861-62 as spice merchant offices; not known when sculpted rodents appeared.
●Postman’s Park – King Edward Street (Little Britain, not far from St. Paul’s Cathedral); 011-44-020-7374-4127; postmanspark.org.uk; project of artist George Frederic Watts; exquisite plaques executed with ornate typeface & Royal Doulton china designed by leading tile designer William De Morgan; displayed in small green space in built-up area; some examples: “Soloman Galaman Aged 11, Died saving his little brother from being run over in Commerical Street in Sept 1901,” “Alice Ayres, Daughter of a bricklayer’s labourer, who by intrepid conduct saved 3 children from a burning house . . . at the cost of her own young life, April 1885,” “William Goodrum Aged 60, Signalman. Lost his life at Kingsland Rd Bridge in saving a workman from death under the approaching train form Kew”; app exists called “Everyday Heroes of Postman’s Park” that allows users to check out in-depth profiles of heroes on wall.
●Roman Amphitheatre – Gresham Street (Guildhall); 011-44-020-7332-3700; cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visit-the-city/attractions/guildhall-galleries/Pages/default.aspx; when City of London began planning art gallery associated with famous Guildhall building, didn’t take long to discover massive area of 2K year-old ruins lying just below it; ruins were quickly identified as being from Roman era – large amphitheater; previously unknown to modern archaeologists, Roman amphitheater once used for all manner of public entertainment, which at time included executions & fights; art gallery construction proceeded while care taken to excavate & incorporate newly found amphitheater into final design; Guildhall Yard, courtyard outside Guildhall building, serves as “roof.”
●St. Olave Hart Street – 8 Hart Street (City of London); 011-44-020-7488-4318; sanctuaryinthecity.net; small city church dates back to 13^th Century by document & that was built on site of Battle of London Bridge as far back as 1014 by legend; in crypt, well where King Olaf II of Norway (later St. Olaf) rallied his troops around to assist Ethelred “Unready” in driving Vikings out of London with cry, “Forward Crossmen!”; as London became trade center in 15^th & 16^th Centuries, church flourished as merchants chose to be buried here; their brightly colored memorials are highlight of any visit; as church was next to home of Queen Elizabeth I’s spymaster, Francis Walsingham, many of her spies worshipped here & at least 2 buried here; other luminaries buried at church include William & Peter Turner, pioneering father & son botanists & herbalists; Samuel Pepys described church in his diary as “our own church”; he worked in Navy Office nearby & would enter pew for Admiralty officials (today, where old doorway stood is 19^th Century memorial to him); across church, directly in line of sight to where Pepys sat is memorial to Elizabeth, his wife, which he had placed there so would always be able to gaze upon her; church survived Great Fire, thanks to quick thinking by William Penn (father of American Founding Father), who tore down local houses to create firebreaks; church wasn’t so lucky during Blitz & was gutted, but extensive restoration has brought church back to its pre-war state; in enclosed churchyard is buried Mary Ramsay who died in 1665, woman popularly believed to be responsible for bringing Bubonic Plague to London; also buried there is person upon whom Mother Goose children’s stories based; on Seething Lane, churchyard can be entered through macabre gateway, crowned with skulls & morbid Latin phrase, Christus Vivere Mors mihi lucrum (“Christ lives, Death is my reward”), erected in 1658, shortly before plague would ravage London again; Charles Dickens was great fan of this gateway & called it (& church) “St. Ghastly Grim”; he would come here on rainy, foggy nights to gaze at skulls.
●St. Paul’s Cathedral – Ludgate Hill; 011-44-020-7246-8357; stpauls.co.uk; present building dates from 17^th Century; generally reckoned to be London’s 5^th St. Paul’s Cathedral; sits on London’s highest point, which originated as Roman trading post situated on Thames River; make sure to see “Whispering Gallery”; in walkway that circles inside of Christopher Wren’s great dome whispered words can be heard clearly directly across 137'; 1 of 3 galleries accessible in cathedral, located at top of 259 steps, 99' above cathedral floor; acoustic trick is artifact of dome perfection (completed in 1710); current cathedral replaces incarnation destroyed in Great Fire of London (1666); Wren, who had already been planning on retrofitting existing cathedral, took on monumental task of creating new central cathedral; also responsible for rebuilding of 50 other parish churches during same period; his design was modern & quite different than earlier cathedral design, incorporating massive dome designed in homage to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome; 1^st stone laid in 1677 & opened in 1697, just 32 years after fire - lighting quick build, in cathedral terms; largest cathedral in England & considered Wren’s masterpiece, who was 1^st of many prominent people interred therein (1723); his epitaph reads “Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice,” Latin for “Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you”; struck by, but survived bombing raids in WWII, remains active church.
●St. Michael’s Church (Cornhill) – St. Michael’s Alley; 011-44-020-7283-3121; st-michaels.org.uk; medieval parish church with pre-Norman Conquest parochial foundation; medieval structure lost in Great Fire; replaced by present building, traditionally attributed to Sir Christopher Wren with upper tower parts by Nicholas Hawksmoor; church embellished by Sir George Gilbert Scott & Herbert Williams in 19^th Century; make sure to see site of London’s 1^st coffee house (serving various refreshments for 360 years) on St Michael’s Alley, just off Cornhill.
●Temple of Mithras – 12 Walbrook; 011-44-020-7330-7500; sacred-destinations.com/england/london-temple-of-mithras; Roman mithraeum discovered in 1954; entire site relocated; most famous 20^th Century Roman discovery in London.
●Tomb of Unknown London Girl – 30 St. Mary Axe (actually on side street, at 18 Bury Street); lookup.london/the-roman-grave-under-gherkin; in 1992 bomb exploded in City of London along St. Mary Axe, destroying Baltic Exchange, historic trading center for maritime markets; in 1995, as site being cleared for new construction, archeological investigation discovered young girl’s remains, estimated to be 1.6K years-old; inscription in both English & Latin.
●Tower of London – St Katharine’s & Wapping; 011-844-482-7777; hrp.org.uk; of special interest, in White Tower (Tower’s old keep), there is small staircase tucked away near entrance; called “Two Princes Staircase,” it’s where skeletons of 2 children were found during renovations in 1674; widely believed skeletons are of 2 princes who disappeared at site in late 15^th Century; though no scientific evidence to back up claim, suspected bones are of Edward V & Richard Duke of York, King Edward IV’s sons; when king died, his brother, Richard III (who was known as Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester prior to his coronation), had boys murdered to cement his claim to throne; Richard III originally had them in his custody in White Tower after their father’s death in April 1483; no recorded sightings of young princes after that following summer; after bones were discovered buried beneath stairs in 17^th Century, widely accepted that they were those of 2 princes; true identity may never be known for certain; 2 skeletons currently reside in Westminster Abbey, where they reburied; DNA testing never conducted, as Church of England refuses to allow.
●Whitecross Street Market – whitecrossstreet.co.uk; among London’s oldest market; excellent coffee at nameless pushcart operated by Gwilym Davies, who owns Prufrock Coffee.

Fulham & Hammersmith (includes Shepherd’s Bush)
●Stamford Bridge – Fulham Road (Fulham border); 011-44-020-7385-5545 or 011-44-020-7386-9373; chelseafc.com or stadiumguide.com; football stadium where Chelsea plays.
●Fulham Palace – Bishops Avenue (Fulham-Hammersmith border); 011-44-020-7736-3233; fulhampalace.org; at 1 time, main residence of Bishop of London; medieval origin; adjacent to Bishop’s Park, houses museum of palace’s history & has extensive botanic garden.

Greenwich (includes Abbey Wood & Charlton)
●Crossness Pumping Station – Belvedere Road (Abbey Wood, Old Works); 011-44-020-8311-7311; crossness.org.uk; in order to end “Great Stink” of 1858, London needed major upgrade to sewer system; Crossness Pumping Station built to more efficiently deal with public waste; surprisingly lovely ironwork & tilework to boot.
●Eltham Palace & Gardens – 52 Eltham High Street; 011-44-020-8850-6578; english-heritage.org.uk; 1930s Art Deco-renovated Eltham Palace, built by Courtauld family next to original Eltham Palace’s remains (Henry VIII’s childhood home); magnificent, medieval Great Hall is highlight; beautiful gardens with plenty of places for picnic.
●Green Chain Walk – system begins at 3 places on River Thames (Thames Barrier, Thamesmead & riverside at Erith); greenchain.com; 40 mile, signposted footpath network, linking together many open spaces in south east London, with events, visitor attractions & teaching resources; can walk in sections; various circular walks along route; offshoot from main route to Chislehurst; next section reaches Crystal Palace via Bromley; from there it goes north with branches to Dulwich & Nunhead.
●Greenwich Foot Tunnel – Cutty Sark Gardens (crossing beneath Thames in East London, linking Greenwich on south bank with Isle of Dogs, Tower Hamlets, on north); royalgreenwich.gov.uk/info/200102/walking/693/foot_tunnels; public highway open 24 hours daily; accessible by spiral staircases & large lifts (refurbished 2010-12); part of UK’s National Cycle Route 1 (linking Inverness & Dover).
●Greenwich Prime Meridian – Blackheath Avenue (Greenwich); 011-44-020-8312-6565; rmg.co.uk/royal-observatory/meridian-line-and-historic-observatory; meridian line in Greenwich represents world’s Prime Meridian; every place on Earth is measured in terms of its angle east or west from this line since 1884; line runs across courtyard of Royal Observatory & was adopted by international agreement to irritation of French who continued to use Paris meridian.
●Maritime Greenwich – visitgreenwich.org.uk; situated on Thames River in south east London; World Heritage Site; famous for historic landmarks, such as National Maritime Museum [Romney Road], Royal Observatory [Blackheath Avenue], Greenwich Mean Time & Meridian Line & Old Royal Naval College’s inspirational architecture by Sir Christopher Wren; make sure to visit Flamsteed House at Royal Observatory to see John Harrison’s Marine Chronometers; in 1714, British Empire held contest, would bestow massive prize to 1^st clockmaker who could deliver timepiece capable of functioning on open ocean; try as they might, all biggest names in horology proceeded to fail miserably at this challenge for decades on end; “Longitude problem” thought unsolvable; then, out of nowhere, John Harrison appeared, having constructed between 1728-1735, self-educated carpenter & clockmaker developed his revolutionary H1 prototype based on wooden clocks dependent upon counterbalanced springs rather than gravity; device given trial at sea in 1736, during which test it performed well enough that Harrison was able to earn stipend to work on his next prototype, H2, from Board of Longitude; 3^rd prototype would follow before Harrison entirely abandoned clock body style in favor of “sea watch” design seen in his later H4 & H5 models; Harrison’s original H1-H4 prototypes are on display at Flamsteed House.
●Spencer Perceval Memorial – 74 Charlton Church Lane (Charlton, burial at St. Luke’s Church); 011-44-020-8858-8175; achurchnearyou.com/charlton-st-luke; Spencer Perceval (1762-1812) is only British Prime Minister ever to have been assassinated; served as Prime Minister from 1809, railing against Catholic emancipation & parliamentary reform, but supporting slave trade abolition; also objected to adultery, drinking & hunting; of Irish ancestry, his rise through political classes was rapid, holding both offices of Chancellor of Exchequer & Leader of House of Commons before that of Prime Minister; during his tenure he had to deal with political crisis of madness of King George III; shot in House of Commons lobby on 11 May 1812 by John Bellingham, who held grievances against Government for failing to compensate him for his imprisonment in Russia; buried in vault in St. Luke’s Church; brick church with square tower & gabled porch dates mainly from 1630; at start of 18^th Century was used as Thames reference point.
●O2 Arena – Peninsula Square; 011-44-020-8463-2000; theo2.co.uk; state-of-art live music venue in iconic structure.
●Severndroog Castle – Shooter’s Hill (Castle Wood, Oxleas Wood); 011-44-800-689-1796; severndroogcastle.org.uk; folly designed by architect Richard Jupp in 1784; built to commemorate Commodore Sir William James who, in April 1755, attacked & destroyed island fortress of Suvarnadurg (then rendered in English as “Severndroog”) of Maratha Empire on India’s western coast (between Goa & Mumbai), thus routing pirate plague; Gothic-style castle is 63' high & triangular in section, with hexagonal turret at each corner; from its elevated position, views across London, with features in 7 different counties visible on clear day.

