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London

DIRECTIONS

WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY

Rob Humphreys

NEW YORK • LONDON • DELHI


www.roughguides.com
2

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Contents
Holborn ..........................................113
Introduction 4

CONTENTS
Clerkenwell ....................................117
The City..........................................122
Hoxton and Spitalfields ..................128
Ideas 9 The Tower and Docklands ..............134
South Bank and around..................140
The big six sights ............................10
Bankside and Southwark................146
What to eat ......................................12
Hyde Park and Kensington
London outdoors ..............................14
Gardens ......................................153
Gay and lesbian London ..................16
South Kensington, Knightsbridge and
London pubs ....................................18
Chelsea........................................158
Art galleries......................................20
High Street Kensington to Notting
Royal London ..................................22
Hill ..............................................164
Gourmet London ..............................24
Regent’s Park and Camden ............169
Museums ........................................26
Hampstead and Highgate ..............174
Churches..........................................28
Greenwich......................................180
Diverse London ................................30
Kew and Richmond ........................186
Kids’ London ....................................32
Hampton Court ..............................192
Indulgent London ............................34
Club-bars ........................................36
Victorian London ..............................38
Dead London....................................40
Accommodation 195
Riverside London..............................42 Hotels, B&Bs and hostels ..............197
Free London ....................................44
London from up high........................46
Festivals and events ........................48 Essentials 207
Queasy London ................................50
London on stage ..............................52 Arrival ............................................209
Musical London................................54 Information ....................................210
Contemporary architecture ..............56 City transport ................................210
Tudor and Stuart London ..................58 Entertainment ................................212
Literary and artistic London..............60 Festivals and Events ......................214
Afternoon tea ..................................62 Directory ........................................216

Places 65 Index 219


Trafalgar Square and Whitehall ........67
Westminster ....................................73
St James’s ......................................79
Colour Maps
Piccadilly and Mayfair ......................85 Central London
Marylebone ......................................91 The West End
Soho ................................................95 Underground
Bloomsbury....................................101 Seeing the sights by Bus – Useful
Covent Garden ..............................106 Routes
4
Introduction to

London
INTRODUCTION

London is a very big city. In fact, it’s Europe’s largest


capital by far, stretching for more than thirty miles on
either side of the River Thames, and with a
population of just under eight million. Ethnically and
linguistically, it’s also Europe’s most diverse
metropolis, offering cultural and culinary delights from
right across the globe. And after sixteen years of being
the only major city in the world not to have its own
governing body, London finally has an elected
assembly and a mayor who’s busy tackling
longstanding problems such as public transport.
With no single predomi-
nant focus of interest, the
city can seem bewilder-
ingly amorphous to
newcomers.The key to
enjoying London is not to
try and do everything in a

When to visit
Despite the temperateness of the English climate, it’s impossible to say with
any degree of certainty that the weather will be pleasant in any given
month. With average daily temperatures of around 22°C, English summers
rarely get unbearably hot, while the winters (average daily tem-
perature 6–10°C) don’t get very cold – though they’re often
wet. However, whenever you come, be prepared for all
eventualities; in 2003, summer temperatures hit almost
40°C. As far as crowds go, tourists stream into London
pretty much all year round, with peak season from
Easter to October, and the biggest crush in July and
August, when you’ll need to book your accommodation
well in advance.

Contents Introduction
5

INTRODUCTION
쑽 Piccadilly
Circus
single visit – concentrate London Eye, the city can
on one or two areas and now boast the world’s
you’ll get a lot more out of largest modern art gallery
the place. London has and Ferris wheel, as well as
always been an enthralling the Millennium Bridge,
city, and the capital’s trad- the first new Thames
itional sights – Big Ben, crossing for over a hundred
Westminster Abbey, years.
Buckingham Palace, St Monuments from the
Paul’s Cathedral and the capital’s glorious past are
Tower of London – everywhere, from medieval
continue to draw in banqueting halls and the
millions of tourists every
year.Things change fast,
쒀 “Banglatown”,

though, and the mush-


rooming crop of new
attractions ensure that
there’s plenty to do even
Brick Lane

for those who’ve visited


before. Since the
millennium, virtually all of
London’s world-class
museums, galleries and
institutions have been
reinvented, from the Royal
Opera House to the
British Museum.With the
Tate Modern and the

Contents Introduction
6

great churches of
Christopher Wren
to the eclectic
INTRODUCTION

Victorian architec-
ture of the tri-

쑽 Berkeley
umphalist British
Empire.There’s
also much enjoy-

Square
ment to be had
from the city’s
quiet Georgian squares, the Portobello Road, Camden
narrow alleyways of the and Greenwich. The
City of London, the river- music, clubbing and
side walks, and the assorted gay/lesbian scenes are
quirks of what is still second to none, and main-
identifiably a collection of stream arts are no less
villages. And London is exciting, with regular
offset by surprisingly large opportunities to catch
expanses of greenery, with first-rate theatre compa-
several large public parks nies, dance troupes,
right in the centre as well exhibitions and opera. The
as wilder spaces on the city’s pubs have always had
outskirts. heaps of atmosphere, but
You could spend days its restaurants are now an
just shopping in London, attraction too, with every-
too, mixing with the thing from three-star
upper classes in the “tiara Michelin establishments to
triangle” around Harrods, low-cost, high-quality
or sampling the offbeat Chinese restaurants and
weekend markets of Indian curry houses.
쑽 Sunset
over the the Thames

Contents Introduction
7

 LONDON AT A GLANCE

INTRODUCTION
Soho
The headquarters of hedonistic
London, Soho is the heart of the
West End entertainment district,
with the city’s largest concen-
tration of theatres, cinemas, clubs,
bars, cafés and restaurants.
쒀 Soho

쑽 Cutty
by night

Sark, Greenwich
Greenwich
Well worth the boat or train
journey from central London,
Greenwich makes the most of its
riverside setting, with heaps of
maritime sights, a royal park, a
bustling weekend market and the
famous Greenwich Meridian.

Bankside and Southwark


Covent Garden The traffic-free riverside path
With its big covered market hall, takes you past the Tate Modern,
cobbled piazza and fantastic Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and
range of shops, traffic-becalmed several more sights in neighbour-
Covent Garden is justifiably many ing Southwark, while dishing out
visitors’ favourite slice of central great views over the water to St
London. Paul’s Cathedral.
쒀 Covent
Garden Piazza

Contents Introduction
INTRODUCTION 8
쒀 Natural
History Museum

South Kensington
A fashionably smart part of
London in its own right, South
Kensington is also home to the
city’s most impressive trio of free
museums: the Natural History,
Science, and Victoria & Albert.

Hampstead
Although buzzing with cosmopoli-
tan life, Hampstead has managed
to retain a more village-like feel
than any other London suburb
and boasts the wild open space of
the Heath as well as a clutch of
intriguing small museums.

Westminster
Home to the Houses of
쑽 Hampstead

Parliament, Big Ben and the


striking Abbey and Cathedral,
Westminster easily justifies its
status as one of London’s busiest
tourist honeypots.
Heath

Contents Introduction
Ideas

Contents Ideas
10
London has lots of
The big six sights
hidden corners,
obscure attractions
and esoteric shops,
but amongst the
well-known sights,
the “big six” really
do live up to their
hype. Westminster
Abbey and the
Tower of London
have justifiably been
pulling in the
crowds for centuries; the
British Museum and the
National Gallery have
grown in popularity over
the last hundred years or
so; while the elegance of Tate Modern
the London Eye and the Austere former power station that’s now an
awesome cathedral to modern art.
stunning collection housed  P.147  BANKSIDE AND SOUTHWARK 
in the Tate Modern have
captured the imagination of
today’s visitors like no
other sights.

London Eye
The world’s largest ferris wheel is a
graceful new addition to the London
skyline.
 P.142  SOUTH BANK AND AROUND 

Contents Ideas
11
National Gallery
The vast range of work here, from Giotto to
Picasso, ensures that there’s something for
everyone.
P.67  TRAFALGAR SQUARE
AND WHITEHALL 

Westminster Abbey
Venue for every coronation since William
the Conqueror and resting place of
countless kings and queens, the abbey is
an essential stop on any London tour.
 P.75  WESTMINSTER 

Tower of London
England’s most perfectly preserved medieval
fortress, site of some of the goriest events in
the nation’s history and somewhere
everyone should visit at least once.
 P.134  THE TOWER
AND DOCKLANDS 

British Museum
London’s most popular museum, worth a
visit for its glazed-over Great Court and
magnificent Round Reading Room alone.
 P.101  BLOOMSBURY 

Contents Ideas
12
London is an
What to eat Fish and chips
The national dish – fish in batter with
exciting – though deep-fried potato chips – remains as
often expensive – popular and tasty as ever.
place in which to P.167  HIGH STREET KENSINGTON TO
NOTTING HILL 
eat out. You can
sample pretty much
every kind of cuisine
here, from
traditional and
modern British food to
Georgian and Peruvian.
Indeed, London can boast
some of the best
Cantonese restaurants in
the whole of Europe, is a
noted centre for Indian and
Bangladeshi food, and has
Curry
some very good French, Attracting top-notch chefs from
Greek, Italian, Japanese, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
as well as all the Indian regions, London is
Spanish and Thai eateries. now one of the curry capitals of the world.
 P.133  HOXTON AND
SPITALFIELDS 

Contents Ideas
13

Dim Sum Haute cuisine


This bargain spread of dumplings and other The capital now boasts an impressive array
little morsels is a Cantonese lunchtime of restaurants serving top-notch, Michelin-
ritual. starred haute cuisine.
 P.99  SOHO   P.163  SOUTH KENSINGTON,
KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND CHELSEA 

Pie and mash


London’s most peculiar culinary speciality:
minced beef and gravy pie, mashed
potatoes and “liquor” (parsley sauce).
 P.120  CLERKENWELL 

Vegetarian
London has a vast range of exclusively
veggie eating places, ranging from small,
wholesome, informal cafés to smart à la
carte restaurants.
 P.110  COVENT GARDEN 

Contents Ideas
14
Summer can be
London outdoors
unpredictable, and
the winter a little
damp, but
Londoners get out
and enjoy the great
outdoors whatever
the weather.
Temporary outdoor
ice rinks are a
regular feature of
the winter season,
boats ply up and
down the Thames through- Hampstead Ponds
Tucked amidst woodland, the Heath’s
out the year, and in the natural ponds are extremely popular for
summer there are several alfresco summer swimming.
 P.175  HAMPSTEAD AND HIGHGATE 
little-known spots where
you can enjoy an alfresco
dip.

Somerset House ice rink


Set up each winter in the eighteenth-
century courtyard of Somerset House, this
is London’s most picturesque place to
skate.
 P.217  ESSENTIALS 

Contents Ideas
15

Boat trip on the Thames Westminster Abbey College


Zig-zag your way from pier to pier on the Gardens
central section of the Thames, or take
Hidden behind the abbey, this secret oasis
longer trips downriver to Greenwich or
of green is great for picnics, croquet
upstream to Kew and Richmond.
matches and brass-band concerts.
 P.216  ESSENTIALS 
 P.76  WESTMINSTER 

Portobello Road Market


London’s best street market (Fri & Sat)
offers brilliant retro clothes, bric-a-brac,
antiques, and fruit and veg.
P.165  HIGH STREET KENSINGTON TO
NOTTING HILL 

Contents Ideas
16
Gay and lesbian London
London’s lesbian Old Compton Street
and gay scene is Lined with upfront bars and cafés, and
some rather risqué shops, this Soho drag
so huge, diverse and is Gay London’s main street.
well established that  P.97  SOHO 

it’s easy to forget


just how much it
has grown over the
last few years. Pink
power has given
rise to the pink
pound, gay
liberation to gay
lifestyle, and ever-
expanding Soho –
now firmly
established as the
homo heart of the
city – is vibrant,
self-assured and
unashamedly commercial.
As a result of all this high- First Out
The West End’s original gay café-bar still
profile activity, straight draws in the crowds, and runs a popular
Londoners tend to be a weekly pre-club session for women each
Friday.
fairly homo-savvy bunch
 P.112  COVENT GARDEN 
and, on the whole, happy
to embrace and sometimes
dip into the city’s queer
offerings.

Contents Ideas
17
Chariots Roman Baths
London’s largest and most fabulous gay
sauna features everything you could wish
for in the way of hot and sweaty nights
indoors.
 P.218  ESSENTIALS 

Candy Bar
Central London’s hottest girl-bar is a
cruisey, upbeat spot that’s open until the
early hours on the weekend.
 P.100  SOHO 

Pride in the Park/Mardi Gras


The up-for-it carnival child of Gay Pride,
featuring a whistle-blowing parade through
London followed by a huge, ticketed party in
a park.
 P.215  ESSENTIALS 

Contents Ideas
18
London pubs
One of the country’s
most enduring
social institutions,
pubs remain the
focal point of
London’s
communities,
offering the prospect
of fringe theatre,
alternative comedy
and live music as well as a
pint. The city’s great period Dog and Duck
Victorian Soho pub with real character,
of pub building took place real ales and original tiled and mosaiced
in the Victorian era, and decor.
 P.100  SOHO 
though many pubs merely
pay homage to that period,
there are also plenty of
genuine, evocative late
nineteenth-century
interiors, boasting etched
glass partitions and lots of
authentic polished wood
and brass fittings.

Salisbury
Flamboyant late-Victorian pub a stone’s
throw from Trafalgar Square, replete with
bronze nymphs and etched glasswork.
 P.112  COVENT GARDEN 

Contents Ideas
19

The Lamb
Classic, beautifully preserved Victorian pub
serving London’s own Young’s beers.
 P.105  BLOOMSBURY 

Anchor
Ancient riverside inn near the Tate Modern,
where Pepys watched London burn, and Dr
Johnson worked on his dictionary.
P.152  BANKSIDE
AND SOUTHWARK 

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese


A dark, snug seventeenth-century tavern
hidden down an alleyway off Fleet Street –
look out for the sign.
 P.116  HOLBORN 

Contents Ideas
20
The astute taste and
Art galleries National Gallery
financial muscle of A comprehensive overview of the history
of Western painting, from Renaissance
London’s collectors classics in the airy Sainsbury Wing to
works from fin-de-siècle Paris.
over the centuries
P.67  TRAFALGAR SQUARE
has endowed the AND WHITEHALL 
capital with some
wonderful art
galleries, many of
which offer free
entry. The National
boasts both quality and
quantity, stretching from
the Italian Renaissance to
the Impressionists, while
Tate Modern is London’s
magnificent new repository
of modern art. In addition,
there are several smaller
galleries, where the quality
is comparable but the Courtauld Institute
Quality, not quantity, is the hallmark of this
collections more gallery, best known for its superlative
collection of Impressionist masterpieces.
manageable.
 P.110  COVENT GARDEN 

Contents Ideas
21
Iveagh Bequest
Small but perfectly formed collection of
seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
paintings, including works by Gainsborough,
Reynolds, Rembrandt and Vermeer.
P.177  HAMPSTEAD
AND HIGHGATE 

Tate Modern
A wonderful hotchpotch of wild and wacky
art, from video installations to gargantuan
pieces that fill the vastness of the turbine
hall.
P.147  BANKSIDE
AND SOUTHWARK 

Tate Britain
The history of British painting from Holbein
and Hogarth to Hockney and Hirst, plus
copious pre-Raphaelites and lots of Turners.
 P.77  WESTMINSTER 

Wallace Collection
Exquisite miniature eighteenth-century
chateau close to Oxford Street, housing
period furniture and masterpieces by the
likes of Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Hals,
Fragonard and Watteau.
 P.91  MARYLEBONE 

Contents Ideas
22
Royal London
Home to the most
famous royal family
in the world, London
doesn’t disappoint
when it comes to
pomp and
circumstance. As
well as the massing
of “busbies” at the
daily Changing of
the Guard, there are
much larger displays of Changing of the Guard
The colourful daily rituals of the Queen’s
royal pageantry to take in Household Regiments, with the Horse
throughout the year. The Guards parading behind Whitehall and the
Foot Guards looking after Buckingham
crown jewels are always Palace.
on public display, guarded P.71  TRAFALGAR SQUARE
AND WHITEHALL 
by ludicrously overdressed
Beefeaters at the Tower of
London; and then, of
course, there’s the city’s
numerous royal palaces,
with Hampton Court by far
the most impressive and
“Buck House” easily the
most famous.

Trooping the Colour


Suitably spectacular summer show by the
Household battalions in the presence of
royalty.
 P.215  ESSENTIALS 

Contents Ideas
23
Tower of London
A place of imprisonment for several
monarchs, the Tower remains the safe-
deposit box of the crown jewels, which fea-
ture some of the biggest diamonds in the
world.
P.134  THE TOWER
AND DOCKLANDS 

Royal Mews
Official garage for the royal family’s fancy
fleet of Daimlers, gilded coaches and
immaculately groomed horses.
 P.82  ST JAMES’S 
Buckingham Palace
The gaudy London home of Her Majesty is
open to the public for just two months in
the summer, while the royals holiday in
Scotland.
 P.80  ST JAMES’S 

Hampton Court Palace


Redesigned by Wren, this Tudor pile is
without doubt the most magnificent of the
country’s royal palaces.
 P.192  HAMPTON COURT 

Contents Ideas
24
Londoners’
Gourmet London Harrods Food Hall
sophisticated tastes The Arts and Crafts food hall of the ultimate
Knightsbridge department store is a feast
stretch back a long for the eyes as well as the stomach.
way. At the height P.161  SOUTH KENSINGTON,
KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND CHELSEA 
of the British
Empire, the capital’s
dockside
warehouses were
filled with produce
from all over the
globe; today, the
locals are more
cosmopolitan and
discerning than ever. From
champagne to chocolates,
you’ll find all the luxury
goods you’d expect;
seafood – particularly Fortnum & Mason
Piccadilly’s most famous food emporium,
oysters – remains very renowned for its picnic hampers,
popular; and there’s been sumptuous food hall and pukka tearoom.

a renewed interest in  P.88  PICCADILLY AND MAYFAIR 

gourmet British food:


cheese, smoked fish, beer
and even wine. As well as
being sold in deluxe
emporia, top-quality
produce is a main feature
of London’s increasingly
popular farmers’ markets.

Contents Ideas
25
Paul
Long-established Parisian café-boulangerie,
selling authentic and delicious French
breads and pastries.
 P.93  MARYLEBONE 

Neal’s Yard Dairy


Experienced, helpful staff encourage
customers to sample the outstanding vari-
ety of British cheeses piled high on the
counters.
 P.110  COVENT GARDEN 

Charbonnel et Walker
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – Her Majesty’s
chocolatier sticks to its 1875 recipes.
 P.88  PICCADILLY AND MAYFAIR 

Borough Market
Stalls at this weekly (Fri & Sat) gourmet
food market sell the very best of British
produce.
P.149  BANKSIDE
AND SOUTHWARK 

Contents Ideas
26
Museums London has a
fantastic number
and variety of
museums, but
some stand head
and shoulders above
the rest. The British
Museum and the
Victoria and Albert, for
example, are both
British Museum
world-class repositories of Roman and Greek art, Egyptian and
art treasures. For a Assyrian artefacts, fabulous treasures
from Anglo-Saxon, Roman and Medieval
balanced view of human Britain, and vast ethnographic collections
conflict, head for the from all over the world.

Imperial War Museum, but  P.101  BLOOMSBURY 

for exemplary modern,


interactive museums that
manage to appeal to
visitors of all ages, choose
the National Maritime
Museum or the new
Wellcome Wing at the
Science Museum. All these
are giants compared with
Sir John Soane’s Museum,
a hidden gem with totally
unique, treasure-trove
atmosphere.

Imperial War Museum


The capital’s finest military museum puts
on fascinating talks and events, houses a
huge art collection and gives a sober
account of the horrors of war.
P.144  SOUTH BANK
AND AROUND 

Contents Ideas
27
V&A
The world’s greatest applied arts museum,
with something for everyone, whether
you’re into the history of dress, musical
instruments, silver, Indian and Islamic art or
modern mass-produced design.
P.160  SOUTH KENSINGTON,
KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND CHELSEA 

Sir John Soane’s Museum


This early nineteenth-century home-cum-
studio of the idiosyncratic architect of the
Bank of England is crammed with paintings
and antique sculpture.
Science Museum
The interactive Wellcome galleries and the  P.116  HOLBORN 
daily demonstrations are the most
impressive aspects of this enormous com-
plex, covering every conceivable area of
science.
P.159  SOUTH KENSINGTON,
KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND CHELSEA 

National Maritime Museum


Encompassing the old Royal Observatory as
well as the nautical exhibits, this
imaginatively designed complex will appeal
to all ages.
 P.182  GREENWICH 

Contents Ideas
28
ChurchesAs medieval London Westminster Abbey
was almost entirely This former medieval monastic church
preserves both its cloisters and chapter
destroyed by the house, and boasts some of the city’s
finest late Gothic architecture and
Great Fire of 1666, funerary art from every age.
the churches that  P.75  WESTMINSTER 
survived the flames
are all the more
precious. The Fire
heralded the city’s greatest
era of church building,
much of it under the
supervision of Sir
Christopher Wren, architect
of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Later, the Victorians added
yet more churches to St Paul’s Cathedral
London’s burgeoning The world’s first Protestant cathedral is a
Baroque masterpiece – test the acoustics
suburbs, one or two of in the whispering gallery and climb to the
top of the dome.
which are especially worth
 P.123  THE CITY 
seeking out.

Contents Ideas
29

St Bartholomew-the-Great
Much altered, wonderfully ancient church
which has the finest Norman chancel in
London and some excellent pre-Fire
monuments.
 P.117  CLERKENWELL 

Temple Church
This early English Gothic church in the heart
of the Inns of Court boasts a circular nave
featuring battered medieval effigies of the
Knights Templar.
 P.113  HOLBORN 

Westminster Cathedral
Bizarre, eye-catching neo-Byzantine
Catholic cathedral with an ornate but eerily
unfinished interior.
 P.76  WESTMINSTER 

Contents Ideas
30
With around three
Diverse London
hundred languages
spoken in its
confines, all the
major religions
represented, and
with immigrants
making up over
thirty percent of the
population, London
is Europe’s most
ethnically diverse
city. All the immigrant
Chinatown
groups have brought with London’s most distinct and popular ethnic
them traditions and enclave, characterized by its bewildering
array of cafés and restaurants.
customs that have proved
 P.95  SOHO 
an invaluable and vibrant
contribution to London’s
cultural life. As well as
improving the local cuisine
immeasurably, they have
provided a vast workforce,
had a profound impact on
the arts and music scene,
and are responsible for the
Notting Hill Carnival, the
country’s biggest street
party.

Brixton market
Brixton’s upfront African-Caribbean
consciousness is especially evident
around the wonderful market, with its out-
door produce stalls and network of indoor
arcades.
 P.217  ESSENTIALS 

Contents Ideas
31
Bevis Marks Synagogue
Built in 1701 in the City, this Sephardi
synagogue is the country’s oldest, and a
favourite venue for candlelit Jewish
weddings.
 P.126  THE CITY 

Brick Lane
This East End street is the spiritual heart of
London’s Bangladeshi community, and is
best known for its inexpensive curry houses.
 P.130  HOXTON
AND SPITALFIELDS 

London Central Mosque


Thousands of worshippers congregate for
Friday prayers at this striking modern
mosque in Regent’s Park.
P.169  REGENT’S PARK
AND CAMDEN 

Contents Ideas
32
There’s plenty to
Kids’ London London Zoo
delight kids in Opened in 1828 as the world’s first
scientific zoo, and still a guaranteed hit
London. Top with children of all ages.
attractions such as P.171  REGENT’S PARK
AND CAMDEN 
London Zoo, the
London Aquarium
and the Natural
History Museum are
more or less
guaranteed to go
down well (and the
latter has the added
advantage of being free),
while further from the
centre, Syon Park’s
child-friendly credentials
are ensured by its butterfly
house and reptile centre.
Playgrounds abound in
the city’s parks, but the
mother of them all is the
state-of-the-art Diana
Memorial Playground in London Aquarium
Kensington Gardens. Large and popular South Bank aquarium,
where kids can stroke the rays and gawp
Finally, don’t underestimate at the sharks.
the value of London’s  P.143  SOUTH BANK AND AROUND 
public transport as a
source of fun – the no.11
double-decker bus takes
you past some of London’s
chief landmarks.

Contents Ideas
33

Syon Park No. 11 bus


Aristocratic estate that’s now home to a Head upstairs for a free double-decker tour
butterfly house, a reptile and amphibian of some of London’s most famous sights,
attraction, and gardens that feature a from Big Ben to St Paul’s Cathedral via
miniature steam engine. Trafalgar Square.
 P.186  KEW AND RICHMOND   P.211  ESSENTIALS 

Natural History Museum


With animatronic dinosaurs and an earth-
quake simulator, the Natural History is sure
to prove a winner.
P.158  SOUTH KENSINGTON,
KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND CHELSEA 

Diana Memorial Playground


The city’s most sophisticated, imaginative
and popular outdoor playground, just a short
walk from Diana’s former home.
 P.157  HYDE PARK AND
KENSINGTON GARDENS 

Contents Ideas
34
Indulgent London
If you’ve got the
time and the money,
London is a great
place in which to
indulge yourself –
whether in the bar
of a luxury hotel, the
chair of one of the
city’s leading hair
salons or at a table
in a Michelin-starred
restaurant. Steam
baths have been The Sanctuary
Full-on women-only pamper zone, where
popular here since the you can swim naked in the pool, jump in
Restoration in 1660, and a jacuzzi or loll about in the sauna and
steam room.
there’s an abundance of
 P.218  ESSENTIALS 
plush places around, with
most offering treatments
and massages as an
optional extra.

Ironmonger Row Baths


Old-fashioned steam bath, sauna and
plunge-pool on the edge of the City, with
optional massage and rest beds to
collapse on afterwards.
 P.218  ESSENTIALS 

Contents Ideas
35
Hairdressers
London holds the flagship salons of some
of the biggest names in hair, offering spas
as well as styling.
 P.217  ESSENTIALS 

Cocktails at the Savoy


Britain’s first martini was mixed at the
Savoy hotel’s swish Art Deco American Bar
in the 1920s, and it’s still the place to drink
in style.
 P.112  COVENT GARDEN 

Dinner at Gordon
Ramsay
Experience some of the
capital’s most sublime
cooking at this Michelin-
starred restaurant, run by
the famously bad-tempered
Glaswegian former
footballer.
 P.163 
SOUTH KENSINGTON,
KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND
CHELSEA 

Contents Ideas
36
The last decade has
Club-bars AKA
seen the inexorable A minimalist adjunct to The End night-
club, this central venue’s regular DJ
rise of the club-bar. nights pull in a crowd of good-time
clubbers.
Catering for a
 P.111  COVENT GARDEN 
clubby crowd, with
resident DJs, late
opening hours and,
more often than not,
free (or very cheap) entry,
club-bars came about as
part of the backlash
against London’s
“superclubs”, where
entrance fees were
climbing ever higher and
door-policies becoming
increasingly draconian.
These days, club-bars are
ubiquitous, and are ideal if Cherry Jam
you fancy a laid-back night Great west London cocktail bar whose DJ
line-ups attract a trendy young crowd.
on the tiles.  P.168  HIGH STREET KENSINGTON
TO NOTTING HILL 

Contents Ideas
37
Vibe Bar
Buzzing, busy DJ venue housed in an old
East End brewery.
P.133  HOXTON
AND SPITALFIELDS 

Sosho
Trendy club-bar, doling out lethally good
cocktails and best-known for its excellent
DJs.
P.133  HOXTON
AND SPITALFIELDS 

Dragon
Low-key bar popular with a mixed clientele
of laid-back locals who like to party on
down to the resident DJs.
P.133  HOXTON
AND SPITALFIELDS 

Contents Ideas
38
During the reign of
Victorian London St Pancras Station
Queen Victoria Victorian railway station fronted by a
gloriously over-the-top red-brick
(1837–1901), Neo-Gothic hotel.
London trebled in  P.104  BLOOMSBURY 

size and became the


largest city in the
world, at the heart
of an empire that
stretched across the
globe. Not
surprisingly, the
buildings of the era
exude the wealth
and confidence of that
Brompton Oratory
period. They also reflect the Experience the smells and sights of an
magpie-like tastes of the Italianate Roman Catholic church in this
wonderfully atmospheric slice of neo-
day, when architects tried Baroque.
to outdo each other in P.161  SOUTH KENSINGTON,
KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND CHELSEA 
decorative detailing,
borrowing from every
previous architectural style
and from all corners of the
empire.

Contents Ideas
39

Leadenhall Market
Cobblestones and graceful Victorian iron-
work combine to create the City’s most
attractive market for luxury comestibles.
 P.126  THE CITY 

Albert Memorial
This bombastic monument to Queen
Victoria’s consort is a riot of semi-precious
stones, marbles, bronze and gilding.
 P.156  HYDE PARK AND
KENSINGTON GARDENS 

Palm House Kew Gardens Houses of Parliament


Decimus Burton’s spectacular curvaceous A gargantuan, confident neo-Elizabethan
hothouse is home to most of the world’s expression of nationhood, best known for
known palm species. its “Big Ben” clocktower.
 P.188  KEW AND RICHMOND   P.73  WESTMINSTER 

Contents Ideas
40
Dead London
In medieval times, Highgate Cemetery
only royalty and the London’s most convincingly Hammer
Horror cemetery is most famous as the
nobility were resting place of Karl Marx.
commemorated P.178  HAMPSTEAD
AND HIGHGATE 
after their death –
and the iconoclasm
of the Reformation
and the Great Fire of
1666 mean that
very little medieval
funerary art has survived.
However, in the nineteenth
century, the emergence of
an aspirational middle
class prompted more and
more Londoners to opt for
permanent memorials and
ever more ostentatious
Kensal Green
funerals. The legacy of this This canalside cemetery boasts the
period can be seen in capital’s most flamboyant funereal
sculptures.
London’s vast suburban  P.166  HIGH STREET KENSINGTON
cemeteries, established TO NOTTING HILL 

during the Victorian period


to cope with the new fash-
ion for funereal opulence.

Contents Ideas
4141
Westminster Abbey
When it comes to dead royalty, poets or
politicians, the abbey wins hands down.
 P.75  WESTMINSTER 

St Paul’s Cathedral
The nave features some ludicrously
pompous monuments to British imperialists,
while the huge crypt specializes in artists.
St Mary-at-Lambeth
 P.123  THE CITY 
The tiny graveyard here is home to the
beautifully carved John Tradescant
memorial and the grave of Captain Bligh of
the Bounty fame.
 P.144  SOUTH BANK AND AROUND 

Cenotaph
Edwin Lutyens’ understated Whitehall
memorial is a moving commemoration of
the “glorious dead” from both world wars.
P.70  TRAFALGAR SQUARE
AND WHITEHALL 

Contents Ideas
42
Until the 1820s, the
Riverside London Bankside
Thames was Thanks to the Tate Modern, Millennium
Bridge and Shakespeare’s Globe, the
London’s main waterside entertainment district of Tudor
and Stuart London is pulling in the crowds
thoroughfare, and once again.
some of the city’s  P.146  BANKSIDE AND
finest buildings were SOUTHWARK 

built along the


riverfront; the
steady decline in
river traffic, though,
means that the
Thames itself is now
quieter than ever
before. However the
waterfront has, if
anything, become busier in
the last couple of decades.
From the revitalized South
Bank to the phoenix-like Old Royal Naval College
This symmetrical Baroque masterpiece
Docklands, the traffic-free enjoys the best riverside setting in the
whole of London.
portions of riverbank have
 P.182  GREENWICH 
again become a focal
point, with pubs, cafés,
restaurants, museums and
other attractions jostling for
space.

Contents Ideas
43

South Bank
The traffic-free riverside path
here connects numerous
attractions, theatres and
galleries, as well as affording by
far the best views of the
Thames’s photogenic north bank.
P.140  SOUTH BANK AND
AROUND 

Docklands
The transformation of London’s
moribund dock system into a
world-class business district is a
maritime miracle.
P134  THE TOWER
AND DOCKLANDS 

Richmond
Elegant Thames-side
suburb where you
can have a drink
overlooking the
water, rent rowing
boats or stroll along
the bucolic towpath.
 P.186  KEW AND
RICHMOND 

Contents Ideas
44
London can be an
Free London
expensive place for
locals and tourists
alike, but there are
lots of things to
enjoy in the city
which are one
hundred percent
free. Aside from the
numerous museums
and galleries which don’t
charge entry, there are
plenty of slightly more
offbeat activities which
don’t cost a thing, from
musical treats and upscale Lunchtime concerts
Free lunchtime classical concerts take
auctions to political place in churches all over the City and
parts of the West End.
sparring matches.
P.70  TRAFALGAR SQUARE AND
WHITEHALL 

Sotheby’s auction
Buying might make a dent in your pocket,
but viewing and attending an auction
costs nothing.
 P.87  PICCADILLY AND MAYFAIR 

Contents Ideas
45
Evensong at St Paul’s
Cathedral
The most moving way to experience this
great Protestant cathedral is during choral
evensong.
 P.124  THE CITY 

Foyer gigs in the Royal


Festival Hall
One of the joys of a stroll along the South
Bank is the chance to catch one of the free
lunchtime concerts in the RFH foyer.
 P.140  SOUTH BANK AND AROUND 

Kenwood House
An exquisite eighteenth-century interior and
top-drawer Old Masters can all be seen for
free at English Heritage’s flagship property
overlooking Hampstead Heath.
 P.176  HAMPSTEAD
AND HIGHGATE 

Contents Ideas
46
London from up high
London is a huge
city, but it’s only
when you take a
bird’s-eye view
that you realize just
how vast an area it
covers. The most
far-reaching vistas
are from the pods of
the London Eye
observation wheel,
but even here you
can barely make out
the edge of the city.
What you do notice,
though, is that St Paul’s Cathedral Dome
London has only a small A head for heights and the ability to climb
500 steps are needed to enjoy a rooftop
number of very tall view over the City here.
buildings, allowing church  P.122  THE CITY 
spires to rise above the
rooftops, and that the city
has a wonderfully
idiosyncratic patchwork
layout, woven over several
centuries.

London Eye
The city’s giant Ferris wheel provides both
the most expensive and the most superla-
tive view over the capital.
 P.142  SOUTH BANK AND AROUND 

Contents Ideas
47
Westminster Cathedral
A lift inside the stripy campanile takes you
high above the rooftops of Westminster.
 P.76  WESTMINSTER 

Tower Bridge
The elevated walkways of this landmark
bridge provide the ultimate up- and
downriver vistas.
P.135  THE TOWER
AND DOCKLANDS 

Oxo Building
The free public viewing platform on the
eighth floor of this former meat-processing
factory gives a lovely view over the South
Bank.
P.142  SOUTH BANK
AND AROUND 

Parliament Hill
North London’s favourite kite-flying spot, at
the southern tip of Hampstead Heath, offers
a fabulous skyline panorama.
P.175  HAMPSTEAD
AND HIGHGATE 

Contents Ideas
48
London has an
Festivals and events Proms
endless roster of The world’s most egalitarian classical
music festival, featuring daily concerts in
festivals and the Royal Albert Hall (and elsewhere), and
culminating in the flag-waving national-
special events, ism of the “Last Night”.
with something  P.215  ESSENTIALS 
happening some-
where almost every
day of the year. The
fortnight of
grass-court tennis
at Wimbledon is one
of the great annual
social events but,
like the Proms
festival of classical
music, it’s open to
all-comers provided you’re
prepared to queue.
Carnival, London’s
mammoth street party, is Carnival
equally democratic, but it’s Floats, costume bands, sound-systems,
legions of food stalls and a fun-loving,
also worth catching one or heaving crowd make this huge street
two of the more unusual party unmissable.
annual events, such as the  P.215  ESSENTIALS 

quaint narrowboat and


Morris dancing celebration
that is the IWA Cavalcade.