Hackney (includes Bishopsgate, Broadgate, Clapton, Dalston, Hackney Wick, Hoxton, London Fields & Stoke Newington)
●Abney Cemetery Park – 215 Stoke Newington High Street (Hackney); 011-44-020-7275-7557; abneypark.org; in 1840 it became non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum & educational institute, which was widely celebrated as example of its time; 196,843 burials (many famous Salvation Army members); now Local Nature Reserve.
●Arcola Theater – 24 Ashwin Street (Dalston); 011-44-020-7503-1646; arcolatheater.com; avant garde & original in-house performances by top visiting companies.
●Dalston Eastern Curve Garden – 13 Dalston Lane (Dalston); 011-44-020-7503-1386; dalstongarden.site11.com; hidden oasis; local East-enders’ community space for meeting & growing plants; on Eastern Curve railway line (once linked Dalston Junction Station to North London Line).
●Geffrye Museum – 136 Kingsland Road (Hoxton); 011-44-020-7739-9893; geffrye-museum.org.uk; among England’s best-loved museums; sprawling 18^th Century almshouse; 11 period rooms set up with authentic furniture & objects; from 1600s to present.
●Hackney City Farm – 1 Goldsmiths Row (Hackney); 011-44-020-7729-6381; hackneycityfarm.co.uk; flourishing garden with pigs, donkeys, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks & sheep.
●Hackney Museum – 1 Reading Lane (Hackney); 011-44-020-8356-3500; hackney.gov.uk/cm-museum; small museum tracing history of among England’s most ethnically diverse neighborhoods; particularly stylish, showcases Jews, Chinese, Indians, etc.; 1K year-old Saxon log boat, discovered in Springfield Park marshes in 1987 in floor under glass squares.
●London Fields – 137 Mare Street (Hackney); 011-44-020-8356-8428/9; hackney.gov.uk/london-fields.htm; London Fields Lido is London’s only heated, outdoor pool; lovely green space.
●Museum of London Archaeology & Archaeological Archive – Mortimer Wheeler House, 46 Eagle Wharf Road (Hoxton); 011-44-020-7410-2200; museumoflondon.org.uk/archaeology.
●Parkland Walk – Oxford Road (Hackney, at entrance to Finsbury Park) & ends at Holmsdale Road (Highgate, just off Archway Road); haringey.gov.uk/libraries-sport-and-leisure/parks-and-open-spaces/z-parks-and-open-spaces/parkland-walk-local-nature-reserve; portion of London & North Eastern Railway’s line that cuts through park; line was closed & in 1984 Parkland Walk established; long trail punctuated at various point by ruins of train line, many of which are still accessible to visitors; much of area put to use for ecological projects, but great portion of trial is also pretty sinister seeming; gnarled trees lean over head while aging brick stands out like some forgotten fort; 1 local artist even took feel further & installed spooky-looking spriggan, or wood spirit, statue appearing from one of old station alcoves; graffiti is only other constant decoration.
●St. Botolph Without Bishopsgate – Liverpool Street (Bishopsgate); 011-44-020-7588-3388; botolph.org.uk; 1^st mentioned in 1212; survived Great Fire (1666) & rebuilt in 1724–29; adjoining is substantial churchyard – running along back of Wormwood Street, former course of London Wall; Christian worship on this site may have Roman origins; infant son of playwright Ben Jonson buried in churchyard; baptisms include Edward Alleyn (1566) & John Keats (in present font, 1795).
●Victorian Bath House – 7-8 Bishopsgate Churchyard (Bishopsgate); 011-44-020-3617-9944; victorianbathhouse.co.uk; curious, little building is former Victorian bathhouse, Turkish-Victorian in style, if there is such thing; not open to public as general proposition.
●Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History – 11 Mare Street (Hackney); 011-44-020-7998-3617; thelasttuesdaysociety.org/museum-curiosities; Museum? Art project? Cocktail bar? unclassifiable venue inspired by Victorian-era curiosity cabinets (wunderkabinnet); collection includes stuffed birds, pickled genitals, 2-headed lambs, shrunken heads, key to Garden of Eden, dodo bones, celebrity excrement & gilded hippo skull that belonged to Pablo Escobar; have cocktail at bar upstairs.

Hornsey
●Wildgoose Memorial Library – Address Upon Request; janewildgoose.co.uk; beautiful oasis; through passage, up staircase & there you are in perfect little cabinet of curiosities; collected & compiled by Jane Wildgoose, “Artists’ Mentor for Commissions East in Cambridge”; library is mixture of both books & objects “designed to facilitate meditation & free associations.

Hounslow (includes Chiswick & Isleworth)
●Osterley House & Park – Jersey Road (Isleworth); 011-44-020-8232-5050; nationaltrust.org.uk/osterley-park-and-house; originally Tudor mansion, transformed into elegant neo-classical villa by Child’s Bank founders; set in extensive farmland & park, complete with 18^th Century gardens & neo-classical garden buildings; 2007 saw 1^st phase garden-park restoration, beginning with recreation of Mrs. Child’s Flower Garden; house, built & designed in late 18^th Century by architect & designer Robert Adam, has magnificent interior.