Contents Ideas
49

IWA Canal Cavalcade


Colourful and old-fashioned narrowboat
parade at the picturesque Little Venice
junction of the Regent’s and Grand Union
canals.
 P.215  ESSENTIALS 

Dance Umbrella
One of the world’s leading contemporary
dance festivals, with innovative productions
staged all over the capital.
 P.215  ESSENTIALS 

Open House
Constantly expanding annual event which
sees the city’s most intriguing historic
buildings throw open their doors to the pub-
lic for free.
 P.215  ESSENTIALS 

Wimbledon Lawn Tennis


Championship
Summertime grass-court venue of the most
singular of tennis’s four Grand Slam events
– think strawberries and cream, and heroic
British failures.
 P.215  ESSENTIALS 

Contents Ideas
50
London today is a
Queasy London
fairly salubrious,
modern metropolis,
but many of its
attractions prefer to
glory in the city’s
murkier past.
Medieval London
was undoubtedly a
muddy, unforgiving
place – there were
156 capital offences
in the eighteenth-century
city – but it was during the
Victorian era when it really
paid not to be too
squeamish. The Gothic
horror and hypocrisy of the
period is perfectly
illustrated by the cult
surrounding the Jack the
Ripper murders, which still
pulls in the punters even
today, just as pre-
anaesthetic operations did
in the past.

Madame Tussaud’s
The ghoulish human fascination with
murderers and serial killers is indulged in
this infamous waxwork museum’s
Chamber of Horrors.
 P.92  MARYLEBONE 

Contents Ideas
51

London Dungeon
Ham and Gothic it may be, but the grisly
tableaux and ghost-train ride at the London
Dungeon are as popular as ever.
 P.150  BANKSIDE AND
SOUTHWARK 

Old Operating Theatre and


Herb Garret
Amputations were performed with great
speed and skill at this pre-anaesthetic
operating theatre – though often with fatal
consequences.
 P.149  BANKSIDE AND
SOUTHWARK 

Smithfield Market
Each weekday morning around dawn,
London’s leading market for TK (town-killed)
meat is a mass of bloody carcasses.
 P.118  CLERKENWELL 

Contents Ideas
52
London on stage
London has enjoyed Shakespeare’s Globe
a reputation for This meticulous replica of an Elizabethan
playhouse puts on rabble-rousing, open-
quality theatre air performances of plays by Shakespeare
and his contemporaries.
since the time of
 P.148  BANKSIDE AND
Shakespeare, and SOUTHWARK 
despite the
continuing domi-
nance of block-
buster musicals and
revenue-spinning
star vehicles, the
city still provides a
platform for
innovation. The largely
pub-based fringe theatre
scene is still going strong,
National Theatre
and comedy is so big that The South Bank’s concrete carbuncle
London now boasts more houses three excellent theatre spaces,
and stages consistently good productions
dedicated venues than any of everything from classics to new works.
other city in the world.  P.142  SOUTH BANK AND AROUND 

Contents Ideas
53
West End musicals
Lavish blockbuster musicals dominate the
West End theatre scene.
 P.212  ESSENTIALS 

Donmar Warehouse
Covent Garden theatre with an outstanding
reputation for classy revivals, new writing
and star-studded casts.
 P.212  ESSENTIALS 

Comedy Café
London’s comedy scene is as varied as it is
huge, but the acts at this purpose-built
Hoxton venue are a cut above the rest.
 P.213  ESSENTIALS 

King’s Head pub theatre


The most reliable of London’s pub theatre
venues, the King’s Head is always worth a
visit.
 P.212  ESSENTIALS 

Contents Ideas
54
Musical London
For sheer range and
variety, there’s little
to beat London’s
live music. As well
as boasting two
world-class opera
houses and free
lunchtime classical
concerts held
regularly at venues
throughout the
capital, the live
music scene also
encompasses all variations Royal Opera House
Despite the money and effort involved in
of classical, rock, blues, getting a ticket, it’s definitely worth trying
roots and world music. to catch a production at one of the
world’s finest opera houses.
Most major artists include
 P.213  ESSENTIALS 
London in any European
tour, and there’s also a
thriving underground
scene, with lots of up-and-
coming bands working the
circuit.

Jazz Café
Camden’s Jazz Café embraces all kinds of
music, attracting top names from world
music, roots, folk, R&B and hip-hop, as
well as the jazz crowd.
 P.214  ESSENTIALS 

Contents Ideas
55

Wigmore Hall
Long-established chamber music venue
with wonderful acoustics, just off Oxford
Street.
 P.214  ESSENTIALS 

Astoria
Smack in the centre of London, this
cavernous former theatre hosts regular
gigs, often with a rock/indie slant.
 P.213  ESSENTIALS 

Shepherd’s Bush Empire


This old Victorian theatre is probably
London’s best medium-scale rock venue.
 P.214  ESSENTIALS 

Contents Ideas
56
Contemporary architecture
The economic boom
of the 1980s
witnessed London’s
first wave of
contemporary
architecture.
Reflecting the
nature of the times,
the buildings were
generally private
office blocks, the Lloyds Building
Lloyds’ high-tech City offices, designed
most famous of by Richard Rogers in the mid-1980s, are
which are the then- still strikingly contemporary and more
successful than many younger upstarts.
groundbreaking
 P.126  THE CITY 
Lloyds Building and
Canary Wharf. New
offices continue to
spring up city-wide,
and since the turn of
the millennium
there’s been a new wave of
lottery-funded structures
such as the Millennium
Bridge, and public
buildings like the new City
Hall.

Swiss Re
The latest lofty addition to the City skyline,
Norman Foster’s unusual cone-shaped
affair is popularly known as the “erotic
gherkin”.
 P.126  THE CITY 

Contents Ideas
57
Canary Wharf
Loved and hated in equal measure, Cesar
Pelli’s stainless steel skyscraper is the
centrepiece of the Canary Wharf Docklands
development.
P.137  THE TOWER
AND DOCKLANDS 

Serpentine Gallery pavilions


The annually commissioned summertime
tea pavilions have added architectural merit
to the green groves of the park.
 P.156  HYDE PARK AND
KENSINGTON GARDENS 

City Hall (GLA)


Bearing a close resemblance to a giant car
headlight, Norman Foster’s eco-friendly
headquarters for the Greater London
Authority occupies a prominent position on
the Thames.
P.151  BANKSIDE
AND SOUTHWARK 

Millennium Bridge
After a wobbly start, Norman Foster’s flashy
millennial footbridge, connecting St Paul’s
Cathedral with the Tate Modern, has proved
a hit with locals and tourists alike.
P.146  BANKSIDE
AND SOUTHWARK 

Contents Ideas
58
Much of Tudor and
Tudor and Stuart London Golden Hinde
Stuart London Seaworthy replica of the dinky timber
ship in which Sir Francis Drake circum-
went up in smoke navigated the globe.
during the 1666  P.149  BANKSIDE
AND SOUTHWARK 
Great Fire of
London, but some
gems from the
period do survive
today. Exuding the
flamboyance and
exuberance of the
period, the grand
residences of
Hampton Court
Palace and Ham
House lie well
outside the city
centre and so were
never in peril, but the
hammerbeamed Middle
Temple Hall and wood-
panelled Prince Henry’s
Room, on the edge of the
City, were saved by a
matter of a few feet. The
Golden Hinde and the
Globe Theatre, meanwhile,
are meticulous
timber-framed
reconstructions from
London’s glorious Globe Theatre
Relocated and reconstructed in the 1990s,
Elizabethan Renaissance. the Globe gives a fascinating insight into
the theatre of Shakespeare’s day.
P.148  BANKSIDE
AND SOUTHWARK 

Contents Ideas
59
Middle Temple Hall
This sixteenth-century lawyers’ dining hall
boasts a fine hammerbeam roof, wood
panelling and a richly carved Elizabethan
screen.
 P.113  HOLBORN 

Ham House
Seventeenth-century stately home, just up
Prince Henry’s Room
the towpath from Richmond, with one of Hidden gem at the top of Fleet Street, with
the finest Stuart interiors in the country. Jacobean plasterwork and linenfold
panelling that miraculously survived the
 P.189  KEW AND RICHMOND 
Great Fire.
 P.115  HOLBORN 

Hampton Court Palace


Magnificent Tudor palace on which both
Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII spent a
fortune.
 P.192  HAMPTON COURT 

Contents Ideas
60
London’s streets
Literary and artistic London Keats House
are full of literary Former home – now shrine – to the
ultimate Romantic poet, who fell in love
and artistic with the girl next door, became consump-
tive and died in Rome at the age of just 25.
associations –
P.175  HAMPSTEAD
from Shakespeare, AND HIGHGATE 
Dickens and Marx to
Orwell, Woolf and
Freud. Everywhere
you look there’s a
blue plaque, a
statue or a
memorial
celebrating the city’s
writers, painters and
thinkers. Some have
left only memories,
others first editions
and works of art,
and a few have
been paid the Freud Museum
ultimate homage via Fleeing Nazi persecution, the father of
psychoanalysis lived out his last months
the transformation of their in this well-to-do Hampstead residence.
former homes into P.174  HAMPSTEAD
AND HIGHGATE 
museums.

Contents Ideas
61
British Library
Home of artistic literary masterpieces such
as the Lindisfarne Gospels, as well as
original manuscripts by the likes of James
Joyce.
 P.103  BLOOMSBURY 

Leighton House
Purpose-built studio and living space of the
successful Victorian painter Lord Leighton,
chum of the pre-Raphaelites and lover of
the exotic.
 P.164  HIGH STREET KENSINGTON
TO NOTTING HILL 

2 Willow Road
The Hampstead abode of Hungarian
modernist architect Ernö Goldfinger is filled
with avant-garde artworks by such greats
as Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray
and Henry Moore.
P.175  HAMPSTEAD
AND HIGHGATE 

Handel House Museum


Court composer Georg Friedrich Handel
spent the best part of his life in this
Georgian terraced house, now refurbished
as a period set-piece.
 P.88  PICCADILLY AND MAYFAIR 

Contents Ideas
62
One of London’s
Afternoon tea
most accessible
indulgent rituals is
taking afternoon
tea in a luxury
hotel. At a cost of
around £25 a head,
this is no quick
cuppa, but a high-
cholesterol feast
that kicks off with
sandwiches, moves on to
scones slathered with
clotted cream and jam, and Ritz
The Palm Court here has been a favourite
finishes up with assorted spot to take tea since the hotel first
wowed Edwardian society in 1906.
cakes, all washed down
P.72  TRAFALGAR SQUARE
with innumerable pots of AND WHITEHALL 
tea.

Savoy
Superb Art Deco hotel, originally managed
by César Ritz, and where Guccio Gucci
started out as a dishwasher.
P.72  TRAFALGAR SQUARE
AND WHITEHALL 

Contents Ideas
63
Dorchester
Wildly over-the-top gilded and mirrored
Hollywood decor is the Dorchester’s
hallmark.
 P.72  TRAFALGAR SQUARE
AND WHITEHALL 

Claridge’s
Tasteful and terribly English Art Deco hotel
that’s perfect for a champagne tea.
P.72  TRAFALGAR SQUARE
AND WHITEHALL 

Lanesborough
Exclusive and very plush venue in a
converted hospital on Hyde Park Corner,
where tea is served in the glass-roofed
conservatory.
P.72  TRAFALGAR SQUARE
AND WHITEHALL 

Contents Ideas
Contents Ideas
Places

Contents Places
Places

Contents Places
67

Trafalgar Square and


Whitehall

PLACES Trafalgar Square and Whitehall


Despite the scruffy urban pigeons and the traffic noise,
Trafalgar Square is still one of London’s grandest archi-
tectural set-pieces, and as such is prime tourist territory.
Most folk head here for the National Gallery, at the top of
the square, then linger by the fountains before wander-
ing down the unusually broad avenue of Whitehall en
route to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster
Abbey. Whitehall itself is synonymous with the faceless,
pinstriped bureaucracy who run the various governmen-
tal ministries located here, but it’s also the venue for the
most elaborate Changing of the Guard, which usually
attracts a small crowd of onlookers.
Trafalgar Square Despite housing more than 2300
As one of the few large public paintings, the main virtue of the
squares in London,Trafalgar National Gallery is not so much
Square has been a focus for the collection’s size, but its range,
political demonstrations since it depth and sheer quality. A quick
was laid out in the 1820s. Most tally of the Italian masterpieces,
days, however, it’s crowds of for example, includes works by
pigeons that you’re more likely Uccello, Botticelli, Mantegna,
to encounter, as they wheel Piero della Francesca,Veronese,
around the square hoping some Titian, Raphael, Michelangelo
unsuspecting visitor will feed and Caravaggio. From Spain
them (it’s now, in fact, illegal to
do so, as they’ve been declared a
nuisance). Along with its
fountains, the square’s central
focal point is the deeply
patriotic Nelson’s Column,
which stands 170ft high and is
topped by a 17ft statue of the
one-eyed, one-armed admiral
who defeated the French at
Trafalgar. Nelson himself is
actually quite hard to see – not
so the giant bronze lions at the
base of the column, which
provide a popular photo
opportunity.

National Gallery
Trafalgar Square t 020/7747 2885,
w www.nationalgallery.org.uk. Daily
10am–6pm, Wed till 9pm. Free.  FOUNTAINS, TRAFALGAR SQUARE

Contents Places
68
Leicester Square Covent Garden

ST MARTIN’S LANE
CH
CE

AR

AG
IN
GC PLA

AR
OS
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Portrait
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ST MA
Trafalgar Square and Whitehall PLACES

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National Gallery St Martin- ST


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in-the-Fields

PLACE
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Cabinet
War Rooms
EATING & DRINKING
CANON ROW

Café in the Crypt 1


0 50yds Lord Moon of the Mall 2
Red Lion 3

© Crown copyright

Contents Places
69
there are dazzling pieces by El of the information desks.There’s
Greco,Velázquez and Goya; from also a Gallery Guide
the Low Countries, van Eyck, Soundtrack, with a brief audio
Memlinc and Rubens, and an commentary on a large selection
array of Rembrandt paintings of the paintings on display; it’s

PLACES Trafalgar Square and Whitehall


that features some of his most available free of charge, though
searching portraits. Poussin, you’re asked for a “voluntary
Claude,Watteau and the only contribution”. Another
Jacques-Louis David paintings in possibility is to join up with one
the country are the early of the excellent, free guided
highlights of a French tours (daily 11.30am & 2.30pm,
contingent that has a particularly plus Wed 6.30 pm), which set off
strong showing of Cézanne and from the Sainsbury Wing foyer.
the Impressionists. British art is
also well represented, with National Portrait Gallery
important works by Hogarth, St Martin’s Place t020/7306 0055,
Gainsborough, Stubbs and wwww.npg.org.uk. Daily 10am–6pm,
Turner, though for twentieth- Thurs & Fri till 9pm. Free. Founded in
century British art – and many 1856 to house uplifting
more Turners – you’ll need to depictions of the good and the
move on to Tate Britain on great, the National Portrait
Millbank (see p.77). Gallery has some fine individual
To view the collection works. However, many of the
chronologically, begin with the studies are of less interest than
Sainsbury Wing, the softly- their subjects, and the overall
softly, postmodern 1980s adjunct impression is of an overstuffed
which is linked to – and shrine to famous Brits rather
playfully imitates – the original than a museum offering any
Neoclassical building. However, insight into the history of
as the National has more than a portraiture. Nevertheless, it is
thousand paintings on fascinating to trace who has been
permanent display, you’ll need deemed worthy of admiration at
real stamina to see everything in any moment: aristocrats and
one day, so if time is tight your artists in previous centuries,
best bet is to home in on your warmongers and imperialists in
areas of special interest, having the early decades of the
picked up a gallery plan at one twentieth century, writers and
 UCCELLO’S BATTLE OF SAN ROMANO, NATIONAL GALLERY

Contents Places
70
the barrel vaulting is exceptionally
rich; it’s best appreciated while
listening to one of the church’s
free lunchtime concerts or
ticketed, candle-lit evening
Trafalgar Square and Whitehall PLACES

performances (call t020/7839


8362 for timings and
information).As well as a licensed
café, the crypt holds a shop, a
gallery and a good, old-fashioned
brass-rubbing centre (Mon–Sat
10am–6pm, Sun noon–6pm).

Whitehall
During the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries Whitehall
was synonymous with royalty,
serving as the permanent
residence of England’s kings and
queens.The original Whitehall
Palace was confiscated and
 BRUNEL PORTRAIT, NPG greatly extended by Henry VIII
after a fire at Westminster forced
poets in the 1930s and 1940s, him to find alternative
and latterly, retired footballers, accommodation, and it was here
politicians and film and pop stars. that he celebrated his marriage
If you want some biographical to Anne Boleyn in 1533 – and
background on many of the where he died fourteen years
pictures, avail yourself of the later. From the sixteenth century
NPG’s Soundguide; it’s free of onwards, nearly all the key
charge, though you’re strongly governmental ministries and
invited to give a “voluntary offices migrated here, rehousing
contribution” of £3. themselves on an ever-increasing
The gallery’s special scale.The royalty, meanwhile,
exhibitions (for which there’s moved out to St James’s after a
often an entrance charge) are fire destroyed most of Whitehall
well worth seeing – the Palace in 1698.
photography shows, in The statues dotted about
particular, are usually excellent. Whitehall today recall the days
when this street stood at the
St Martin-in-the-Fields centre of an empire on which
Duncannon St w www.stmartin-in-the the sun never set, while just
-fields.org. Mon–Sat 10am–8pm, Sun beyond the Downing Street
noon–8pm. Something of a gates, in the middle of the road,
blueprint for eighteenth-century stands Edwin Lutyens’
churches across the Empire, St Cenotaph, commemorating the
Martin-in-the-Fields is fronted by dead of both world wars.
a magnificent Corinthian portico Eschewing any kind of
and topped by an elaborate, and Christian imagery, the plain
distinctly unclassical, tower and monument is inscribed simply
steeple. Completed in 1726, the with the words “The Glorious
interior is purposefully simple, Dead” and remains the focus of
though the Italian plasterwork on the country’s Remembrance

Contents Places
71
Sunday ceremony, held here in 10 Downing Street
early November. w www.number-10.gov.uk. Since the
days of Margaret Thatcher,
Banqueting House London’s most famous address
Whitehall w www.hrp.org.uk. Mon–Sat has been hidden behind

PLACES Trafalgar Square and Whitehall


10am–5pm. £4. One of the few wrought-iron security gates. A
sections of Whitehall Palace to pretty plain, seventeenth-century
escape the 1698 fire was the terraced house, no. 10 has been
Banqueting House, one of the home to every British prime
first Palladian buildings to be minister since it was presented to
built in England.The one room Robert Walpole, Britain’s first
open to the public has no PM, by George II in 1732.
original furnishings, but is well
worth seeing for the superlative Cabinet War Rooms
Rubens ceiling paintings King Charles St w www.iwm.org.uk
commissioned by Charles I in /cabinet. Daily: April–Sept
the 1630s, depicting the union of 9.30am–6pm; Oct–March
England and Scotland, the 10am–6pm. £7.50. In 1938, in
peaceful reign of his father, James anticipation of Nazi air raids,
I, and finally his apotheosis. the basements of the civil
Charles himself walked through service buildings on the south
the room for the last time in side of King Charles Street
1649, when he stepped onto the were converted into the
executioner’s scaffold from one Cabinet War Rooms. From
of its windows. here, Winston Churchill
directed operations and held
Horse Guards cabinet meetings for the
Whitehall wwww.army.mod.uk duration of World War II. By
/ceremonialandheritage. Outside this the end of the conflict, the
modest building (once the old warren had expanded to cover
palace guard house) two more than six acres, including a
mounted sentries of the hospital, canteen and shooting
Queen’s Household Cavalry
 NAVE OF ST-MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS
and two horseless colleagues, all
in ceremonial uniform, are
posted daily from 10am to 4pm.
With nothing in particular to
guard nowadays, the sentries are
basically here for the tourists,
though they are under orders
not to smile.Try to coincide
your visit with the Changing of
the Guard (Mon–Sat 11am, Sun
10am), when a squad of twelve
mounted troops arrive in full
livery.The main action takes
place in the parade ground at
the rear of the building
overlooking Horse Guards’
Parade, which you can reach
through the archway.

Contents Places
72
commentary helps bring the
place to life, and includes
various eyewitness accounts by
folk who worked there.
Trafalgar Square and Whitehall PLACES

Cafés
Café in the Crypt
St Martin-in-the-Fields, Duncannon St.
Mon–Wed 10am–8pm, Thurs–Sat
10am–11pm, Sun noon–8pm.
Offering self-service comfort
food (including plenty of veggie
choices), and with a handy
location, this is an ideal spot to
fill up before hitting the West
End.

 SOUTH AFRICA HOUSE, TRAFALGAR


SQUARE
Pubs
range, as well as cramped Lord Moon of the Mall
sleeping quarters and a series 16 Whitehall. Huge, high-ceilinged
of tunnels fanning out from former bank, now a popular
the complex to outlying Wetherspoon’s pub serving
government ministries. The decent grub and real ales.
rooms have been left pretty
much as they were when they Red Lion
were finally abandoned on VJ 48 Parliament St. Old-fashioned
Day 1945, and make for an late-Victorian pub popular with
atmospheric underground trot politicians, who can be called to
through wartime London. The parliamentary votes by a
museum’s free acoustophone division bell in the bar.

Afternoon tea
The classic English afternoon tea – assorted sandwiches, scones and cream,
cakes and tarts and, of course, lashings of tea – is available all over London, but
is best sampled at one of the capital’s top hotels; a selection of the best venues
are picked out below. Book ahead, and leave your jeans and trainers at home –
most hotels will expect men to wear a jacket of some sort, though only The Ritz
insists on jacket and tie. Expect to pay around £25 per person.

Claridge’s Brook St t 020/7629 .lanesborough.com. Daily


8860, w www.savoy-group.co.uk. 3.30–6pm.
Daily 3–5.30pm. The Ritz Piccadilly t 020/7493
The Dorchester 54 Park Lane 8181, w www.theritzhotel.co.uk.
t 020/7629 8888, w www Daily 1.30, 3.30 & 5.30pm.
.dorchesterhotel.com. Daily 3–6pm. The Savoy Strand t 020/7836
Lanesborough Hyde Park Corner 4343, w www.savoy-group.co.uk.
t 020/7259 5599, w www Daily 3–5.30pm.

Contents Places
73

Westminster
Political, religious and regal power has emanated from
Westminster for almost a millennium. It was King

PLACES Westminster
Edward the Confessor who first established this spot
as London’s royal and ecclesiastical power base, build-
ing his palace and abbey some three miles upstream
from the City of London in the eleventh century, and the
embryonic English parliament met in the abbey from
the fourteenth century onwards.
Westminster remains home to the Houses of
Parliament today, and as such it’s a popular tourist
spot, with visitors drawn here by Big Ben, one of the
city’s most familiar landmarks, and Westminster Abbey,
London’s most spectacular church. A short walk upriv-
er, Tate Britain houses the most comprehensive collec-
tion of British art in the country.

Houses of Parliament or the Lords, simply join the


Parliament Square t 020/7219 4272, queue for the public galleries
w www.parliament.uk. Also known (known as Strangers’ Galleries)
as the Palace of Westminster, the outside St Stephen’s Gate.The
Houses of Parliament are one of public are let in slowly (from
London’s best-known 4pm Mon, 1pm Tues–Thurs,
monuments and the ultimate 10am Fri); the security checks
symbol of a nation once are very tight, and the whole
confident of its place at the procedure can take an hour or
centre of the world.The city’s more. If you want to avoid the
finest example of Victorian queues, turn up an hour or
Gothic Revival, the complex is
distinguished above all by the
ornate, gilded clock tower
popularly known as Big Ben,
after the thirteen-ton main bell
that strikes the hour (and is
broadcast across the airwaves by
the BBC).
The original medieval palace
burnt to the ground in 1834,
but Westminster Hall survived,
and its huge oak hammerbeam
roof, and sheer scale – 240ft by
60ft – make it one of the most
magnificent pieces of secular
medieval architecture in Europe
(you get a glimpse of it en route
to the public galleries).
To watch the proceedings in
either the House of Commons  BIG BEN

Contents Places
74
War Rooms
Parliamentary
St James's GREAT
Bookshop BRIDGE ST
GEORGE ST

STOREY' S GATE
Park L K N ST WESTMINSTER
W A OL D QU EE
E PARLIAMENT
A G
D C ANN E'S GAT E 1 SQUARE
B I R

QUE EN
Methodist Y St Margaret’s Houses of
Guards’ AR
Central Hall TU Parliament
Museum NC
T O T H I L L STRE ET D SA
CE OA
Wellington FRAN BR
Westminster PLACES

TY ST JAMES'S PARK
BU Barracks PET Passport St Stephen’s
CK Office
ING Gate

WAY
HA
M
E ET Westminster

G R E AT S M
GA
Blewcoat TR

B ROAD
TE
T REET S Abbey
School 2 CA XT ON S
New Jewel
Gift Shop R I A Scotland Yard Tower
TO

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GREA
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VI T CO
LLE Victoria

STR
G E STR EET
3 ST RE E T
OL D PY E Tower
PA L

STRUTTON

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GROU ND
ARTILLERY ROW

T
ACE

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STR 4

TUF TO
ORIA
ST

STRE ET
VICT
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GR E AT PETE

MILLBA
NORTH
STREET

LORD
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Westminster

MONCK ST
DEAN
Cathedral St John SMITH STANLEY
AM

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SQUARE
BR

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MARSHA
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NC
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UA

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REGENCY

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WA A U
PLA

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© Crown copyright

more later, when the crowds


have usually thinned; phone
t 020/7219 4272 to check the
place isn’t closed for the
holidays.
To see Question Time (Mon
2.30–3.30pm,Tues–Thurs
11.30am–12.30pm), when the
House is at its most raucous and
entertaining, you really need to
book a ticket several weeks in
advance from your local MP if
you’re a resident UK citizen, or
your home country’s embassy
(see p.217) in London if you’re
not. If you’re here in late  TAXI LIGHT, PARLIAMENT SQUARE

Contents Places
75
summer, you can also see Aragon (depicted in the bottom
Parliament by way of a guided left- and right-hand corners).
tour (Aug & Sept Mon,Tues,
Fri & Sat 9.15am–4.30pm,Wed Westminster Abbey
& Thurs 1.15–4.30pm; £7; Parliament Square w www

PLACES Westminster
booking line t 0870/906 3773), .westminster-abbey.org. Mon, Tues,
in which visitors get to walk Thurs & Fri 9.30am–3.45pm, Wed
through the two chambers, see 9.30am–7pm, Sat 9.30am–1.45pm.
some of the state rooms reserved £7.50. The venue for every
for the Queen, and admire coronation since William the
Westminster Hall. It’s a good Conqueror, and the site of just
idea to book in advance, or you about all royal burials in the five
can simply head for the ticket hundred years from Henry III
office on Abingdon Green, to George II, Westminster
opposite Victoria Tower and its Abbey embodies much of
adjacent gardens. England’s history.There are
scores of memorials to the
Jewel Tower nation’s most famous citizens,
Abingdon St. Daily: April–Sept too, and the interior is crammed
10am–6pm; Oct 10am–5pm; with reliefs and statues.
Nov–March 10am–4pm. £1.60. The The abbey’s most dazzling
Jewel Tower is another remnant architectural set-piece, however,
of the medieval palace. It formed is the Lady Chapel, added by
the southwestern corner of the Henry VII in 1503 as his future
original exterior fortifications resting place.With its intricately
(there’s a bit of moat left, too), carved vaulting and fan-shaped
and was constructed in around gilded pendants, the chapel
1365 by Edward III as a giant represents the final spectacular
strongbox for the crown jewels. gasp of the English
These days, it houses an Perpendicular style.The sacred
excellent exhibition on the heart of the building, though, is
history of parliament – worth the Shrine of Edward the
checking out before you visit Confessor, which you can enter
the Houses of Parliament. only as part of a guided tour
of the abbey (April–Oct
St Margaret’s Church Mon–Fri 10am, 10.30am, 11am,
Parliament Square w westminster-abbey 2pm, 2.30pm & 3pm, Sat 10am,
.org/stmargarets. Mon–Fri 10.30am & 11am; Nov–March
9.30am–3.45pm, Sat 9.30am–1.45pm, Mon–Fri 10am, 11am, 2pm, &
Sun 2–5pm. Free. Sitting in the 3pm, Sat 10am, 10.30am &
shadow of Westminster Abbey, St 11am), for which you have to
Margaret’s has been the unofficial stump up an extra £3.The
parliamentary church since the general entry fee does, however,
entire Commons tipped up here allow you to inspect Edward I’s
in 1614 to unmask religious Coronation Chair, a decrepit oak
Dissenters among the MPs.The throne dating from around 1300
present building dates back to that’s still used for coronations, as
1523, and its most noteworthy well as the Poets’ Corner in the
furnishing is the colourful south transept.The first
Flemish stained-glass window occupant, Geoffrey Chaucer, was
above the altar, which buried here in 1400 merely
commemorates the marriage of because he lived nearby, but from
Henry VIII and Catherine of the eighteenth century onwards,

Contents Places
76
this area became an artistic generations of bald royal death
Pantheon, with memorials to, masks and wax effigies. If you
among others, John Dryden, visit the Cloisters from Tuesday
Samuel Johnson, Robert to Thursday, make your way to
Browning, Lord Tennyson, the little-known College
Westminster PLACES

Charles Dickens, Rudyard Garden (Tues–Thurs:


Kipling,Thomas Hardy and April–Sept 10am–6pm;
William Shakespeare, whose Oct–March 10am–4pm; free), a
dandyish figure is set into the 900-year-old stretch of green
east wall. From the south which now provides a quiet
transept, you can view the retreat; brass band concerts take
central sanctuary, site of the place in July and August
coronations, and the wonderful between 12.30 and 2pm.
Cosmati floor mosaic, It’s only after exploring the
constructed in the thirteenth cloisters that you get to see the
century by Italian craftsmen, and nave itself: narrow, light and, at
often covered by a carpet to over a hundred feet in height,
protect it. by far the tallest in the country;
Doors in the south choir aisle you exit via the west door.
lead to the Great Cloisters, at
the eastern end of which lies Westminster Cathedral
the octagonal Chapter House Victoria St w www.rcdow.org.uk.
(daily: April–Sept Mon–Fri & Sun 7am–7pm, Sat
9.30am–5pm; Oct 10am–5pm; 8am–7pm. Free. Begun in 1895,
Nov–March 10am–4pm; £1), the stripy neo-Byzantine,
where the House of Commons Roman Catholic Westminster
met from 1257, with its Cathedral is one of London’s
remarkable thirteenth-century most surprising churches, as
decorative paving-tiles and well as one of the last – and the
wall-paintings. Chapter House wildest – monuments to the
tickets include entry to the Victorian era. Constructed
Abbey Museum (daily from more than twelve million
10.30am–4pm), filled with terracotta-coloured bricks and
decorated with hoops of
Portland stone, it culminates in
a magnificent 274ft tapered
campanile, served by a lift
(April–Nov 9.30am–12.30pm
& 1–5pm; Dec–March
Thurs–Sun same hours; £2).
The interior is only half
finished, so to get an idea of
what the place should
eventually look like, explore
the series of side chapels whose
rich, multicoloured decor
makes use of over one hundred
different types of marble from
around the world. Be sure, too,
to check out the low-relief
Stations of the Cross, sculpted
 MARTIN LUTHER KING STATUE,
by Eric Gill during World War
WESTMINSTER ABBEY I.

Contents Places
77

PLACES Westminster
 STATIONS OF THE CROSS, WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL

Tate Britain
Millbank t020/7887 8008,
Shops
wwww.tate.org.uk. Daily 10am–5.50pm.
Free. A purpose-built gallery Blewcoats School Gift Shop
founded in 1897 with money 23 Caxton St t 020/7222 2877,
from Henry Tate, inventor of the w www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giftshop.
sugar cube,Tate Britain is now Closed Sat & Sun. National Trust
devoted exclusively to British art. gift shop in a pretty little
As well as displaying works from Georgian schoolhouse, selling
1500 to the present, the gallery toiletries, tapestries, waterproof
also showcases contemporary hats, preserves and books
British artists and continues to ranging from gardening to
sponsor the Turner Prize, the architecture.
country’s most prestigious
modern-art award. Parliamentary Bookshop
The paintings are rehung 12 Bridge St t 020/7219 3890. Closed
more or less annually, but always Sat & Sun. Pick up copies of
include a fair selection of works Hansard (the word-for-word
by British artists such as account of parliament), plus the
Hogarth, Constable, government’s white and green
Gainsborough, Reynolds and papers.
Blake, plus foreign painters like
van Dyck who spent much of Tate Britain Gift Shop
their career over here.The ever- Millbank t 020/7887 8876,
popular Pre-Raphaelites are w www.tate.org.uk. Lots of art
always well represented, as are posters, from Constable to
established twentieth-century Turner Prize nonsense, plus
greats including Stanley Spencer loads of funky, arty accessories.
and Francis Bacon alongside
living artists such as David
Hockney and Lucien Freud.
Lastly, don’t miss the Tate’s
outstanding collection of works
by J.M.W.Turner, displayed in
the Clore Gallery.

Contents Places
Westminster PLACES 78

 WILLIAM BLAKE’S NEWTON, TATE BRITAIN

Restaurants Pubs
Cinnamon Club Albert
Great Smith St t 020/7222 2555, 52 Victoria St. Roomy High
w www.cinnamonclub.com. Closed Sat Victorian pub, with big bay
lunch & Sun eve. Very smart – and windows, glass partitions and a
expensive – Indian restaurant beautiful original ceiling and
housed in a former library; the carved wooden bar.
power breakfasts are particularly
popular with politicians. Westminster Arms
9 Storey’s Gate. A real
Quilon parliamentary pub, wall-to-wall
41 Buckingham Gate t 020/7821 with MPs, and with a division
1899. Closed Sun. Another very bell in the bar.
swish, elegant and expensive
Indian restaurant specializing in
Keralan cuisine – lots of fish,
seafood, fresh peppercorns and
coconut.

Contents Places
79

St James’s
An exclusive little enclave sandwiched between St
James’s Park and Piccadilly, St James’s was laid out in

PLACES St James’s
the 1670s close to the royal seat of St James’s Palace.
Regal and aristocratic residences overlook nearby
Green Park and the stately avenue of The Mall,
gentlemen’s clubs cluster along Pall Mall and St
James’s Street, while jacket-and-tie restaurants and
expense-account gentlemen’s outfitters line Jermyn
Street. Hardly surprising, then, that most Londoners
rarely stray into this area. Plenty of folk, however, fre-
quent St James’s Park, with large numbers heading for
the Queen’s chief residence, Buckingham Palace, and
the adjacent Queen’s Gallery and Royal Mews.
The Mall daily at 3pm), and there are
The tree-lined sweep of The exotic ducks, swans and geese
Mall – London’s nearest aplenty. From the bridge across
equivalent of a Parisian the lake there’s also a fine view
boulevard – was laid out in the over to Westminster and the
first decade of the twentieth jumble of domes and pinnacles
century as a memorial to along Whitehall, with the
Queen Victoria.These days, it’s London Eye observation wheel
best to try and visit on a peeking over it all.
Sunday, when it’s closed to
traffic.The bombastic Admiralty
Arch was erected to mark the
eastern entrance to The Mall,
just off Trafalgar Square, while at
the other end, in front of
Buckingham Palace, stands the
ludicrously overblown Victoria
Memorial, Edward VII’s
overblown tribute to his
mother.

St James’s Park
w www.royalparks.gov.uk. The south
side of The Mall gives on to St
James’s Park, the oldest of
London’s royal parks, having
been drained and enclosed for
hunting purposes by Henry
VIII. It was landscaped by Nash
in the 1820s, and today its tree-
lined lake is a favourite picnic
spot for Whitehall’s civil
servants. Pelicans chill out at the
eastern end (feeding takes place  CARLTON HOUSE TERRACE

Contents Places
80
Guards’ Museum are the guards’ glorious scarlet
Birdcage Walk w www.armymuseums and blue uniforms, a lock of
.org.uk. Daily 10am–4pm. £2. The Wellington’s hair and a whole
Neoclassical facade of the load of war booty, from Dervish
Wellington Barracks, built in prayer mats plundered from
St James’s PLACES

1833 and fronted by a parade Sudan in 1898 to items taken


ground, runs along the south from an Iraqi POW during the
side of St James’s Park. In a Gulf War.The museum also
bunker opposite the barracks’ displays (and sells) an impressive
modern chapel, the Guards’ array of toy soldiers.
Museum, endeavours to explain
the complicated evolution of Buckingham Palace
the Queen’s Household Buckingham Gate w www.royal.gov.uk.
Regiments, and provide a Aug & Sept daily 9.30am–4.30pm.
potted military history since the Advance booking on t 020/766 7300.
Civil War. Among the exhibits £12.50. The graceless colossus of

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Contents Places
81
Buckingham Palace, popularly For two months of the year,
known as “Buck House”, has the hallowed portals are
served as the monarch’s grudgingly nudged open to the
permanent London residence public; timed tickets are sold
only since the accession of from the marquee-like box

PLACES St James’s
Victoria (if the Queen is at office in Green Park at the
home, the Royal Standard flies western end of The Mall.The
from the roof of the palace). interior, however, is a bit of an
Bought by George III in 1762, anticlimax: of the palace’s 660
the building was overhauled by rooms, you’re permitted to see
Nash in the late 1820s, and again around twenty, and there’s little
by Aston Webb in time for sign of life as the Queen
George V’s coronation in 1913, decamps to Scotland every
producing a Neoclassical summer. For the other ten
monolith that’s about as bland as months of the year there’s little
it’s possible to be. to do here, as the palace is closed
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LOWER REGENT STREET

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Red Lion (Crown Passage) 4

© Crown copyright

Contents Places
82
to visitors – not that this deters of equine accoutrements, but it’s
the crowds who mill around the the royal carriages that are the
railings and gather in some force main attraction.The most
to watch the Changing of the ornate is the Gold State Coach
Guard (see p.71). made for George III in 1762,
St James’s PLACES

smothered in 22-carat gilding


Queen’s Gallery and weighing four tons, its axles
Buckingham Gate w www.royal.gov supporting four life-size figures.
.uk. Daily 10am–5.30pm. £6.50. The The Mews also houses the
public can also visit the Royal Family’s gleaming fleet of
changing exhibitions at the five Rolls Royce Phantoms and
Queen’s Gallery.These are three Daimlers.
drawn from the Royal
Collection, the vast array of St James’s Palace
artworks snapped up by the Marlborough Rd w www.royal.gov.uk.
royal family which is three times Originally built by Henry VIII
larger than that at the National for Anne Boleyn, St James’s
Gallery. Among the thousands of Palace became the principal
works the curators have to royal residence when Whitehall
choose from are some incredible Palace burnt to the ground in
masterpieces by Michelangelo, 1698 (the court moved down
Reynolds, Gainsborough, the road to Buckingham Palace
Vermeer, van Dyck, Rubens, under Queen Victoria).The
Rembrandt and Canaletto, as imposing red-brick gate-tower
well as numerous Fabergé eggs that forms the main entrance,
and heaps of Sèvres china. and the Chapel Royal, are all
that remain of the original
Royal Mews Tudor palace.The rambling
Buckingham Palace Rd w www.royal complex is off-limits to the
.gov.uk. Aug & Sept daily 10am–5pm; public, though you can attend
Oct–July Mon–Thurs & Fri–Sat services at the Chapel Royal
11am–4pm. £5.50. There’s more (Oct to Good Friday Sun
pageantry on show at the Nash- 8.30am & 11.15am), venue for
built Royal Mews.The horses numerous royal weddings, and
can be viewed in their luxury the Neoclassical Queen’s Chapel
stables, along with an exhibition (Easter–July Sun 8.30am &
11.15am). Until recently, the
palace was used as a bachelor
pad by Prince Charles
(w www.princeofwales
.gov.uk) until he moved next
door to Clarence House.

Clarence House
Stable Yard Rd w www.royal.gov.uk.
Aug to mid-Oct daily 9.30am–6pm.
£5.50. Built by John Nash for the
future William IV, Clarence
House is best known as the
former home of the late Queen
Mum. It now serves as Prince
 QUEEN ALEXANDRA MEMORIAL,
Charles’s chief London
MARLBOROUGH ROAD residence, and a handful of

Contents Places
83
Neoclassicism, decorated with
murals in the “Pompeian
manner”.The most outrageous
decor, though, is to be found in
Lord Spencer’s Room, with its

PLACES St James’s
astonishing gilded palm-tree
columns.

Shops
Berry Bros & Rudd
3 St James’s St t 020/7396 9600,
w www.bbr.com. Closed Sun. This
well-stocked, 300-year-old
establishment houses a huge
range of fine wines, and the
friendly and helpful staff know
pretty much everything there is
to know on the subject.
 ST JAMES’S PARK

Dunhill
rooms were opened to the 48 Jermyn St t 020/7499 9566,
public for the first time in the w www.whitespot.co.uk. Closed Sun.
summer of 2003.Visits are by An enormous range of pipes
guided tour only, and, apart and cigars on the first floor, and
from a peek behind the scenes a small museum of old Dunhill
in a royal palace, the main draw gadgets and accessories on the
is the selection of paintings by ground floor.
the likes of Walter Sickert and
Augustus John. Geo F. Trumper
20 Jermyn St t 020/7734 1370,
Spencer House w www.trumpers.com. Closed Sun.
St James’s Place w www Founded in 1875, this
.spencerhouse.co.uk. Feb–July & impeccably discreet
Sept–Dec Sun 10.30am–5.45pm. £6. “Gentlemen’s Perfumer” is the
Most of St James’s palatial barber of choice, with a shaving
residences are closed to the school that will teach you how
public, but one happy exception to execute the perfect wet
is Spencer House, a superb shave.
Palladian mansion erected in the
1750s.The ancestral home of the Paxton & Whitfield
late Princess Diana, it was last 93 Jermyn St t 020/7930 0259,
lived in by the family in 1927, w www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk.
and is currently leased to the Closed Sun. Quintessentially
Rothschilds. Inside, guides take English, 200-year-old cheese
you on an hour-long tour shop offering a very traditional
through nine of the state rooms. range of British and European
The Great Room features a varieties, plus a good range of
stunning coved and coffered wine and port.
ceiling in green, white and gold,
while the adjacent Painted
Room is a feast of

Contents Places
St James’s PLACES 84

 PLANE TREES IN GREEN PARK

Restaurants join on the door (Mon–Fri


£1.50; Sat & Sun £2.50). It’s a
Al Duca cool drinking venue, with a noir
4–5 Duke of York St t 020/7839 3090, dress code observed by the arty
w www.alduca-restaurant.co.uk. High crowd and staff, and sweaty DJ
quality, sophisticated Italian nights at the weekends.
food, slick service and good set
menus: lunches start at just Red Lion
under £20; dinner at just over. 23 Crown Passage. Closed Sun.
Hidden away in a passageway
Miso off Pall Mall, this tiny, wood-
66 Haymarket t 020/7930 4800. panelled local attracts a smart
Huge helpings of eastern, wok- besuited clientele, who fill up
fried and soupy noodle and rice on sandwiches and quaff real
dishes that will fill your belly for ale before moving on to
under £10. somewhere more upmarket.

Red Lion
Pubs and bars 2 Duke of York St. Closed Sun.
Genuine old Victorian gin
ICA palace run by the Nicholson’s
94 The Mall w www.ica.org.uk. You chain, with elegant etched
have to be a member to drink at mirrors, polished wood and a
the ICA Bar – but anyone can great ceiling.

Contents Places
85

Piccadilly and Mayfair


Forming the border between St James’s and Mayfair, traf-
fic-clogged Piccadilly is no longer the fashionable prom-

PLACES Piccadilly and Mayfair


enade it once was. However, a whiff of exclusivity still
pervades the streets of Mayfair, particularly Bond Street
and its tributaries, where designer clothes emporia jostle
for space with jewellers, bespoke tailors and fine art
dealers. Most Londoners, however, stick to Regent and
Oxford streets on the fringes of Mayfair, home to the flag-
ship branches of the country’s most popular chain stores.
It’s here that Londoners are referring to when they talk of
“going shopping up the West End”.

Piccadilly Circus and a new, wide triumphal


Anonymous and congested it approach to Regent’s Park,
may be, but for many Regent Street was the city’s first
Londoners, Piccadilly Circus is real attempt at dealing with
the nearest their city comes to traffic congestion. At the same
having a centre. Originally laid time, it helped clear away a large
out in 1812 and now a major swath of slums, and create a
traffic bottleneck, it’s by no tangible borderline to shore up
means a picturesque place, and fashionable Mayfair against the
is probably best seen at night chaotic maze of Soho. Even
when the spread of vast today, it’s still possible to admire
illuminated signs (a feature the stately intentions of Nash’s
since the Edwardian era) plan, particularly evident in the
provide a touch of Las Vegas Quadrant, the street’s partially
dazzle, and when the human  EROS, PICCADILLY CIRCUS
traffic is at its most frenetic.
Somewhat inexplicably,
Piccadilly Circus attracts a huge
number of tourists, who come
here to sit on the steps of the
central fountain, topped by an
aluminium statue popularly
known as Eros. Despite the
bow and arrow, it depicts not
the god of love but the Angel
of Christian Charity, and was
erected to commemorate the
Earl of Shaftesbury, a Bible-
thumping social reformer who
campaigned against child
labour.

Regent Street
w www.regent-street.co.uk. Drawn
up by John Nash in 1812 as
both a luxury shopping street

Contents Places
86
arcaded, curved section which with traffic careering up and
swerves westwards from down it nose to tail day and
Piccadilly Circus. In the night. Infinitely more pleasant
nineteenth century, however, the places to window-shop are the
increased purchasing power of various nineteenth-century
Piccadilly and Mayfair PLACES

the city’s middle classes brought arcades here, originally built to


the tone of the street “down”, protect shoppers from the mud
and heavyweight stores catering and horse-dung on the streets,
for the masses now predominate. but now equally useful for
escaping exhaust fumes.
Piccadilly
Piccadilly apparently got its Burlington Arcade
name from the ruffs or w www.burlington-arcade.co.uk.
“pickadills” worn by the dandies Mon–Sat 9am–6pm. Awash with
who promenaded along this mahogany-fronted jewellers and
wide boulevard in the late gentlemen’s outfitters,
seventeenth century. Despite its Burlington is Piccadilly’s longest
fashionable pedigree, and the and most expensive nineteenth-
presence of the Ritz Hotel century arcade. It was built in
halfway along, it’s no place for 1819 for Lord Cavendish, then
promenading in its current state, owner of neighbouring
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Palace

Contents Places
87
its exhibitions tend to be
crowd-pleasers, interspersed
with the occasional controversial
show guaranteed to grab the
headlines. However, the

PLACES Piccadilly and Mayfair


Academy is best known for the
Summer Exhibition, which
opens in June and remains an
essential stop on the social
calendar of upper middle-class
England. Anyone can enter
paintings in any style, and the
lucky winners get hung, in
rather close proximity, and sold.
Supposed gravitas is added by
the RA “Academicians”, who
are allowed to display six of
 BURLINGTON ARCADE
their own works – no matter
how awful.The result is a
Burlington House, to prevent bewildering display, which gets
commoners throwing rubbish annually panned by the critics.
into his garden. Upholding
Regency decorum, it is still Bond Street and around
illegal to whistle, sing, hum, While Oxford Street, Regent
hurry, carry large packages or Street and Piccadilly have all
open umbrellas on this small gone downmarket, Bond Street
stretch – the arcade’s beadles has carefully maintained its
(known as Burlington Berties), exclusivity. It is, in fact, two
in their Edwardian frock-coats streets rolled into one: the
and gold-braided top hats, take southern half, laid out in the
the prevention of such 1680s, is known as Old Bond
criminality very seriously. Street; its northern extension,
which followed less than fifty
Royal Academy years later, is New Bond Street.
w www.royalacademy.org.uk. Daily Both are pretty unassuming
10am–6pm, Fri till 10pm. £4–9 architecturally, but the shops that
depending on the exhibition. The line them – and those of
Royal Academy of Arts (RA) neighbouring Conduit Street
occupies the enormous and South Molton Street – are
Burlington House, one of the among the flashiest in London,
few survivors of the aristocratic dominated by perfumeries,
mansions that once lined jewellers and designer clothing
Piccadilly.The country’s first- emporia such as Versace, Gucci
ever formal art school, the and Yves Saint-Laurent.
Academy was founded in 1768 In addition to fashion, Bond
by a group of English painters Street is also renowned for its
including Thomas Gainsborough auction houses, the oldest of
and Joshua Reynolds, the first which is Sotheby’s, at no.
president, whose statue now 34–35 (w www.sothebys.com).
stands in the main courtyard, Despite a price-fixing scandal in
palette in hand.The college has 2002 that resulted in the
always had a conservative imprisonment of one of its
reputation for its teaching, and former chairmen and a £12

Contents Places
88
million fine, business is still the world’s busiest streets. East of
booming.The viewing galleries Oxford Circus, it forms the
(free) are open to the public, as northern border of Soho; to the
are the auctions themselves. west, the one great landmark is
Bond Street’s art galleries are Selfridges, a huge Edwardian pile
Piccadilly and Mayfair PLACES

another favourite place for the fronted by giant Ionic columns,


wealthy to offload their with the Queen of Time riding
heirlooms; for contemporary the ship of commerce and
art, head for neighbouring Cork supporting an Art Deco clock
Street. Both sets of galleries have above the main entrance.The
impeccably presented and store was opened in 1909 by
somewhat intimidating staff, but Chicago millionaire Gordon
if you’re interested, walk in and Selfridge, who flaunted its 130
look around.They’re only shops, departments under the slogan,
after all. “Why not spend a day at
Selfridges?”; he was later
Handel House Museum pensioned off after running into
25 Brook St w www.handelhouse.org. trouble with the Inland Revenue.
Tues–Sat 10am–6pm, Thurs till 8pm,
Sun noon–6pm. £4.50. The German-
born composer Georg Friedrich
Händel (1685–1759) spent the
Shops
best part of his life in London, Browns
producing all his best-known 23–27 & 50 South Molton St
work at what’s now the Handel t 020/7514 0052, w www
House Museum.The composer .brownsfashion.com. London’s
used the ground floor as a sort of largest range of designer wear,
shop where subscribers could with big international names
buy scores, while the first floor under the same roof as more
was employed as a rehearsal cutting-edge, up-and-coming
room.Although containing few designers, and catering equally
original artefacts, the house has well for women as for men.
been painstakingly restored, and
further atmosphere is provided by Charbonnel et Walker
music students who come to 1 Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond St
practise on the house’s t 020/7491 0939, w www.charbonnel
harpsichords. More formal .co.uk. Closed Sun. Established in
performances take place on 1875, this is where Her Majesty
Thursday evenings from 6pm binges on chocolate, which
(£5, includes museum comes presented in the most
admission).Access to the house is exquisite wrapping.
via the chic cobbled yard at the
back. Fortnum & Mason
181 Piccadilly t 020/7743 8040,
Oxford Street w www.fortnumandmason.com.
w www.oxfordstreet.co.uk. The old Beautiful and eccentric store
Roman road to Oxford has been offering gorgeously presented
London’s main shopping mecca and pricey food; also specializes
for the last hundred years.Today, in designer clothes, furniture
despite successive recessions and and stationery.
sky-high rents, this aesthetically
unremarkable two-mile Hamleys
hotchpotch of shops is still one of 188–196 Regent St t 0870/333 2455,

Contents Places
89

PLACES Piccadilly and Mayfair


 ART DECO FACADE, SELFRIDGES

w www.hamleys.com. Possibly the one of its best: a huge, airy mecca


world’s largest toy shop, and of clothes, food and furnishings.
certainly a feast for the eyes of
most small children, with lots Waterstone’s
of gadget demonstrations going 203–206 Piccadilly t 020/7851 2400,
on in its six floors of mayhem. w www.waterstones.co.uk. This
flagship bookstore – Europe’s
Hatchards largest – occupies the former
187 Piccadilly t 020/7439 9921, Simpson’s department store
w www.hatchards.co.uk. The building and boasts a café, bar,
Queen’s official bookseller, gallery and events rooms as well
Hatchards holds its own when it as five floors of books.
comes to quality fiction, royal
biography and history.

Liberty
Cafés
210–220 Regent St t 020/7734 1234, Mô
w www.liberty.co.uk. A fabulous, 25 Heddon St. Closed Sun. Serving
partly mock-Tudor emporium reasonably priced and delicious
of luxury. Best known for its snacks, this is London’s ultimate
fabrics, though it is, in fact, a Arabic pastiche café, with tables
full-blown department store. and hookahs spilling out onto
the pavement of a quiet little
Marks & Spencer Mayfair alleyway.
458 Oxford St t 020/7935 7954,
w www.marksandspencer.co.uk. The Sotheby’s
largest London branch of this 34–35 New Bond St
British institution offers a huge w www.sothebys.com. Closed Sat &
range of own-brand clothes, Sun. Sotheby’s café is by no
food, homeware and furnishings. means cheap, but the lunches
are exquisitely prepared, and the
Selfridges excellent afternoon teas are a
400 Oxford St t 0870/837 7377, fraction of the price of the
w www.selfridges.com. London’s first nearby hotels.
great department store, and still

Contents Places
90
Restaurants The bar here has a tasteful Art
Deco feel, with terribly English
Kiku waiters and splendid cocktails
17 Half Moon St t 020/7499 4208. from £8 each.
“Kiku” translates as pricey, but for
Piccadilly and Mayfair PLACES

top-quality sushi and sashimi, this Dorchester


place doesn’t charge the earth. 63 Park Lane w www.dorchesterhotel
Take a seat at the traditional sushi .com. Wildly over-the-top
bar and wonder at the dexterity gilded, mirrored Hollywood
of the knife man. decor, big booths to ease into,
and jolly good cocktails at just
Truc Vert under £10 a hit.
42 North Audley St t 020/7491 9988.
Very upmarket takeaway deli Dover Street Wine Bar
(quiche, salads, rotisserie 8–9 Dover St. Enjoyable central
chicken, patés, cakes and brasserie hosting blues, R&B,
pastries) incorporating a small jazz and soul bands every night
restaurant.The menu changes until 3am.
daily; you can even assemble
your own after-dinner cheese Guinea
platter and pay by weight. 30 Bruton Place. Closed Sun. Tiny,
Corkage is £4.50. old-fashioned, flower-strewn
mews pub, serving good Young’s
bitter and excellent steak-and-
Pubs and bars kidney pies.

Audley Ye Grapes
41 Mount St. A grand Mayfair 16 Shepherd Market. Busy Victorian
pub, with its original Victorian free house, with a good
burgundy lincrusta ceiling, selection of real ales and an
chandeliers and clocks. open fire – a great local in the
heart of Mayfair.
Claridge’s
49 Brook St w www.savoy-group.com.

 CAFÉ CULTURE OFF OXFORD STREET

Contents Places
91

Marylebone
Marylebone may not have quite the pedigree and snob
value of Mayfair, but it’s still a wealthy and aspirational

PLACES Marylebone
area. Built in the eighteenth century, its mesh of smart
Georgian streets and squares survives more or less
intact today, and compared to the brashness of nearby
Oxford Street, the backstreets of Marylebone are a
pleasure to wander, especially the chi-chi, village-like
quarter around the High Street. In fact, the area only
really gets busy and touristy around the north end of
Baker Street, home of the fictional detective Sherlock
Holmes, and one of London’s biggest visitor attrac-
tions, Madame Tussaud’s waxworks’ extravaganza.

Wallace Collection is best known for its eighteenth-


Hertford House, Manchester Square century French paintings
w www.wallacecollection.org. Mon–Sat (especially Watteau); look out,
10am–5pm, Sun noon–5pm. Free. too, for Franz Hals’ Laughing
Housed in a miniature Cavalier,Titian’s Perseus and
eighteenth-century French Andromeda,Velázquez’s Lady with
chateau, the Wallace Collection a Fan and Rembrandt’s

N Regent's Park 0 200 yds


Sherlock
Marylebone Holmes
Station
BAKER STREET
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Contents Places
92
affectionate portrait of his and to its café, or if you visit for
teenage son,Titus. one of the Tuesday-evening
The inner courtyard is now a lectures (£6–10) held here.The
modern, rather formal, glass- excellent ground-floor
roofed café, but at heart, the bookshop is also worth a
Marylebone PLACES

Wallace Collection remains an browse.


old-fashioned place, with
exhibits piled high in glass Madame Tussaud’s
cabinets, paintings covering and the Planetarium
every inch of wall space and a Marylebone Rd t 0870/400 3000.
bloody great armoury. If you’re Mon–Fri 10am–5.30pm, Sat & Sun
here for the paintings, you’ll 9am–5.30pm; school holidays daily
find the best works in the 9am–5.30pm. £14.95; Sat & Sun in
Great Gallery. peak season £16.95. The wax
models at Madame Tussaud’s
RIBA (w www.madame-tussauds.com)
66 Portland Place w www.architecture have been pulling in the crowds
.com. Mon–Fri 10am–6pm, Sat ever since the good lady arrived
9am–5pm. Free. With its sleek in London in 1802 bearing the
1930s Portland-stone facade, the sculpted heads of guillotined
Royal Institute of British aristocrats.The entrance fee
Architects (RIBA) headquarters might be extortionate, the
is easily the finest building on likenesses occasionally dubious
Portland Place. Inside, the main and the automated dummies
staircase remains a wonderful inept, but you can still rely on
period piece, with etched glass finding London’s biggest queues
balustrades, walnut veneer and here – to avoid joining them,
two large columns of black book your ticket over the
marble rising up on either side. phone or online in advance.
You can view the interior en After star-spotting at the
route to the institute’s often Garden Party and trawling
thought-provoking first-floor through the irredeemably
architectural exhibitions (free) tasteless Chamber of Horrors,
 ETCHED BALUSTRADES, RIBA

Contents Places
93
Cafés
Golden Hind
73 Marylebone Lane. Closed Sun.
Founded in 1914, Marylebone’s

PLACES Marylebone
heritage fish and chip restaurant
serves classic cod and chips
alongside fancier fare. Eat here
or take away.

Patisserie Valerie at Sagne


105 Marylebone High St
w www.patisserie-valerie.co.uk.
 ST MARYLEBONE’S CHURCH SPIRE
Founded as Swiss-run Maison
Sagne in the 1920s, and
preserving its wonderful period
the Tussaud’s finale is a manic decor, the café is now run by
five-minute “ride” through the Soho’s fab patisserie makers,
history of London in a and is one of Marylebone’s
miniaturized taxi cab. finest.
For an extra £2.45 you can
visit the adjoining London Paul
Planetarium (w www.london- 116 Marylebone High St. Upmarket,
planetarium.com) for a seriously French boulangerie
thirty-minute high-tech zip with a small wood-panelled café
through the universe projected at the back. Before launching
onto a giant dome and into the exquisite patisserie, try
accompanied by a cosmic astro- one of the chewy fougasses,
babble commentary. quiches or tarts.

Sherlock Holmes Museum


239 Baker St w www.sherlock-
holmes.co.uk. Daily 9.30am–6pm. £6.
Sherlock Holmes’s fictional
address was 221b Baker Street,
hence the number on the door
of the Sherlock Holmes
Museum. Stuffed full of
Victoriana and life-size models
of characters from the books, it’s
an atmospheric and very
competent exercise in period
reconstruction. You can stroll in
and out of the rooms, and don a
deerstalker to have your picture
taken by the fireside, looking
like the great detective himself,
but there’s no attempt to impart
any insights (or even too many
basic facts) about Holmes or
Doyle.
 PATISSERIE VALERIE CAKES

Contents Places
94
Restaurants
Fairuz
3 Blandford St t 020/7486 8182. One
of London’s more accessible
Marylebone PLACES

Middle Eastern restaurants, with


an epic list of mezze, delicate
and fragrant charcoal grills and
one or two oven-baked dishes.
Get here early to secure one of
the nook-and-crannyish, tent-
like tables.

La Galette
56 Paddington St t 020/7935 1554,
w www.lagalette.com. Bright,
modern pancake place, where
the hors d’oeuvres are very
simple and very French, and the
savoury and sweet buckwheat
galettes generous; be sure to
sample the range of Breton
ciders, too. Breakfast is available  O’CONOR DON
between 10am and 4pm.

Phoenix Palace Pubs and bars


3–5 Glentworth St t 020/7486 3515.
The menu here stretches off Barley Mow
into the farthest corners of 8 Dorset St. Closed Sun. Beautiful
Chinese chefly imagination, and old pub, tucked away in the
it’s worth a careful read. Better backstreets of Marylebone, with
still, the cooking is good and lots of hidden nooks and even
the portions large. some completely enclosed little
booths for total privacy.
The Providores
109 Marylebone High St t 020/7935 Match Bar
6175, w www.theprovidores.co.uk. 38 Margaret St w www.matchbar.com.
Outstanding fusion restaurant Closed Sun. Smart, cool cocktail-
split into two distinct areas: driven bar with lots of retro
snacky Tapa Bar downstairs and brown leatherette loungers and
full-on restaurant upstairs. On bottled beers.
either level the food, which may
sound like an untidy assemblage O’Conor Don
on paper, is original and wholly 88 Marylebone Lane. Closed Sat &
satisfying. Sun. A stripped-bare, stout-
loving pub that’s a cut above the
average, with excellent
Guinness, a pleasantly easy-
going pace and Irish food on
offer.

Contents Places
95

Soho
One of London’s most diverse, busy and characterful
areas, Soho is very much the heart of the West End. It’s

PLACES Soho
been the city’s premier red-light district for centuries,
and retains an unorthodox and slightly raffish air that’s
unique for central London. Conventional sights are few
and far between, yet it’s a great area to wander
through, even if you just take in the lively fruit and veg-
etable market on Berwick Street; whatever the hour,
however, there’s always something going on. Most folk
head here to visit one of the many cinemas or theatres,
or to grab a bite to eat or a drink at the incredible vari-
ety of cafés, restaurants and bars. Soho is also a very
upfront gay mecca, with bars and cafés concentrated
around the Old Compton Street area.
Leicester Square It wasn’t until the mid-
By night, when the big cinemas nineteenth century that the
and nightclubs are doing brisk square began to emerge as an
business and the buskers are entertainment zone, with
entertaining passers-by, Leicester accommodation houses (for
Square is one of the most prostitutes and their clients) and
crowded places in London; on a music halls such as the grandiose
Friday or Saturday night, it can Empire and the Hippodrome
seem as if half the youth of the (just off the square), edifices
city’s suburbs have congregated which survive today as cinemas
here, supplemented by a vast and discos. Cinema moved in
number of tourists. By day, during the 1930s – a golden age
queues form for theatre and evoked by the sleek black lines
concert deals at the square’s of the Odeon on the east side –
half-price ticket booth, while and maintains its grip on the
clubbers hand out flyers to area.The Empire is the favourite
likely looking punters. for big red-carpet premieres
and, in a rather half-
hearted imitation of the
Hollywood tradition,
there are even
handprints-of-the-stars
indented into the
pavement of the square’s
southwestern corner.

Chinatown
A self-contained jumble
of shops, cafés and
restaurants, Chinatown is
one of London’s most
distinct and popular
 ODEON CINEMA, LEICESTER SQUARE ethnic enclaves. Centred

Contents Places
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Soho PLACES

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around Gerrard Street, it’s a do business or the weekly


tiny area of no more than shopping, celebrate a wedding,
three or four blocks, thick or just meet up for meals –
with the aromas of Chinese particularly on Sundays, when
cooking and peppered with the restaurants overflow with
ersatz touches. Few of Chinese families tucking into
London’s 70,000 Chinese dim sum. Most Londoners come
actually live in Chinatown, but to Chinatown simply to eat –
it nonetheless remains a focus easy and inexpensive enough to
for the community: a place to do. Cantonese cuisine

Contents Places
97
predominates, and you’re
unlikely to be disappointed
wherever you go.

Charing Cross Road

PLACES Soho
Charing Cross Road, which
marks Soho’s eastern border,
boasts the highest concentration
of bookshops anywhere in
London. One of the first to
open here, in 1906, was Foyles
at no. 119 – De Valera, George
Bernard Shaw,Walt Disney and
Conan Doyle were all once
regular customers.You’ll find
more of Charing Cross Road’s  CHINATOWN
original character at the string
of specialist and secondhand scene for much of the
bookshops south of Cambridge twentieth century, but
Circus. One of the nicest places nowadays, it’s not just gay bars,
for specialist and antiquarian clubs and cafés jostling for
book-browsing is Cecil Court, position on Old Compton
the southernmost Street: there’s a gay-run
pedestrianized alleyway houseshare agency, a financial
between Charing Cross Road advice outfit and, even more
and St Martin’s Lane. convenient, a gay taxi service.

Photographers’ Gallery
5 & 8 Great Newport St
w www.photonet.org.uk. Mon–Sat
Shops
11am–6pm, Sun noon–6pm. Free. Agent Provocateur
Established in 1971 as the first 6 Broadwick St t 020/7439 0229,
of its kind in London, the w www.agentprovocateur.com.
Photographers’ Gallery hosts Upmarket lingerie store for
excellent temporary those with an interest in the
photographic exhibitions, often kitsch, sexy and glamorous.
featuring leading contemporary
photographers, that are Daddy Kool
invariably worth a browse. Note 12 Berwick St t 020/7437 3535,
that the gallery has exhibition w www.daddykoolrecords.com. Lots
spaces at two separate addresses, of collectable reggae vinyl, most
with a peaceful café at no. 5 and of it classic roots and Studio
a good bookshop at no. 8. One, but with some up-to-the-
minute ragga, too.
Old Compton Street
If Soho has a main drag, it has Foyles
to be Old Compton Street.The 113–119 Charing Cross Rd
corner shops, peep shows, t 020/7437 5660, w www.foyles
boutiques and trendy cafés here .co.uk. Long-established
are typical of the area and a bookstore with a big Silver
good barometer of the latest Moon feminist section, and
Soho fads. Soho has been a Ray’s Jazz Shop and café on the
permanent fixture on the gay first floor.

Contents Places
Soho PLACES 98

 SOHO BY NIGHT

Mr Bongo
44 Poland St t 020/7287 1887,
Cafés
w www.mrbongo.com. Good for Bar Italia
12’’ singles, and for hip-hop, 22 Frith St. This tiny café is a
Latin American and Brazilian Soho institution, serving coffee,
CDs. croissants and sandwiches more
or less around the clock – as it
Prowler Soho has been doing since 1949.
3–7 Brewer St t 020/7734 4031,
w www.prowlerstores.co.uk. A gay Beatroot
and lesbian household name, 92 Berwick St. Great little veggie
stocking lots of fetish gear and café by the market, doling out
erotica, plus a great range of delicious cakes plus hot savoury
literature, art, postcards and bakes, stews and salads in boxes
gifts. of varying sizes – all for under a
fiver.
Sister Ray
94 Berwick St t 020/7287 8385, Centrale
w www.sisterray.co.uk. Up-to-the 16 Moor St. Tiny, friendly Italian
minute indie sounds, plus lots of café specializing in huge plates
electronica and some forays into of steaming, garlicky pasta as
the current dance scene. Most well as omelettes, chicken and
releases available on vinyl as well chops for around £5. Bring
as CD. your own booze; there’s a 50p
corkage charge, but don’t drink
The Vintage House too much as there are no toilets.
42 Old Compton St t 020/7437 2592,
w www.vintagehouse.co.uk. Wines, Kopi-Tiam
brandies and more than seven 9 Wardour St. Bright, cheap
hundred whiskies line the Malaysian café serving up
shelves of this family-run curries, coconut rice, juices and
drinker’s paradise. “herbal soups”, all around the
£5 mark.

Contents Places
99
Patisserie Valerie Mildred’s
44 Old Compton St w www 45 Lexington St t 020/7494 1634.
.patisserie-valerie.co.uk. Popular Long-established, buzzy veggie
coffee, croissant and cake restaurant hidden down a
emporium dating from the backstreet, offering stir-fries,

PLACES Soho
1950s, and attracting a loud- pasta dishes and burgers that are
talking, arty, people-watching as wholesome, delicious and
crowd. inexpensive as ever.

Red Veg Mr Kong


95 Dean St w www.redveg.com. Closed 21 Lisle St t 020/7437 7923. One
Sun. There’s a faint whiff of of Chinatown’s finest, with a
1980s Soviet chic about this chef-owner who pioneered
minimalist veggie junk-food modern Cantonese cuisine:
outlet, which doles out a short order from the “Today’s” and
list of cheap, classic munchie- “Chef ’s Specials” menu, and
fodder: veggie burgers, noodles don’t miss the mussels in black-
and felafel. bean sauce.

Pizza Express
Restaurants 10 Dean St t 020/7439 8722. Enjoy
a good pizza, then listen to the
Busaba Eathai resident band or highly skilled
106–110 Wardour St t 020/7255 guest players.There’s also a late
8686, w www.busaba.com. Dark, night session on Saturdays, from
designery and implacably 9pm until the early hours of
trendy Thai eatery which Sunday morning.
serves pretty decent food at
low prices. The menu veers Rasa Samudra
towards one-pot dishes, and 5 Charlotte St t 020/7637 0222.
vegetarians are particularly well Smart, pricey, fishy south Indian
catered for. restaurant which produces classy
dishes that would be more at
China City home in Mumbai than London.
White Bear Yard, 25 Lisle St
t 020/7734 3388. Large,
reasonably priced restaurant
tucked into a little courtyard;
fresh and bright decor, dim sum
that’s up there with the best
and service that is typically
“Chinatown brusque”.

Chowki
2–3 Denman St t 020/7439 1330.
Large, inexpensive Indian
restaurant serving authentic
homestyle food in stylish
surroundings.The menu changes
every month in order to feature
three different regions of India –
the set “regional feast” for
around £10 is great value.  CHARLES II STATUE, SOHO SQUARE

Contents Places
100
Spiga
84–86 Wardour St t 020/7734 3444.
A pleasantly casual but
upmarket Italian affair, with a
lively atmosphere, a serious
Soho PLACES

wood-fired oven and cool


designer looks.