Islington (includes Angel, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, St. John’s Square, Shoreditch, Smithfield & West Smithfield)
●Bank of England Museum – Bartholomew Lane (Clerkenwell); 011-44-020-7601-5545; bankofengland.co.uk; includes history of coinage.
●Banksy Graffiti Space – 83 Rivington Street (Shoreditch); banksy.co.uk; covered in plexiglass to protect it both from being white-washed or white-washed or further marked by less acclaimed street artists.
●Barts Pathology Museum – Giltspur Street (West Smithfield, in St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, Robin Brook Centre, 3^rd Floor); 011-44-020-7882-5555; qmul.ac.uk/bartspathology; enter campus at Henry VIII Gate; museum opened in 1879, but includes specimens that are much older; hospital itself founded in 1123 & given to City of London in 1543; hospital also home to memorial plaque to Scottish national hero William Wallace & another to 5,406 injured WWI soldiers who passed through hospital; served in fiction as setting for 1^st meeting between Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson; not open to general public, but can be seen by appointment; also worth seeing: only statue of Henry VIII in London.
●Bunhill Fields – 38 City Road (Islington); 011-44-020-7374-4127; cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/city-gardens/visitor-information/Pages/Bunhill-Fields.aspx; set atop ancient Saxon burial ground, Bunhill (derived from rather more morbid “Bone Hill”) Fields became popular in 1549 when body carts arrived in Ks from overflowing charnel house at St. Paul’s; John Milton penned Paradise Lost near field & soon after, in 1666, it served as lifesaver for many made homeless by Great Fire; burial place for conscientious & dissenting personalities, including men of letters – John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe & Dr. Isaac Watts; also William Blake, 1 of England’s most recognized poets, who was buried in 19-shilling grave lost to time (make sure to look for his memorial headstone).
●Calvert 22 Foundation – 22 Calvert Avenue (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7613-2141; calvert22.org; since 2009, dedicated to fostering dialogue & cultural understanding between “New East” – eastern Europe, Russia, Balkans & Central Asia – & rest of world; founded by Russian-born economist Nonna Materkova, who has been based in London since late 1990s.
●Fleet River – 26-28 Ray Street (Clerkenwell); Fleet River can be heard rushing by underneath grate nearby, as well as through grid in center of Charterhouse Street where it joins Farringdon Road.
●Golden Boy of Pye Corner – Giltspur Street (Smithfield); hidden-london.com/the-guide/golden-boy-of-pye-corner; located on approximate spot where Great Fire extinguished; fire was thought to have started at bakery on Pudding Lane & blamed on Catholics as Papist plot to destroy city; but strange Golden Boy, found 20 minutes walk away to the west, lays the blame for the Great Fire somewhere else entirely. Underneath the portly two-foot golden statue is the inscription, “This Boy is in Memory Put up for the late FIRE of LONDON Occasion’d by the Sin of Gluttony.” Presumably from the point of view of the statue’s creator, the Great Fire was caused by Londoners eating too many pies. Underneath the tubby Golden Boy the inscription continues, “the Boy was made prodigiously fat to enforce the moral. The text describes him as the “Boy at Pye Corner.” This is thought to refer not to a prior street name, but to a long forgotten pub which stood on the corner, possibly called The Magpie. (Literacy was a rarity among common Londoners of the time, but a tavern sign with an image of a Magpie was easily understood.) It’s unknown exactly when the Golden Boy of Pye Corner was installed, but research undertaken by the excellent London history blog Flickering Lamps shows an engraving of Pye Corner from 1791 with the boy in place.
●Museum of Order of St. John – 27 St. John’s Lane (Farringdon); 011-44-020-7324-4005; cms.sja.org.uk; tells story of Order of St. John from roots as pan-European Order of Hospitaller Knights to present commitment of providing 1^st aid.
●Old Bailey – Old Bailey (Farringdon); 011-44-020-7248-3277; cityoflondon.gov.uk; main criminal courts complex.
●St. Bartholomew Great – 6-9 Kinghorn Street (West Smithfield); 011-44-020-7248-2294; greatstbarts.com; founded in 1123 by Rahere, its establishment recorded as being in gratitude for his recovery from fever, which contributed to its reputation for curative powers; among London’s oldest churches (finest surviving Norman interior in London); so named to distinguish it from neighboring smaller church (St. Bartholomew Less); Priory Church was among few City churches to escape damage during WWII &, in 1941, was where 11^th Duke of Devonshire & Hon. Deborah Mitford married; location of 4^th wedding in Four Weddings & Funeral, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Shakespeare in Love, End of Affair (1999) & Other Boleyn Girl.
●St. Leonard’s, Shoreditch – Shoreditch High Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7739-2063; shoreditchchurch.org.uk; various notable works, such as Middleton’s Game At Chess, banned for moral & political reasons throughout Elizabethan & Jacobean periods & in 1644, Oliver Cromwell stopped government beating about bush & banned all theater & closed all playhouses; with this in mind, St. Leonard’s Church status as “actors’ church” is rather surprising; erected on Norman church (1^st recorded Vicar in 1185 & evidence of earlier Anglo-Saxon church), site; St. Leonard’s near Theatre at New Inn Yard, home to 1^st productions of many of Shakespeare’s now legendary plays; thus, many of Shakespeare’s company & contemporaries must have considered St. Leonard’s natural resting place; list of players in medieval graveyard includes James Burbage (Theatre founder) & son Richard, Shakespeare’s ally & actor who 1^st played Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello & Romeo.
●Dennis Severs House – 18 Folgate Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7247-4013; dennissevershouse.co.uk; 1724 Georgian home owned by artist who bequeathed to city, to demonstrate how homes evolve over time; in winter, try to book Monday night “candle tour,” eery as period sound effects provided.
●Shoreditch Town Hall – 380 Old Street (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7739-6176; shoreditchtownhall.com; original Victorian purpose was vestry hall in which borough business transacted; also played host to Ripper’s final victim, Mary Kelly’s, inquest; fundraising hub during WWII.
●Theatre Courtyard – 86-90 Curtain Road (Shoreditch); site of original Elizabethan playhouse designated by 2 plaques; 2^nd permanent theatre ever built in England, after Red Lion & 1^st successful one; built by actor-manager James Burbage, near family home in Holywell Street; its history includes numerous important acting troupes including Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which employed Shakespeare as actor & playwright; after dispute with landlord, theatre dismantled & timbers used in Globe Theatre construction.
●Village Underground – 54 Holywell Lane (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7422-7505; villageunderground.co.uk; creative, cultural hub housed in revamped tube carriages, shipping containers & warehouse.

Lambeth (includes Brixton, Clapham & Vauxhall)
●Archbishop’s Park – Carlisle Lane (Lambeth); 011-44-020-7926-5555; lambeth.gov.uk/places/archbishops-park; on Lambeth Palace’s former grounds; amazing zipline.
●David Bowie’s Birthplace & Mural – 40 Stansfield Road (Brixton, birthplace) & 464 Brixton Road (Brixton, mural); timeout.com/london/blog/david-bowies-london-13-places-connected-to-the-stars-life-and-career-011216; graffiti artwork is work of Australian artist James Cochran, who completed portrait in 2013; features Bowie as Ziggy Stardust; Brixton is London district where Bowie grew up; 40 Stansfield Road is right around corner from present-day mural.
●Clapham North Deep Level Air Raid Shelter – Clapham Road (Clapham); underground-history.co.uk/claphamn.php; 1 of 8 deep-level bomb shelters built around London during WWII, constructed between November 1940 & 1942; at 1 point housed 8K troops in labyrinth of stairwells & tunnels that stretched for more than 2 miles about 30 meters underground.
●Garden Museum – 100 Lambeth Road (Lambeth, in former St. Mary’s Church); 011-44-020-7401-8865; gardenmuseum.org.uk; Britain's only museum of garden art, design & history; housed in Victorian reconstruction of Church of St. Mary-at-Lambeth (deconsecrated in 1972 & scheduled to be demolished, adjacent to Lambeth Palace); in 1976, John & Rosemary Nicholson traced tomb of 2 17^th Century royal gardeners & plant hunters, John Tradescant Elder & Younger to churchyard, inspiring them to create Museum of Garden History; burials outside in churchyard include John Sealy of Coade Stone Manufactory & Captain Bligh of Bounty.
●Lambeth Palace – Lambeth Palace Road/A3036 (Lambeth); 011-44-020-7898-1200; archbishopofcanterbury.org/pages/visit-lambeth-palace.html; by arranged visit only – check website; building, originally called Manor of Lambeth or Lambeth House, has been – for nearly 800 years – official London residence of Archbishop of Canterbury, whose original residence was in Canterbury, Kent; acquired by archbishopric around 1200 CE; garden park is listed & resembles Archbishop’s Park, neighboring public park; former church in front of its entrance has been converted to Garden Museum; oldest remaining palace part is Early English chapel; Lollard’s Tower, which retains evidence of use as 17^th Century prison built in 1435-40; front is early Tudor brick gatehouse built by Cardinal John Morton & completed in 1495; great hall completely ransacked, including building material, by Cromwellian troops during English Civil War; after Restoration, completely rebuilt by Archbishop William Juxon in 1663 (dated) with late Gothic hammerbeam roof (King’s brother was avowed Catholic & architectural detail served as visual statement that Interregnum over); diarist Samuel Pepys recognized it as “new old-fashioned hall”; building is listed in highest category, Grade I for its architecture — its front gatehouse with its tall, crenellated gatehouse resembles Hampton Court Palace’s gatehouse (also Tudor, however Morton’s Gatehouse was at very start, in 1490s, rather than in same generation as Cardinal Wolsey’s wider, similarly partially stone-dressed deep red brick façade); among archbishop portraits in Palace are works by Hans Holbein, Anthony van Dyck, William Hogarth & Sir Joshua Reynolds; palace includes Lambeth Palace Library, principal holder of Church of England records, founded as public library by Archbishop Richard Bancroft in 1610; contains over 120K books as well as other archives; Garden Museum is ornate building sitting on grass square in front of entrance.
●Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel – Leake Street (Lambeth); bordersofadventure.com/secret-london-hidden-street-art; Leake Street is road tunnel in which graffiti is tolerated regardless of legal complications; about 300 metres long; runs off York Road & under Waterloo Station platforms & tracks.
●London Dungeon – Westminster Bridge Road (Lambeth, in Riverside Building, County Hall); 011-44-020-7654-0809; thedungeons.com/london; recreates various gory & macabre historical events in gallows humor style; mixes live actors, special effects & rides.
●London Necropolis Railway Station – 121 Westminster Bridge Road (Lambeth); transporttrust.com/heritage-sites/heritage-detail/london-necropolis-railway; not open to public; in 1854, solution to London’s chronic overcrowding was required & not only for living; to deal with this ever-growing problem of dead, London Necropolis Railway created, using newly industrialized railway to transport corpses (& accompanying mourners) to giant new cemetery in Brockwood, Surrey.
●Museum of Methodism (& Wesley’s Chapel & Wesley’s House) – 49 City Road (Shoreditch); 011-44-020-7253-2262; wesleysheritage.org.uk/the-museum-of-methodism; in surprisingly welcoming crypt beneath London’s John Wesley Chapel is Museum of Methodism; collection of works devoted to Methodism’s influence on world; holds item such as Wesley’s field bible & membership tickets to some of formative Methodist meetings; also holds Wesley’s original pulpit with padded knee rest.
●Florence Nightingale Museum – 2 Lambeth Palace Road (Lambeth); 011-44-020-7188-4400; florence-nightingale.co.uk; compact, highly visual & engaging; on St. Thomas’ Hospital grounds; exhibits divide into 3 areas: 1 devoted to Nightingale’s Victorian childhood, other 2 to her work tending soldiers during Crimean War (1854-56) & subsequent health-care reforms; at Parthenon in 1850, tiny owlet fell from its nest Nightingale saved baby bird, naming it “Athena”; lovingly cared for Athena, hand-feeding her, training her to bow & curtsy & tucking her safely in apron pocket; Athena was not fond of people she found intrusive to her human & often used her impressive beak to peck at those who dared to get within reach; after 5 years of blissful owl/nurse companionship, war broke out in Crimea, which was no place for Athena, so Nightingale arranged for her to reside in family attic, where she dies when family members failed to check on her; heartbroken, Nightingale had trusted taxidermist preserve Athena; when died, Athena displayed in wealthy sister Parthenope’s home; Parthenope wrote book about her, “Life & Death of Athena Owlet”; later on, owl fell into care of elderly care charity (which also owned “Lea Hurst,” Nightingale’s family home); trust loaned owl to Florence Nightingale Museum.
●Ritzy – Brixton Oval (Brixton); 011-44-020-7733-2229; picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse; movies.
●West Norwood Catacombs & Cemetery – Norwood Road (Lambeth); 011-44-020-7926-7999; fownc.org; holds some of city’s most beautiful memorial monuments & some of its oldest trees; like many of city’s other cemeteries, damaged by bombings during WWII, causing destruction of former Dissenter’s chapel & damage to other buildings & monuments; today, ongoing restoration & stewardship work is overseen by Lambeth Council & largely advised by Friends of West Norwood Cemetery, who also host regular tours; opened in 1837, catacombs include 95 vaults with private & shared loculi (coffin spaces) with 3.5K body capacity; no coffins interred since 1930s; some were moved at relatives’ requests, however most remain; catacombs are laid out in 6 narrow vaulted passages, either side of the main vault, each with 7 bays.