Pubs and bars


Alphabet
61–63 Beak St w www
.alphabetbar.com. Closed Sun.
Upstairs is light and spacious
with decadent leather sofas, a
great choice of European beers
and mouthwatering food;
downstairs, the dimmed
coloured lights and car seats
strewn around make for an opening place, popular with a
altogether seedier atmosphere. straight/gay Soho crowd. Great
juices and healthy food in the
Candy Bar daytime, cocktails and
4 Carlisle St w www.thecandybar.co overpriced beer in the evening.
.uk. The crucial, cruisey vibe
makes this the hottest girl-bar in Lab
central London. Daily happy 12 Old Compton St w www.lab-bar
hour (5–7pm), pool tables, a .com. Chic, multicoloured
quiz on Tuesdays and clubby former strip joint that stirs up
nights at the weekends. some of the best cocktails in
town for a style-conscious
Dog & Duck crowd of beautiful Soho-ites.
18 Bateman St. Tiny Soho pub
that retains much of its old The Social
character. Beautiful Victorian 5 Little Portland St. Run by the
tiling and mosaics, a good range Heavenly record label (St
of real ales and a loyal clientele. Etienne, Beth Orton, Monkey
Mafia), this industrial – and
The Edge often bacchanalian – club-bar
11 Soho Square, w www.edge.uk.com. and live music venue hosts
Busy, style-conscious and pricey emerging pop-rock-folk bands
café/bar spread over several on varying week nights.
floors, although this doesn’t
seem to stop everyone ending The Toucan
up on the pavement, especially 19 Carlisle St. Closed Sun. Small pub
in summer. Food daily, serving excellent Guinness and a
interesting art exhibitions and wide range of Irish whiskies,
DJs most nights. plus cheap, wholesome and
filling food. So popular it can
Freedom get mobbed.
60–66 Wardour St. Hip, busy, late-

Contents Places
101

Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury was built over in grid-plan style from the
1660s onwards, and the formal, bourgeois Georgian

PLACES Bloomsbury
squares laid out then remain the area’s main distin-
guishing feature. In the twentieth century, Bloomsbury
acquired a reputation as the city’s most learned quar-
ter, dominated by the dual institutions of the British
Museum and London University, and home to many of
London’s chief book publishers, but perhaps best
known for its literary inhabitants, among them T.S. Eliot
and Virginia Woolf. Only in its northern fringes does the
character of the area change dramatically, becoming
steadily more seedy as you near the two big main-line
train stations of Euston and King’s Cross.
British Museum Foster. At the Court’s centre
Great Russell St w www.british- stands the copper-domed former
museum.ac.uk. Mon–Wed, Sat & Sun Round Reading Room of the
10am–5.30pm, Thurs & Fri British Library, where Karl Marx
10am–8.30pm. Free. One of the penned Das Kapital.
great museums of the world, the The BM’s collection of
British Museum contains an Roman and Greek
incredible collection of antiquities is unparalleled, and
antiquities, prints, drawings and is most famous for the
books, all housed under one Parthenon sculptures, better
roof. Begun in 1823, the known as the Elgin Marbles
building itself is the grandest of after the British aristocrat who
London’s Greek Revival edifices, walked off with the reliefs in
and its central Great Court 1801. Elsewhere, the Egyptian
(Mon–Wed, Sat & Sun collection is easily the most
9am–6pm,Thurs & Fri significant outside Egypt,
9am–11pm) now features a ranging from monumental
remarkable curving glass-and- sculptures to the ever-popular
steel roof designed by Norman mummies and their ornate
outer caskets. Also on display is
the Rosetta Stone, which finally
unlocked the secret of Egyptian
hieroglyphs. Other highlights
include a splendid series of
Assyrian reliefs from Nineveh,
and several extraordinary
artefacts from Mesopotamia
such as the enigmatic Ram in
the Thicket (a goat statuette in
lapis lazuli and shell) and the
remarkable hoard of goldwork
known as the Oxus Treasure.
 BLOOMSBURY GROUP PLAQUE, GORDON
The leathery half-corpse of
SQUARE the 2000-year-old Lindow Man,

Contents Places
102
D R U M MO ND S TREE T

EVERSHOLT ST

WAY

CHALTON ST

OSSULSTON ST

ROAD

PAN CRAS R D
Euston Station
British King’s
0 200 yds

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Library St Pancras Cross
EUSTON Station

ND
MELTON ST
Station

A
EUSTON SQUARE GRAFTON PL.

MIDL
WARREN Stern’s African
STREET EUSTON KING'S CROSS-
SQUARE Record Centre
E U S T O N R O A D ST PANCRAS
COU RT RD

New St Pancras

DUKE'S RD
GOW ER PLAC E ENDSLEI GH GDNS BI DBOR OUG H ST

U P. WOBURN PL.
Bloomsbury PLACES

AN EATING &
GOWER STREET

ENDSLEIGH ST
G OR DON S T

ARGY L
Strang XM R.
TOTTENHA M

GRAFTON WAY FLA TER HASTI N G S ST DRINKING

CARTWRIGHT GDNS
Print Room

SANDWICH ST
AbenoE 7

THAN ET ST
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UNIVERSITY ST WALK Cigala S T R 3
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ENDSLEIGH PL. Coffee Gallery T 6
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CAPPER ST LEIGH ST The Lamb T R E E T2
SQUARE
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MALET PL.

Museum Percival David


Foundation TAV I S T O C K P L A C E Wagamama 5
Goodge St

Gay’s
TORRING TON PLACE REGENT SQ.
University WOBURN PLACE the Word
B E D F O R D WAY

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Bookmarks Playin’ Atlantis


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Holborn © Crown copyright

discovered in a Cheshire bog, there are also fabulous Oriental


and the Anglo-Saxon treasure treasures including ancient
from the Sutton Hoo ship burial Chinese porcelain, ornate
are among the highlights of the snuffboxes, miniature landscapes
Prehistoric and Romano- and a bewildering array of
British collection.The Buddhist and Hindu gods.
medieval and modern
collections, meanwhile, range London University
from the twelfth-century Lewis w www.lon.ac.uk. London has
chessmen carved from walrus more students than any other
ivory, to twentieth-century city in the world (over half a
exhibits such as a copper vase million at the last count), which
by Frank Lloyd Wright. isn’t bad going for a city that
Don’t miss the museum’s only organized its own
expanding ethnographic University in 1826, more than
collection, too, including the six hundred years after the likes
atmospheric Mexican and of Oxford and Cambridge.The
North American galleries, plus university started life in
the new African galleries in the Bloomsbury, but it wasn’t until
basement. In the north wing of after World War I that the
the museum, closest to the back institution really began to take
entrance on Montague Place, over the area.

Contents Places
103
This piecemeal development
means that departments are
spread over a wide area, though
the main focus is between the
1930s Senate House skyscraper

PLACES Bloomsbury
on Malet Street, behind the
British Museum, and the
Neoclassical University College
(UCL; w www.ucl.ac.uk), near
the top of Gower Street. UCL is
home to London’s most famous
art school, the Slade, which puts
on temporary exhibitions from its
collection at the Strang Print
Room, in the south cloister of
the main quadrangle (term-time
Wed–Fri 1–5pm; free); call
t 020/7679 2540 to check hours
or what’s on.Also on display in
the south cloisters is the fully-
clothed skeleton of philosopher
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832),  LONDON UNIVERSITY’S SENATE HOUSE

one of the university’s founders,


topped by a wax head and wide- Brunei Gallery (Mon–Fri
brimmed hat. 10.30am–5pm; free; w www
.soas.ac.uk/gallery), which is
London University Museums part of the School of Oriental
and the Brunei Gallery and African Studies, are usually
On the first floor of London well worth visiting; call t 020/
University’s D.M.S.Watson 7898 4915 to see what’s on.
building on Malet Place, the
Petrie Museum of Egyptian British Library
Archeology (Tues–Fri 1–5pm, 96 Euston Rd t 020/7412 7332,
Sat 10am–1pm; free; w www.bl.uk. Mon & Wed–Fri
w www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk) has a 9.30am–6pm, Tues 9.30am–8pm, Sat
couple of rooms jam-packed 9.30am–5pm, Sun 11am–5pm. Free.
with antiquities, including the Opened in 1998 as the
world’s oldest dress, an country’s most expensive public
understandably ragged pleated building, it was hardly surprising
garment worn by an Ancient that the British Library drew
Egyptian teenager around 3000 fierce criticism from all sides.
BC.Tucked away in the Certainly, the exterior’s red-
southeast corner of Gordon brick brutalism is horribly out
Square, at no. 53, there’s more of fashion, and compares
specialist interest at the Percival unfavourably with its
David Foundation of cathedralesque Victorian
Chinese Art (Mon–Fri neighbour, but the interior of
10.30am–5pm; free; w www the library has met with general
.pdfmuseum.org.uk), which approval and the high-tech
boasts two floors of top-notch exhibition galleries are superb.
Chinese ceramics, while the The library’s reading rooms
temporary exhibitions of are accessible to its members
photography and art at the only, but its exhibition galleries

Contents Places
104
are open to all.These are hands-on exhibition of more
situated to the left as you enter; universal appeal, where you can
straight ahead is the spiritual design your own literary
heart of the BL, a multistorey publication, while the Pearson
glass-walled tower housing the Gallery of Living Words puts on
Bloomsbury PLACES

vast King’s Library, collected by excellent temporary exhibitions,


George III and donated to the for which there is sometimes an
museum by George IV in 1823; admission charge.
to the side of the King’s Library
are the pull-out drawers of the St Pancras & King’s Cross
philatelic collection. stations
The first of the three Euston Rd. Completed in 1876, the
exhibition galleries to head for former Midland Grand Hotel’s
is the dimly lit John Ritblat majestic sweep of Neo-Gothic
Gallery, where a superlative lancets, dormers and
selection of ancient manuscripts, chimneypots forms the facade of
maps, documents and precious St Pancras Station. In comparison
books, including the richly King’s Cross Station, opened in
illustrated Lindisfarne Gospels, are 1850, is a mere shed, though it
displayed. One of the most was simple and graceful enough
appealing innovations is until British Rail added the
“Turning the Pages”, a small soon-to-be-demolished modern
room off the main gallery forecourt.These days, the station
where you can “turn” the pages is best known as the place from
of selected texts on a computer which Harry Potter and his
terminal.The Workshop of wizarding chums leave for school
Words, Sounds and Images is a on the Hogwarts Express from
platform 9 3/4.The scenes from
the film are, in fact, shot
between platforms 4 and 5, as 9
and 10 are unphotogenic side-
platforms.

Shops
Atlantis Bookshop
49a Museum St t 020/7405 2120,
w www.theatlantisbookshop
.com. Splendid occult-oriented
place, with the perfect
ambience for browsing through
books and magazines covering
spirituality, psychic phenomena,
witchcraft and the like.

Gay’s the Word


66 Marchmont St t 020/7278 7654,
w www.gaystheword.co.uk. An
extensive collection of lesbian
and gay classics, pulps,
contemporary fiction and non-
 RUSSELL HOTEL, RUSSELL SQUARE fiction, plus cards, calendars and

Contents Places
105
weekly lesbian discussion groups in open kitchen okonomi-yaki,
and readings. which is something like a sloppy
pizza crossed with a solid
Gosh! omelette, then layered with all
39 Great Russell St t 020/7636 1011, manner of odds and ends – all

PLACES Bloomsbury
w www.goshlondon.com. All kinds for around £10.
of comics for all kinds of
readers, whether you’re casually Cigala
curious or a serious collector. 54 Lamb’s Conduit St t 020/7405
1717, w www.cigala.co.uk. Simple
Playin’ Games dishes, strong flavours, fresh
33 Museum St t 020/7323 3080, ingredients and real passion are
w www.playingames.co.uk. Two evident at this Iberian
floors of traditional board games restaurant, where a paella will
(Scrabble, Cluedo etc), plus set you back around £15.
backgammon, war games,
fantasy games and more. Wagamama
4 Streatham St t 020/7836 3330,
Skoob Books w www.wagamama.com. Much
10 Brunswick Centre, off Bernard St copied since, this was the
t 020/7278 8760, w www.skoob.com. pioneer of austere, minimalist,
Cut-price current and recent canteen-style noodle bars, which
secondhand academic titles, as serves filling main meals for
well as modern fiction, poetry, under £10.
travel and more. Students get a
ten-percent discount.

Stern’s African Record Centre


Pubs and bars
293 Euston Rd t 020/7387 5550. King’s Bar
World famous for its global Great Russell Hotel, Russell Square.
specialisms, this expert store has The magnificent high ceilings
an unrivalled stock of African and wood panelling of this
music, and excellent selections Victorian hotel bar provide a
from pretty much everywhere great place in which to luxuriate.
else in the world, too. It’s also a lot less posh – and
more fun – than most hotel bars,
and you get free bowls of nibbles.
Cafés The Lamb
Coffee Gallery 94 Lamb’s Conduit St. Pleasant
23 Museum St. Excellent small Young’s pub with a marvellously
café serving mouthwatering well-preserved Victorian interior
Italian sandwiches, and a few of mirrors, old wood and “snob”
more substantial dishes at screens.
lunchtime. Get there early to
grab a seat. Museum Tavern
49 Great Russell St. Right opposite
the main entrance to the British
Restaurants Museum, this large and
characterful old pub was where
Abeno Marx took a break from writing
47 Museum St t 020/7405 3211. Das Capital over the road in the
Japanese restaurant specializing BM.

Contents Places
106

Covent Garden
Covent Garden’s transformation from a fruit, vegetable
and flower market into a fashion-conscious shopping
Covent Garden PLACES

quarter was one of the most miraculous developments


of the 1980s. Some three centuries ago the piazza
served as the great playground (and red-light district)
of eighteenth-century London. The Royal Opera House,
alongside the area’s buskers and numerous theatres,
are survivors in this tradition, but in addition, there are
now year-round stalls selling everything from antiques
to Union Jack T-shirts, as well as numerous unusual
shops, the occasional funfair and an annual Christmas
market. Nearby, the old warehouses around Neal Street
boast some of the most fashionable shops in the West
End, selling everything from shoes to skateboards.
Covent Garden Piazza market was constructed in the
w www.coventgardenmarket.co.uk. middle of the square, but when
London’s oldest planned square, the flower market closed in
laid out in the 1630s by Inigo 1974, it was very nearly
Jones, Covent Garden Piazza demolished to make way for an
was initially a great success – its office development. Instead, the
novelty value alone ensured a elegant Victorian market hall
rich and aristocratic clientele for and its largely pedestrianized,
the surrounding properties. cobbled piazza were restored to
Over the next century, though, house shops, restaurants and
the tone of the place fell as the arts-and-crafts stalls. Boosted by
fruit and vegetable market high-quality buskers and street
expanded, and theatres and entertainers, the piazza is now
coffee houses began to take over one of London’s major tourist
the peripheral buildings. attractions, its success prompting
Eventually, a large covered a wholesale gentrification of the
streets all around.

St Paul’s Church
Covent Garden Piazza
w www.actorschurch.org. The only
remaining parts of the original
piazza are the two rebuilt
sections of arcading on the
north side, and St Paul’s Church
on the west side.The proximity
of so many theatres has earned
it the nickname of the “Actors’
Church”, and it’s filled with
memorials to international
thespians from Boris Karloff to
Gracie Fields.The space in front
 COVENT GARDEN BICYCLE TAXIS of the church’s Tuscan portico –

Contents Places
107
BL FISH
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where Eliza Doolittle was months in advance. Round the


discovered selling violets by back, the churchyard provides a
Henry Higgins in George tranquil respite from the activity
Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion – is outside – access is from King
now a legalized venue for Street, Henrietta Street or
buskers and street performers, Bedford Street.
who must audition for a slot

Contents Places
108
London’s Transport Museum exciting, but the special
Covent Garden Piazza exhibitions and long-term
w www.ltmuseum.co.uk. Mon–Thurs, “temporary” shows tend to be a
Sat & Sun 10am–6pm, Fri 11am–6pm. lot more fun, and usually have a
£5.95. Covent Garden’s former performance, workshop or
Covent Garden PLACES

flower market hall now serves as hands-on element to them.The


a retirement home for the old museum also runs a booking
buses, trains and trams of service for West End shows and
London’s Transport Museum. has an unusually good selection
The ever-popular collection also of cards and posters.
has enough interactive fun –
touch-screen computers, Royal Opera House
vehicles to climb on and the Bow St t 020/7304 4000,
odd costumed conductor – to w www.royaloperahouse.org. The
keep most children amused. arcading in the northeast side of
There’s usually a good the piazza was rebuilt in the late
smattering of stylish maps and 1990s as part of the multi-
posters on display, too, and you million pound redevelopment of
can buy reproductions, plus the Royal Opera House, whose
countless other tube, bus and main Neoclassical facade, dating
tram paraphernalia, at the shop from 1811, opens onto Bow
on the way out. Street (which you can reach via
a passageway in the corner of
Theatre Museum the arcading). As part of the
Russell St t 020/7943 4700, redevelopment, the market’s
w www.theatremuseum.org. Tues–Sun spectacular wrought-iron Floral
10am–6pm. Free. Also housed in Hall (daily 10am–3pm) was
the old flower market hall, the transformed into the opera
Theatre Museum displays three house’s new first-floor foyer;
centuries of memorabilia from both this and the glorious
the Western performing arts.The terrace overlooking the piazza,
corridors of glass cases cluttered beyond the Amphitheatre
with props, programmes and bar/restaurant, are open to the
costumes are not especially public. Backstage tours of the
opera house take place from
Monday to Saturday (10.30am,
12.30 & 2.30pm; £7).

Strand
Once famous for its riverside
mansions, and later its music
halls, the Strand is a shadow of
its former self today,
characterized more by the
young homeless who shelter in
the shop doorways at night. On
the south side of the Strand, a
blind side street – where the
traffic drives on the right – leads
to the Savoy, built in 1889 and
still London’s grandest hotel.
César Ritz was the original
 TRAMS, LONDON’S TRANSPORT MUSEUM manager, Guccio Gucci started

Contents Places
109
out as a dishwasher here, and the
list of illustrious guests is endless.

Bush House
Strand w www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice.

PLACES Covent Garden


Home of the BBC’s World
Service since 1940, Bush House
was actually built by the
American speculator Irving T.
Bush, whose planned trade
centre flopped in the 1930s.The
giant figures on the north
facade and the inscription, “To
the Eternal Friendship of
English-speaking Nations”, thus
refer to the friendship between
the US and Britain, and are not,
as many people assume, the  SOMERSET HOUSE COURTYARD FOUNTAINS
declaratory manifesto of the
current occupants. 10am–6pm. Free. Sole survivor of
the grand edifices which once
Victoria Embankment lined this stretch of the
Built between 1868 and 1874, riverfront, Somerset House’s
the Victoria Embankment was four wings enclose an elegant
the inspiration of French and surprisingly large courtyard.
engineer Joseph Bazalgette, From March to October, a
whose project simultaneously wonderful 55-jet fountain
relieved congestion along the spouts straight from the
Strand, provided an extension to courtyard’s cobbles; in winter, an
the underground railway and ice rink is set up in its place.
sewage systems, and created a The monumental Palladian
new stretch of parkland with a building itself was begun in
riverside walk – no longer 1776 by William Chambers as a
much fun due to the volume of purpose-built governmental
traffic that barrels along it, office development, but now
though it does afford some also houses a series of museums
good views over the water. and galleries.
London’s oldest monument, The south wing, overlooking
Cleopatra’s Needle, languishes the Thames, is home to the
little-noticed on the Thames Hermitage Rooms (£5;
side of the embankment.The t 020/7845 4600,
60-foot-high, 180-ton stick of w www.hermitagerooms.com),
granite in fact has nothing to do featuring changing displays of
with Cleopatra – it’s one of a anything from paintings to
pair originally erected in Fabergé eggs drawn from St
Heliopolis in 1475 BC (the Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum,
other one is in New York’s and the magnificent Gilbert
Central Park). Collection (£5; w www.gilbert-
collection.org.uk), displaying
Somerset House decorative artworks from
Victoria Embankment w www European silver and gold to
.somerset-house.org.uk. Courtyard and micro-mosaics, clocks, portrait
terrace daily 10am–11pm, interior daily miniatures and snuffboxes.

Contents Places
110
In the north wing are the Duffer of St George
Courtauld Institute galleries 29 Shorts Gardens t 020/7379 4660,
(£5, free Mon 10am–2pm; w www.thedufferofstgeorge.com.
w www.courtauld.ac.uk), chiefly Covetable own-label boys’ casuals
known for their dazzling and streetwear, plus range of
Covent Garden PLACES

collection of Impressionist and other hip designers in the land of


Post-Impressionist paintings. jeans, shoes, jackets and so on.
Among the most celebrated
works are a small-scale version Koh Samui
of Manet’s nostalgic Bar at the 65 Monmouth St t 020/7240 4280.
Folies-Bergère, Renoir’s La Loge, The leading promoter of young
and Degas’s Two Dancers, plus a British designers (and some big-
whole heap of Cézanne’s name foreigners too), this
canvases, including one of his one-stop boutique offers a
series of Card Players. The highly selective range of mens’
Courtauld also boasts a fine and womenswear with an
selection of works by the likes elegant, eclectic and urban feel.
of Rubens, van Dyck, Tiepolo
and Cranach the Elder, as well Neal’s Yard Dairy
as twentieth-century paintings 17 Shorts Gardens t 020/7240 5700.
and sculptures by, among London’s finest cheese shop,
others, Kandinksy, Matisse, with a huge selection of quality
Dufy, Derain, Rodin and cheeses from around the British
Henry Moore. Isles, as well as a few
exceptionally good ones from
further afield.You can taste
Shops before you buy.

Benjamin Pollocks’ Toyshop Neal’s Yard Remedies


44 The Market, Covent Garden 15 Neal’s Yard t 020/7379 7662,
t 020/7379 7866, w www.pollocks- w www.nealsyardremedies.com.
coventgarden.co.uk. Beautiful, Fabulously scented, beautifully
old-fashioned toys, for grown- presented, entirely efficacious
ups as well as children: toy herbal cosmetics, toiletries
theatres, glove puppets, jack-in- remedies.
the-boxes and so on.
Stanford’s Map and Travel
Birkenstock Bookshop
37 Neal St t 020/7240 2783, 12–14 Long Acre t 020/7836 1321,
w www.birkenstock.co.uk. w www.stanfords.co.uk. The world’s
Comfortable, classic and very largest specialist travel bookshop,
fashionable clogs, sandals and stocking pretty much any map
shoes in leather, suede, nubuk of anywhere, plus a huge range
and vegan styles. of guides and travel literature.

Davenport’s Magic Shop


7 Charing Cross Tube Arcade, Strand
t 020/7836 0408, w www
Cafés
.davenportsmagic.co.uk. The Food for Thought
world’s oldest family-run magic 31 Neal St. Long-established but
business, stocking a huge array minuscule bargain veggie
of marvellous tricks for restaurant and takeaway counter
amateurs and professionals. – the tasty and filling menu

Contents Places
111
exhibition spaces, this is a
wonderfully inexpensive and
peaceful haven serving soups,
sandwiches, salads and cakes.

PLACES Covent Garden


Restaurants
Belgo Centraal
50 Earlham St t 020/7813 2233,
w www.belgo-restaurants.com.
Massive metal-minimalist cavern
serving excellent kilo buckets of
moules marinière, with frites
 ALFRESCO LUNCH, NEAL’S YARD
and mayonnaise, washed down
with Belgian beers and waffles
for dessert.The lunchtime
changes twice daily, and includes specials, for around £6, are a
vegan and wheat-free options. bargain for central London.
Expect to queue, and don’t
expect to linger at peak times. Café des Amis
11–14 Hanover Place, off Long Acre
Monmouth Coffee Company t 020/7379 3444, w www
27 Monmouth St. Closed Sun. .cafedesamis.co.uk. Closed Sun.
Cramped wooden booths and Modern, clean and bright
daily newspapers on hand evoke French restaurant whose menu
an eighteenth-century coffee darts from influence to
house atmosphere – pick and influence: salmon terrine with
mix your coffee from a fine guacamole meets confit of
selection. halibut and pumpkin gnocchi.
The pre- and post-theatre set
Rock & Sole Plaice menus are a real bargain.
47 Endell St. A rare survivor: a no-
nonsense, traditional fish and The Ivy
chip shop in central London. 1 West St t 020/7836 4751,
Take away, eat inside or opt for w www.caprice-holdings.co.uk.
one of the pavement tables. Expensive, Regency-style
restaurant built in 1928 that’s
World Food Café long been a theatreland and
14 Neal’s Yard w www.worldfoodcafe society favourite.The only
.com. Closed Sun. First-floor veggie problem is getting a table; either
café that comes into its own in book months ahead or go for
summer, when the windows are the bargain £19 three-course
flung open and you can gaze weekend lunch, with valet
down upon trendy humanity as parking thrown in.
you tuck into pricey but tasty
dishes from all corners of the
globe. Pubs and bars
Zoomslide Café AKA
5 Great Newport St. Situated in the 18 West Central St w www.the-end
middle of one of the .co.uk. Minimalist club bar, with
Photographers’ Gallery a chrome balcony overlooking

Contents Places
112
the main floor, and a well-
stocked bar which dispenses
good food.

American Bar
Covent Garden PLACES

The Savoy, Strand w www.the-savoy


.com. Closed Sun. Utterly gorgeous
Art Deco bar that’s famous for
its cocktails (a snip at £10 a
throw). Dress code is jacket and
tie, or at least very smart. A
pianist plays Mon–Sat 7–11pm.

Detroit
35 Earlham St w www.detroit-bar.com.
Cavernous underground venue
with an open-plan bar area,
secluded Gaudíesque booths, a
huge range of spirits and
excellent cocktails. DJs take over
at the weekends.
 SEVEN DIALS SUNDIALS

First Out
52 St Giles High St Porterhouse
w www.firstoutcafebar.com. The 21–22 Maiden Lane
West End’s original gay w www.porterhousebrewco.com.
café/bar: upstairs is airy and Loud, buzzing micro-brewery
non-smoking, downstairs dark which has eschewed Victoriana
and foggy. On Friday’s there’s a for lots of exposed wood and
busy pre-club warm-up session copper pipes. Plenty of own-
for women; gay men are brewed stouts, ales and lagers to
welcome as guests. choose from, and lots of suits to
rub shoulders with.
Bünker Bier Hall
41 Earlham St w www.bunkerbar.com. Punch & Judy
Busy, brick-vaulted basement 40 The Market. Horribly mobbed
bar with wrought-iron pillars, and loud, but boasting an
lots of brushed steel and pricey, unbeatable location with a very
strong brews, most made on the popular balcony overlooking
premises. Covent Garden Piazza.

Lamb & Flag Salisbury


33 Rose St. Busy, tiny and highly 90 St Martin’s Lane. One of the
atmospheric pub, hidden away most superbly preserved
down an alley between Garrick Victorian pubs in London – and
Street and Floral Street. John certainly the most central –
Dryden was attacked here in with cut, etched and engraved
1679 after scurrilous verses had windows, bronze statues, red-
been written about one of velvet seating and a fine
Charles II’s mistresses (by lincrusta ceiling.
someone else as it turned out).

Contents Places
113

Holborn
Holborn (pronounced “Hoe-bun”) is a fascinating area
to explore. Strategically placed between the royal and

PLACES Holborn
political centre of Westminster and the financial might
of the City, this wedge of land became the hub of the
English legal system in the early thirteenth century.
Hostels, known as Inns of Court, were established
where lawyers could eat, sleep and study English
Common Law; even today, in order to qualify, every
aspiring barrister must study at one of the Inns, whose
archaic, cobbled precincts dominate the area and
exude the rarefied atmosphere of an Oxbridge college.

Temple w www.templechurch.com), built


Temple is the largest and most in 1185 by the Knights Templar.
complex of the Inns of Court, An oblong chancel was added in
and is made up of two Inns: the thirteenth century, and the
Middle Temple (w www whole building was damaged in
.middletemple.org.uk) and Inner the Blitz, but the original round
Temple (w www.innertemple church – modelled on the Holy
.org.uk).A few very old buildings Sepulchre in Jerusalem – still
survive here, but the overall scene stands, with its striking Purbeck-
is dominated by neo-Georgian marble piers, recumbent marble
reconstructions that followed the effigies of knights, and tortured
devastation of the Blitz. Still, the grotesques grimacing in the
maze of courtyards and spandrels of the blind arcading.
passageways is fun to explore –
especially after dark, when Royal Courts of Justice
Temple is gas-lit. Strand t 020/7947 6000,
Medieval students ate, attended w www.courtservice.gov.uk. Mon–Fri
lectures and slept in the Middle 8.30am–4.30pm. Free. Home to
Temple Hall (Mon–Fri the Court of Appeal and the
10am–noon & 3–4pm; free), still High Court, the Royal Courts
the Inn’s main dining room. of Justice are where England’s
Constructed in the 1560s, the most important civil cases are
hall provided the setting for tried. Appeals and libel suits are
many great Elizabethan masques heard here – countless pop and
and plays – probably including soap stars have battled it out
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, with the tabloid press, while
which is believed to have been appeals have led to freedom for
premiered here in 1602.The those wrongfully imprisoned,
hall is worth a visit for its fine such as the high-profile
hammerbeam roof, wooden Birmingham Six and Guilford
panelling and decorative Four.The fifty-odd courtrooms
Elizabethan screen. are open to the public, though
The two Temple Inns share use you have to go through
of the complex’s oldest building, stringent security checks first
Temple Church (Wed–Sun (strictly no cameras allowed).
11am–4pm;

Contents Places
114

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© Crown copyright

Fleet Street major national and provincial


In 1500, one Wynkyn de dailies had their offices and
Worde, a pupil of William printing presses in the Fleet
Caxton, moved the Caxton Street district. Since the 1980s,
presses from Westminster to all but a handful of the press
Fleet Street, in order to be close headquarters that once
to the Inns of Court (lawyers dominated this part of town
were among his best customers) have relocated to the Docklands
and to the clergy of St Paul’s, and elsewhere. Nonetheless,
who comprised the largest Fleet Street still offers one of
literate group in the city. the grandest approaches to the
Britain’s first daily newspapers City, thanks to the view across
were published here, and by the to Ludgate Hill and beyond to
nineteenth century, all the St Paul’s Cathedral.

Contents Places
115
Prince Henry’s Room Times and which then claimed
17 Fleet St w www.cityoflondon to be “the faithful recorder of
.gov.uk/phr. Mon–Sat 11am–2pm. Free. every species of intelligence . . .
The first floor of this fine circulated for a particular set of
Jacobean house, with its readers only”.

PLACES Holborn
distinctive timber-framed bay
windows, now contains material Dr Johnson’s House
relating to the diarist Samuel 17 Gough Square w www.drjh.dircon
Pepys (1633–1703), who was .co.uk. May–Sept Mon–Sat
born in nearby Salisbury Court 11am–5.30pm; Oct–April Mon–Sat
and baptized at St Bride’s. Even 11am–5pm. £4. Despite
if you’ve no interest in Pepys, the appearances, Dr Johnson’s House
wooden-panelled room itself is is the only authentic seventeenth-
worth a look – it contains one of century building on Gough
the finest Jacobean plasterwork Square. It was here the great
ceilings in London, and a lot of savant, writer and lexicographer
original stained glass. lived from 1747 to 1759 whilst
compiling the 41,000 entries for
St Bride’s the first dictionary of the English
Fleet St w www.stbrides.com. Mon–Sat language.The grey-panelled
9am–5pm. Free. To get a sense of rooms of the house are peppered
old-style Fleet Street, head for with period furniture and lined
the so-called “journalists’ and with portraits and etchings,
printers’ cathedral”, the church including one of Johnson’s black
of St Bride’s, which boasts servant Francis Barber.Two first-
Christopher Wren’s tallest and edition copies of the great
most exquisite spire (said to be Dictionary are on display, while
the inspiration for the tiered the open-plan attic, in which
wedding cake).The crypt Johnson and his six helpers put
contains a little museum of the tome together, is now lined
Fleet Street history, with with explanatory panels on
information on the Daily lexicography.
Courant and the Universal Daily
Register, which later became The Lincoln’s Inn
Lincoln’s Inn Fields/Chancery Lane
t 020/7405 1393, w www.lincolnsinn
.org.uk. Mon–Fri 9am–6pm. Free.
Lincoln’s Inn was the first –
and in many ways is the
prettiest – of the Inns of Court,
having miraculously escaped
the ravages of the Blitz; famous
alumni include Thomas More,
Oliver Cromwell and Margaret
Thatcher. The main entrance is
the diamond-patterned, red-
brick Tudor gateway on
Chancery Lane, adjacent to
which is the early seventeenth-
century chapel (Mon–Fri
noon–2pm), with its unusual
fan-vaulted open undercroft
 ST BRIDE’S SPIRE and, on the first floor, a late

Contents Places
116
Gothic nave, hit by a Zeppelin are Hogarth’s satirical Election
in World War I and much series and his merciless morality
restored since. The Inn’s tale The Rake’s Progress, as well as
fifteenth-century Old Hall the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti
(open by appointment), where I. At 2.30pm every Saturday, a
Holborn PLACES

Dickens set the case Jarndyce fascinating, hour-long guided


versus Jarndyce in Bleak House, tour (£3) takes you round the
features a fine timber roof, museum and the enormous
linenfold panelling and an research library next door, which
elaborate, early Jacobean screen. contains architectural drawings,
books and exquisitely detailed
Hunterian Museum architectural models in cork and
Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s Inn wood.
Fields w www.rcseng.ac.uk. Mon–Fri
10am–5pm. Free. The unique
specimen collection of the
surgeon-scientist John Hunter
Cafés
(1728–93), the Hunterian Yokoso Sushi
Museum first opened in 1813, was 40 Whitefriars St. Closed Sat & Sun.
repaired following damage during Top-notch sushi place serving
the Blitz, and is currently in the really fresh fish at very affordable
process of being totally rebuilt. prices; dishes are mostly under
Since most of the exhibits are jars £3 and set meals under £10.
of pickled skeletons and body
pieces, it’s certainly not a museum
for the squeamish.Also on view
are the skeletons of the Irish giant,
Pubs and bars
O’Brien (1761–83), who was Blackfriar
seven feet ten inches tall, and the 174 Queen Victoria St. Closed Sat &
Sicilian midget Caroline Crachami Sun. Gorgeous, utterly original
(1815–24), who was just one foot pub, with Art Nouveau marble
ten and a half inches when she friezes of boozy monks and a
died at the age of 9. wonderful highly decorated
alcove, all dating from 1905.
Sir John Soane’s Museum
Lincoln’s Inn Fields w www.soane.org. Cittie of Yorke
Tues–Sat 10am–5pm, candle-lit first 22 High Holborn. One of London’s
Tues of the month 6–9pm. Free. The most venerable pubs, with a
chief architect of the Bank of vaulted cellar bar, wood
England, Sir John Soane panelling, cheap Sam Smith’s
(1753–1837) was an avid beer and a grand quasi-medieval
collector who designed this wine hall, whose cosy cubicles
house not only as a home and were once the preserve of
office, but also as a place to stash lawyers and their clients.
his large assortment of art and
antiquities; opened up as a Old Cheshire Cheese
museum, it’s now one of Wine Office Court, 145 Fleet St. Closed
London’s best-kept secrets. Sun eve. A famous seventeenth-
Arranged much as it was in his century watering hole, with real
lifetime, the ingeniously planned fires and several snug, dark-
house has an informal, treasure- panelled bars. Popular with
hunt atmosphere, with surprises tourists, but by no means
in every alcove.The star exhibits exclusively so.

Contents Places
117

Clerkenwell
A typical London mix of Georgian and Victorian town-
houses, housing estates, loft conversions and art stu-

PLACES Clerkenwell
dios, Clerkenwell has been transformed over the last
decade or so. On the edge of London’s financial sector,
this formerly workaday district – famous for lockmak-
ing, clockmaking, printing and jewellery – is now a
fashionable, residential enclave for portfolio-carrying
designers and media types. Well off the conventional
tourist trail, there’s only a smattering of minor sights
here, but the area’s main highlight is its abundance of
trendy restaurants, bars and clubs.

Old Bailey the country’s most serious


Newgate St w www.cjsonline.org. criminal court cases; you can
Mon–Fri 10.30am–1pm & 2–4pm. watch the proceedings from the
Free. The Central Criminal visitors’ gallery, but note that
Court, more popularly known bags, cameras, mobiles, personal
as the Old Bailey, was built on stereos and food and drink are
the site of the notoriously harsh not allowed in, and there is no
Newgate Prison, where folk cloakroom.
used to come to watch public
hangings.The current, rather St Bartholomew-the-Great
pompous Edwardian building is Cloth Fair w www.greatstbarts.com.
distinguished by its green dome, Tues–Fri 8.30am–5pm, Sat
surmounted by a gilded statue 10.30am–1.30pm, Sun 8.30am–1pm &
of Justice, unusually depicted 2.30–8pm; mid-Nov to mid-Feb closes
without blindfold, holding her 4pm Mon–Fri. Free. Begun in 1123,
sword and scales.The Old St Bartholomew-the-Great is
Bailey is now the venue for all London’s oldest and most
exquisite parish church. Its half-
timbered Tudor gatehouse on
Little Britain Street
incorporates a thirteenth-
century arch that once formed
the entrance to the nave; above,
a wooden statue of St
Bartholomew stands holding
the knife with which he was
flayed. One side of the medieval
cloisters survives to the south,
immediately to the right as you
enter the church.The rest is a
confusion of elements,
including portions of the
transepts and, most impressively,
the chancel, where stout
Norman pillars separate the
 JUSTICE ATOP THE OLD BAILEY main body of the church from

Contents Places
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ALK

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EATING & DRINKING
Café Kick 1 Clark & Sons 2 Feast 5 Lifthouse 9 St John 8
Cicada 4 Deli Bar 7 Fox & Anchor 6 Moro 3 Viaduct Tavern 10

the ambulatory.There are here in 1305, and the Bishop of


various pre-Fire monuments to Rochester’s cook was boiled
admire, the most prominent alive in 1531, but the local
being the tomb of Rahere, speciality was burnings, which
court jester to Henry I, which reached a peak in the mid-
shelters under a fifteenth- sixteenth century during the
century canopy north of the reign of “Bloody” Mary, when
main altar. hundreds of Protestants were
burned at the stake for their
Smithfield beliefs.These days, Smithfield is
Blood and guts were regularly dominated by its meat
spilled at Smithfield long before market, housed in a colourful
today’s meat market was legally and ornate Victorian market
sanctioned here in the hall on Charterhouse Street; if
seventeenth century. For more you want to see it in action, get
than three centuries it was a here early – the activity starts
popular venue for public around 4am and is all over by
executions: the Scottish hero, 9am or 10am.The
William Wallace, was hanged, compensation for getting up at
disembowelled and beheaded this ungodly hour are the early

Contents Places
119
licensing laws, which mean you skeleton of a wealthy Roman
can get a hearty breakfast and woman found in Spitalfields;
an early morning pint from the and the Lord Mayor’s heavily
local pubs. gilded coach (still used for state
occasions).The real strength of

PLACES Clerkenwell
Museum of London the museum, though, lies in the
London Wall, Barbican t 020/7600 excellent temporary
3699, w www.museumoflondon.org.uk. exhibitions, lectures, walks and
Mon–Sat 10am–5.50pm, Sun videos it organizes throughout
noon–5.50pm. Free. Despite the year.
London’s long pedigree, very
few of its ancient structures are Barbican
still standing. However, The City’s only large residential
numerous Roman, Saxon and complex is the Barbican, a
Elizabethan remains have been monumental concrete ghetto
discovered during the City’s built over the heavily bombed
various rebuildings, and many Cripplegate area.The zone’s
of these finds are now displayed solitary prewar building is the
at the Museum of London.The heavily restored sixteenth-
permanent exhibition provides century church of St Giles
an educational trot through Cripplegate (Mon–Fri
London’s past from prehistory 11am–4pm), situated across from
to the present day, hence the the infamously user-repellent
large number of school groups Barbican Arts Centre
who pass through. Displays are (t 020/7638 8891,
imaginatively set out, though w www.barbican.org.uk) on Silk
only the new prehistory gallery Street, London’s supposed
has much in the way of hands- answer to Paris’s Pompidou
on stuff. Specific exhibits to Centre which was formally
look out for include the opened in 1982.The complex,
Bucklersbury Roman mosaic; which is traffic-free, serves as
the sarcophagus, coffin and home to the London Symphony
Orchestra and the capital’s
chapter of the Royal
Shakespeare Company, and
stages regular free gigs in the
foyer area.

Marx Memorial Library


37a Clerkenwell Green
w www.marxlibrary.net. Mon, Tues &
Thurs 1–6pm, Wed 1–8pm, Sat
10am–1pm. Free. Housed in a
former Welsh Charity School,
the Marx Memorial Library was
where Lenin edited seventeen
editions of the Bolshevik paper
Iskra in 1902–03.The library
was founded in 1933 in
response to the book burnings
taking place in Nazi Germany,
and the poky little back room
 ST BARTHOLOMEW GATEHOUSE where Lenin worked is

Contents Places
120
maintained as it was then, as a grandfather clocks to second-
kind of shrine – even the hand wristwatches.
original lino survives.You’re
free to view the Lenin Room, Inflate
where there’s an original copy 28 Exmouth Market t 020/7713 9096,
Clerkenwell PLACES

of Iskra, and the workerist w www.inflate.co.uk. Closed Sat & Sun.


Hastings Mural from 1935, but Temple for all things plastic and
to consult the unrivalled inflatable, from postcards (yes,
collection of books and really) and piggy banks to an
pamphlets on the labour entire office.
movement you need to become
a library member. R. Holt & Co
98 Hatton Garden t 020/7405 5286,
Exmouth Market w www.rholt.co.uk. Closed Sat & Sun.
w www.exmouth-market.com. Choose your stone from the
Exmouth Market is at the thousands in stock, and get a
epicentre of newly fashionable bespoke ring, necklace or
Clerkenwell.The old market pendant made up.
proper has been reduced to a
raggle-taggle of tatty stalls, but
the rest of the street has been
colonized by modish new shops,
Cafés
bars and restaurants (plus the Clark & Sons
inevitable Starbucks).The only 46 Exmouth Market. Closed Sun.
striking building is the Roman Exmouth Market has changed
Catholic church of the Holy beyond recognition, but this
Redeemer, which boasts an genuine pie-and-mash shop –
unusual Italianate campanile; the the most central one in the
groin-vaulted interior is lined capital – is still going strong.
with big composite pillars, and a
large baldachin occupies centre Deli Bar
stage, but it’s otherwise lightly 117 Charterhouse St. Closed Sun.
decorated for a Catholic church. Doorstop focaccia sandwiches, a
great salad bar and a relaxed
vibe are the main draws of this
Shops two-tier place: café/bar upstairs,
takeaway deli downstairs.
ec one
41 Exmouth Market t 020/7713 6185, Feast
w www.econe.co.uk. Stunning 86 St John St w www.feastwraps.com.
contemporary jewellery by a Closed Sat & Sun. Delicious
whole host of top designers: tortilla-wrapped sandwiches
everything from simple perspex made to order; take away or eat
necklaces to very expensive in at this small, designer-ish
diamond rings. Clerkenwell café.

Frosts of Clerkenwell
60–62 Clerkenwell Rd t 020/7253
0315, w www.frostsofclerkenwell
Restaurants
.co.uk. Closed Sat & Sun. One of the Cicada
few clock and watch places left 132 St John St t 020/7608 1550,
in an area once famous for w www.cicada.nu. Closed Sun. Part
them: choose from antique bar, part restaurant, Cicada offers

Contents Places
121

PLACES Clerkenwell
 VIADUCT TAVERN BAR

an unusual Thai-based menu fashionable Exmouth Market,


that ranges from fishy tom yum with three busy table-football
to ginger noodles or sushi. games to complete the retro
theme.
Moro
34–36 Exmouth Market t 020/7833 Fox & Anchor
8336. Closed Sat lunch & Sun. 115 Charterhouse St. Closed Sat &
Modern, rather stark place Sun. Handsome Smithfield
serving food from Spain, Market pub that’s famous for its
Portugal and North Africa, early opening hours and huge
much of it cooked in a wood- breakfasts (served 7–10am).
fired oven.
Lifthouse
St John 85 Charterhouse St w www.lifthouse
26 St John St t 020/7251 0848, .co.uk. Three-floored New York
w www.stjohnrestaurant.co.uk. Closed style complex with a restaurant,
Sat lunch & Sun. Minimalist former cocktail bar and club space that
smokehouse that’s now a gets especially lively on Friday
decidedly old-fashioned English and Saturday nights.
restaurant specializing in offal.
The cooking is of a very high Viaduct Tavern
standard. Booking essential. 126 Newgate St. Glorious
Victorian gin palace, built in
1869 opposite what was then
Pubs and bars Newgate Prison and is now the
Old Bailey.The walls are
Café Kick beautifully decorated with oils
43 Exmouth Market of faded ladies representing
w www.cafekick.co.uk. Stylish take Commerce, Agriculture and the
on a smoky French-style Arts.
café/bar in the heart of

Contents Places
122

The City
The City is where London began, and its boundaries
today are only slightly larger than those in Roman and
The City PLACES

medieval times. However, you’ll find few visible leftovers


of London’s early days, since four-fifths of it burned
down in the Great Fire of 1666. With the notable excep-
tion of St Paul’s Cathedral and Wren’s numerous smaller
churches, what you see now is mostly the product of
the Victorian construction boom, postwar reconstruc-
tion and the office-building frenzy of the 1980s. The
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Contents Places
123
majority of Londoners lived and worked in or around the
City up until the eighteenth century – nowadays, howev-
er, over a million commuters spend the best part of
Monday to Friday here, but only a few thousand actually
live here. It’s best to try and visit during the week, since

PLACES The City


many pubs, restaurants and even some tube stations
and tourist sights close down at the weekend.

St Paul’s Cathedral remains a dominating presence


Ludgate Hill w www.stpauls.co.uk. in the City despite the
Mon–Sat 8.30am–5pm. £6. Designed encroaching tower blocks.
by Christopher Wren and Topped by an enormous lead-
completed in 1711, St Paul’s covered dome that’s second in
BROADGATE p g
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© Crown copyright

Contents Places
124
size only to St Peter’s in Rome, architects as Westminster Abbey
its showpiece west facade is has poets, including Christopher
particularly magnificent, and is Wren himself.The star tombs,
most impressive at night when though, are those of Nelson and
bathed in sea-green arc lights. Wellington, both occupying
The City PLACES

However compared to its great centre stage and both with more
rival,Westminster Abbey, St fanciful monuments upstairs.
Paul’s is a soulless but perfectly It’s well worth attending one
calculated architectural set piece, of the cathedral’s services, if
a burial place for captains rather only to hear the ethereal choir,
than kings. who perform during most
The best place to appreciate evensongs (Mon–Sat 5pm), and
the building’s glory is from on Sundays at 10am, 11.30am
beneath the dome, adorned and 3.15pm.
(against Wren’s wishes) by
trompe l’oeil frescoes.The most Guildhall
richly decorated section of the Aldermanbury Street w www
cathedral is the chancel, where .cityoflondon.gov.uk. May–Sept daily
the late Victorian mosaics of 10am–5pm; Oct–April Mon–Sat
birds, fish, animals and greenery 10am–5pm. Free. Situated at the
are particularly spectacular.The geographical centre of the City,
intricately carved oak and lime- Guildhall has been the area’s
wood choir stalls, and the administrative seat for over eight
imposing organ case, are the hundred years. It remains the
work of Wren’s master carver, headquarters of the Corporation
Grinling Gibbons. of London, the City’s governing
Beginning in the south aisle, a body, which still uses it for
series of stairs lead to the dome’s many formal civic occasions.
three galleries, the first of which Architecturally, however, it’s not
is the internal Whispering
Gallery, so called because of its
acoustic properties – words
whispered to the wall on one
side are distinctly audible over
one hundred feet away on the
other, though you often can’t
hear much above the hubbub.
Of the two exterior galleries,
the best views are from the tiny
Golden Gallery, below the
golden ball and cross which top
the cathedral.
Although the nave is crammed
full of overblown monuments to
military types, burials in St
Paul’s are confined to the crypt,
reputedly the largest in Europe.
The whitewashed walls and
bright lighting, however, make
this one of London’s least
atmospheric mausoleums, but
Artists’ Corner here does
boast as many painters and  MAGOG STATUE, GUILDHALL

Contents Places
125
quite the beauty it once was, you can view a reconstruction
having been badly damaged in of Soane’s Bank Stock Office,
both the Great Fire and the with its characteristic domed
skylight, in the museum, which
Blitz, and scarred by the
has its entrance on
addition of a grotesque 1970s
Bartholomew Lane.The

PLACES The City


concrete cloister and wing.
permanent exhibition here
Nonetheless, the Great Hall, includes a model of Soane’s
basically a postwar bank and a Victorian-style
reconstruction of the fifteenth- diorama of the night in 1780
century original, is worth a brief when the bank was attacked by
look, as is the Clockmakers’ rioters. Sadly most of the gold
Museum (Mon–Fri bars are fakes, but there are
9.30am–4.30pm; free), a specimens of every note issued
collection of over six hundred by the Royal Mint over the
timepieces, including one of the centuries.
clocks that won John Harrison
the Longitude prize. Also worth
a visit is the purpose-built City churches
Guildhall Art Gallery w www.cityoflondonchurches.com.
(Mon–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun The City is crowded with
noon–4pm; £2.50), which churches – well over forty at the
contains one or two exceptional last count, the majority built or
works, such as Rossetti’s La rebuilt by Wren after the Great
Ghirlandata and Holman Hunt’s Fire.Those particularly worth
The Eve of St Agnes, plus a seeking out include St Stephen
Walbrook (Mon–Thurs
massive painting depicting the
10am–4pm, Fri 10am–3pm), on
1782 Siege of Gibraltar,
Walbrook,Wren’s most
commissioned by the
spectacular church after St
Corporation. In the basement, Paul’s, with sixteen Corinthian
you can view the remains of a columns arranged in clusters
Roman amphitheatre, dating around a central coffered dome,
from around 120 AD, which was and exquisite dark-wood
discovered during the gallery’s furnishings by Grinling
construction. Gibbons. On King William
Street, St Mary Woolnoth
Bank of England (Mon–Fri 7.45am–5pm) is a
Threadneedle St w www typically idiosyncratic creation
.bankofengland.co.uk. Mon–Fri of Nicholas Hawksmoor, one of
10am–5pm. Free. Established in Wren’s pupils, featuring an
1694 by William III to raise ingenious lantern lit by
funds for the war against France, semicircular clerestory windows,
the Bank of England stores the and a striking altar canopy held
gold reserves of seventy or so up by barley-sugar columns.The
central banks from around the interior of Wren’s St Mary
world in its vaults. All that Abchurch (Mon–Thurs
remains of the original building, 10am–2pm), on Abchurch Lane,
on which John Soane spent the is dominated by an unusual and
best part of his career (from vast dome fresco, painted by a
1788 onwards), is the local parishioner and lit by oval
windowless, outer curtain wall, lunettes, while the superlative
which wraps itself round the lime-wood reredos is again by
3.5-acre island site. However, Gibbons.

Contents Places
126
Lloyd’s Building and Swiss Re away in a little courtyard behind
East of Bank, and beyond a modern red-brick office
Bishopsgate, on Lime Street, block, the Bevis Marks
stands Richard Rogers’ glitzy Synagogue was built in 1701 by
Lloyd’s Building, completed in Sephardic Jews who had fled the
The City PLACES

1984. A startling array of glass Inquisition in Spain and


and blue steel pipes – a vertical Portugal. It’s the country’s oldest
version of Rogers’ own surviving synagogue, and the
Pompidou Centre – this is easily roomy, rich interior gives an
the most popular of the modern idea of just how wealthy the
City buildings, at least with the worshippers were at the time.
general public. Its closest rival, The Sephardic community has
to the north on St Mary Axe, is now dispersed across London
Norman Foster’s giant new and the congregation has
590ft-tall building for Swiss dwindled, but the magnificent
Re, known to Londoners as the array of chandeliers ensure that
“erotic gherkin”. it’s a popular venue for candle-
Note that neither building is lit Jewish weddings.
open to the public.
Monument
Leadenhall Market Monument St. Daily 10am–6pm. £1.50.
Leadenhall St. Mon–Fri 11am–2pm. The Monument was designed by
The picturesque cobbles and Wren to commemorate the
richly painted, graceful Victorian Great Fire of 1666. A plain
cast-ironwork of Leadenhall Doric column crowned with
Market date from 1881. Inside, spiky gilded flames, it stands 202
the traders cater mostly for the feet high, making it the tallest
lunchtime City crowd, their isolated stone column in the
barrows laden with exotic world; if it were laid out flat it
seafood and game, fine wines, would touch the bakery where
champagne and caviar. the Fire started, east of
Monument.The bas-relief on the
Bevis Marks Synagogue base, now in very bad shape,
Bevis Marks. Guided tours Mon–Wed & depicts Charles II and the Duke
Fri noon, Sun 11.15am. £2. Hidden of York in Roman garb
conducting the emergency relief
operation.The 311 steps to the
viewing gallery once guaranteed
an incredible view; nowadays it is
somewhat dwarfed by the
buildings around it.

Cafés
De Gustibus
53–55 Carter Lane w www.degustibus
.co.uk. Closed Sat & Sun. Award-
winning bakery that constructs
a wide variety of sandwiches,
bruschetta, croque monsieur and
quiche to eat in (perched on
 LLOYD’S BUILDING ORIGINAL PORTICO stools) or take away.

Contents Places
127
K10
20 Copthall Ave. Closed Sat & Sun.
Remarkably good, inexpensive
sushi outlet, with a busy
takeaway section upstairs, and a

PLACES The City


kaiten (conveyor-belt) dining
area downstairs.

The Place Below


St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside
w www.theplacebelow.co.uk. Closed
Sat & Sun. This café serving
imaginative vegetarian dishes is
something of a find in the midst
of the City. Added to that, the
wonderful Norman crypt makes
for a very pleasant place in
which to dine.

 VIEWING PLATFORM, MONUMENT

Restaurants favourites with modernist


1 Lombard Street influences.
1 Lombard St t 020/7929 6611,
w www.1lombardstreet.com. Closed
Sat & Sun. Set in a former
banking hall, this is a classy,
Pubs and bars
pricey City brasserie with a The Counting House
buzzy circular bar under a 50 Cornhill. Closed Sat & Sun.
suitably imposing glass dome. Successful bank conversion,
Straightforward – and with fantastic high ceilings, a
expensive – Michelin-starred glass dome, chandeliers and a
French fare. central oval bar. Naturally
enough, given the location, it’s
Bevis Marks wall-to-wall suits.
Bevis Marks t 020/7283 2220,
w www.bevismarkstherestaurant.com. Hamilton Hall
Closed Fri eve, Sat & Sun. Super- Liverpool Street Station, Liverpool St.
smart restaurant in the Cavernous former hotel
glassed-over courtyard outside ballroom, adorned with gilded
Bevis Marks Synagogue, serving nudes and chandeliers and
expensive, modern kosher dishes packed-out with City
as well as traditional Jewish fare. commuters tanking up before
the train home.
Prism
147 Leadenhall St t 020/7256 3888, Jamaica Wine House
w www.harveynichols.com. Closed Sat St Michael’s Alley. Closed Sat & Sun.
& Sun. A very slick expense- An old City institution tucked
account restaurant in another away down a narrow alleyway.
old banking hall, with a Despite the name, this is really
fashionably long bar, suave just a pub, divided into four large
service and a menu comprised “snugs” by the original high
of well-judged English wooden-panelled partitions.

Contents Places
128

Hoxton and Spitalfields


Until recently, Hoxton was an unpleasant amalgam of
wholesale clothing and shoe shops, striptease pubs and
Hoxton and Spitalfields PLACES

roaring traffic. But over the last ten years, the area has
been colonized by artists, designers and architects and
transformed itself into the city’s most vibrant artistic
enclave, peppered with contemporary art galleries and a
whole host of very cool bars and clubs. Spitalfields, to
the south, lies at the heart of the old East End, once the
first port of call for thousands of immigrants over the
centuries, and now best known for its Sunday markets
and its cheap Bangladeshi curry houses.

Hoxton Square 48, which has been likened to a


The geographical focus of miniature Tate Modern, partly
Hoxton’s so-hip-it-hurts due to the glass roof that tops
metamorphosis is Hoxton the building, and partly because
Square, a strange and not it touts the likes of Damien
altogether happy mixture of Hirst,Tracey Emin and various
light industrial units, supercool other Turner Prize artists.
bars and artists’ studios arranged
around a leafy, formal square. Wesley’s Chapel &
Despite the lack of aesthetic Museum
charm, the square is now an 49 City Rd w www.wesleyschapel
undisputedly fashionable place .org.uk. Mon–Sat 10am–4pm. Free. A
to live and work; several leading place of pilgrimage for the
West End art galleries have world’s Methodists,Wesley’s
opened up premises hereabouts, Chapel was built in 1777, and
most prominently White Cube heralded the coming of age of
(Tues–Sat 10am–6pm; the faith founded by John
w www.whitecube.com) at no. Wesley (1703–91).The interior
is uncharacteristically ornate,
with powder-pink columns of
French jasper and a superb,
Adam-style gilded plasterwork
ceiling. Predictably enough, the
Museum of Methodism in the
basement has only a passing
reference to the insanely jealous
40-year-old widow Wesley
married, and who eventually
left him.Wesley himself spent
his last two years in Wesley’s
House, a delightful Georgian
place to the right of the main
gates. On display inside are his
death bed and an early shock-
therapy machine he was
 WHITE CUBE GALLERY, HOXTON SQUARE particularly keen on.

Contents Places
129
M IN T

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© Crown copyright

Bunhill Fields Nonconformists (practising


City Rd w www.cityoflondon.gov.uk. Christians who were not
April–Sept Mon–Fri 7.30am–7pm, Sat members of the Church of
& Sun 9.30am–4pm; Oct–March closes England) until 1852. It’s no
4pm. Originally used as a plague longer used for burials, but the
pit, Bunhill Fields was the main flagstone paths and tall trees
burial ground for Dissenters or make it a popular lunchtime

Contents Places
130
spot for local workers.The Brick Lane
cemetery’s three most famous Brick Lane lies at the heart of
incumbents are commemorated London’s Bengali community,
in the central paved area: whose inexpensive curry houses
William Blake’s simple dominate the “Banglatown”
Hoxton and Spitalfields PLACES

monument stands northeast of (southern) end of the street.The


the obelisk to Daniel Defoe, red-brick chimney half way up
while opposite lies John Brick Lane heralds the Old
Bunyan’s recumbent statue. Truman Brewery
(w www.trumanbrewery.com),
Petticoat Lane founded in 1666 and the largest
Middlesex St w www in the world at the end of the
.eastlondonmarkets.com. Sun nineteenth century. It ceased
9am–2pm. Petticoat Lane operations in 1989 and is now
(officially named Middlesex home to a vast number of young
Street) may not be one of designers, artists, DJs and
London’s prettiest streets, but it architects, who’ve carved out
does play host to one of the quite a hip niche in this part of
capital’s longest-running Sunday Brick Lane. North of the
markets, specializing in cheap brewery and railway arch, among
(and often pretty tacky) the cheap leather shops and
clothing. As such, it’s resolutely bagel bakeries, are the streets
unfashionable, with old-style that serve as the venue for
Cockney traders yelling out Brick Lane’s Sunday market
prices, others flogging pretty of bric-a-brac (w www
African and Indian fabrics, and .eastlondonmarkets.com).There
lots of stalls selling pungent, are virtually no stalls on Brick
partially tanned leather jackets Lane itself; instead head down
with shoulder pads. Cheshire Street, where you’ll
find everything from bad-quality
Whitechapel Art Gallery hardware and cheap CDs to
80–82 Whitechapel High St t 020/7522 1970s accessories and military
7888, w www.whitechapel.org. Tues & memorabilia; down Sclater Street
Thurs–Sun 11am–6pm, Wed
11am–8pm. Free. The East End
institution that draws in more
outsiders than any other is the
Whitechapel Art Gallery, housed
in a beautiful crenellated 1899
Arts and Crafts building.The
gallery puts on some of
London’s most innovative
exhibitions of contemporary art,
as well as hosting the biennial
Whitechapel Open, a chance for
local artists to get their work
shown to a wider audience.The
complex also has a pleasant café
overlooking Angel Alley, where
there’s a stainless steel anarchist
portrait gallery courtesy of the
Freedom Press bookshop (see
p.32).  BRICK LANE MARKET

Contents Places
131
and beyond, folk flog what looks Dennis Severs’ House
like the contents of their 18 Folgate St t 020/7247 4013,
cupboards straight off the w www.dennissevershouse.co.uk.
pavement. All in all, it’s a mad “Silent Night” Mon: April–Sept 8–11pm;
and manic affair that’s worth a Oct–March 6–9pm; £12. “The

PLACES Hoxton and Spitalfields


look for the street theatre alone. Experience” first and third Sun of each
month 2–5pm; £8, plus following Mon
Christ Church, Spitalfields noon–2pm. £5. Visiting the former
Commercial St w www.christchurchspital- home of the late American
fields.org. Built between 1714 and eccentric Dennis Severs is a
1729 to a characteristically bold bizarre and uncanny theatrical
design by Nicholas Hawksmoor, experience, which Severs once
Christ Church features a huge described as “passing through a
225-foot-high broach spire and frame into a painting”.Visitors
giant Tuscan portico, raised on are free to explore the candle-lit
steps and shaped like a Venetian and log-fired Georgian house
window (a central arched opening unhindered, and are left with the
flanked by two smaller rectangles), distinct impression that someone
a motif repeated in the tower and has literally just popped out: the
doors. Inside, there’s a forest of house cat prowls, aromas of
giant columned bays, with a lion dinner waft up from the kitchen
and a unicorn playing peekaboo and the sound of horses’ hooves
on the top of the chancel beam can be heard from the cobbled
and, opposite, London’s largest street outside.
Georgian organ.
The church hall, next door, was Columbia Road Flower Market
host in 1888 to meetings of the Columbia Rd w www
Bryant & May match girls, who .eastlondonmarkets.com. Sun
personified the Dickensian 8am–1pm. Columbia Road is the
stereotype of the downtrodden city’s most popular market for
East End girl, and who went on flowers and plants; it’s also the
strike against their miserable liveliest, with the loud and
wages and work conditions. upfront stallholders catering to an
increasingly moneyed clientele.As
Old Spitalfields Market well as seeds, bulbs, potted plants
Commercial St wwww.oldspitalfields- and cut flowers from the stalls,
market.com. Mon–Fri 10am–4pm, Sun you’ll also find every kind of
9am–5pm. The capital’s premier gardening accessory from the
wholesale fruit and vegetable chi-chi shops that line the street,
market until 1991, Old and you can keep yourself
Spitalfields Market now hosts a sustained with bagels, cakes and
large, eclectic and fairly coffee from the local cafés.
sophisticated selection of shops
and stalls selling crafts, clothes, Geffrye Museum
food and organic fruit and Kingsland Rd w www.geffrye-museum
vegetables. Half the market was .org.uk. Tues–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun
recently knocked down to make noon–5pm. Free. Set back from the
way for yet more boxy, glassy main road in a peaceful little
offices, courtesy of Norman enclave of eighteenth-century
Foster, but the red-brick and ironmongers’ almshouses,
green-gabled eastern half of the Hoxton’s one conventional
original building, built in 1893, tourist sight is the Geffrye
survives. Museum, dedicated to furniture

Contents Places
Hoxton and Spitalfields PLACES 132

 GEFFRYE MUSEUM

design since 1911. A series of Tatty Devine


period living rooms, ranging 236 Brick Lane t 020/7739 9009,
from the oak-panelled w www.tattydevine.com. Funky
seventeenth century through shop which stocks (and
refined Georgian and cluttered exhibits) wacky, tacky T-shirts
Victorian, leads to the state-of- and accessories by young
the-art New Gallery Extension, designers: tape measure belts,
housing the excellent twentieth- safety-pin brooches and perspex
century section and a pleasant earrings.
café/restaurant. One of the
almshouses has been restored to
its original condition and can be
visited on the first Saturday of
Cafés
the month (£2). Brick Lane Beigel Bake
159 Brick Lane. Classic 24hr
takeaway bagel shop in the heart
Shops of the East End – unbelievably
cheap, even for fillings such as
Freedom Press smoked salmon with cream
Angel Alley t 020/7247 9249. Closed cheese.
Sun. Upholding a long East End
tradition of radical politics, this Café 1001
small anarchist bookshop is 1 Dray’s Lane. Tucked in by the
packed with everything from side of the Truman Brewery, this
Bakhunin to Chomsky. smoky café has a beaten-up
studenty look, with lots of sofas
Queens to crash in. Mainstays are simple,
Shop 111B, Gate 14, Old Spitalfields filling sandwiches and delicious
Market t 020/7426 0017. Closed Sat. cakes.
Pink, high-camp shop
specializing in kitsch gifts – just Ktchn
the place to pick up a pair of 35 Charlotte Rd. Closed Sat & Sun.
fairy wings or a gay teddy. Tiny, consonant-free Shoreditch

Contents Places
133
café with just four stools,
serving delicious, freshly
Pubs and bars
prepared upmarket lunch Dragon
options: big soups, grilled tuna, 5 Leonard St. This discreetly signed,
rare-roast beef, exotic salads and clubby pub with bare-brick walls

PLACES Hoxton and Spitalfields


great pastries. and crumbling leather sofas
attracts a bohemian mix of locals
and pre-clubbers most nights.
Restaurants Home
Café Naz 100–106 Leonard St w www.homebar
46–48 Brick Lane t 020/7247 0234, .co.uk. Closed Sun. Hoxton’s
w www.cafenaz.co.uk. This self- original club-bar continues to
proclaimed “contemporary attract a hip, friendly crowd. No
Bangladeshi” restaurant, with its DJs, but plenty of comfy leather
open-plan kitchen, cuts an sofas and good vibes.
imposing modern figure on
Brick Lane.The menu has all Hoxton Square Bar
the standards (plus plenty of and Kitchen
baltis), and the prices are keen. 2–4 Hoxton Square. Blade Runner-
esque concrete bar that attracts
New Tayyab artists, writers and wannabes
83 Fieldgate St t 020/7247 9543, with its mix of modern
w www.tayyabs.co.uk. Smart, European food, kitsch-to-club
minimalist place serving soundtracks, worn leather sofas
straightforward Pakistani fare: and temporary painting and
good, freshly cooked and served photography exhibitions. Best in
without pretension. Prices have the summer, when the drinking
remained low, booking is essential spills into the square in a
and service is speedy and slick. carnival-like spirit.

Real Greek The Pool


15 Hoxton Market t 020/7739 8212, 104–108 Curtain Rd. Popular two-
w www.therealgreek.co.uk. Closed Sun. floored bar with pool tables, big
A world away from your average bean bags and weekend DJs
London Greek-Cypriot joint, playing a mix of upfront house
with a lofty, busy mezedopoliou, and garage.
where you can order a few meze
(for around £5), and a more Sosho
formal restaurant offering 2a Tabernacle St w sosho3am.com.
authentic Greek main courses. Closed Sun. Very trendy club-bar,
Set lunches and early dinners with good cocktails and decent
(before 7pm) are under £15. food; the ambience is chilled
Service is excellent. until the very popular DJs kick
in at 8.30pm (Wed–Sat). Cover
Viet Hoa Café charge at weekends.
72 Kingsland Rd t 020/7729 8293.
Large, light and airy Vietnamese Vibe Bar
café in a street now heaving with Old Truman Brewery, 91–95 Brick Lane
similar places.Try one of the w www.vibe-bar.co.uk. Trendy bar
splendid “meals in a bowl”, or the in the old brewery with free
noodle dishes with everything Internet access, good lounging
from spring rolls to tofu. sofas and DJs in the evenings.

Contents Places
134

The Tower and


Docklands
The Tower and Docklands PLACES

One of the city’s main tourist attractions, the Tower of


London was the site of some of the goriest events in
the nation’s history, and is somewhere all visitors
should try and get to see. Immediately to the east are
the remains of what was the largest enclosed cargo-
dock system in the world, built in the nineteenth centu-
ry to cope with the huge volume of goods shipped in
along the Thames from all over the Empire. No one
thought the area could be rejuvenated when the docks
closed in the 1960s, but over the last twenty years,
warehouses have been converted into luxury flats,
waterside penthouse apartments have been built and a
huge high-rise office development has sprung up
around Canary Wharf.
Tower of London
Docklands Light Railway w www.hrp.org.uk. March–Oct Mon–Sat
The best way to visit Docklands is to 9am–6pm, Sun 10am–6pm; Nov–Feb
take the Docklands Light Railway Mon & Sun 10am–5pm, Tues–Sat
or DLR (t 020/7363 9700, w www 9am–5pm. £13.50. One of the most
.tfl.gov.uk/dlr), whose driverless perfectly preserved medieval
trains run on overhead tracks, and fortresses in the country, the
give out great views over the Tower of London sits beside the
cityscape. DLR trains set off from Thames surrounded by a wide,
Bank tube, or from Tower Gateway, dry moat. Chiefly famous as a
close to Tower Hill tube and the place of imprisonment and
Tower of London. death, it has been used variously
as a royal residence, armoury,

 DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY

Contents Places
135
mint, menagerie, observatory and
– a function it still serves – a
safe-deposit box for the Crown
Jewels. Before you set off to
explore the complex, you should

PLACES The Tower and Docklands


take one of the free guided
tours, given every thirty minutes
or so by one of the Tower’s
Beefeaters (officially known as
Yeoman Warders). As well as
giving a good introduction to
the Tower’s history, these ex-
servicemen relish hamming up  TOWER OF LONDON RAVEN
the gory stories.
Visitors today enter the Tower seconds’ viewing during peak
along Water Lane, but in times periods.The oldest piece of
gone by most prisoners were regalia is the twelfth-century
delivered through Traitors’ Gate, Anointing Spoon, but the vast
on the waterfront.The nearby majority of exhibits postdate
Bloody Tower saw the murders the Commonwealth (1649–60),
of 12-year-old Edward V and his when many of the royal riches
10-year-old brother, and was were melted down for coinage
used to imprison Walter Ralegh or sold off. Among the jewels
on three separate occasions, are the three largest cut
including a thirteen-year stretch. diamonds in the world,
The White Tower, at the including the legendary Koh-i-
centre of the complex, is the Noor, set into the Queen
original “Tower”, begun in 1076 Mother’s Crown in 1937.
and now home to displays from
the Royal Armouries. Even if Tower Bridge
you’ve no interest in military w www.towerbridge.org.uk. Tower
paraphernalia, you should at Bridge ranks with Big Ben as
least pay a visit to the Chapel of the most famous of all London
St John on the second floor; a landmarks. Completed in 1894,
beautiful Norman structure its neo-Gothic towers are clad
completed in 1080, it’s the in Cornish granite and Portland
oldest intact church building in stone, but conceal a steel frame
London.To the west of the which, at the time, represented a
White Tower is the execution considerable engineering
spot on Tower Green where achievement, allowing a road
seven highly-placed but unlucky crossing that could be raised to
individuals were beheaded, give tall ships access to the
among them Anne Boleyn and upper reaches of the Thames.
her cousin Catherine Howard The raising of the bascules
(Henry VIII’s second and fifth (from the French for “see-saw”)
wives). remains an impressive sight –
The Crown Jewels, of phone ahead to find out when
course, are the major reason so the bridge is opening
many people flock to the (t 020/7940 3984). It’s free to
Tower, but the moving walk across the bridge, but you
walkways which take you past must pay to gain access to the
the loot are disappointingly elevated walkways (daily
swift, allowing you just 28 9.30am–6pm; £4.50) linking

Contents Places
136

RD
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The Tower and Docklands PLACES

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Wapping Pier Head Wapping Police Station

the summits of the towers – goods – ivory, spices, carpets


closed from 1909 to 1982 due and cigars – shipped in from all
to their popularity with over the Empire. Nowadays, the
prostitutes and the suicidal.The docks are used as an upmarket
views are pretty good and you marina, and the old warehouses
get to visit the Engine Room house shops, pubs and
on the south side of the bridge, restaurants that get a lot of
where you can see the giant, passing trade thanks to the close
and now defunct, coal-fired proximity of the Tower. More
boilers and play some interactive appealing, however, are the old
engineering games. swing bridges over the basins
(including a Telford footbridge
St Katharine’s Docks from 1828), the boats
wwww.stkaths.co.uk. Built in the themselves (you’ll often see
late 1820s to relieve the beautiful old sailing ships and
congestion on the River Dutch barges), and the
Thames, St Katharine’s Docks attractive Ivory House
were originally surrounded by warehouse, with its clock tower,
high walls to protect the at the centre of the three
warehouses used to store luxury basins.