Lewisham (includes Deptford, Forest Hill, Ladywell & New Cross)
●Horniman Museum – 100 London Road (Forest Hill); 011-44-020-8699-1872; horniman.ac.uk; anthropology, musical instruments, taxidermy & Spanish Inquisition torture chair, in renovated Arts & Crafts home from 1902.
●Sydenham Hill Wood & Folly – entry points on Crescent Wood Road & Sydenham Hill (Forest Hill); thelondonphile.com/2012/03/25/sydenham-hill-wood-and-folly; hidden in small inner city wood are lavish Victorian garden feature’s remains: concrete faux-stone archways, rockery & ornamental stream; once part of former grounds of house Fairwood at 53 Sydenham Hill, built in about 1864; site can be accessed all year via several muddy paths that snake through woods, adjacent to Sydenham Golf Course; Google Maps shows area as Dulwich Woods (2 areas of woodland interlink).

Middlesex
●Syon House & Park – Brentford; 011-44-20-8560-0882; syonpark.co.uk; in 200-acre park, in west London; interior designed by architect Robert Adam in 1760s is worth visit alone.

Newham (includes Stratford)
●Abbey Mills Pumping Station – Abbey Lane (Stratford); might try contacting Thames Water and/or tideway.london for tour; built in 1860s, & designed by engineer Joseph Bazalgette, Edmund Cooper & architect Charles Driver; imposing pumping station has been nicknamed “Cathedral of Sewage.”

Southwark (includes Bankside, Bermondsey, Borough, Camberwell, Dulwich, Richmond Upon Thames & South Bank)
●Borough Market – 8 Southwark Street; boroughmarket.org.uk; open only Thursday to Saturday.
●Brunel Museum – Railway Avenue (Rotherhithe); 011-44-020-7231-3840; brunel-museum.org.uk; opened in Engine House, formerly adjunct structure connected with Underground; this squat, circular, sea-foam building leads directly into dark world below London: Thames Tunnel; unprecedented feat of engineering ingenuity, tunnel originally was home to underground funfair, marketplace, crime, prostitution & eventually trains; now, this portion reborn as exhibition & performance space; at 19^th Century’s beginning, London city planners identified need to connect Thames River’s North & South banks because docks were too crowded with river traffic & bridges were congested & expensive; Engineer Marc Brunel, with his teenage son Isambard’s help, contracted to dig tunnel underneath Thames River; required 1K ton instrument called tunneling shield, which burrowed into earth under force of its own weight like pastry cutter; once underground, Brunel’s laborers dug horizontally through sewage & mud; tunnel was engineering but not financial success; as soon as it opened in 1843, people came to walk beneath river; however, planned provisions for vehicles proved financially unfeasible, so it simply remained footpath; walkway eventually became urban marketplace where people could buy souvenirs commemorating their visit to tunnel; soon was spot for thieves & prostitutes to hide beneath city; eventually repurposed as train tunnel; circular Brunel Engine House was originally there to pump water from tunnel when it flooded; later became ventilation shaft; in 2016, Brunel Museum, which has educated public on Brunels’ engineering accomplishments since 1961, opened engine house as exhibition space complete with café & rooftop garden.
●Sir Richard Burton’s Mausoleum – 61 North Worple Way (Richmond Upon Thames, Mortlake, in St. Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church Mortlake’s churchyard); 011-44-020-8876-1326; stmarymags.org.uk; tent-shaped mausoleum of Carrara marble & Forest of Dean stone; contains tombs of Victorian explorer Sir Richard Burton (1821–90) & his wife Isabel, Lady Burton (1831–96), who designed it; coffins can be seen through glass panel at tent’s back, which can be accessed via short, fixed ladder; inscription includes commemorative sonnet by Justin Huntly McCarthy (1859–1936), who lived in Putney; mausoleum was completed in time for Sir Richard’s funeral on 15 June 1891; restored in 1975; next to lady chapel in church there is memorial stained-glass window to Burton, erected by his widow.
●Clink Prison Museum – 1 Clink Street (Bankside); 011-44-020-7378-1558; clink.co.uk; among oldest prisons in Britain; prison on which term “clink” is based.
●Cross Bones Garden & Graveyard – Redcross Way (Borough); 011-44-020-7403-3393; crossbones.org.uk; medieval paupers’ burial ground with plaque & iron memorial shrine gate hung with ribbons.
●Michael Faraday Memorial – Elephant & Castle Interchange (Southwark); lookup.london/faraday-memorial-elephant-and-castle; gleaming, stainless steel box that perplexes Londoners; memorial to Victorian physicist Michael Faraday, most famous for his discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831; he found that by passing magnet through loop of wire, electrical current flowed through wire; this work provided basis on which Scotland’s James Clerk Maxwell later developed 1^st comprehensive theory of electricity & magnetism; building designed by Brutalist architect Rodney Gordon in 1959 to house, quite fittingly, London Underground electrical substation; originally, Gordon planned structure in glass so that transformer inside could be seen at work; vandalism likelihood made steel more favored material; design change is least part of reason why building has decidedly modern appearance that belies true age.
●Fashion & Textile Museum – 83 Bermondsey Street (Bermondsey); 011-44-020-7407-8664; ftmlondon.org; founded by Zandra Rhodes; designed by Ricardo Legorreta.
●Ferryman’s Seat – Bear Gardens (Bankside); historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/The-Ferrymans-Seat; before 1750, London Bridge was sole means of crossing Thames River in & out of central London; Ferrymen, or “Wherrymen” as they were called, would shuttle commuters & commodities in confined water taxis, or “wherries”; stone seats lined bank used as perches where drivers could wait; many were boisterous patrons of nearby brothels (called “stews” because they doubled as bath houses), bear-baiting rings (from which street gets its name) & theaters such as Rose & Shakespeare’s Globe; this is last remaining seat.
●Golden Hinde – Pickfords Wharf, Clink Street (Bankside); 011-44-020-7407-7056; goldenhinde.org; recreation of Sir Francis Drake’s ship.
●Gordon Museum of Pathology – Newcomen Street (Southwark, King’s College, Guy’s Campus, Hodgkin Building); 011-44-020-7188-2677; kcl.ac.uk/gordon/index.aspx; largest medical museum in UK; museum is part of medical school & among world’s largest pathological specimen collections, as well as anatomical & surgical wax models; not open to general public, but can be visited by prior arrangement.
●Hampton Court Museum & Palace – East Molesey (Richmond Upon Thames, Molesey); 011-44-084-4482-7777; hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace; note, see Caravaggio’s Boy Peeling Fruit (1593, attributed) & Calling of Saints Peter & Andrew (1604).
●House of Dreams Museum – 45 Melbourne Grove (Dulwich); stephenwrightartist.com/houseofdreams.php; open by appointment & special occasions (check website); wildly-tiled artist’s palace; among ubiquitous mosaics are large “Spirit” sculptures alongside shrines & hand-written memory boards recording events from past, present & future; art works are created from wide range of materials such as dolls with disabilities, false teeth, used wigs, old toys, dirty used combs & old wills, letters & photographs collected from junk markets of Paris, Brussels, Budapest & other European cities.
●Kew Gardens – Richmond Upon Thames; 011-44-020-8332-5655; hrp.org.uk; make sure to visit Queen Charlotte’s Cottage & Pagoda.
●Kew Palace – 33 Kew Green (Richmond Upon Thames); 011-44-844-482-7777; hrp.org.uk; smallest royal palace; house & gardens offer glimpse into 17^th Century; in spring, romantic haze of bluebells.
●London Fire Brigade Museum – Southwark Fire Station, 94 Southwark Bridge Road; 011-44-020-758-72894; london-fire.gov.uk; covers firefighting history since 1666 (date of Great Fire of London); visits are by guided tour, must be pre-booked & can be tailored for individual requirements if desired; open Monday-Friday & tours start from 10:30 a.m. or 2.00 p.m.
●Monument to Unknown Artist – 25 Sumner Street (Bankside); blackcablondon.net/2016/06/28/monument-to-the-unknown-artist; there are bronze sculptures & there are people who pose like bronze sculptures & then there is “Monument to Unknown Artist,” which is something in between; by artist collective called Greyworld; looks like any other bronze sculpture until someone, knowingly or not, strikes pose in view of its camera; loose fitting suit & neck scarf flutter in wind & if camera catches someone posing in front of it, Unknown Artist tries to imitate that person.
●Navigators – 1 Battle Bridge Lane (Bankside, at Hay’s Galleria); 011-44-020-7403-3583; davidkemp.uk.com/the-navigatorslondon-bridge; 60' sculpture by artist David Kemp installed in 1987 during Hay’s Galleria renovation, which saw old wharf converted into shopping center; when activated, its oars move through water at its sides.
●Nunhead Cemetery – Linden Grove (Nunhead); 011-44-020-7732-9535; fonc.org.uk; among “Magnificent Seven” cemeteries in London, though least famous; established in 1840 on 52 acres as part of effort to move burials out of City; damaged during bombing in WWII & suffering from general neglect & decline of most of London’s great cemeteries, by mid-20^th Century was considerably overgrown with many monuments in poor repair or damaged completely; local efforts have gotten property declared a Local Nature Reserve; although many monuments have been restored, many parts of property are still quite wild.
●Old Operating Theatre Museum – 9a St. Thomas Street (Bankside, in attic of St. Thomas Church); 011-44-020-7188-2679; thegarret.org.uk; 1 of London’s most intriguing historic interiors; oldest surviving operating theater in England (dating from 1822); exhibits include herb garret used by hospital’s apothecary to store & cure herbs used in healing; artifacts revealing medicine horrors before age of science; instruments for cupping, bleeding, trepanning & childbirth; displays on medieval monastic health care, Florence Nightingale & nursing, medical & herbal medicine.
●Royal Botanic Gardens – Kew Gardens (Richmond Upon Thames); 011-44-020-8332-5655; kew.org.
●Shakespeare’s Globe – 21 New Globe Walk (Camberwell); 011-44-020-7902-1400; shakespeares-globe.org.
●Southwark Bridge – connecting Queen Street Place & Southwark Bridge Road (Bankside); southwarkbridge.co.uk; below bridge on south side is pedestrian tunnel, part of Queen’s Walk Embankment, containing frieze depicting Thames frost fairs; back when London Bridge was more barrier than bridge & world was in midst of Little Ice Age, Thames would freeze over; between 1550 & 1850, there were 5 occurrences of entrepreneurs & revelers taking to ice for Frost Fair, turning frozen river into wild festival; principal activity was getting wasted; tents set up selling gin, beer & Purl (wormwood ale); much tumbling & sometimes even people crashing through ice itself; meanwhile children were hurled in swings, people played games & some even tried bull-baiting & fox hunting; elephant was even paraded through ice, snow & frozen fog; Frost Fairs held in 1683-34, 1716, 1739-40 & 1814; murals created by Richard Kindersley depict bacchanalia of yore.
●Southwark Cathedral – at London Bridge (Southwark); 011-44-020-7367-6700; cathedral.southwark.anglican.org; oldest cathedral church building in London; archaeological evidence shows Roman pagan worship before church; earliest surviving parts are retrochoir (eastern end), which contains 4 chapels & was part of 13^th Century Priory of St. Mary Overie, some ancient arcading by southwest door & arch that dates to original Norman church; mostly Victorian; inside are monuments galore, including Shakespeare memorial; note exceedingly fine Elizabethan sideboard in north transept.
●Tate Modern – 53 Bankside; 011-44-020-7887-8888; tate.org.uk/modern.
●Thames Path – walklondon.org.uk/route.asp?R=6; although extends all over London, section beginning at Southwark Cathedral (near London Bridge Underground Station, to Westminster Bridge, is especially interesting.