 TOWER BRIDGE

Contents Places
137
TOWN

BURDE RD
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LEAM

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CHR
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R T H ST
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OUTH
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PLACES The Tower and Docklands


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Wapping High Street uniformed police force, the


If you arrive on Wapping High marine police, founded in the
Street expecting the usual 1790s.
parade of shops, you’re in for a
surprise.Traditionally, the business Canary Wharf
of Wapping took place on the w www.canarywharf.com. The
river; thus tall brick-built geographical and ideological
warehouses, most now tastefully heart of the new Docklands is
converted into expensive flats, Canary Wharf, previously a
line the Thames side of the street, destination for rum and
while to the north, in a stark mahogany, later tomatoes and
contrast typical of Docklands, lie bananas (from the Canary
the district’s less salubrious Islands – hence the name). Now
council estates. Halfway along the a pedestrian-friendly business
High Street is Wapping Pier district, this is the one New
Head, the former entrance to the Docklands area that you can
London Docks, flanked by grand, happily stroll around, taking in
curvaceous Regency terraces. the modern architecture and
Further east, a couple of landscaping, looking out for
preserved overhead gangways some of the tongue-in-cheek
cross the High Street just before sculptures, and perhaps having a
Wapping Police Station, drink overlooking one of the
headquarters of the world’s oldest old wharves.

Contents Places
138
The Millennium Dome
Clearly visible from Greenwich’s riverside and park, the Dome is the archetypal
millennial cock-up. Architecturally, it’s eye-catching enough: over half a mile in
circumference and 160ft in height, it’s the world’s largest dome, held up by a
dozen, 300ft-tall yellow steel masts. But it’s best known for the £800 million of
The Tower and Docklands PLACES

taxpayers’ money that was poured into it, much of it to pay for the millennium
exhibition and show, which cost £20 a head, was panned by the critics and dis-
mantled after one year. Apart from a few one-off events, the Dome has remained
(expensively) empty since then, and its future is as yet undecided.

Canary Wharf ’s name is, of for storing rum, sugar, molasses,


course, synonymous with Cesar coffee and cotton, and now
Pelli’s landmark tower, officially home to the Museum in
known as One Canada Square. Docklands. Spread over five
Britain’s tallest building and the floors, the exhibits chart the
first skyscraper anywhere to be history of the area from Roman
clad in stainless steel, it’s an times to the development of
undeniably impressive sight, Canary Wharf via interactive
both close up and from a displays, a period reconstruction
distance – its flashing pyramid- of the old docklands and
shaped pinnacle is a feature of numerous paintings and
the horizon at numerous points photographs.
in London.
Island Gardens
Museum in Docklands Manchester Rd. At Island Gardens,
West India Quay, Hertsemere Rd the southernmost tip of the Isle of
w www.museumindocklands.org.uk. Dogs, the Docklands Light
Daily 10am–6pm. £5. The last Railway heads under the Thames
surviving Georgian warehouses to Greenwich (see p.180), as does
of the West India Docks lie on the 1902 Greenwich Foot Tunnel
the far side of a floodlit floating (open 24hr).The gardens
bridge at West India Quay. themselves are nothing special, but
Amidst the dockside bars and the view is spectacular – this was
restaurants, you’ll find Christopher Wren’s favourite
Warehouse No. 1, built in 1803 Thames-side spot, from which he
could contemplate his
masterpieces across the river, the
Royal Naval College and the
Royal Observatory (see pp.182 &
183).

Cafés
Hubbub
269 Westferry Rd. Within an arts
centre in a converted former
church, this is a real oasis in the
desert of Westferry Road,
offering decent fry-ups,
sandwiches and a few fancier
 MUSEUM IN DOCKLANDS dishes.

Contents Places
139

PLACES The Tower and Docklands


 MILLENNIUM DOME

Restaurants warehouse is a remarkable


building (with a great view), and
houses a branch of Wheeler’s fish
Baradero restaurant and a pizzeria as well
Turnberry Quay, off Pepper St as serving lunchtime pub food.
t 020/7537 1666. Closed Sat lunch &
Sun. Modern, light and airy, this The Gun
is essentially a tapas bar, though 27 Cold Harbour. An old dockers’
restaurant-quality main courses pub with lots of maritime
are also on offer.Try the simple memorabilia and – the main
pan con tomate or some classic attraction – an unrivalled view
boquerones (white anchovies), of the Millennium Dome.
both under £5 a dish.
Prospect of Whitby
Mem Saheb on Thames 57 Wapping Wall. London’s most
65–67 Amsterdam Rd t 020/7538 famous riverside pub, with a real
3008. Decent Indian restaurant feel of the old docklands: a
with a superb view over the flagstone floor, a cobbled
river to the Millennium Dome. courtyard and great views over
Standard tandoori kebabs, plus the Thames. Courage beer and
the odd unusual dish like surprisingly adventurous pub
Rajasthani khargosh (rabbit food, too.
and spinach), all for under
£10. Tollesbury Thames Barge
Marsh Wall. Closed Sun eve. The
ultimate new Docklands
Pubs experience: an old Thames
barge, a pint, and a view of the
Dickens Inn Millwall Docks.Wine is the
St Katharine’s Way. Very firmly on tipple of choice, but there’s also
the tourist trail, this eighteenth Harvey’s Sussex bitter and cheap
century timber-framed bar snacks.

Contents Places
140

South Bank and around


The South Bank has a lot going for it. As well as the
massive waterside arts centre, it’s home to a host of
South Bank and around PLACES

tourist attractions including the enormously popular


London Eye observation wheel. With most of London
sitting on the north bank of the Thames, the views from
here are the best on the river, and thanks to the wide,
traffic-free riverside boulevard, the whole area can be
happily explored on foot. A short walk from the South
Bank lie one or two lesser-known but nonetheless
absorbing sights such as the Imperial War Museum,
which contains the country’s only permanent exhibition
devoted to the Holocaust.

South Bank Centre Hungerford Bridge


t 020/7960 4242, w www.sbc.org.uk.
The South Bank Centre is The best way to approach the South
home to a whole variety of Bank is to walk from Embankment
artistic institutions, the most tube across the Hungerford
attractive of which is the Royal Bridge, a majestic, symmetrical
Festival Hall (RFH; double suspension footbridge that
w www.rfh.org.uk), built in runs either side of Hungerford rail-
1951 for the Festival of Britain way bridge, dishing out great river
and one of London’s chief views either side, but particularly to
concert venues.With its open- the south towards Big Ben.
plan, multi-level foyer, replete
with café and bookshop and concrete exteriors of the Queen
often hosting a free gig or Elizabeth Hall (QEH) and the
exhibition, it’s a great place to more intimate Purcell Room,
wander through during the day. built in the 1960s to the north
Architecturally, the most of the RFH in an
depressing part of the South uncompromisingly brutalist
Bank Centre are the grim-grey, 1960s style. Above these two,

 SOUTH BANK VIEW FROM HUNGERFORD BRIDGE

Contents Places
141
Blackfriars
e s

WA
N a m
T h

TER
RIVERSIDE WALK
Oxo Tower

LO

Bankside
Book BARGE THOUS

OB
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RENNIE STREET
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with its strange rooftop neon Bridge is the National Film


sculpture, sits the Hayward Theatre (NFT;
Gallery (daily 10am–6pm,Tues w www.bfi.org.uk/nft), which
& Wed until 8pm; £9 depending screens London’s most esoteric
upon the exhibition; movies and has a decent
w www.hayward.org.uk), one of café/bar. Behind the NFT, at
the city’s best venues for large- the southern end of Waterloo
scale contemporary art Bridge, is the eye-catching glass-
exhibitions and retrospectives. drum of the high-tech BFI
Tucked underneath Waterloo London IMAX Cinema. Lastly,

Contents Places
South Bank and around PLACES 142

 ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, SOUTH BANK

on the east side of Waterloo there’s a very swanky restaurant


Bridge, its series of horizontal and brasserie.
concrete layers looking You don’t need to eat or drink
suspiciously like a multistorey here to enjoy the view from the
car park, is the Royal National top: just take the lift to the
Theatre (t 020/7452 3000, eighth-floor public viewing
w www.nt-online.org), popularly gallery.
known as “the National” or NT.
It boasts three separate theatres London Eye
– a Greek-style arena, a t 0870/5000 600, w www
proscenium arch and a flexible .ba-londoneye.com. Daily: April–Sept
studio – and puts on everything 9.30am–10pm; Oct–March 9am–8pm.
from Shakespeare to the latest £11. London’s most prominent
David Hare. recent landmark is the London
Eye, the magnificently graceful
Oxo Tower observation wheel which spins
w www.oxotower.co.uk. Daily until slowly and silently over the
10pm. The Oxo Tower started Thames. Standing 443ft high,
life as a power station before the wheel is the largest ever
being converted into a meat- built, and it’s constantly in slow
packing factory for the motion – a full-circle “flight” in
company that makes Oxo stock one of its 32 pods takes around
cubes – the lettering is spelt thirty minutes, and lifts you
out in the windows of the high above the city. At the top,
main tower. The building now you’re at one of the few places
contains flats, browsable studio- (apart from a plane window)
shops for contemporary from which London looks a
designers (Tues–Sun manageable size, as you can see
11am–6pm) and an art gallery right out to where the suburbs
(daily 11am–6pm; free), whose slip into the countryside.Ticket
exhibitions of contemporary prices are outrageously high,
photographs, paintings or though the engineering and the
sculptures are usually views are awesome; queues can
intriguing; on the top floor, also be very bad at the

Contents Places
143
weekend, so book in advance Saatchi Gallery
over the phone or online. t 020/7823 2363, w www
.saatchi-gallery.co.uk. Mon–Thurs &
County Hall Sun 10am–6pm, Fri & Sat
The colonnaded crescent of 10am–10pm. £8.50. The Saatchi

PLACES South Bank and around


County Hall is the only truly Gallery of contemporary art
monumental building on the occupies the incongruously
South Bank. Designed to house imposing former council
the now defunct London chamber of County Hall.
County Council, it was Charles Saatchi, the collector
completed in 1933 and enjoyed behind the gallery, was, in fact,
its greatest moment of fame as the man whose advertising for
headquarters of the GLC the Conservative government
(Greater London Council), helped topple County Hall’s
which was abolished by previous incumbents, the GLC.
Margaret Thatcher in 1986 Saatchi’s extravagant wallet also
leaving London as the only helped promote the Young
European city without an British Artists of the 1980s and
elected authority. In 2000, the 1990s, as he snapped up
former GLC leader Ken headline-grabbing works such as
Livingstone was elected as Damien Hirst’s pickled shark
Mayor of London, and moved and Tracey Emin’s soiled and
into the new GLA (Greater crumpled bed.The gallery puts
London Authority) building on changing exhibitions drawn
further downstream (see p.151). primarily from Saatchi’s vast
County Hall, meanwhile, is now collection.
in the hands of a Japanese
property company, and currently Dalí Universe
houses several hotels, restaurants, Riverside Walk w www.daliuniverse
an amusement arcade and a .com. Daily 10am–5.30pm. £8.50.
bizarre clutch of tourist Three giant surrealist sculptures
attractions. on the river-facing side of
County Hall herald the Dalí
London Aquarium Universe.Yet while Dalí was
w www.londonaquarium.co.uk. Daily undoubtedly an accomplished
10am–6pm or later. £8.75. The most and prolific artist, you’ll be
popular attraction in County disappointed if you’re expecting
Hall is the London Aquarium, to see his “greatest hits” here –
laid out across three floors of the those are scattered across the
basement.With some super- globe. Most of the works on
large, multi-floor tanks, and display are little-known bronze
everything from dog-face puffers and glass sculptures, as well as
to piranhas, it’s pretty much drawings from the many
guaranteed to please younger illustrated books which he
kids.The “Beach”, where published, ranging from Ovid to
children can actually stroke the the Marquis de Sade. Aside from
(non-sting) rays, is particularly these, there’s one of the
popular.Though impressive in numerous Lobster Telephones,
scale, the aquarium is fairly which Edward James
conservative in design, with no commissioned for his London
walk-through tanks and only the home, a copy of his famous Mae
very briefest of information on West lips sofa, and the oil
any of the fish. painting from the dream

Contents Places
144
sequence in Hitchcock’s movie Imperial War Museum
Spellbound. Lambeth Rd w www.iwm.org.uk. Daily
10am–6pm. Free. Housed in a
Museum of Garden History domed building that was once
Lambeth Palace Rd w www.cix.co.uk the infamous “Bedlam” lunatic
South Bank and around PLACES

/~museumgh. March to mid-Dec daily asylum, the Imperial War


10.30am–5pm. Free, though £2.50 Museum holds by far the best
donation suggested. Housed in the collection of militaria in the
deconsecrated Kentish ragstone capital.The treatment of the
church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, subject matter is impressively
this unpretentious little wide-ranging and fairly sober,
museum puts particular with the main hall’s militaristic
emphasis on John Tradescant, display offset by the lower-
gardener to James I and Charles ground-floor array of
I, who is buried here.The documents and images attesting
graveyard has been transformed to the human damage of war.
into a small seventeenth- Entered from the third floor, the
century garden, where two harrowing Holocaust Exhibition
interesting sarcophagi lurk (not recommended for children
among the foliage: one belongs under 14) pulls few punches,
to Captain Bligh, the and has made a valiant attempt
commander of the Bounty in to avoid depicting the victims of
1787; the more unusual is the Holocaust as nameless
Tradescant’s memorial, masses by focusing on individual
depicting, among other things, a cases, interspersing the archive
seven-headed griffin and several footage with eyewitness
crocodiles. accounts from contemporary
survivors.

Shops
Book Market
South Bank, beneath Waterloo Bridge.
Sat & Sun only. Secondhand book
market by the Thames, offering
everything from current and
recent fiction to obscure
psychology textbooks, film
theory, modern European
poetry and pulp science
fiction.

Radio Days
87 Lower Marsh. Fantastic
collection of memorabilia and
accessories from the 1930s to
the 1970s, including shoes, shot-
glass collections, cosmetics and
vintage magazines. A huge stock
of well-kept womens’ and mens’
clothing from the same period
 DALÍ SCULPTURE, SOUTH BANK fills the back room.

Contents Places
145
Cafés this a good spot for a meal
before or after an evening at a
Konditor & Cook South Bank theatre or concert
22 Cornwall Rd. Closed Sun. Quality hall. Set meals for around £16.
bakery, with a few tables,

PLACES South Bank and around


offering wonderful cakes and Tas
biscuits, as well as sandwiches 33 The Cut t 020/7928 3300,
and coffee and tea. w www.tasrestaurant.com.
Welcoming restaurant serving
Masters Super Fish excellent, competitively priced
191 Waterloo Rd. Closed Sun. Good, Turkish food.The menu is a
old-fashioned, no-nonsense fish monster so most folk go for the
and chip pit stop; eat in or take set options, starting at three
away. courses for around £8.

Restaurants Pubs and bars


Little Saigon Baltic
139 Westminster Bridge Rd 74 Blackfriars Rd t 020/7928 1111,
t 020/7207 9747. Family-run w www.balticrestaurant.co.uk. Stark,
place offering pukka Vietnamese stylish bar (and restaurant)
spring rolls, grilled squid-cake situated opposite Southwark
and crystal pancakes, all served tube in an old Georgian
with a wonderful array of coachworks, specializing in
sauces, plus great crispy fried vodka shots and Baltic snacks.
noodles.
Film Café-bar
Oxo Restaurant South Bank. The National Film
Oxo Tower, Barge House St t 020/7803 Theatre’s bar is the only one on
3888, w www the South Bank riverfront
.harveynichols.com. Run by Harvey between Westminster and
Nichols, this elegant eighth- Blackfriars bridges – worth
floor restaurant offers great checking out for the views and
views and equally good Modern the congenial crowd.
European cuisine.There’s a
brasserie (main dishes £10–15) Fire Station
and a restaurant (£15–20). 150 Waterloo Rd. This gloriously
red-painted former fire station is
RSJ a popular place for an after-
13a Coin St t 020/7928 4554, work pint.The restaurant at the
w www.rsj.uk.com. Closed Sun. back is good, too – expect
Regularly high standards of modern Britsh dishes (£10–15).
Anglo-French cooking make

Contents Places
146

Bankside and
Southwark
Bankside and Southwark PLACES

In Tudor and Stuart London, the chief reason for cross-


ing the Thames to Southwark was to visit the then-dis-
reputable Bankside entertainment district around the
south end of London Bridge. Four hundred years on,
Londoners have rediscovered the area, thanks to
wholesale regeneration that has engendered a wealth
of new attractions along the riverside between
Blackfriars and Tower bridges and beyond – with the
charge led by the mighty Tate Modern art gallery. And
with a traffic-free, riverside path connecting most of
the sights, this is easily one of the most enjoyable
areas of London in which to hang out.
Millennium Bridge suspension bridge of innovative
The first new bridge to be built design, it famously bounced up
across the Thames since Tower and down when it first opened
Bridge opened in 1894, the and had to be closed
sleek, stainless-steel Millennium immediately for another two
Bridge is London’s sole years for repairs. It still wobbles
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busy enjoying the spectacular Tate to Tate
views across to St Paul’s
Tate to Tate boats (specially
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between Tate Modern and Tate
Britain via the London Eye every

PLACES Bankside and Southwark


Tate Modern
forty minutes; journey time is twen-
Bankside t 020/7887 8008,
ty minutes, and multi-trip tickets,
w www.tate.org.uk. Daily 10am–6pm;
valid all day, cost £4.50.
Fri & Sat open until 10pm. Free.
Bankside is dominated by the
austere power station now largest modern art gallery, you
transformed by the Swiss duo need to devote the best part of a
Herzog & de Meuron into the day to do it justice – or be very
Tate Modern art gallery.The selective. It’s easy enough to find
masterful conversion has left your way around the galleries:
plenty of the original industrial pick up a plan (and, for an extra
feel, while providing £1, an audioguide), and take the
wonderfully light and spacious escalator to level 3.This, and
galleries to show off the Tate’s level 5, display the permanent
vast collection of international collection; level 4 is used for
twentieth-century art.The best fee-paying temporary
way to enter is down the ramp exhibitions, and level 7 has a
from the west, so you get the rooftop café with a great view
full effect of the stupendously over the Thames.
large turbine hall, usually used The curators have eschewed
to display one huge, mind- the usual chronological
blowing installation. Given that approach through the “isms”,
Tate Modern is the world’s preferring to group works
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Contents Places
Bankside and Southwark PLACES 148

 TATE MODERN

together thematically: his shamanistic wax and furs.


Landscape/Matter/ Mark Rothko’s abstract
Environment; Still Life/ “Seagram Murals”, originally
Object/Real Life; destined for a posh restaurant in
History/Memory/Society; and New York, also have their own
Nude/Action/Body. On the shrine-like room in the heart of
whole this works very well, the collection.
though the early twentieth-
century canvases, in their gilded Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
frames, do struggle when made Bankside t 020/7902 1400
to compete with contemporary w www.shakespeares-globe.org. Daily:
installations. May–Sept 9am–noon & 12.30–4pm;
Although the displays change Oct–April 10am–5pm. £8 Seriously
every six months or so, you’re dwarfed by the Tate Modern,
still pretty much guaranteed to the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
see at least some works by is an equally spectacular
Monet and Bonnard, Cubist reconstruction of the polygonal
pioneers Picasso and Braque, playhouse where most of the
Surrealists such as Dalí, abstract Bard’s later works were first
artists like Mondrian, Bridget performed. Sporting the first
Riley and Pollock, and Pop new thatched roof in central
supremos Warhol and London since the 1666 Great
Lichtenstein.There are also Fire, the theatre puts on plays
seminal pieces such as a replica (mid-Sept to mid-May only) by
of Duchamp’s urinal, entitled Shakespeare and his
Fountain and signed “R. Mutt”, contemporaries, using only
Yves Klein’s totally blue natural light and the minimum
paintings and Carl André’s of scenery.To get to see inside
trademark piles of bricks. And the building, you must either
such is the space here that attend a performance, or visit
several artists get whole rooms the Globe’s pricey but stylish
to themselves; these include exhibition. It begins by detailing
Francis Bacon, whose anguished the long campaign by the late
paintings still have the ability to American actor Sam Wanamaker
shock, and Joseph Beuys, with to have the Globe rebuilt, but

Contents Places
149
it’s the imaginative hands-on retrochoir now remain,
exhibits that really hit the spot. separated by a tall and beautiful
You can have a virtual “play” on stone Tudor screen; they’re
medieval instruments such as thought to be the oldest Gothic
the crumhorn or sackbut, structures left in London.The

PLACES Bankside and Southwark


prepare your own edition of nave was entirely rebuilt in the
Shakespeare, and feel the thatch, nineteenth century, but the
hazelnut-shell and daub used to cathedral contains numerous
build the theatre.Visitors to the interesting monuments, from a
exhibition also get taken on an thirteenth-century oak effigy of
informative guided tour round a knight to an early twentieth-
the theatre itself, except in the century memorial to
afternoons during the summer Shakespeare (his brother is
season, when you can only visit buried here). Above the
the exhibition (for a reduced memorial is a stained-glass
fee). window featuring a whole cast
of characters from the plays.You
Golden Hinde can happily skip the new multi-
St Mary Overie Dock, Cathedral St media exhibition (£3) by the
t 0870/011 8700, w www.goldenhinde bookshop, which whizzes
.co.uk. Phone for opening hours. £2.75, through Southwark’s history at
with guided tour £3.50. An exact breakneck speed.
replica of the galleon in which
Francis Drake sailed around the Borough Market
world from 1577 to 1580, the 8 Southwark St w www.boroughmarket
Golden Hinde was launched in .org.uk. Fri noon–6pm, Sat 9am–4pm.
1973, and circumnavigated the There’s been a thriving market
world for some twenty years hereabouts since medieval times.
before eventually settling Squeezed beneath the railway
permanently in Southwark.The arches between the High Street
ship is surprisingly small and, and the cathedral, the present
with a crew of eighty-plus, must Borough Market is one of the
have been cramped, to say the few wholesale fruit and vegetable
least.There’s a lack of markets in London still trading
interpretive panels, so it’s worth under its original Victorian
paying the little bit extra and wrought-iron shed. At the
pre-booking a tour. Guides clad weekends, though, it transforms
in period garb show you the itself into a small foodie haven,
ropes, so to speak, and and the general public turn up in
demonstrate activities such as droves to sample the produce on
firing a cannon or using the the gourmet stalls and in the
ship’s toilet. nearby shops.

Southwark Cathedral Old Operating Theatre,


London Bridge w www.dswark.org Museum and Herb Garret
/cathedral. Mon–Sat 10am–6pm, Sun 9a St Thomas’s St w www.thegarret
11am–5pm. Free. Built as the .org.uk. Daily 10.30am–5pm. £4. The
medieval Augustinian priory Old Operating Theatre and
church of St Mary Overie, Herb Garret is by far the most
Southwark Cathedral gained its educational – and strangest – of
cathedral status in 1905. Of the Southwark’s museums, and
original thirteenth-century despite being entirely gore-free,
church, only the choir and it’s as stomach-churning as the

Contents Places
150
London Dungeon (see below). ever-popular London Dungeon.
Visitors climb up to the attic of The life-sized waxwork tableaux
a former church tower, which inside include a man being hung,
houses an old hospital drawn and quartered and one
apothecary with displays being boiled alive, while the
Bankside and Southwark PLACES

explaining the painful truth general hysteria is boosted by


about pre-anaesthetic actors dressed as top-hatted
operations.These took place in Victorian vampires pouncing out
the adjacent women’s operating of the darkness.Visitors are
theatre, designed in 1821 “in the herded into a court room,
round”, literally like a theatre, so condemned to the “River of
that students (and members of Death” boat ride, and forced to
high society) could view the endure the “Jack the Ripper
proceedings.The surgeons had Experience”, an exploitative
to concentrate on speed and trawl through post-mortem
accuracy (most amputations photos and wax mock-ups of the
took less than a minute), but victims, followed by the “Great
there was still a thirty-percent Fire of London”, in which you
mortality rate, with many experience the heat and the
patients simply dying of shock, smell of the plague-ridden city,
and many more from bacterial before walking through a
infection, about which very revolving “tunnel of flames”.
little was known. Note that you can avoid the
inevitable queues by pre-buying
London Dungeon tickets online.
28–34 Tooley St w www.thedungeons
.com. Daily: March to mid-July & Britain at War Museum
Sep–Oct 10am–5.30pm; mid-July to 64–66 Tooley St w www.britainatwar
Aug 9.30am–7.30pm; Nov–Feb .co.uk. Daily: April–Sept 10am–5.30pm;
10.30am–5pm. £12.95. Young Oct–March 10am–4.30pm. £7.50. For
teenagers and the credulous an illuminating insight into
probably get the most out of the London’s stiff-upper-lip
mentality during the World War
II Blitz, head for Winston
Churchill’s Britain at War, where
you’ll find hundreds of
fascinating wartime artefacts,
from ration books to babies’
gasmasks.You can sit in darkness
in an Anderson shelter, hear the
chilling sound of the V1
“doodlebugs” and tune in to
contemporary radio broadcasts.
The final set-piece is a walk
through the chaos of a just-
bombed street.

HMS Belfast
Morgan’s Lane, Tooley St w www.iwm
.org.uk. Daily: March–Oct 10am–6pm;
Nov–Feb 10am–5pm. £6. An
 SHAKESPEARE WINDOW, SOUTHWARK
11,550-ton Royal Navy cruiser,
CATHEDRAL armed with six torpedoes and

Contents Places
151
six-inch guns with a range of
over fourteen miles, HMS
Belfast saw action both in the
Barents Sea during World War II
and in the Korean War, and has

PLACES Bankside and Southwark


been permanently moored on
the Thames since being
decommissioned in 1971.The
most enjoyable aspect of a visit
is exploring the Belfast’s maze of
cabins and scrambling up and
down the vertiginous ladders of
the ship’s seven confusing decks,
which could accommodate a
crew of over nine hundred. If
you want to know more about
the ship’s history, head for the
Exhibition Flat in Zone 5; in
the adjacent Life at Sea room,
you can practise your morse  HMS BELFAST
code and knots and listen to
accounts of naval life on board. white edifice of the Design
Museum is the perfect showcase
City Hall for mass-produced industrial
The Queen’s Walk w www.london design, from classic cars to
.gov.uk. Mon–Fri 8am–8pm. Free. Tupperware.The museum has
Bearing a striking resemblance to nothing on permanent display,
a giant car headlight, the but instead hosts a series of
centrepiece of the redevelopment temporary exhibitions (up to
near Tower Bridge is Norman four at any one time) on
Foster’s startling glass-encased important designers, movements
City Hall. Headquarters for the or single products.
Greater London Authority and
the Mayor of London, it’s a
“green” building that uses a
quarter of the energy a high-
Shops
specification office would Butlers Wharf Gastrodome
normally use.Visitors are 36d & 36e Shad Thames. Among
welcome to stroll around and the clutch of chi-chi emporia
watch the London Assembly here, look out for the Oil &
proceedings from the second Spice Shop, stocking a
floor. On certain weekends, it’s beautifully presented and
also possible to visit “London’s mouthwatering range of oils,
Living Room” on the ninth vinegars and spices, and the
floor, from where there’s a great Pont de la Tour, offering an
view over the Thames. excellent range of deli fare.

Design Museum
Butler’s Wharf, 28 Shad Thames
w www.designmuseum.org. Daily
Cafés
10am–5.45pm. £6. A Bauhaus-like El Vergel
conversion of an old 1950s 8 Lant St w elvergel.serversure.net.
riverside warehouse, the stylish Closed Sat & Sun. Small, very busy

Contents Places
152
Fina Estampa
150 Tooley St t 020/7403 1342.
Closed Sat lunch & Sun. London’s
only Peruvian restaurant, and
very good it is too.The
Bankside and Southwark PLACES

traditional menu emphasizes


seafood; starters include
marinated white fish with sweet
potatoes (£5 and upwards),
while mains (£10 or more)
range from chicken in coriander
to carapulcra (dried potatoes,
pork, chicken and cassava).

Tentazioni
2 Mill St t 020/7237 1100,
w www.tentazioni.co.uk. Closed Mon &
Sat lunch, & Sun. Small, busy
Italian restaurant serving high-
quality peasant fare with strong,
 DESIGN MUSEUM rich flavours. Starters (£8–10)
can be turned into main courses
weekday café which does all the (£12–20), or you can try the
usual lunchtime takeaways, as splendid five-course regional
well as Latin American menu (£36).
specialities: empanadas, tacos,
tostadas and tortillas.

Monmouth Coffee Company


Pubs
2 Park St. Perfect pit stop in Anchor
between perusing the Borough 34 Park St. Still looking much as it
Market stalls.This place takes its did when it was first built in
coffee seriously, as well as 1770, with a warren of small
offering moist and succulent wood-panelled rooms and
cakes and pastries. exposed beams, this is a good bet
for alfresco drinking by the river.

Restaurants George Inn


77 Borough High St. London’s only
Delfina Studio Café surviving coaching inn, dating
50 Bermondsey St t 020/7357 0244, from the seventeenth century
w www.delfina.org.uk. Closed Sat & and now owned by the National
Sun. Despite its name, this Trust; expect lots of wonky
adjunct to the Delfina art flooring, half-timbering and a
gallery houses a serious good range of real ales.
(lunchtime-only) restaurant.The
cooking is superb: try carrot- Royal Oak
chilli blini or Asian braised 44 Tabard St. Closed Sat & Sun.
pigeon for starters (around £5), Beautiful, lovingly restored
and rosemary roasted pumpkin Victorian pub that eschews
or monkfish stifado for mains jukeboxes and one-armed bandits,
(£10-plus). and opts simply for serving real
ales from Lewes in Sussex.

Contents Places
153

Hyde Park and


Kensington Gardens

PLACES Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens


Most visitors are amazed at how green and pleasant so
much of London’s centre is. Hyde Park, together with
its westerly extension, Kensington Gardens, covers a
distance of two miles from Oxford Street in the north-
east to Kensington Palace in the southwest. In
between, people jog, swim, fish, sunbathe or mess
about in boats on the Serpentine, cross the park on
horseback or mountain bike, or view the latest in mod-
ern art at the Serpentine Gallery. Princess Diana’s
home until her death, Kensington Palace sits at the
more fashionable end of the park, which gets mobbed
on summer weekends with rollerbladers.
Wellington Arch However unless you’re a keen
Hyde Park Corner wwww fan of the Duke (or the
.english-heritage.org.uk. Wed–Sun: building’s architect, Benjamin
April–Sept 10am–6pm; Oct Wyatt), the highlight here is the
10am–5pm; Nov–March 10am–4pm. art collection, much of which
£2.50. Standing in the midst of used to belong to the King of
one of London’s busiest traffic Spain. Among the best pieces,
interchanges,Wellington Arch displayed in the Waterloo
was erected in 1828 to Gallery on the first floor, are
commemorate Wellington’s works by de Hooch, van Dyck,
victories in the Napoleonic Velázquez, Goya, Rubens and
Wars. A standard Neoclassical Murillo.The famous, more than
triumphal arch, it was originally twice life-size, nude statue of
topped by an equestrian statue Napoleon by Antonio Canova
of the Duke himself, later stands at the foot of the main
replaced by Peace driving a staircase.
four-horse chariot. Inside, you
can view an informative
exhibition on London’s outdoor
sculpture and take a lift to the
top of the monument, where the
exterior balconies offer a bird’s-
eye view of the swirling traffic.
Wellington Museum,
Apsley House
149 Piccadilly w www.apsleyhouse
.org.uk. Tues–Sun 11am–5pm. £4.50.
The former London residence
of the “Iron Duke”, Apsley
House has housed the
Wellington Museum since 1952.  ROLLERBLADERS, KENSINGTON GARDENS

Contents Places
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PLACES Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens


 WELLINGTON ARCH

Hyde Park A more immediately appealing


w www.royalparks.gov.uk. Daily approach is to enter from the
5am–midnight. Hangings, southeast around Hyde Park
muggings, duels and the Great Corner, from which paths lead
Exhibition of 1851 are just past pretty flower gardens
some of the public events that towards the curvaceous lake of
have been staged in Hyde Park, the Serpentine.The lake’s
which remains a popular popular Lido (June–Aug daily
rallying point for political 10am–6pm; £3) is situated on
demonstrations. For most of the the south bank, and rowboats
time, however, the park is simply and pedalos can be rented
a lazy leisure ground – a (March–Oct daily
wonderful open space which 10am–6.30pm or dusk; £4 per
allows you to lose all sight of hour) from the boathouse on
the city beyond a few persistent the north bank.
tower blocks.
At the treeless northeastern Kensington Gardens
corner is Marble Arch, erected w www.royalparks.gov.uk. Daily
in 1828 as a triumphal entry to 6am–dusk. The more tranquil,
Buckingham Palace but now leafier half of Hyde Park,
stranded on a ferociously busy Kensington Gardens is home to
traffic island at the west end of Long Water, the upper section
Oxford Street.This is the most of the Serpentine and by far the
historically charged spot in prettiest section of the lake. It
Hyde Park, as it marks the site narrows until it reaches a most
of Tyburn gallows, the city’s unlikely sight in an English
main public execution spot until park: the Italian Gardens, a
1783. It’s also the location of group of four fountains laid out
Speakers’ Corner, a peculiarly symmetrically in front of a
English Sunday tradition, pumphouse disguised in the
featuring an assembly of soap- form of an Italianate loggia.The
box orators, religious extremists best-loved of Kensington
and hecklers. Gardens’ outdoor monuments is
to Peter Pan, the fictional

Contents Places
156
renowned architects to design a
temporary pavilion for its
summer-only tea-house
extension.The results have been
adventurous and exciting,
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens PLACES

ranging from Zaha Hadid’s giant


marquee to Toyo Ito’s partially
opaque enclosed box.

Albert Memorial
Kensington Gardens. Erected in
1876, the richly decorated, High
Gothic Albert Memorial is as
much a hymn to the glorious
achievements of Britain as to its
subject, Queen Victoria’s
husband (who died of typhoid
 PETER PAN STATUE
in 1861). Recently restored to
his former gilded glory, Albert
character who enters London occupies the central canopy,
along the Serpentine in the clutching a catalogue for the
eponymous tale.The book’s Great Exhibition that he helped
author, J.M. Barrie, used to walk to organize. If you want to learn
his dog in Kensington Gardens, more about the 169 life-sized
and it was here that he met the depictions of long-gone artists
five pretty, upper-class Llewellyn (all men) around the pediment,
Davies boys, who wore “blue and the various other allegorical
blouses and bright red tam sculptures dotted about the
o’shanters”, were the inspiration memorial, join one of the
for the book’s “Lost Boys”, and weekly guided tours (Sun 2 &
whose guardian he eventually 3pm; £3.50).
became. Paid for by Barrie
himself and erected in secret Royal Albert Hall
during the night in 1912, the Kensington Gore t 020/7589 8212,
statue depicts Peter presiding w www.royalalberthall.com. The
over a pedestal crowded with profits of the Great Exhibition
fairies, squirrels, rabbits, birds were used to buy a large tract of
and mice. land south of the park, and to
build the vast Royal Albert Hall,
Serpentine Gallery a splendid iron-and-glass-domed
Kensington Gardens concert hall, with an exterior of
w www.serpentinegallery.org. Daily red brick, terracotta and marble
10am–6pm. Free. The Serpentine that became the hallmark of
Gallery was built as a tearoom South Kensington architecture.
in 1908 because the park As well as hosting a variety of
authorities thought “poorer events throughout the year, from
visitors” might cause trouble if pop concerts to sumo wrestling,
left without refreshments.The the hall is the venue for Europe’s
building has served as an art most democratic music festival,
gallery since the 1960s,with a the Henry Wood Promenade
reputation for lively, Concerts or Proms (see p.215),
controversial exhibitions; it also which take place every night
annually commissions world- from July to September.The

Contents Places
157
classical concerts are top-class memory of the Princess of
and standing-room tickets go for Wales, this is no ordinary
as little as £3, but the Proms are playground, and gets so
best known for the flag-waving, popular that entry numbers
patriotic last night. have to be limited in the

PLACES Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens


height of summer. The
Kensington Palace centrepiece is a sailing ship
Kensington Gardens w www sunk into sand, which kids can
.hrp.org.uk. March–Oct daily clamber all over; elsewhere
10am–6pm; Nov–Feb 10am–5pm. there’s paving gongs and other
£10.50. Bought by William and groovy playthings. Diana is also
Mary in 1689, the modestly due to be commemorated by a
proportioned Jacobean brick giant oval fountain to the
mansion of Kensington Palace south of the Serpentine,
was the chief royal residence for scheduled to be unveiled in
the next fifty years. KP, as it’s autumn 2004.
fondly known in royal circles, is
best known today as the place
where Princess Diana lived from
her marriage until her death in
Cafés
1997. It was, in fact, the official The Orangery
London residence of both Kensington Palace, Kensington
Charles and Di until the couple Gardens. Very swish café in a
formally separated and Charles brilliant-white orangery,
moved to St James’s Palace. In originally built for Queen Anne
the weeks following Diana’s as a summer dining room, and
death, literally millions of offering great cakes as well as
flowers, mementos, poems and savoury tarts.
gifts were deposited at the gates
to the south of the palace.
Diana’s former apartments,
where various minor royals still
Pubs
live, are closed to the public. Grenadier
Instead, guided tours take in 18 Wilton Row. Wellington’s local
some of the frocks worn by (his horse-block survives
Diana, as well as several of the outside) and his former officers’
Queen’s, and then the sparsely mess too.The original pewter
furnished state apartments.The bar survives, and the Bloody
highlights are the trompe l’oeil Marys are very special.
ceiling paintings by William
Kent, particularly those in the
Cupola Room, and the
paintings in the King’s Gallery
by, among others,Tintoretto. En
route, you also get to see the
tastelessly decorated rooms in
which the future Queen
Victoria spent her unhappy
childhood.

Diana Memorial Playground


Kensington Gardens. As befits a
play area dedicated to the  ALBERT HALL FACADE

Contents Places
158

South Kensington,
Knightsbridge and
South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea PLACES

Chelsea
London’s wealthiest district, the Royal Borough of
Kensington and Chelsea is particularly well-to-do in the
area south of Hyde Park. Known popularly as the “Tiara
Triangle”, the moneyed feel here is evident in the flash
shops and swanky bars as well as the plush houses
and apartments. Aside from the shops around Harrods
in Knightsbridge, however, the popular tourist attrac-
tions lie in South Kensington, where three of London’s
top museums stand side by side.
From the Swinging Sixties and even up to the Punk
era, Chelsea had a slightly bohemian pedigree; these
days, it’s just another wealthy west London suburb,
famous only as the spiritual home of Sloanes, the sons
and daughters of the wealthy, whose most famous
specimen was Princess Diana herself.
Natural History Museum handsome museum.The
Cromwell Rd t 020/7942 5000, contents, though, are a bit of a
w www.nhm.ac.uk. Mon–Sat mishmash, with truly
10am–5.50pm, Sun 11am–5.50pm. imaginative exhibits peppered
Free. With its 675-foot terracotta amongst others little changed
facade, Alfred Waterhouse’s since the building opened in
purpose-built mock- 1881.This disparity is the result
Romanesque colossus ensures of a genuine conundrum,
the Natural History Museum’s though – the collections are as
status as London’s most much an important resource for
serious zoologists as they are a
popular attraction.
The main entrance leads to the
Life Galleries, whose vast
Central Hall is dominated by an
85ft-long plaster cast of a
Diplodocus skeleton.To one
side, you’ll find the Dinosaur
gallery, where a team of
animatronic deinonychi feast on
a half-dead tenontosaurus. Other
child-friendly sections include
the Creepy-Crawlies Room,
which features a live colony of
 NATURAL HISTORY MUSUEM leaf-cutter ants, the Mammals

Contents Places
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gallery with its life-size model of allow visitors a closer look at


a blue whale, and the walk- the specimens, to see behind the
through rainforest in the scenes at the labs, and to talk to
high-tech Ecology Gallery. the museum’s scientists.
For a visually exciting romp
through evolution, head for the Science Museum
Earth Galleries; popular Exhibition Rd t 0870/870 4868,
sections include the slightly w www.sciencemuseum.org.uk. Daily
tasteless Kobe earthquake 10am–6pm. Free. The Science
simulator, and the spectacular Museum is undeniably
display of gems and crystals in impressive, filling seven floors
the Earth’s Treasury.Visitors can with items drawn from every
also sign up for a free 35- conceivable area of science,
minute guided tour (every including space travel,
30min; book ahead online or on telecommunications, time
t 020/7942 6128) of the new measurement, chemistry,
Darwin Centre, which houses computing, photography and
more of the museum’s millions medicine. Keen to dispel the
of zoological specimens.Tours enduring image of such

Contents Places
160
museums as boring and full of as do the Garden and Things
dusty glass cabinets, the Science galleries.
Museum has been busy
updating its galleries with Victoria & Albert Museum
interactive displays, and puts on Cromwell Rd t 020 7942 2000,
South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea PLACES

daily demonstrations to show w www.vam.ac.uk. Daily


that not all science teaching has 10am–5.45pm, plus Wed & last Fri of
to be deathly dry. the month until 10pm. Free. In terms
First off, ask at the information of sheer variety and scale, the
desk in the Power Hall for Victoria and Albert (popularly
details of the day’s (usually free) known as the V&A) is the
events and demonstrations. Most greatest museum of applied arts
people will want to head for the in the world. Beautifully but
new four-floor Wellcome haphazardly displayed across a
Wing, geared to appeal to even seven-mile, four-storey maze of
the most museum-phobic halls and corridors, the V&A’s
teenager with state-of-the-art treasures are impossible to survey
interactive computers and an in a single visit. Floor plans from
IMAX cinema (tickets £7.50). the information desks can help
To get there, go past the info you decide which areas to
desk and through the Space concentrate on.
gallery, with its full-size replica The most celebrated of the
of the Apollo 11 landing craft, to V&A’s exhibits are the Raphael
the far side of the Making of the Cartoons, seven vast biblical
Modern World, a display of paintings that served as designs
iconic inventions from Robert for a set of tapestries destined for
Stephenson’s Rocket steam train the Sistine Chapel. Close by, you
of 1829 to the Ford Model T, can view highlights from the
the world’s first mass-produced UK’s largest dress collection, and
car. the world’s largest collection of
In the basement, the hands-on Indian art outside India. In
displays of the Launch Pad, addition, there are galleries
aimed squarely at kids, remains devoted to British, Chinese,
as popular and enjoyable as ever, Islamic, Japanese and Korean art,
as well as costume jewellery,
glassware, metalwork and
photography.Wading through
the huge collection of European
sculpture, you come to the
surreal Plaster Casts gallery, filled
with copies of European art’s
greatest hits, from Michelangelo’s
David to Trajan’s Column from
the forum in Rome (sawn in
half to make it fit).There’s even
a Twentieth-Century Gallery –
everything from Bauhaus
furniture to Swatch watches – to
rival that of the Design Museum
(see p.150).
Over in the Henry Cole
 STEPHENSON’S ROCKET, SCIENCE
Wing, meanwhile, there’s an
MUSEUM entire office interior by Frank

Contents Places
161
Lloyd Wright, a
collection of
sixteenth-century
portrait miniatures,
more Constable

PLACES South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea


paintings than the
Tate, and a goodly
collection of Rodin
sculptures. As if all
this were not
enough, the V&A’s
temporary shows are
among the best in
Britain, ranging over
vast areas of art, craft  INDIAN MINIATURE PAINTING, V&A
and technology.
do without the Harrods carrier
Brompton Oratory bag, you can buy most of what
Brompton Rd w www.brompton-oratory the shop stocks more cheaply
.org.uk. London’s most elsewhere.
flamboyant Roman Catholic The store does, however, have a
church, Brompton Oratory was few sections that are architectural
completed in 1886 and sights in their own right: on the
modelled on the Gesù church in ground floor, the Food Hall,
Rome.The ornate Italianate with its exquisite Arts and Crafts
interior is filled with gilded tiling, and the pseudo-
mosaics and stuffed with hieroglyphs and sphinxes of the
sculpture, much of it genuine Egyptian Hall are particularly
Italian Baroque, while the pulpit striking, while the Egyptian
is a superb piece of Neo- Escalators whisk you to the first
Baroque from the 1930s; note floor “luxury washrooms”, where
the high cherub count on the you can splash on free perfume.
tester. And true to its At the base of the escalators is
architecture, the church practises the Diana and Dodi fountain
“smells and bells” Catholicism, shrine. Here, to the strains of
with daily Mass in Latin. Mahler (and the like), you can
contemplate photos of the ill-
Harrods fated couple, and, preserved in a
87–135 Brompton Rd glass pyramid, a dirty wine-glass
w www.harrods.com. Mon–Sat used on their last evening along
10am–7pm. London’s most with the engagement ring Dodi
famous department store, allegedly bought for Di the
Harrods started out as a family- previous day.
run grocery shop in 1849 with Note that Harrods has a
a staff of two; the current 1905 draconian dress code: no shorts
terracotta building, owned by or vest T-shirts, and backpacks
the bête noire of the must be carried in the hand.
Establishment, Mohammed Al
Fayed, employs in excess of Holy Trinity Church
3000 staff.Tourists flock here – Sloane Square. Mon–Sat
it’s thought to be one of the 8.30am–5.30pm, Sun 8.30am–1.30pm.
city’s top-ranking tourist An architectural masterpiece
attractions – though if you can created in 1890, Holy Trinity is

Contents Places
162
probably the finest Arts and
Crafts church in London.The
Shops
east window is the most glorious Harvey Nichols
of the furnishings, a vast, 48- 109–125 Knightsbridge t 020/7235
panel extravaganza designed by 5000, w www.harveynichols.co.uk. The
South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea PLACES

Edward Burne-Jones, and the department store made famous


largest ever made by Morris & by the TV sitcom Absolutely
Co. Holy Trinity is very High Fabulous continues to stay ahead
Church, filled with the smell of of the crowd, from its ground-
incense and statues of Mary, and floor cosmetics department to
even offering confession. the irresistible goodies in its
fifth-floor food hall.
King’s Road
Chelsea’s main artery, King’s Rigby & Peller
Road achieved household fame 2 Hans Rd t 020/7589 9293,
as the unofficial catwalk of the w www.rigbyandpeller.com. Closed
Swinging Sixties and of the Sun. Corsetières to HM the
hippie and punk eras.The Queen, this old-fashioned store
“Saturday Parade” of fashion stocks a wide range of lingerie
victims is not what it used to and swimwear for all shapes and
be, but posey cafés, boutiques sizes – take ticket, wait for an
(and antiques) are still what assistant and order your very
King’s Road is all about. And own custom-made bra.
the traditional “Chelsea Cruise”,
when every flash Harry in town Steinberg & Tolkien
parades his customized motor, 193 King’s Rd t 020/7376 3660.
still takes place at 8.30pm on Claims to have London’s largest
the last Saturday of the month, collection of vintage and retro
though nowadays on the gear and accessories; clothing is
Battersea side of the Chelsea displayed by designer, which says
Bridge. a lot for the quality of the stock.

Chelsea Physic Garden Vivienne Westwood


Royal Hospital Rd w www 430 King’s Rd t020/7352 6551,
.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk. April–Oct wwww.viviennewestwood.com.
Wed noon–5pm, Sun 2–6pm. £4. Original outlet of the queen of
Hidden from the road by a high punk fashion. Her trademark style
wall, Chelsea Physic Garden is a is madly eccentric English, but
charming little inner-city there’s less flamboyant stuff, too.
escape. Founded in 1673, it’s the
second oldest botanic garden in
the country and remains an
old-fashioned place, with terse
Cafés
Latinate labels and strictly Chelsea Kitchen
regimented beds. Pick up a 98 King’s Rd. A branch of the
plan, which lists the month’s ubiquitous Stockpot, experts in
most interesting flowers and budget Anglo-Italian stomach-
shrubs, and try to time your fillers in the form of steaks, spag
visit with one of the free bol and the like.
guided tours (phone
t 020/7352 5646 for times), Daquise
which will explain the 20 Thurloe St. Old-fashioned
fascinating history of the place. Polish café serving home-

Contents Places
163
cooked meals or simple coffee, Racine
tea and cakes, depending on the 239 Brompton Rd t 020/7584 4477.
time of day. Familiar, delicious, nostalgic
dishes from the glory days of
Vingt-Quatre French cooking, and friendly

PLACES South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea


325 Fulham Rd. Although an all- service. Starters are well under
night café, this place is more £10 and main courses only
quality brasserie than greasy just over; set lunches hover
spoon – and so are the prices. around £15. Booking is
imperative.

Restaurants
Bibendum Oyster House
Pubs
Michelin House, 81 Fulham Rd Blenheim
t 020/7589 1480, w www.bibendum 27 Cale St. Large Georgian pub,
.co.uk. This glorious tiled former with lots of lovely wood, an
garage, built in 1911, is one of unusual, inexpensive menu and
the best places to eat shellfish in excellent Badger beers.
London. Half a dozen oysters
start at £7.50, while an entire Bunch of Grapes
plateau de fruits de mer will set 207 Brompton Rd. This popular
you back nearly £30. High Victorian pub, complete
with snob screens, is the perfect
Gordon Ramsay place for a post-museum pint.
68–69 Royal Hospital Rd t 020/7352
4441, w www.gordonramsay.com. Cross Keys
Closed Sat & Sun. Gordon 1 Lawrence St. Tucked away in the
Ramsay’s Chelsea restaurant is a centre of wealthy, villagey
class act through and through, Chelsea, this is a friendly, snug
though you have to book ahead and popular pub.
to eat here. Set lunches start at
£35; fixed-price à la carte Star Tavern
menus start at £65. 6 Belgrave Mews West. Smart, quiet
and convivial two-storey mews
Hunan pub, with fine Fuller’s beers and
51 Pimlico Rd t 020/7730 5712. classy food.
Closed Sun. Probably England’s
only restaurant serving Hunan
food, a relative of Sichuan
cuisine. Most people opt for the
£30 “leave-it-to-us feast” which
lets the chef, Mr Peng, show
what he can do.

O Fado
45–50 Beauchamp Place t 020/7589
3002. This long-established
Portuguese restaurant can get
rowdy, what with the live fado
ballads and the family parties,
but that’s half the enjoyment.
Book in advance.  BIBENDUM OYSTER HOUSE

Contents Places
164

High Street Kensington


to Notting Hill
High Street Kensington to Notting Hill PLACES

Kensington High Street – better known as High Street


Ken – is a busy shopping district with all the major UK
chains represented. Cultural diversion is at hand,
though, in Holland Park and the exotically decorated
Leighton House, tucked away in the peaceful surround-
ing streets of white stucco mansions. Notting Hill and
adjoining Bayswater, to the north, were slum areas for
many years, with a reputation as dens of vice and
crime, but gentrification has changed them immeasur-
ably over the last forty years. Now the area is rammed
solid with trendy – but wealthy – media folk, yet retains
a strong Moroccan and Portuguese presence, as well
as vestiges of the African-Caribbean community who
initiated – and still run – Carnival, the city’s giant
August Bank Holiday street party.

Leighton House in the 1860s.The big attraction


12 Holland Park Rd w www.rbkc is its domed Arab Hall. Based on
.gov.uk/leightonhousemuseum. Mon & the banqueting hall of a
Wed–Sun 11am–5.30pm. Free. Moorish palace in Palermo, it
Leighton House was built by has a central black marble
the architect George Aitchison fountain, and is decorated with
for Frederic Leighton, President Saracen tiles, gilded mosaics and
of the Royal Academy and the latticework drawn from all over
only artist ever to be made a the Islamic world.The other
peer (albeit on his deathbed). “It rooms are less spectacular but, in
will be opulence, it will be compensation, are hung with
sincerity”, the artist opined excellent paintings by Lord
before construction commenced Leighton and his Pre-Raphaelite
friends Edward Burne-Jones,
Lawrence Alma-Tadema and
John Everett Millais. Skylights
brighten the upper floor, where
evening concerts are held in
Leighton’s vast studio (call
t 020/7602 3316).

Holland Park
The leafy former grounds of the
Jacobean Holland House, now
replete with woodland and
playing fields, Holland Park also
boasts several formal areas, such
 HOLLAND HOUSE, HOLLAND PARK as the Japanese-style Kyoto

Contents Places
165
AD

ENUE
0 200 yds EATING & DRINKING

FIFTHAV
Al Waha 11 Elbow Room 12 Market Bar 6

NGTON ROAD

ALL ROAD

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Kensal Green IL BBed
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PLACES High Street Kensington to Notting Hill


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WA
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Gardens laid out around the restaurant and a contemporary,


house (only the east wing of small-scale art gallery (daily
which survived the last war). 11am–7pm; free).
Peppered with modern
sculptures, the gardens drift Portobello Road Market
down in terraces to the arcades, Main market Mon–Wed, Fri & Sat
Garden Ballroom and Ice 8am–6.30pm, Thurs 8am–1pm;
House, which have been antiques Sat 6am–4pm. Situated in
converted into a café, a one of the wealthiest, celebrity-

Contents Places
166
saturated parts of town, buried here under some of the
Portobello Road Market is most extravagant Gothic tombs
probably London’s trendiest, yet in the whole of London.
it’s always a great spot for a Hemmed in by railway,
browse and a bargain.Things gasworks and canal, the
High Street Kensington to Notting Hill PLACES

kick off, at the intersection with cemetery is vast, so it makes a


Chepstow Road, with junky lot of sense to join one of the
antique stalls and classier, pricier guided tours (£5) that take
antique shops. After a brief place every Sunday at 2pm and,
switch to fruit and veg around on the first and third Sunday of
the Electric Cinema, the market the month, include a visit to
gets a lot more fun and funky at the catacombs (bring a torch).
Portobello Green under the Graves of the more famous
Westway flyover, where the incumbents – Thackeray,
emphasis switches to retro Trollope, Siemens and the
clothes and jewellery, odd Brunels – are less interesting
trinkets, records and books.The architecturally than those
merchandise gets progressively arranged on either side of the
cheaper as the market swings Centre Avenue, which leads
east into Golborne Road, which from the easternmost entrance
has its own constellation of on Harrow Road. Worth
bric-a-brac stalls. looking out for are Major-
General Casement’s bier, held
Kensal Green Cemetery up by four grim-looking
Harrow Rd w www.kensalgreen.co.uk. turbaned Indians; circus
Opened in 1833, Kensal Green manager Andrew Ducrow’s
Cemetery was the first of the conglomeration of beehive,
city’s commercial graveyards, sphinx and angels; and artist
and immediately proved itself William Mulready’s neo-
to be extremely popular – a Renaissance extravaganza.
whole host of luminaries are

Shops
Flow Gallery
1–5 Needham St t 020/7243 0782,
w www.flowgallery.co.uk. Showing
the work of mainly British
artists, this new enterprise excels
in well-crafted goods, such as
jewellery, fabrics and sculpture.

Notting Hill Farmers’ Market


Kensington Palace car park. Sat
9am–1pm. Fresh fruit, veg,
pastries and cakes brought in
from farms around London.

Rough Trade
130 Talbot Rd t 020/7229 8541,
w www.roughtrade.com. Indie
specialist with knowledgeable,
 WROUGHT-IRON PORCH NEAR HOLLAND PARK friendly staff and a dizzying

Contents Places
167
array of wares, from electronica
to hardcore and beyond.

Cafés

PLACES High Street Kensington to Notting Hill


Cashbar
105–107 Talbot Rd. Laid-back,
Cuban-style café just off
Portobello Road, offering all-
day breakfasts, soups, fritters,
burgers and cocktails.Tables
outside in summer.

Costas Fish Restaurant


18 Hillgate St. Closed Mon & Sun.
This old-fashioned Greek-
Cypriot caff offers one of the
best fish-and-chips experiences
in London.
 TRELLICK TOWER, GOLBORNE ROAD
Lisboa Patisserie
57 Golborne Rd. Authentic Large Chinese fish restaurant
Portuguese pastelaria, with the that purports to sell more
best pasteis de nata (custard tarts) lobsters (at around £15 a
this side of Lisbon – also coffee, pound) than anywhere else in
cakes and a friendly Britain.Waiters deftly wheel
atmosphere. four-foot diameter table tops
around like giant hoops as they
set up communal tables for
Restaurants parties of Chinese diners.

Al Waha The Mandola


75 Westbourne Grove t 020/7229 139 Westbourne Grove t 020/7229
0806. Arguably London’s best 4734, w www.mandolacafe.com.
Lebanese restaurant; meze- Strikingly delicious “urban
obsessed (£5 and under), but Sudanese” food at sensible
also painstaking in its prices – main courses hover
preparation of the main-course around £10 – served by
dishes (from around £10). extremely laid-back staff. Check
out the spiced coffee to round
Galicia off your meal.
323 Portobello Rd t 020/8969 3539.
Closed Mon. Pleasant Spanish Rodrizio Rico
restaurant without pretension. 111 Westbourne Grove t 020/7792
The tapas at the bar are 4035. Eat as much as you like for
straightforward and good, so it’s around £20 at this Brazilian
no surprise that quite a lot of churrascaria. Carvers come round
customers get no further. Most and lop off chunks of freshly
dishes are under £10. grilled, smoky meats from
skewers, while you prime your
Mandarin Kitchen plate from the salad bar and hot
14–16 Queensway t 020/7727 9012. buffet.

Contents Places
High Street Kensington to Notting Hill PLACES 168

 ALFRESCO DRINKING, WESTBOURNE PARK ROAD

Ion
Pubs and bars 161–165 Ladbroke Grove
w www.meanfiddler.com. Cool
Bed Bar contemporary feel to this Mean
310 Portobello Rd. Moroccan- Fiddler-run bar situated under
themed DJ bar, crammed with the Westway.There’s food
hedonistic locals standing on the available on the mezzanine, plus
sofas, arms aloft while the DJs R&B/soul DJs (and queues
spin funky house and Latin- outside) most nights.
tinged beats.
Market Bar
Cherry Jam 240a Portobello Rd. Self-consciously
52 Porchester Rd w www.cherryjam bohemian pub with gilded
.net. Co-owned by Ben Watt mirrors and weird objets – all
(house DJ and half of pop group very Notting Hill.
Everything But The Girl), this
smart, intimate basement place Prince Bonaparte
mixes a decadent cocktail bar 80 Chepstow Rd. Very popular
with top-end West London DJs pared-down, trendy, minimalist
from the broken beat and deep pub, with acres of space for
house scenes. sitting and supping while
enjoying the bar snacks or the
The Cow excellent Brit or Med food in
89 Westbourne Park Rd. Owned by the restaurant area.
Tom Conran, son of gastro-
magnate Terence, this pub pulls The Westbourne
in the beautiful W11 types, 101 Westbourne Park Villas. One of a
thanks to its spectacular food, trio of popular bare-boards
which includes a daily supply of Notting Hill gastropubs, serving
fresh oysters. top-notch Brit-Med food.

Elbow Room Windsor Castle


103 Westbourne Grove w www 114 Campden Hill Rd. Very pretty,
.elbow-room.co.uk. With its very popular traditional
designer decor, purple-felt English pub with a great
American pool tables, and better- courtyard, that would like to
than-average grilled fast-food think it’s out in the country
and beer, Elbow Room has rather than tucked away in the
redefined the pool pub. backstreets.

Contents Places
169

Regent’s Park and


Camden

PLACES Regent’s Park and Camden


Framed by dazzling Nash-designed, magnolia-stuccoed
terraces, and home to London Zoo, Regent’s Park is a
very civilized and well-maintained spot. Nearby
Camden, by contrast, has a scruffy feel to it, despite its
many well-to-do residential streets. This is partly due to
the chaos and fall-out from the area’s perennially popu-
lar weekend market, centred around Camden Lock on
the Regent’s Canal. A warren of stalls with an alterna-
tive past still manifest in its quirky wares, street fash-
ion, books, records and ethnic goods, the market
remains one of the city’s biggest off-beat attractions.
Regent’s Park with a diversity of communities
w www.royalparks.org.uk. According for the lunchtime Friday
to John Nash’s 1811 masterplan, prayers.
drawn up for the Prince Regent By far the prettiest section of
(later George IV), Regent’s Park the park is Queen Mary’s
was to be girded by a Gardens, which lie within the
continuous belt of terraces, and central Inner Circle. As well as a
sprinkled with a total of 56 pond replete with exotic ducks,
villas, including a magnificent and a handsomely landscaped
pleasure palace for the Prince
himself.The plan was never fully
realized, but enough was built to
create something of the idealized
garden city that Nash and the
Prince Regent envisaged.
Pristine, mostly Neoclassical
terraces form a near-unbroken
horseshoe around the Outer
Circle, which marks the park’s
perimeter along with a handful
of handsome villas. Prominent
on the skyline is the shiny
copper dome and minaret of the
London Central Mosque at
146 Park Road (wwww.islamic-
culturalcentre.co.uk), an entirely
appropriate addition to the park
given the Prince Regent’s taste
for the Orient. Non-Muslim
visitors are welcome to look in
at the information centre, and
glimpse inside the hall of  CHESTER TERRACE ARCHES,
worship, which is packed out REGENT’S PARK

Contents Places
170
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EATING & DRINKING


Bar Vinyl 9 The Engineer 7 Marine Ices 1 Viet-Anh Cafe 12
Bartok 2 Lansdowne 6 Odette’s 4 WKD 8
Café Delancey 13 Mango Rooms 10 Primrose
Camden Brewing Co. 11 Manna 3 Patisserie 5

© Crown copyright

giant rockery, a large slice of the traced the limit of London’s


gardens is taken up with a northernmost suburbs at the
glorious rose garden, featuring time. Quickly superseded by the
some 400 varieties surrounded railway, the canal never really
by a ring of ramblers. Along the paid its way as its investors had
eastern edge of the park, the hoped. By some miracle,
tree-lined Broad Walk forms a however, it escaped being
stately approach (much covered over or turned into a
appreciated by rollerbladers) to rail or road route, and its nine
the park’s most popular miles, 42 bridges, twelve locks
attraction, London Zoo (see and two tunnels stand as a
opposite). reminder of London’s industrial
heyday, and provide an
Regent’s Canal invaluable traffic-free towpath
Completed in 1820, Regent’s that’s great for walking or
Canal was constructed as part of cycling.The lockless run
a direct link from Birmingham between Little Venice and
to the newly built London Camden Town is the busiest,
Docks; its seemingly random most attractive stretch, tunnelling
meandering, from Paddington to through to Lisson Grove, skirting
the River Thames at Limehouse, Regent’s Park, slicing London

Contents Places
171
Zoo in two, and passing straight
through the heart of Camden
Market. It’s also the one section
that’s served year-round by
narrowboats offering pleasure

PLACES Regent’s Park and Camden


cruises (see box), which are
without doubt the best way to
take in the canal.

London Zoo
Outer Circle, Regent’s Park
w www.londonzoo.co.uk. Daily:
March–Oct 10am–5.30pm; Nov–Feb
10am–4pm. £13. Over the last
decade or so, London Zoo has
sought to redefine itself as an
eco-conscious place whose
prime purpose is to save species
under threat of extinction. It’s
still not the most uplifting spot
 LONDON CENTRAL MOSQUE
for animal-lovers, though the
enclosures are as humane as any
inner-city zoo could make Snowdon Aviary, and the eco-
them, and kids usually love the conscious, invertebrate-filled
place. Smaller ones are Web of Life.
particularly taken with the
children’s enclosure, where they Camden Market
can handle the animals, and the w www.camdenlock.net. For all its
regular “Animals in Action” live tourist popularity, Camden
shows where the keepers bring Market remains a genuinely
some of their charges out into offbeat place.The tiny crafts
the open – owls swoop over the market which began in the
audience’s heads and lemurs cobbled courtyard by the lock
climb up the furniture, but has since mushroomed out of all
there’s no demeaning proportion, with everyone
“performing” involved.The zoo trying to grab a piece of the
boasts some striking action on both sides of Camden
architectural features, too, most High Street and Chalk Farm
notably the modernist, spiral- Road. More than 150,000
ramped 1930s concrete penguin shoppers turn up here each
pool. Other zoo landmarks weekend, and some stalls now
include the colossal tetrahedral stay open all week long,
aluminium-framed tent of the alongside a crop of shops, cafés

Regent’s Canal by boat


Three companies run boat trips on the Regent’s Canal between Camden and
Little Venice: the narrowboat Jenny Wren (t 020/7485 4433), Jason’s
(t 020/7286 3428, w www.jasons.co.uk) and the London Waterbus Company
(t 020/7482 2660). The latter two run trips all year round, though on weekends
only in winter. Tickets from all the companies cost £5–6 one-way (and only a lit-
tle more return), and journey time is fifty minutes one-way.

Contents Places
172
and bistros.The overabundance Offstage Theatre and Cinema
of cheap leather, hippy chic, naff Bookshop
jewellery and out-and-out 37 Chalk Farm Rd t 020/7485 4996.
kitsch is compensated for by the Excellent, well-stocked shop
sheer variety of what’s on offer: covering all aspects of stage and
Regent’s Park and Camden PLACES

everything from bootleg tapes screen craft, plus theory,


to furniture and mountain criticism, scripts and
bikes, alongside a mass of biographies.
clubwear and street-fashion
stalls, and takeaway food outlets Rhythm Records
ready to fuel hungry shoppers 281 Camden High St t 020/7267 0123.
with wok-fried noodles, bowls Small, manic shop offering a
of paella, burgers, kebabs, cakes huge range of indie CDs upstairs
and smoothies. (no vinyl), and staff who know
exactly what you’re asking for.
Downstairs is a calmer affair,
Shops with rock, folk, soul and R&B
vinyl treasures and a pretty hip
Laurence Corner selection of jazz CDs.
62–64 Hampstead Rd t 020/7813
1010. London’s oldest and most
eccentric army surplus shop,
which also stocks catering
Cafés
uniforms, thermals, heavy-duty Café Delancey
waterproofs and many kinds of 3 Delancey St. Camden’s best
hats. French-style brasserie, serving
coffee, croissants, snacks and full
Modern Age Vintage Clothing meals.
65 Chalk Farm Rd t 020/7482 3787.
Splendid outlet (mostly Marine Ices
menswear) for lovers of 1940s 8 Haverstock Hill. Splendid and
and 1950s American-style gear. justly famous old-fashioned
The best bargains are on the Italian ice-cream parlour; pizza
rails outside: inside, the very and pasta are served in the
lovely cashmere and leather adjacent restaurant.
coats are a bit pricier.
Primrose Patisserie
136 Regent’s Park Rd. Very popular
pastel-pink and sky-blue
patisserie in fashionable
Primrose Hill, offering superb
East European cakes and
pastries.

Viet-Anh Cafe
41 Parkway t 020/7284 4082.
Authentic, bright, cheerful café
run by a friendly and
welcoming young Vietnamese
couple.Try the prawn sugar-
cane sticks, the slurpy noodle
soups or the hot lemongrass
 REGENT’S CANAL, LITTLE VENICE chicken, all for around a fiver.

Contents Places
173

PLACES Regent’s Park and Camden


 CAMDEN MARKET

Restaurants archetypal club-bar, with guest


DJs and a record shop downstairs.
Mango Rooms
10 Kentish Town Rd t 020/7482 5065. Bartok
Closed Mon. An engaging, laid- 78–79 Chalk Farm Rd. Sink into one
back, Camden-cool Caribbean of the sofas and sup beer or wine,
place, where the cooking is while listening to classical music
consistent and the presentation instead of the usual muzak.
first-class. Starters are under £5,
mains around £10. Camden Brewing Co.
1 Randolph St. Refurbished old
Manna pub with a boldly colourful
4 Erskine Rd t 020/7722 8028, designer interior, comfy sofas,
w www.manna-veg.com. Closed real fires and good Thai food.
Mon–Fri lunch, Sat & Sun eve. Old-
fashioned, casual vegetarian The Engineer
restaurant with 1970s decor, 65 Gloucester Ave. Smart, grandiose
serving eclectic dishes in large Victorian pub in an equally
portions. Starters hover around well-to-do residential area – the
£5, while mains breach £10. food is exceptional, though
pricey; get a seat early if you’re
Odette’s intending to partake.
130 Regent’s Park Rd t 020/7586
5486. Closed Sat lunch & Sun eve. Lansdowne
Charming, picturesque local 90 Gloucester Ave. Big, bare-boards
restaurant serving well-judged – minimalist pub with comfy
though pricey – Modern British sofas, in elegant Primrose Hill.
food. Set lunches cost around Pricey, tasty food that’s a far cry
£15 – a bargain, since main from most pub grub.
courses can easily touch £20.
WKD
18 Kentish Town Rd. Laid-back café
Pubs and bars and club-bar, where Saturday
daytime features jazz, rare-groove
Bar Vinyl and hip-hop, and the evenings
6 Inverness St. This tiny, funky are a fusion of soul, reggae and
glass-bricked place is the funky vibes. Open late.

Contents Places
174

Hampstead and Highgate


The high points of North London, both geographically
and aesthetically, the elegant, largely eighteenth-centu-
Hampstead and Highgate PLACES

ry developments of Hampstead and Highgate have


managed to cling on to their village origins. Of the two,
Highgate is slightly sleepier and more aloof,
Hampstead busier and buzzier, with high-profile intelli-
gentsia and discerning pop stars among its residents.
Both benefit from direct access to one of London’s
wildest patches of greenery, Hampstead Heath, where
you can enjoy stupendous views over London, kite-fly-
ing and nude bathing, as well as outdoor concerts and
high art in and around the Neoclassical country man-
sion of Kenwood House.
Fenton House by the building’s last private
Windmill Hill w www.nationaltrust owner, Lady Binning. Among
.org.uk. Mid-March to Oct Wed–Fri the spinets, virginals and
2–5pm, Sat & Sun 11am–5pm. £4.50. clavichords, look out especially
Set grandly behind wrought- for the early English grand
iron gates, Fenton House is piano, an Unverdorben lute
decorated in impeccable from 1580 (one of only three in
eighteenth-century taste, and the world) and, on the ground
houses a collection of European floor, a harpsichord from 1612,
and Oriental ceramics as well as on which Handel is thought to
a superb assortment of early have played. Experienced
musical instruments, bequeathed keyboard players are sometimes
let loose on the instruments
during the day.There’s very little
information in the house, so it’s
worth buying the briefer of the
guides on sale at the entrance,
and hiring a tape of music
played on the above instruments
(£1), to listen to while you
walk round.You should also take
a stroll in the beautiful formal
garden (same hours as house;
free), which features some top-
class herbaceous borders.