Sutton
●St.-Dunstan-in-East – St. Dunstan Hill; 011-44-020-7374-4134; stdunstaninthewest.org; former Anglican church destroyed in WWII; medieval ruins now popular public garden.

Tower Hamlets (includes Bethnal Green, Canary Wharf, East End, Limehouse, Poplar, Spitalfields, Tower Hill & White Chapel)
●Bow Creek Lighthouse – 64 Orchard Place (Trinity Buoy Wharf); 011-44-020-7515-7153; trinitybuoywharf.com; London’s only lighthouse, by Bow Creek & River Thames’ confluence, at Leamouth; no longer functions & is home to various art projects such as Longplayer.
●Container City – 64 Orchard Place (Trinity Buoy Wharf); 011-44-020-7515-2557; containercity.com; 2 pieces shipping container architecture in east London; utilizes standard 40' equivalent unit shipping containers, at their lives’ end to produce flexible, low cost accommodation & offices; 1^st (Container City I) installed in 2001, in 4 days & fitted out over 5 months; expanded with 2^nd phase in 2002 & offices constructed on same site.
●House Mill – Three Mill Lane (Tower Hamlets); 011-44-020-8980-4626; housemill.org.uk; 18^th Century tidal mill set in beautiful riverside location; world’s largest extant tidal mill; originally built in 1776, on existing pre-Domesday site; timber-framed building clad in brick on 3 sides; in addition to flour making, served distillery next door on 3 Mills Island; built across Lea River, trapped river water & sea at high tide to turn water wheels on ebb; outflowing water turned 4 large wheels driving 12 pairs millstones; these 4 wheels & 6 millstone pairs survive, together with other historic machinery; ceased milling in 1941 after area bombed during WWII; guided tours every Sunday, May-October (11am-4pm) & on 1^st Sundays in March, April & December; Miller’s House Cafe serves light refreshments.
●I Goat – Brushfield Street (Spitalfields); spitalfields.co.uk/public-art; hand-crafted sculpture by Kenny Hunter; unveiled in 2011; aluminum farm animal stands atop tall stack of crates, locked in proud stance.
●Lime Wharf – Vyner Street (Bethnal Green, at 25b Mowlem Street); 011-44-020-8980-8080; limewharf.org; residential building, sitting on Regent’s Canal, intended to combine new with old, art with science & city life with waterfront view; innovative & experimental center welcomes both artists & scientists to collaborate in residencies, think tanks, gatherings & stimulating exhibitions.
●Longplayer – 64 Orchard Place (Poplar, at Trinity Buoy Wharf); longplayer.org/visit; conceived by Jem Finer of London/Irish punk band, Pogues; musical composition 1K years in length; 1^st performance began at midnight on 31 December 1999 & will conclude at end of 2999; composed for Tibetan Singing Bowls & is built around application of simple & precise rules to 6 related pieces of music, each harmonic transposition of original 20 min. 20 sec. composition (“source music”); 6 2-minute sections from these transpositions – 1 from each – are playing simultaneously at all times; Longplayer chooses these 6 sections in such way that no combination is repeated until exactly 1K years have passed; in lighthouse on Trinity Buoy Wharf; can also be heard at Royal Observatory in London, Orangery in Nottinghamshire, Bibliotheca Alexandia in Egypt, Long Now Museum & Store in San Francisco & Brisbane Powerhouse in Queensland, Australia.
●Museum of London Docklands – West India Quay, No. 1 Warehouse; 011-44-020-7001-9844; museumoflondon.org.uk/docklands; museum on Isle of Dogs that tells Thames River’s & Docklands’ history.
●Ragged School Museum – 46-50 Copperfield Road (Tower Hamlets); 011-44-020-8980-6405; raggedschoolmuseum.org.uk; combination mock Victorian schoolroom (with hard wooden benches & desks, slates, chalk, inkwells & abacuses), re-created East End kitchen & social-history museum; school closed in 1908, but can experience what it would have been like during its Sunday openings, when you can take part in lesson; as pupil you’ll be taught reading, writing & ‘rithmetic by strict school ma’am in full Victorian regalia.
●Royal London Hospital Museum – Newark Street (Whitechapel, in St. Augustine with St Philip’s Church’s crypt); 011-44-020-7377-7608; bartshealth.nhs.uk/rlhmuseum; commemorates Joseph Merrick, Edith Cavell & forensic medicine since Ripper.
●Three Mills Studio – Three Mill Lane (Tower Hamlets); 011-44-020-7363-3336; 3mills.com; London’s largest film studio; movies made here include 28 Days Later & Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
●Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park – Southern Grove (Tower Hamlets); 011-44-020-8983-1277; fothcp.org; historic cemetery located in Mile End & Bow in East End; opened in 1841 & closed for burials in 1966; now nature reserve, with other land added to park, including “Scrapyard Meadow”; during WWII cemetery bombed 5 times with both cemetery chapels damaged; shrapnel damage can be seen on graves by 1994 Soanes Centre in north-west corner.
●Tower of London – 011-44-020-3166-6000; hrp.org.uk; “Her Majesty’s Royal Palace & Fortress”; in central London; on Thames River’s north bank; oldest building used by British government; often identified with White Tower, original stark square fortress built by William Conqueror in 1078; since 1303, Crown Jewels’ home; make sure to visit Royal Armouries (armor & arms).
●Traffic Light Tree – Trafalgar Way (Canary Wharf, at Billingsgate Market); grand-illusions.com/articles/traffic_light_tree; Billingsgate Market; 8 meter high stoplight “tree” changes its 75 sets of lights in random order, no doubt much to the confusion of unprepared drivers; designed by artist Pierre Vivant in 1998, changing patterns of “Traffic Light Tree” meant to reflect “never ending rhythm of surrounding domestic, financial & commercial activities.”
●V&A Museum of Childhood – Cambridge Heath Road (Bethnal Green); 011-44-020-8983-5200; vam.ac.uk/moc; originally founded as Bethnal Green Museum (1872); imposing round-arched, red brick structure houses childhood-related objects & artifacts; with toys dating as far back as 1300 BC through to each year’s top 10 Christmas items; be on lookout for iconic childhood movie figure hiding somewhere in museum (you may see her umbrella before you see her).
●Victoria Park – 360 Victoria Park Road (Tower Hamlets); 011-44-020-8533-2057; londontown.com/LondonInformation/Attraction/Victoria_Park/1c98; known colloquially as Vicky or People’s Park; 86.18 open space hectares; fantastic place to spend afternoon; city’s 1^st public park; opened in 1845 after local MP presented Queen Victoria with 30K signature petition, seeking to make it Regent’s Park for east; originally had its own Speakers’ Corner; trees adorning skyline include oaks, horse chestnuts, cherries, hawthorns & even Kentucky coffee; split by Grove Road; smaller, western section contains most picturesque part (lakes with fully functioning fountain & imposing Dogs of Alcibiades, 2 snarling (if weather-beaten) sculptures; Old English Garden is floral haven brimming with flowers & shrubs; deer enclosure.
●Weaver’s Field – 22 Derbyshire Street (Bethnal Green); 011-44-020-7364-5020 (general Tower Hamlets information); towerhamletsarts.org.uk/index.lasso?lang=e&s=23&guide=Over50s&v=132; following WWII land was cleared of housing damaged by bombs for park that was originally planned over much larger area than present site; aim of green space was to rectify over-crowding & lack of local open space of surrounding population; named to commemorate historic local silk weaving industry; in last 15 years it has become home of Boishakhi Mela - largest Bengali festival outside of Bangladesh - which celebrates Bengali New Year each May.


Twickenham
●Strawberry Hill – 268 Waldegrave Road; 011-44-020-8744-1241; strawberryhillhouse.org.uk; Sir Horace Walpole’s gothic estate; recently restored.

Waltham Forest (includes Walthamstow)
●God’s Own Junkyard – Shernhall Street (Walthamstow, Unit 12, Ravenswood Industrial Estate); 011-44-020-8521-8066; godsownjunkyard.co.uk; kaleidoscopic warehouse-maze of handmade neon signs that blazes forth in old industrial estate like Vegas mirage; curated by 3^rd-generation neon artisan Marcus Bracey; free art gallery & Instagram bonanza; collection includes Ks of signs, props & figures, all displayed within single warehouse space.
●William Morris Gallery – Lloyd Park Lodge, Forest Road (Walthamstow); 011-44-020-8527-3782; www1.walthamforest.gov.uk.

Wandsworth (includes Balham & Battersea)
●Battersea Power Station – 188 Kirtling Street; 011-44-020-7501-0678; batterseapowerstation.co.uk; constructed beginning in 1929 after much public outcry (fear it would become smoke-belching eyesore); building appearance given over to famed industrial designer; focus on complex’s design led to famed Art Deco lines & unmistakable quartet of white smokestacks that make up building exterior; “brick cathedral” in style, power station remains largest brick building in all England.
●Brown Dog Statue – Carriage Drive North (Battersea, behind Pump House); navs.org.uk/about_us/24/0/286; to understand gravity of this winsome canine sculpture, go back to 1903, when allegations of inhumane (& illegal) experimentation on brown terrier at University College London caused outrage; although medical professor in question won his ensuing libel case, incident inspired groundswell of support for British anti-vivisection movement; in response, original Brown Dog Statue erected; medical students at UCL were incensed, arguing dog had been properly anaesthetized (possibly true), that no law had been broken (also possibly true) & that anti-vivisectionists were superstitious, sentimental idiots impeding science; after year of grumbling, medical student group took matters into their own hands by attacking memorial with crowbar & sledgehammer; incident kicked off Brown Dog Riots that saw medical students from various prestigious English universities clashing in Battersea streets with anti-vivisectionists, suffragettes, trade unionists, socialists & other progressive factions, as well as fighting police in Trafalgar Square; in 1909, Conservative council voted into power in Battersea; tired of ongoing controversy, new government ripped statue down under cover of night on 10 March 1910; despite petitions & legal injunctions undertaken to restore it, statue was hidden away in blacksmith’s shed & ultimately destroyed; in 1985 — 75 years after removal of original — new Brown Dog Statue was erected in Battersea Park.
●Du Cane Court – 193 Balham High Road; timeandleisure.co.uk/blog/80-blogs/1132-du-cane-court.html; strikingly beautiful Art Deco apartment building; opened in 1937 with 676 apartments, making it among largest flat blocks in Europe; was height of modernity; sleek lobby, marbled pillar entryway & top floor social club, with bar & restaurant on 7^th floor, made it widely popular home for many actors & music hall stars in 1930s; also surrounded in mystery; during WWII, while most of London suffered terrible damage during Blitz, despite its vast size, Du Cane Court was left completely untouched, giving rise to rumors concerning its importance to Nazi party inner circle; Balham especially suffered ferocious damage during firebombing, particularly on 14 October 1940, when that night 1.4K kg fragmentation bomb hit road outside Balham tube station; underground station was in constant use as air raid station during attacks, but giant bomb collapsed northbound tunnel, destroying water mains above & flooding station; immortalized in Ian McEwan’s Atonement, air raid took 66 civilian lives, with bodies still being recovered for months afterwards; as months of constant bombing continued to pulverize city, Du Cane Court continued to remain unscathed; it was said that distinctive size & shape (from air closely resembles part of swastika), was used as Luftwaffe sign post; story that Adolf Hitler earmarked Du Cane Court as future SS home (& his private apartments) should proposed invasion succeed.

Westminster (includes Bayswater, Charing Cross, Covent Garden, Maida Vale, Marylebone, Mayfair, Millbank, Paddington, Piccadilly, Pimlico, St. James, St. John’s Wood, Soho, Victoria, West End & Whitehall Court)
●Allies Sculpture – 16 New Bond Street (Mayfair);atlasobscura.com/places/allies; called “Allies,” this statue by Lawrence Holofcener unveiled in 1995 by Bond Street Association to mark 50 years of peace; after their stand against Nazism in WWII, 2 men helped found UN; Churchill’s mother was American & he & FDR were distant cousins.
●Apsley House – 149 Piccadilly (Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7499-5676; english-heritage.org.uk; Dukes of Wellington’s former London address; only preserved example of English aristocratic town house from its period; contains 1^st Duke’s collection of paintings, porcelain, silver centrepiece made for Duke in Portugal (1815), sculpture & furniture.
●Banqueting House – Whitehall Palace (Whitehall Court); 011-44-020-3166-6000; hrp.org.uk; grandest & best known survivor of architectural genre & only remaining component of Whitehall Palace; begun in 1619 & designed by Inigo Jones in style influenced by Palladio; King Charles I executed on scaffold in front of it in January 1649; ceiling by Peter Paul Rubens.
●Benjamin Franklin House – 36 Craven Street (Covent Garden, off Trafalgar Square); 011-44-020-7839-2006; benjaminfranklinhouse.org; his only surviving home.
●Big Ben – Bridge Street (Westminster); 011-44-020-7219-3000; parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben.
●William Blake House – 17 South Molton Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7495-5654; blakesociety.org/about-blake/blake-london; William Blake lived in near poverty with his wife Catherine for most of his life; in London he lived here between 1803-1821 on floor above ground level, which during their tenancy occupied by whalebone corset vendor; only Blake residence that has survived; Blake Society purchased residence as tribute; even soot on facade preserved; walls are covered with handwritten quotes from Blake & others; effect is striking.
●Buckingham Palace – Buckingham Palace Road (Westminster); 011-44-020-7766-7300; royal.gov.uk.
●Burlington Arcade – 51 Piccadilly (Mayfair, running from behind Bond Street to Piccadilly); 011-44-020-7493-1764; burlingtonarcade.com; selling luxury goods since 1819; 1^st shopping arcade to have covered roof; with concentrated collection of luxury shops, need for police protection; Burlington Arcade Beadles are world’s oldest & smallest private police force; drawn from retired members of 10^th Royal Hussars.
●Charing Cross Road Bookstores – between Leicester Square & Tottenham Court Road (Covent Garden); mecca for independent & 2^ndhand bookshop lovers; (1) Any Amount of Books (56 Charing Cross Road) is almost magical, with books spilling out of walls onto sidewalk; (2) Quinto & Francis Edwards (72 Charing Cross Road) offers eclectic selection antique & rare books on ground floor (more general, pulpy inventory in basement); (3) Foyles’ flagship (113–19 Charing Cross Road) sells comprehensive selection both new & 2^ndhand books, spread out over 5 floors; can turn onto Cecil Court, which has its own collection of rare, 2^ndhand & specialist bookshops.
●Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms (Vauxhall, Imperial War Museum) – Clive Steps, King Charles Street; 011-44-020-7930-6961; iwm.org.uk; Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms is 1 of Imperial War Museum’s 5 branches; Cabinet War Rooms are underground complex used as operational command & control center in WWII; located beneath Treasury building in Whitehall area.
●Clarence House – Cleveland Row (St. James); 011-44-020-7766-7303; royalcollection.org; royal home attached to St. James’ Palace & shares garden; open to visitors for approximately 2 months each summer.
●Curzon Mayfair Cinema – 38 Curzon Street (Mayfair); 011-44-871-703-3989; curzoncinemas.com.
●Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum – Praed Street, St. Mary’s Hospital (Paddington); 011-44-020-7725-6528; medicalmuseums.org/Alexander-Fleming-Laboratory-Museum; documents penicillin’s discovery.
●Goodwin’s Court – Leicester Square (Westminster, adjacent to 55-56 St. Martin’s Lane); urban75.org/london/goodwins-court.html; beautiful, short alley built about 1627; 3 large, working gas lamps light passage & Georgian bowed windows reveal their previous existence as shop row.
●Handel House – 25 Brook Street (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7495-1685; handelhouse.org; 2 musicians, separated by 200 years made their homes on Brook Street; here lived George Frederic Handel (1685-1759); German composer moved to Britain aged 25 & settled at this address in 1723; remained until death, creating many most famous works, including Messiah & Music for Royal Fireworks; Jimi Hendrix lived next door (23 Brook Street) until his death in 1970.
●Hard Rock Cafe Vault – 150 Old Park Lane (Mayfair); 011-44-020-7514-1700; hardrock.com/cafes/london; features items like Clapton’s silver suit from Cream’s final album, Madonna’s JPG Bustier & harpsichord used by Beatles.
●Holland Park – Holland Park Avenue (Kensington); 011-44-020-7221-2194; rbkc.gov.uk/leisureandlibraries/parksandgardens/yourlocalpark/hollandpark.aspx; 1^st opened in 1952; named for Holland Earl Sir Henry, former Holland House resident; park lies in house’s former grounds (though much grounds sold to housing developers); among city’s smallest public parks; bombed during WWII, destroying all but ground floor; east wing restored as youth hostel; temporary exhibitions held in other surviving rooms; Holland House among Kensington’s 1^st great houses; occupied by Cromwell’s army during English civil war; Park also is Kyoto Japanese Garden site; other facilities include adventure playground & café; in summer, outdoor opera & dramatic performances; peacocks & squirrels abundant; considered by many to be London’s most romantic park in London.
●Hyde Park – Rangers Lodge (Bayswater); 011-44-020-7298-2100; royalparks.org; make sure to see Marble Arch & Pet Cemetery; re latter, starting in 1881 with Maltese terrier (named Cherry) interment, & owned by friends of park gatekeeper at time, tiny cemetery stayed open to burials until space ran out in 20^th Century; although most headstones show testimony for Victorians cat & dog love, there are also at least 1 monkey & several birds remembered here as well; cemetery sits inside Hyde Park’s 350 acres – which have been open to public as parklands since 1637 – tucked away by gatekeeper’s cottage; today managed by Royal Parks & only visible through fences unless special visit is arranged; also make sure to visit Speakers’ Corner (located at Park’s northeastern edge near Marble Arch), which over time has gained unofficial status as “right to speak” area since 1872.
●Leinster Gardens False Facades – 23-24 Leinster Gardens (Bayswater); en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leinster_Gardens; when London Underground constructed in 1860s, rather than tunneling under existing buildings, deep tunnels dug right through city & then covered up again; not all properties razed were rebuilt; case in point are houses at 23 & 24 Leinster Gardens, which were demolished to build tunnel connecting Paddington with Bayswater; Underground uses this open-topped line portion to ventilate large section of surrounding Tube system; this left rather unsightly hole in otherwise very sightly block of Empire 5-story houses; so, false façade constructed to conceal wound.
●Lilliputian Police Station – Trafalgar Square (Westminster, in Southeast corner); atlasobscura.com/places/londons-lilliputian-police-station; located rather surreptitiously; peculiar & often overlooked world record holder, Britain’s Smallest Police Station; tiny box can accommodate up to 2 prisoners, although main purpose was to hold single police officer (think of it as 1920s CCTV camera); built in 1926 so that Metropolitan Police could keep eye on troublesome demonstrators; story behind its construction is also rather secretive; at WWI’s end, temporary police box just outside Trafalgar Square tube station due to be renovated & made more permanent; due to public objections this was scrapped & instead built less “objectionable” police box; installed with narrow windows to provide vista across main square; also installed was direct phone line back to Scotland Yard in case reinforcements needed in times of trouble (in fact, whenever police phone picked up, ornamental light fitting at top flashed, alerting any nearby officers on duty that trouble was near; today box is no longer used by Police (used as broom cupboard for Westminster Council cleaners); legend has it that ornamental light on top of box, installed in 1826, is originally from Nelson’s HMS Victory.
●Lost Little Compton Street – traffic island at Charing Cross Road & Old Compton Street (Soho, beneath grate); greatwen.com/2013/11/07/secret-london-streets-beneath-streets-of-london; below metal grate covering island are 2 tiled, Victorian street names set into wall below ground level bearing name Little Compton Street; in 1790s Little Compton Street connected Old & New Compton Streets, between Greek & Crown streets; at that time, street level was much lower, running at height of basements of today’s buildings; ended in 1896 when area demolished to build Charing Cross Road; street level raised & office block eventually built over Little Compton Street, consigning it to history; Little Compton turned into utility tunnel.
●London Zoo – Outer Circle (Marylebone, at Regent’s Park); 011-44-020-7722-3333; zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo.
●Madame Tussaud’s Museum – Marylebone Road (Marylebone); 011-44-870-400-3000; madame-tussauds.co.uk.
●Marlborough House – Pall Mall (east of St. James’ Palace); 011-44-020-7747-6500; built by Christopher Wren; home to Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Queen Anne’s confidante & favorite; for over century served as London residence of Dukes of Marlborough; now headquarters of Commonwealth Secretariat; on west side of palace, facing Marlborough Road, is bronze memorial to Queen Alexandra dating from 1932 & designed by sculptor Sir Alfred Gilbert; palace also has strong connections to Duke of Windsor who, as King Edward VIII in 1936, informed his mother, Queen Mary, at Marlborough House that he was determined to marry his American mistress, Wallis Simpson, even if it meant giving up throne; more than 30 years later, in 1967, long exiled & ostracized Wallis Simpson, as Duchess of Windsor, was invited for 1^st time to attend event hosted by British royal family; event was unveiling of memorial plaque to late Queen Mary at Marlborough House; occasionally open to public (check in advance).
●Metropolitan Police Coat Hook – 4 Great Newport Street (Covent Garden); lookup.london/policemans-coat-hook; wrought iron hook hanging next to No. 4 goes back to early days of automobile traffic; building sits just off corner of chaotic ^-street convergence; police assigned to regulate area traffic needed place to hang their heavy woolen coats; because No. 4 was under construction there was nail to do trick, but once construction complete, nail disappeared; makeshift hook may have been gone, but traffic wasn’t, so police asked for nail to be put back; they got this instead.
●Museum of Garden History – Lambeth Palace Road (Westminster); 011-44-020-7401-8865; museumgardenhistory.org or gardenmuseum.org.uk.
●Museum of Natural History – Cromwell Road (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7942-5000; nhm.ac.uk; make sure to book Darwin Centre Spirits Collection tour in advance & see Archie (giant squid); also make sure to kryptonite specimen (Earth’s Treasury Gallery).
●National Gallery – Trafalgar Square (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7747-2885; nationalgallery.org.uk; hanging in Room 8 is Bronzino’s Mannerist masterpiece Allegory with Venus & Cupid, made in 1500s for King Francis; piece hangs large alongside works by Michelangelo & Raphael, depicting Cupid kissing his mother Venus, with great detail & texture; foot hanging over red cushion & over dove is foot from Monty Python.
●National Portrait Gallery – 2 St. Martin’s Place (Soho); 011-44-020-7312-2490; npg.org.uk; note, see, Caravaggio’s Boy Bitten by Lizard (1596), Supper at Emmaus (1602) & Salome with Head of John the Baptist (1607).
●Noses – Admiralty Arch (Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, leading from Mall, location of 1^st nose); lookup.london/the-seven-noses-of-soho; in 1997, with CCTV camera proliferation, artist Rick Buckley undertook project to critique spread of “Big Brother” society; made 35 plaster of Paris casts of his own nose & affixed them to buildings scattered around London, guerrilla artworks right “under nose” of burgeoning surveillance state; painted noses to match walls to which affixed & did not publicize project until 2011, allowing 14 years for new architectural details to generate origin stories; quick Google search should get you started on known, confirmed nose locations; there are also an unknown number of ears hidden on various buildings around Covent Garden.
●Original Embassy of Texas – 4 St. James Street (Westminster); building that housed original Texas embassy is opposite St. James’s Palace gates; located in alley next to legendary wine merchant, Berry Bros & Rudd (at #3), Cutty Sark Scotch creator & manufacturer; Berry Bros. & Rudd were legation’s landlords in 1840s; President Sam Houston appointed Dr. Ashbel Smith ambassador; Smith also served as Republic’s last Secretary of State; plaque installed in alleyway in 1963 by Anglo-Texan Society, with former Texas governor Price Daniel & Tony Berry (Berry Bros. & Rudd descendant), in attendance; Graham Geene also member Anglo-Texan Society, founded in 1950s; through narrow arched opening next to wine shop, enter dark alley lined with black painted wood paneling & half timbering; halfway down alley on right, under sconce, is door to rooms once used by Texas Legation; at alley’s far end lies Pickering Place, paved square with sundial in center, London’s smallest public square; Pickering Place has 2 distinctions: (1) last place in London where duel fought; & (2) where Napoleon III plotted his return to France (while in exile in England between 1838-1848, during time Texas Legation in residence, 1842-1845).
●Paddington Bear Statue – Praed Street (Paddington, at Paddington Station, Platform 1); 011-44-034-5711-4141; visitbritainshop.com/usa/paddington-bear-bus-tour-of-london.
●Parliament (Westminster Palace) – 2 Abbey Gardens (Westminster, House of Commons); 011-44-020-7219-4272; parliament.uk; complex of buildings; seat of 2 houses of Parliament (House of Commons & Lords); contains around 1.1K rooms, 100 staircases & 3 miles of corridors; Big Ben.
●Regent’s Canal – starts at Little Venice (Regent’s Park) & ends in Docklands (Southwark); canal that provides link from Grand Union Canal’s Paddington arm (just north-west of Paddington Basin in west) to Limehouse Basin & Thames River (east London); visitlondon.com/areas/villages/regents-canal; nice access at Whitmore Bridge; can break at Towpath Cafe.
●Regent’s Canal Walk – Paddington (just behind Sheldon Square, when you get off Hammersmith & City/Circle Lines, just walk up stairs to start canal walk, also called Paddington Basin); atlasobscura.com/places/houseboats-of-regents-canal; among London’s best kept secrets; rewarding & varied route to take through central London; from Paddington Basin, after about 5-minute walk, you get to Little Venice (charming enough & worth visit – this is where Paddington & Maida Vale come together); Little Venice is also starting point for boat tours on canal; moving on, turn right to walk towards Camden & Primrose Hill, past colorful boats moored at side; continuing onwards, you only have to leave canal side for few minutes & walk on road sidewalk because canal path is private for this bit; beautiful houseboats are moored there on permanent basis & have own electricity supply & little gardens along path (canal passes through 2 tunnels inaccessible to pedestrians right after houseboats); once you’ve crossed road, buildings become less attractive as you walk towards council estate, which is where you can get back down to canal; walk through short tunnel to reach Lisson Wide; this stretch feels like serial-visiting people’s private gardens; walking further along Regent’s Canal, reach area where canal leads through Regent’s Park; after short stretch of bridges & pathway full of graffiti, path gradually becomes more attractive again; pathway widens & greenery makes lovely; soon greenery opens up & you get your 1^st glimpse at 1 of white villas on canal’s other side; plenty of opportunities along way to exit canal path, cross bridge & enter park; after villas, canal reaches London Zoo & you will see animal enclosures on either side of canal; just after London Zoo, Regent’s Canal takes sharp left at Cumberland Basin; hard to overlook Feng Shang floating restaurant moored in Cumberland Basin; can also get off at Primrose Hill & visit St. Mark’s Church; after St. Mark’s, enjoy last picturesque stretch of Regent’s Canal from Primrose Hill to Camden; path leads along beautiful Victorian terrace houses, where residents take pride in maintaining backyards; transition is from flowery beautiful Primrose Hill to alternative, funky & loud Camden; after another short tunnel, emerge to see Pirate Castle community center; past Pirate Castle you have made it to final destination of this walk: Camden Lock.
●Regent’s Park – Storeyard Inner Circle (Westminster); 011-44-030-0061-2300; royalparks.org.uk/parks/the-regents-park; among London’s most popular open spaces, covering 410 acres; originally hunting ground for King Henry VIII, it remained royals-only retreat long after it was formally designed by John Nash in 1811; only in 1845 did it open to public as spectacular shared space; attractions run from London Zoo to Open Air Theatre to beautiful rose gardens (Queen Mary’s Garden having some 30K roses & 400 varieties & where Perdita & Pongo meet in 101 Dalmatians), tennis courts, ice-cream stands & eateries (including Garden Café).
●Royal Automobile Club – 89 Pall Mall (St. James); 011-44-020-7930-2345; royalautomobileclub.co.uk; founded in 1897 with to encouraging motoring in Britain; among London’s finest private members’ clubs, combining over 100 years luxury & tradition with exceptional facilities & outstanding service; 2 superb clubhouses; Pall Mall clubhouse, containing unique range of accommodation, dining & sporting facilities, including finest swimming pool in London; Woodcote Park clubhouse is on 350 acres Surrey parkland, complete with 2 18-hole golf courses & various other sports facilities, dining & accommodation.
●Royal Academy of Arts – Burlington House (Mayfair, at Piccadilly Circus); 011-44-020-7300-8090; royalacademy.org.uk; tucked away in great arched entrance are 2 examples of Britain’s iconic red telephone boxes; not just any old telephone boxes; 1 is wooden prototype of original “K2” design that’s now recognizable around world (which architect 1^st proposed should be colored silver & blue); in 1920s, post office (which at time controlled telephones), held competition run by Royal Fine Art Commission to find telephone kiosk design to be accepted by London metropolitan boroughs, which were not particularly keen on “K1” (Kiosk 1) design that had been installed in other cities; winning architect was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, known for designing Waterloo Bridge & Battersea Power Station; his box was narrow rectangle with domed roof, said to be inspired by Sir John Soane’s mausoleum; Tudor crown seen on all 4 sides, pierced for ventilation; post office decided on color red; among other sights of interest is Michelangelo’s Taddei Tondo, left to Academy by Sir George Beaumont; on display in Sackler Wing (gallery level); carved in Florence in 1504–06, it is only marble by Michelangelo in UK & represents Virgin Mary & Child with infant St. John Baptist.
●Royal Court Theatre – Sloane Square (Knightsbridge); 011-44-020-7565-5000; royalcourttheatre.com; highlights contemporary playwrights; recently refurbished; basement café & 2^nd level bar.
●Royal Opera House – Bow Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7304-4000; roh.org.uk.
●Saatchi Gallery – King’s Road (Chelsea, at Duke of York’s Square); 011-44-020-7823-2363; saatchi-gallery.co.uk; contemporary art.
●St. James’ Palace – Marlborough Road (St. James); 011-44-020-7930-4832; walklondon.com/london-attractions/st-james's-palace.htm; British Royal family’s official residence; home to many oddities; Mary I’s bowels & heart buried beneath Chapel Royal’s chapel; somewhere, down dusty corridor of red-brick Tudor palace built on site of leper hospital, is world’s most comprehensive collection of postage stamps of Great Britain & Commonwealth (Royal Philatelic Collection); along with such mysterious organizations as Central Chancery of Orders of Knighthood, Yeoman of Guard & Queen’s Watermen, St. James’ houses office of Keeper of Royal Philatelic Collection; man who currently sits at desk, Michael Selfi, has his work cut out; collection has never been counted or valued & many of Queen’s stamp purchases are still sitting in their green boxes, waiting to be mounted.
●St. James’ Park – Horse Guards Road (Westminster, Storeyard); 011-44-300-061-2350; royalparks.org.uk/parks/st-jamess-park; name comes from leper hospital that stood roughly where St. James’ Palace is today; hospital housed female lepers who used area — now park — to raise hogs & other animals; best known current residents are pelicans, descendants of birds donated to King Charles II by Russian ambassador in 1664; King Charles I took his final stroll through St. James’ Park on 30 January 1649 (day of his execution); make sure to see Duck Island Cottage, built by Ornithological Society of London, in 1837.
●St.-Martin-in-Fields – 5 Trafalgar Square (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7766-1100; stmartin-in-the-fields.org make brass rubbings; also, see gravestone of Henry Croft (take stairs down to crypt, go past brass rubbing center & explore labyrinthine crypt-turned-café, you will find gravestone); Croft born in 1861 in St. Pancras Workhouse & died in 1930; during his lifetime he became London working class folklore hero: Pearly King; after workhouse, Croft went to orphanage where he grew up to be short man; at 15, became street sweeper, job he kept for rest of his life; on job he met “costermongers,” street vendors flogging wares from simple carts, whose own clothes were all but simple: partly covered with mother-of-pearl buttons, their suits went by name “flash boy outfits”; Croft adopted style & started using title “Pearly King” even though not costermonger himself; started appearing at fairs & fêtes, collecting money for charity, wearing his pearly suits — either so-called “smother suit” on which every inch covered in buttons or “skeleton suit” with symbols like horse shoes, anchors & wheels recreated in buttons; according to legend, thus were Pearly Kings & Queens born; London “Pearlies” lives on as working class tradition doing charity work to this day; statue in St. Martins’ crypt tucked away in corner; Croft’s real grave can still be found in St. Pancras & Islington Cemetery, where statue depicting Croft in his smother suit revealed in 1934 (4 years after his death, because stone mason wasn’t paid on time); in 1990s, repeatedly vandalized; eventually marble statue cleaned & moved to its current location to save it.
●Science Museum of London – Exhibition Road (Knightsbridge); 011-44-87-0870-4868; sciencemuseum.org.uk; worth special trip just to see 1^st prototype for 10K Year Clock, also known as Clock of Long Now & Difference Engine #2, designed by Charles Babbage (as well as half his brain, other half being at Hunterian).
●Scotland Yard – New Scotland Yard, 8-10 Broadway (Westminster); 011-44-020-7230-1212; met.police.uk; make sure to see Black Museum (Crime Museum).
●Shell-Mex House – 80 Strand (Charing Cross); 011-44-020-7395-9595; londonarchitecture.co.uk/Building/816/Shell-Mex-House.php; 190' high Art Deco masterpiece; built in 1930–31 on site of Hotel Cecil (& stands behind hotel’s original facade, between Adelphi & Savoy Hotel); designed by Ernest Joseph; immediately recognizable from Thames & South Bank by clock tower positioned on building’s south side (flanked by 2 large, hieratic figures at south corners).
●Shepherd Market – street between White Horse Street & Piccadilly (Mayfair); shepherdmarket.co.uk; great window-shopping.
●Sherlock Holmes Museum & Shop – 221B Baker Street (near Paddington, building actually lies between 237-41); 011-44-020-7935-4430; Sherlock-holmes.com.uk; might think Museum only worth visiting if you have ticket: WRONG; whimsy is far-reaching, starting with scattered silhouettes at Baker Street Tube station & continuing on street, where mysterious sign of pointing hand; trail continues down Baker Street (silhouette found on signs & windows of both bar & restaurant across street); museum is re-creation of home as described by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; bedrooms, laboratory, sitting room & study all set with Victorian-era furnishings; “handwritten” notes & memorabilia about various cases; shop is attraction in itself.
●Sikorski Museum – 20 Princes Gate (South Kensington); 011-44-020-7589-9249; sikorskimuseum.co.uk; museum set up by Polish exiles after WWII.
●Tate Britain – 51 Causton Street (Millbank); 011-44-020-7887-8888; tate.org.uk/britain; 1^st Friday event lasts late night & is half-price admission.
●Theatre Museum – 1e Tavistock Street (Covent Garden); 011-44-020-7334-3922; theatremuseum.vam.ac.uk.
●Victoria & Albert Museum – Cromwell Road (South Kensington); 011-44-020-7942-2000; vam.ac.uk.
●Wallace Collection – Hertford House, Manchester Square (Marylebone); 011-44-020-7563-9500; wallacecollection.org; national museum in historic London town house; 25 galleries containing displays of French 18^th Century painting, furniture & porcelain with Old Master paintings & world class armory; make sure to see Tipu’s Tiger, delightful crank-operated pipe organ depicting tiger calmly devouring hapless colonial; also worth seeing: Great Bed of Ware (mentioned by both Byron & Shakespeare).
●Westminster Abbey – 115-117 Victoria Street (Westminster); 011-44-020-7222-5152; westminster-abbey.org; large, mainly Gothic church in Westminster; traditional place of coronation & burial site for English, later British & later still (and currently) monarchs of Commonwealth Realms; make sure to visit “Poets’ Corner,” where Burns, Keats, Shelley, etc. buried; make sure to see Duchess of Richmond’s stuffed, African grey parrot (next to her wax effigy).
●Oscar Wilde Statue – Adelaide Street near Trafalgar Square; just granite monument in hectic & tourist-y area, but worth seeking out.
●Winfield House – Regent’s Park; 202-349-3724 (Foundation for Art & Preservation of Embassies or info@fapeglobal.org (same); uk.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/our-ambassador/ambassadors-residence; not open to public; Winfield House, neo-Georgian brick mansion, built in 1936 by Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, after original house partly destroyed by fire; designed by London architect Leonard Rome Guthrie, occupies 12 acres on northwest side of elegant Regent’s Park; its gracious interiors decorated in 18^th Century style; following WWII, Barbara Hutton gave property to US Government to be repaired & used as Ambassador’s official residence; her “most generous & patriotic offer” of sale for $1 accepted in personal letter from President Harry Truman; extensive redecoration underwritten by Leonore & Walter Annenberg during their 1969-74 residence; among their most significant contributions was hand-painted Chinese wallpaper in Garden Room; Annenbergs purchased wallpaper from 1794 Irish country house; work done by Annenbergs ensured that future ambassadors could concentrate on conservation & preservation, not interior design; in 2001, Ambassador & Mrs. Annenberg established endowment for preservation & upkeep.
●Wyndhams Theatre – 32 Charing Cross Road (West End); 011-44-020-844-482-5120; wyndhams-theatre.com.
●Ziggy Stardust Plaque – 23 Heddon Stret (Soho, off Regent Street); london-walking-tours.co.uk/secret-london/ziggy-stardust.htm; on 1972 album, Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & Spiders from Mars, cover David Bowie emerges as his rock alter ego, Ziggy Stardust; facing photographer, stands in January shadows of small side-street in London; spot marked with commemorative plaque.