Freud Museum
20 Maresfield Gardens w www.freud
.org.uk. Wed–Sun noon–5pm. £5.
Hidden away in the leafy streets
of south Hampstead, the Freud
Museum is one of the most
poignant of London’s museums.
 FENTON HOUSE GATES Having lived in Vienna for his

Contents Places
175
entire adult life, Sigmund Freud Fleming lived close by and had
was forced to flee the Nazis, and a deep personal dislike of both
arrived in London during the Goldfinger and his modernist
summer of 1938 as a semi- abode.
invalid (he died within a year).

PLACES Hampstead and Highgate


The ground-floor study and Keats House
library look exactly as they did Keats Grove w www.keatshouse
when Freud lived here – the .org.uk. Tues–Sun: April–Oct
collection of erotic antiquities noon–5pm; Nov–March noon–4pm.
and the famous couch, £3. An elegant, whitewashed
sumptuously draped in Persian Regency double villa, Keats
carpets, were all brought here House is a shrine to
from Vienna. Upstairs, home Hampstead’s most lustrous
movies of family life in Vienna figure. Inspired by the
are shown continually, and a tranquillity of the area and by
small room is dedicated to his his passion for girl-next-door
daughter, Anna, herself an Fanny Brawne (whose house is
influential child analyst, who also part of the museum), Keats
lived in the house until her wrote some of his most famous
death in 1982. works here before leaving for
Rome, where he died of
2 Willow Road consumption in 1821 aged just
t 020/7435 6166, w www 25.The neat, rather staid
.nationaltrust.org.uk. March & Nov Sat interior contains books and
noon–5pm; April–Oct Thurs–Sat letters, Fanny’s engagement ring
noon–5pm. £4.50. An unassuming and the four-poster bed in
red-brick terraced house built which the poet first coughed
in the 1930s by the Hungarian- up blood, confiding to his
born architect Ernö Goldfinger, companion, Charles Brown,
2 Willow Road gives a “that drop of blood is my death
fascinating insight into the warrant”.
modernist mindset.This was a
state-of-the-art pad when Hampstead Heath
Goldfinger moved in, and as he North London’s “green lung”
changed little during the Hampstead Heath is the city’s
following sixty years, what you most enjoyable public park,
see today is a 1930s avant-garde and though little of its original
dwelling preserved in aspic, a heathland remains, there’s still a
house at once both modern wonderful variety of bucolic
and old-fashioned. An added scenery in its 800 acres. At the
bonus is that the rooms are park’s southern end are the
packed with works of art by rolling green pastures of
the likes of Max Ernst, Parliament Hill, north
Duchamp, Henry Moore and London’s premier spot for
Man Ray. kite-flying. On either side are
Before 3pm, visits are by numerous ponds, three of
hour-long guided tour only which – one for men, one for
(noon, 1 & 2pm), for which women and one mixed – you
you must book in advance; after can swim in for free (daily
3pm, the public has unguided, 7am–9pm or dusk). The
unrestricted access. Incidentally, thickest woodland is to be
James Bond’s adversary is found in the West Heath,
indeed named after Ernö – Ian beyond Whitestone Pond, also

Contents Places
176
Hampstead Garden Suburb

WINN
ING
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H
L A

WIL
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GOLDERS GREEN T T
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WE Hampstead
Hampstead and Highgate PLACES

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Swiss Cottage

the site of the most formal home to flamingos, cranes and


section, Hill Garden, a secretive other exotic birds.
and romantic little gem with
eccentric balustraded terraces Kenwood House
and a ruined pergola. Beyond Hampstead Heath. Daily: April–Sept
lies Golders Hill Park, where 10am–6pm; Oct 10am–5pm;
you can gaze at pygmy goats Nov–March 10am–4pm. Free. The
and fallow deer, and inspect the Heath’s most celebrated sight is
impeccably maintained aviaries, the whitewashed Neoclassical

Contents Places
177

STO

IS

RO

C
Highgate

AD

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NORTH RD

LANE OO D
M P S H I G H G AT E

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PLACES Hampstead and Highgate


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Chalk Farm © Crown copyright

mansion Kenwood House, set in Rembrandt, Boucher,


its own magnificently Gainsborough and Reynolds.
landscaped grounds at the high Of the period interiors, the
point of the park.The house is most spectacular is Robert
home to the Iveagh Bequest, a Adam’s sky-blue and gold
superlative collection of library, its book-filled apses
seventeenth- and eighteenth- separated from the central
century art, including a handful entertaining area by paired
of real masterpieces by Vermeer, columns.

Contents Places
178
The East Cemetery’s lack of
atmosphere is in part
compensated for by the fact
that you can wander at will
through its maze of circuitous
Hampstead and Highgate PLACES

paths. On the other side of


Swain’s Lane, the overgrown
West Cemetery, with its spooky
Egyptian Avenue and terraced
catacombs, is the ultimate
Hammer-horror graveyard.
Visitors can only enter by way
of a guided tour (March–Nov
Mon–Fri noon, 2pm & 4pm,
Sat & Sun hourly 11am–4pm;
Dec–Feb Sat & Sun hourly
11am–3pm; £3). Among the
prominent graves usually visited
are those of artist Dante Gabriel
Rossetti, and of lesbian novelist
Radclyffe Hall.

 KITE FLYER, HAMPSTEAD HEATH


Cafés
To the south of the house, a Brew House
grassy amphitheatre slopes down Kenwood House, Hampstead Heath.
to a lake, where outdoor Full English breakfasts, lunches,
classical concerts are held on cakes and teas served in the old
summer evenings (more info on laundry, in the courtyard or on
t 020/7973 3427, or visit the terrace overlooking the
w www.picnicconcerts.com). lake.

Highgate Cemetery Café Mozart


Swain’s Lane w www 17 Swain’s Lane. Conveniently
.highgate-cemetery.org.Receiving located on the southeast side of
far more visitors than Highgate Hampstead Heath, with a
itself, Highgate Cemetery is wicked Viennese cake selection
London’s most famous and soothing classical music.
graveyard.The most illustrious
incumbent of the East dim T café
Cemetery (April–Oct Mon–Fri 3 Heath St. Narrow Thai café
10am–5pm, Sat & Sun serving dim sum and noodle
11am–5pm; Nov–March closes dishes, washed down with
4pm; £2) is Karl Marx. Erected Chinese tea.
by the Communist movement
in 1954, his vulgar bronze bust Lauderdale House
surmounting a granite plinth is Waterlow Park, Highgate Hill. Closed
a far cry from the unfussy Mon. Lovely café with a terrace
memorial he had requested; overlooking the park, offering
close by lies the much simpler full meals and, on summer
grave of the author George weekends, outrageous
Eliot. strawberry-and-cream scones.

Contents Places
179
Louis Patisserie retained much of its original
32 Heath St. Popular and Victorian interior.
engagingly old-fashioned
Hungarian tearooms serving Flask
fantastic sticky cakes to a mix of 77 Highgate West Hill. Ideally

PLACES Hampstead and Highgate


Heath-bound hordes and elderly situated at the heart of Highgate
locals. village green, with a rambling,
low-ceilinged interior and a
summer terrace – as a result, it’s
Restaurants very popular.

Cucina Freemason’s Arms


45a South End Rd t 020/7435 7814. 32 Downshire Hill. Big, smart pub
Closed Sun eve. Brightly painted, close to the Heath, of interest
fashionable first-floor primarily for its large beer
restaurant where the Modern garden and its basement skittle
British menu changes every alley.
two weeks or so – it darts
about a bit from cuisine to Holly Bush
cuisine, but each dish is well 22 Holly Mount. A lovely old gas-lit
presented. Starters cost around pub, tucked away in the steep
£5, mains £10-plus. backstreets of Hampstead
village. Can get a bit too
The Gate 2 mobbed at weekends.
72 Belsize Lane t 020/7435 7733,
w www.gateveg.co.uk. Closed Mon & Spaniard’s Inn
Tues lunch. Contemporary Spaniards Rd. Big sixteenth-
vegetarian restaurant, serving century coaching inn near to
excellent and original dishes Kenwood and the Heath,
(starters around £5, mains frequented over the years by
around £10) with intense and everyone from Dick Turpin to
satisfying tastes and textures. John Keats. Aviary, pergola and
roses in the garden.
Jin Kichi
73 Heath St t 020/7794 6158. Closed
Mon & Tues–Fri lunch. Cramped,
rather shabby Japanese
restaurant that’s nonetheless
very busy (book ahead). Sushi is
available, but the speciality is
deliciously marinated “grilled
skewers” (seven for around
£10) of anything from
asparagus and pork to chicken
gizzard.

Pubs
Flask
14 Flask Walk. Located on one of
Hampstead’s more atmospheric
lanes, this convivial local has  FLASK PUB, FLASK WALK

Contents Places
180

Greenwich
Greenwich is one of London’s most beguiling spots. Its
nautical associations are trumpeted by the likes of the
Greenwich PLACES

magnificent Cutty Sark tea clipper and the National


Maritime Museum; its architecture, especially the Old
Royal Naval College and the Queen’s House, is some of
the finest on the river; and its Observatory is renowned
throughout the world. With the added attractions of
riverside pubs and walks, plus a large and well-main-
tained park with superb views across the river and to
Docklands, and a popular weekend market, you can
see why Greenwich is the one place in southeast
London that draws large numbers of visitors.

Cutty Sark pulls in as many visitors as the


King William Walk w www.cuttysark.org rest of the area’s attractions
.uk. Daily 10am–5pm. £4.25. The combined. Like Camden, it’s a
Cutty Sark cuts an impressive sprawling, slightly disparate
figure on the riverfront, its three affair, with three main areas to
square-rigged masts towering head for. In the original covered
over the centre of Greenwich. Victorian section is the Crafts
The world’s last surviving tea Market, which sells twentieth-
clipper, built in 1869, it in fact century antiques (Thurs & Fri
lasted just eight years in the 7.30am–5.30pm), assorted arts
China tea trade, and it was as a and crafts (Thurs–Sun
wool clipper that it made its 9.30am–5.30pm), from spoon
name, returning from Australia mobiles to mounted exotic
in a record-breaking 72 days. butterflies, and deli food. Nearby
Inside, there’s an exhibition in Stockwell Street holds the
the main hold which tells the Central Market (Sat & Sun
ship’s fascinating history, from its 7am–5pm), with a two-floor,
inception to its arrival in indoor secondhand books
Greenwich in 1954. section, plus outdoor stalls and
the indoor Village Market,
Greenwich Market stuffed with bric-a-brac – there’s
w www.greenwichmarket.net. At
the even an adjacent organic food
weekend (particularly on market on Saturdays. Finally,
Sundays), Greenwich Market there’s the Antiques Market

Getting to Greenwich
Greenwich is most quickly reached from central London by train from Charing
Cross, Waterloo East or London Bridge (every 30min), although taking a boat from
one of the piers between Westminster and Tower Bridge is more scenic and
leisurely (and more expensive). Another possibility is to take the Docklands Light
Railway (DLR; see p.134) from Bank or Tower Gateway direct to Cutty Sark. For
the best view of the Wren buildings, get out at Island Gardens, and then take the
Greenwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames.

Contents Places
181
Isle of Dogs
Greenwich
Foot Tunnel
Greenwich Pier River Thames
Deptford

TH
AM
Old ST Q
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Blackheath train station © Crown copyright

Contents Places
182
magnificent Painted Hall
features trompe l’oeil fluted
pilasters, and James Thornhill’s
gargantuan allegorical ceiling
painting depicting William and
Greenwich PLACES

Mary handing down Peace and


Liberty to Europe, with a
vanquished Louis XIV clutching
a broken sword below them.

National Maritime Museum


and Queen’s House
Romney Rd w www.nmm.ac.uk. Daily
10am–5pm. Free. The excellent
National Maritime Museum
houses a vast collection of boats
 GREENWICH MARKET
and nauticalia, imaginatively dis-
(Sat & Sun 9am–5pm), off played in modern, interactive
Greenwich High Road, which galleries designed to appeal to
is really more about collectibles visitors of all ages.The spectacu-
– old comics, pop and sports lar glass-roofed, central court-
memorabilia – and junk. yard houses the museum’s
largest artefacts, among them
Old Royal Naval College the splendid 63ft-long gilded
Romney Rd w www Royal Barge, designed in
.greenwichfoundation.org.uk. Daily Rococo style by William Kent
10am–5pm. Free. It’s entirely for Prince Frederick, the much
appropriate that the Old Royal unloved eldest son of George II.
Naval College is the one The themed galleries of the
London building that makes the museum proper are superbly
most of its riverbank location. designed to appeal to visitors of
Initially intended as a royal all ages. In “Explorers”, on Level
palace,Wren’s beautifully 1, you get to view some of the
symmetrical Baroque ensemble museum’s most highly prized
was eventually converted into a relics, such as Captain Cook’s
hospital for disabled seamen in sextant and K1 marine clock,
the eighteenth century. From Shackleton’s compass, and
1873 until 1998 it was home to Captain Scott’s furry sleeping
the Royal Naval College, but bag and sledging goggles.
now houses the University of Sponsors P&O get to display
Greenwich and the Trinity their wares in “Passengers”,
College of Music. which traces the history of
The two grandest rooms, modern passenger liners, and
situated underneath Wren’s twin “Cargoes”, which concentrates
domes, are magnificently on containerization. On Level
opulent and well worth visiting. 2, there’s a large maritime art
The Chapel’s exquisite pastel- gallery, a contemporary section
shaded plasterwork and on the future of the sea, and a
spectacular decorative detailing gallery devoted to the legacy of
on the ceiling were designed by the British Empire, warts and
James “Athenian” Stuart, after a all.
fire in 1799 destroyed the Level 3 boasts two hands-on
original interior.The galleries: “The Bridge”, where

Contents Places
183
you can navigate a catamaran, a royal deer enclosure in “The
paddle steamer and a rowing Wilderness” and its
boat to shore; and “All Hands”, semicircular rose garden.
where children can have a go at
radio transmission, loading Royal Observatory

PLACES Greenwich
miniature cargo, firing a cannon Greenwich Park w www.rog.nmm.ac
and so forth. Finally, you reach .uk. Daily: April–Sept 10am–6pm;
the Nelson Gallery, which con- Oct–March 10am–5pm. Free.
tains the museum’s vast collec- Perched on the crest of
tion of Nelson-related memora- Greenwich Park’s highest hill,
bilia, including Turner’s Battle of the Royal Observatory is
Trafalgar, 21st October, 1805, his housed in a rather dinky Wren-
largest work and only royal built red-brick building, whose
commission. northeastern turret sports a
The Queen’s House is the bright-red time-ball that climbs
focal point of Greenwich’s the mast at 12.58pm and drops
riverside architectural ensemble at 1pm GMT precisely; it was
and an integral part of the added in 1833 to allow ships
Maritime Museum. A bright on the Thames to set their
white Palladian villa flanked by clocks.
colonnades, it’s modest for a Greenwich’s greatest claim to
royal residence, but as the first fame, of course, is as the home
Neoclassical building in the of Greenwich Mean Time
country it has enormous (GMT) and the Prime
significance. Inside, one or two Meridian. Since 1884,
features survive (or have been Greenwich has occupied zero
reinstated) from Stuart times, longitude – hence the world
most notably the cuboid Great sets its clocks by GMT.The
Hall, with its Gentileschi fresco, observatory itself was established
and the beautiful Tulip Staircase, in 1675 by Charles II to house
Britain’s earliest cantilevered the first Astronomer Royal, John
spiral staircase – its name Flamsteed, whose chief task was
derives from the floral to study the night sky in order
patterning in the wrought-iron to discover an astronomical
balustrade. method of finding the longitude
of a ship at sea, the lack of
Greenwich Park which was causing enormous
w www.royalparks.co.uk. Daily
dawn–dusk. A welcome escape
from the traffic and crowds,
Greenwich Park is a great
place to have a picnic or
collapse under the shade of
one of the giant plane trees.
The chief delight, though, is
the superb view from the steep
hill crowned by the Royal
Observatory (see opposite),
from which Canary Wharf
looms large over Docklands
and the Millennium Dome.
The park is also celebrated for
its rare and ancient trees, its  TULIP STAIRCASE, QUEEN’S HOUSE

Contents Places
184
problems for the emerging
British Empire. Astronomers
continued to work here until
the postwar smog forced them
to decamp; the old observatory,
Greenwich PLACES

meanwhile, is now a very


popular museum.
The oldest part of the
complex is the aforementioned
Wren-built Flamsteed House,
containing Flamsteed’s restored
apartments and the Octagon
Room, where the king used to
show off to his guests. The
Chronometer Gallery beyond
focuses on the search for the  ROSE GARDEN, GREENWICH PARK

precise measurement of
longitude, and displays four of taste was eclectic, ranging from
the marine clocks designed by medieval ivory miniatures to
John Harrison, including “H4”, Iznik pottery, though he was
which helped win the definitely a man who placed
Longitude Prize in 1763. technical virtuosity above
In the Meridian Building, you artistic merit. Upstairs, the high
get to see several meridians, points of the collection are
including the present-day Memlinc’s Virgin and Child, a
Greenwich Meridian fixed by pair of sixteenth-century
the cross hairs in Airy’s “Transit majolica dishes decorated with
Circle”, the astronomical mythological scenes for Isabella
instrument that dominates the d’Este; downstairs, take note of
last room.Things end on a the Reynolds portraits and de
soothing note in the Telescope Hooch interior.
Dome of the octagonal Great
Equatorial Building, home to
Britain’s largest telescope. In
addition, there are regular
Shops
presentations in the Planetarium Compendia
(daily 2.30 & 3.30pm; £4), 10 Greenwich Market t 020/8293
housed in the adjoining South 6616, w www.compendia.co.uk. Old-
Building. fashioned games shop, selling
traditional board games from all
Ranger’s House over the globe, as well as pub
Chesterfield Walk w www favourites like bagatelle, shove
.english-heritage.org.uk. Wed–Sun: ha’penny and skittles.
April–Sept 10am–6pm; Oct
10am–5pm; Nov, Dec & March Marcet Books
10am–4pm. £4.50. An imposing 23 Nelson Rd t 020/8853 5408,
red-brick Georgian villa, the w www.marcetbooks.co.uk. As befits
Ranger’s House shelters an art Greenwich, this is one of a
collection amassed by Julius number of bookshops
Wernher, the German-born specializing in nautical titles.
millionaire who made his Good selection of old prints and
money by exploiting South maps, too, as well as crime
Africa’s diamond deposits. His novels.

Contents Places
185
Cafés £17 for two courses, £20 for
three, with lunches a couple of
Gambardella pounds cheaper.
48 Vanbrugh Park. Closed Sun. Old-
style caff serving filling, comfort Zero Degrees

PLACES Greenwich
food in a beautiful Art Deco 29–31 Montpelier Vale t 020/8852
interior. 5619, w www
.zerodegrees-microbrewery.co.uk.
Goddard’s Micro-brewery beers and
45 Greenwich Church St. Traditional gourmet pizzas cooked in a
pies (including veggie ones), eels wood-fired oven are the rewards
and mash, served in an emerald- at this modern pizzeria.
green tiled interior.

Pistachio’s Café
15 Nelson Rd. Just about the only
Pubs
good sandwich place in the Cutty Sark
centre of Greenwich; the coffee Ballast Quay, off Lassell St. The best
is excellent, and there are tables riverside pub in Greenwich,
in a small garden out back. with friendly staff, an
appropriately nautical flavour, a
Tai Won Mein good range of real ales and pub
39 Greenwich Church St. Good- grub served all day.
quality noodle bar that gets very
busy at weekends. Choose Richard I
between rice, soup or various 52–54 Royal Hill. Popular local
fried noodles all for under a tucked away off the main drag.
fiver. Good beer and a garden make it
an ideal post-market retreat –
and if it’s too crowded, the Fox
Restaurants & Hounds next door is good, too.

Chapter Two Trafalgar Tavern


43–45 Montpelier Vale t 020/8333 5 Park Row. A great riverside
2666, w www.chaptersrestaurants position and a mention in
.com. Sleek, modern and Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend have
professionally run, this is a made this Regency-style inn a
decent local restaurant serving firm favourite. Good whitebait
classic, well-thought-out French and other pub snacks.
dishes. Set price dinners cost

Contents Places
186

Kew and Richmond


The wealthy suburbs of Kew and Richmond like to
think of themselves as aloof from the rest of London,
Kew and Richmond PLACES

and in many ways they are. Both have a distinctly rural


feel: Kew, thanks to its outstanding botanic gardens;
Richmond, thanks to its picturesque riverside setting.
Taking the leafy towpath from Richmond Bridge to one
of the nearby stately homes, or soaking in the view
from Richmond Park, you’d be forgiven for thinking you
were in the countryside. Both Kew and Richmond are
an easy tube ride from the centre, but the most pleas-
ant way to reach them is to take one of the boats that
plough up the Thames from Westminster.

Syon House and gardens the edges.There are several more


Twickenham Rd w www.syonpark Adam-designed rooms to admire,
.co.uk. House April–Oct Wed, Thurs & and a smattering of works by van
Sun 11am–5pm. Gardens daily Dyck, Lely, Gainsborough and
10.30am–5.30pm; £3.50. House Reynolds adorn the walls.
£3.50, house and gardens £6.95. While Adam beautified Syon
From its rather plain, castellated House, Capability Brown laid
exterior, you’d never guess that out its gardens around an
Syon House boasts London’s artificial lake, surrounding the
most opulent eighteenth-century water with oaks, beeches, limes
interior.The splendour of and cedars.Those with young
Robert Adam’s refurbishment is children will be compelled to
immediately revealed in the make use of the miniature steam
pristine Great Hall, an apsed train which runs through the
double cube with a screen of park at weekends from April to
Doric columns at one end and October, and on Wednesdays
classical statuary dotted around during the school holidays.

Butterfly House
Syon Park, Twickenham Rd
w www.butterflies.org.uk. Daily:
May–Sept 10am–5pm; Oct–April
10am–4pm. £4.95. Another of
Syon’s plus-points for kids is its
Butterfly House, a small, mesh-
covered hothouse where you
can walk amid hundreds of
exotic butterflies from all over
the world, as they flit about the
foliage – the giant swallowtails
are particularly spectacular. An
adjoining room houses a
collection of iguanas, millipedes,
tarantulas and giant hissing
 SYON PARK GATES Tanzanian cockroaches.

Contents Places
187
Chiswick

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PLACES Kew and Richmond


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Backhaus © Crown copyright

Contents Places
188
London Aquatic Experience
Syon Park, Twickenham Rd
w www.aquatic-experience.org. Daily:
April–Sept 10am–6pm; Oct–March
10am–5pm. £4. The purpose-built
Kew and Richmond PLACES

London Aquatic Experience


displays a mixed range of
creatures from the mysterious
basilisk, which can walk on
water, to the perennially popular
piranhas.There are plenty of
other life-threatening creatures,
too, such as crocodiles, pythons,
boas and even poison-arrow
frogs. Look out, too, for the bird
collection, which includes
macaws, parrots, weaver birds and
some very colourful starlings.

Kew Gardens
w www.kew.org. Daily 9.30am–7.30pm
or dusk. £6.50. Established in
1759, Kew’s Royal Botanic
Gardens have grown from their
original eight acres into a 300-
acre site in which more than
 PAGODA, KEW GARDENS
33,000 species are grown in
plantations and glasshouses, a known palm species, while
display that attracts over a there’s a small but excellent
million visitors every year, who tropical aquarium in the
come simply to enjoy the basement. South of here is the
beautiful landscaped parkland largest of the glasshouses, the
and steamy palmhouses.There’s Temperate House, which
always something to see, contains plants from every
whatever the season, but to get continent, including the sixty-
the most out of the place, come foot Chilean Wine Palm, one of
sometime between spring and the largest indoor palms in the
autumn, bring a picnic and stay world.
for the day. Elsewhere in the park, Kew’s
There are four entry points to origins as an eighteenth-century
the gardens, but the majority of royal pleasure garden are evident
people arrive at Kew Gardens in the numerous follies dotted
tube and train station, a few about the gardens, the most
minutes’ walk east of the conspicuous of which is the
Victoria Gate. Immediately ten-storey, 163-foot-high
opposite the Victoria Gate, the Pagoda, visible to the south of
Palm House is by far the most the Temperate House. A sure
celebrated of the gardens’ way to lose the crowds is to
glasshouses, a curvaceous mound head for the thickly wooded,
of glass and wrought-iron southwestern section of the park
designed by Decimus Burton in around Queen Charlotte’s
the 1840s. Its drippingly humid Cottage (April–Sept Sat & Sun
atmosphere nurtures most of the 10.30am–4pm; free), a tiny

Contents Places
189
thatched summerhouse built in rhododendrons; the Isabella
the 1770s as a royal picnic spot Plantation is particularly
for George III’s queen. attractive. For refreshment, head
for Pembroke Lodge, a teahouse
Richmond Riverside near King Henry VIII’s Mount;

PLACES Kew and Richmond


Pedestrianized, terraced and this is the park’s highest point,
redeveloped in the late 1980s, affording wonderful views right
Richmond’s riverside is a neo- out to Windsor and back into
Georgian pastiche for the most central London.
part, and a popular one at that.
The real joy of the waterfront, Ham House
though, is Richmond Bridge, an Ham St w www.nationaltrust.org.uk
elegant span of five arches made /hamhouse. April–Oct Mon–Wed, Sat
from Purbeck stone in 1777 and & Sun 1–5pm. £7. Expensively
cleverly widened in the 1930s, furnished in the seventeenth
thus preserving what is century but little altered since
London’s oldest extant bridge. then, Ham House boasts one
From April to October you can of the finest Stuart interiors in
rent rowing boats from the the country, from the
nearby jetties, or take a boat trip stupendously ornate Great
to Hampton Court or Staircase to the Long Gallery,
Westminster. Alternatively, you featuring six “Court Beauties”
can simply head south down the by Peter Lely. Elsewhere, there
towpath, past the terraced are several fine Verrio ceiling
gardens which give out great paintings, some exquisite
views over the river. Quite parquet flooring, lavish
quickly, the towpath leaves the plasterwork and silverwork as
rest of London far behind. On well as paintings by van Dyck
either side are the wooded and Reynolds. Another bonus
banks of the Thames; to the left are the formal seventeenth-
cows graze on Petersham century gardens (Mon–Wed,
Meadows; beyond lies Ham Sat & Sun 10.30am–6pm; £3),
House (see opposite). especially the Cherry Garden,
with a pungent lavender
Richmond Park parterre surrounded by yew
w www.royalparks.gov.uk. Daily: hedges and pleached hornbeam
March–Sept 7am–dusk; Oct–Feb
7.30am–dusk. Free. Richmond’s
greatest attraction is its
enormous park, at the top of
Richmond Hill – 2500 acres of
undulating grassland and
bracken, dotted with coppiced
ancient woodland. Eight miles
across at its widest point, this is
Europe’s largest city park, famed
for its red and fallow deer,
which roam freely, and for its
venerable oaks. For the most
part untamed, the park does
have a couple of deliberately
landscaped areas which feature
splendid springtime azaleas and  DEER IN RICHMOND PARK

Contents Places
Kew and Richmond PLACES 190

 VIEW FROM RICHMOND HILL

arbours. The Orangery, splash of colour is provided by


overlooking the original Panini’s Roman landscapes
kitchen garden, currently serves above each of the doors.The
as a tearoom. other highlight is Lady Suffolk’s
Bedchamber, which features an
Marble Hill House Ionic columned recess – a
Marble Hill Park, Richmond Rd classic Palladian device.You can
w www.english-heritage.org.uk. play minigolf in the grounds,
April–Sept daily 10am–6pm; Oct daily and there are open-air concerts
10am–5pm. £3.50. This stuccoed on occasional summer evenings
Palladian villa, set in rolling (more info on t 020/8892
green parkland, was built in 5115, or visit w www
1729 for the Countess of .picnicconcerts.com).
Suffolk, mistress of George II
for some twenty years and,
conveniently, also a lady-in-
waiting to his wife, Queen
Shops
Caroline (apparently “they hated Backhaus
one another very civilly”). 175 Ashburnham Rd, Richmond
Nothing remains of the original t 020/8948 6040,
furnishings, and though some w www.backhaus.co.uk. Top
period furniture has taken its German bakery making
place the house can feel barren authentic cheesecakes, Stollen
– it’s a good idea to get some and to-die-for rye breads, with
background via a free an adjacent deli selling sausages
audioguide.The principal space and cheese.
is the Great Room, a perfect
cube whose coved ceiling The Lion & Unicorn
carries on up into the top-floor 19 King St, Richmond t 020/8940
apartments. Copies of van Dyck 0483, w www.lionunicornbooks.co.uk.
decorate the walls as they did in Wonderful, busy children’s
Lady Suffolk’s day, and a further bookshop that regularly

Contents Places
191
organizes visits by popular main courses, including lots of
children’s writers on Saturdays. fresh fish and shellfish, and wash
it all down with Breton cider.

Cafés Kozachok

PLACES Kew and Richmond


10 Red Lion St, Richmond t 020/8948
Hothouse Café 2366. Closed Mon. Significantly
9 Station Parade, Kew. This stylish, eccentric Ukrainian restaurant
inexpensive and congenial café decorated with naïve cartoon
is a great place to fuel up before murals.Warm service, authentic
hitting the botanic gardens. Full blini (for around £5), pelmeni,
English breakfasts, sandwiches shashlik (for more like £10), and
and pastries, and an unusually lots of flavoured vodkas.
large variety of breads, coffees,
teas and juices.

Maison Blanc
Pubs
27b The Quadrant, Richmond. White Cross Hotel
French patisserie ideal for Water Lane, Richmond. With a
picking up a picnic of bread longer pedigree and more
and pastries before heading on character than its rivals, the
to the park. White Cross has a very popular,
large garden overlooking the
river.
Restaurants White Swan
Chez Lindsay Riverside, Twickenham. Filling pub
11 Hill Rise, Richmond t 020/8948 food, draught beer and a quiet
7473. Small, bright and authentic riverside location (except on
Breton creperie with a loyal rugby match days) make this a
local following, offering fixed- good halt on any towpath
price lunchtime menus for just ramble.There’s a beer pontoon
£6. Choose between galettes, if you want to get closer to the
crepes or more formal French water.

Contents Places
192

Hampton Court
Hampton Court Palace is the finest of England’s royal
abodes and well worth the trip out from central
Hampton Court PLACES

London. A wonderfully imposing, sprawling red-brick


ensemble on the banks of the Thames, it was built in
1516 by the upwardly mobile Cardinal Wolsey, Henry
VIII’s Lord Chancellor, only to be purloined by Henry
himself after Wolsey fell from favour. Charles II laid out
the gardens, inspired by what he had seen at Versailles,
while King William III and Queen Mary II had large sec-
tions of the palace remodelled by Wren. With so much
to see, both inside and outside the palace, you’d be
best off devoting the best part of a day to the place,
taking a picnic with you to have in the grounds.
Royal Apartments ornate Chapel Royal, one of the
w www.hrp.org.uk. April–Oct Mon most memorable sights in the
10.15am–6pm, Tues–Sun 9.30am–6pm; whole palace, with its colourful
Nov–March closes 4.30pm. £11.50. plasterwork vaulting, heavy with
Arriving by train or boat, you pendants of gilded music-making
approach the Tudor Great cherubs.The Queen’s Apartments
Gatehouse, no longer moated but (intended for Queen Mary) boast
still very mighty, prickling with wonderful trompe l’oeil frescoes
turrets, castellations, chimneypots on the grandiose Queen’s
and pinnacles. King Henry Staircase and in the Queen’s
lavished more money on Drawing Room, where Anne’s
Hampton Court than any other husband is depicted riding naked
palace, yet the only major survival and wigless on the back of a
from Tudor times in Henry VIII’s “dolphin”.The gem of the
State Apartments is his Great Georgian Rooms is in fact the
Hall, which features a glorious Wolsey Closet, a tiny Tudor
double hammerbeam ceiling.The room that gives a tantalizing
other highlight is the superbly glimpse of the splendour of the
original palace.The King’s
Apartments, built at the same
time as the Queen’s, are even
more grand, particularly the
militaristic trompe l’oeil
paintings on the King’s Staircase
and the Great Bedchamber,
which boasts a superb vertical
Gibbons frieze and ceiling
paintings by Verrio.
The Renaissance Picture
Gallery is chock-full of treasures
from the vast Royal Collection
including paintings by
Tintoretto, Lotto,Titian,
 HAMPTON COURT PALACE GATEHOUSE Cranach, Bruegel and Holbein.

Contents Places
193
Bushy Park
HAMP
TON C
OUR T ROA
D

AD
Lion RO AD
H A M PTO N C O U R T

T RO
Gates Flower Pot
Gates

OUR
Maze
NC

W A L K
PTO

PLACES Hampton Court


HAM

D
HA Tiltyards

B R O A
M Wilderness
PT
ON
CT
RD
Ticket Rose
Office Garden
Trophy Gates & Shop
Royal
Tennis
Hampton Court Palace Court
GE
RID
RT B
COU

Great Base
N
PTO

R i Gatehouse Clock
Court Fountain
HAM

v e Court
i
r Long
Lower Fountain
Court Water
Orangery
Great Vine Pond Garden Garden

Hampton Court Privy


Banqueting
K

Train Station Garden


W A L

House
D
HAMPTON

B R O A
T
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COURT W

Tijou Screen
N
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AY

0 100 yds

© Crown copyright

Last, but not least, are the earthy been restored and embellished
and evocative Tudor Kitchens, with historical reconstructions.
large sections of which have To make the most of this route,
survived to this day and have you really do need to use the

Getting to and around the palace


Trains from Waterloo take around half an hour to reach Hampton Court train sta-
tion which is just across the river from the palace.
The Royal Apartments are divided into six thematic walking tours, which are
numbered and colour-coded. There’s not a lot of information in any of the rooms,
but guided tours, each lasting half an hour or so, are available at no extra charge
for the state apartments; all are led by period-costumed historians, who do a fine
job of bringing the place to life. In addition, the King Henry VIII’s Apartments, the
Tudor Kitchens, the King’s Apartments and the Georgian Rooms are served by an
audioguide, available (again at no extra charge) from the information centre on
the east side of Clock Court. If your energy is lacking – and Hampton Court is a
huge complex – the most rewarding sections are Henry VIII’s State Apartments
(aka the Tudor Rooms), the King’s Apartments (remodelled by William III) and the
Tudor Kitchens. And be sure not to miss out on the Maze.

Contents Places
194
audioguide, which helps to Capability Brown and averaging
evoke the scene with about seven hundred bunches of
contemporary accounts. Black Hamburg grapes per year.
Close by stands the Wren-built
The Gardens and the Maze Lower Orangery, now a dimly
Hampton Court PLACES

If you’re coming from the lit gallery for Andrea Mantegna’s


Royal Apartments, you’ll luminous richly coloured
probably emerge onto the masterpiece, The Triumphs of
magnificent Broad Walk, which Caesar. Painted around 1486 for
runs along Wren’s austere east the Ducal Palace in Mantua,
front and is lined with superbly Mantegna’s home town, these
maintained herbaceous borders. heroic paintings are among his
Halfway along is the indoor best works, characterized by an
Royal Tennis Court (50p), accomplished use of perspective
established here by Henry VIII – and an obsessive interest in
if you’re lucky, you might catch archeological and historical
a game of this arcane precursor accuracy.
of modern tennis. The most famous feature of
Fanning out from the Broad the palace gardens, however, is
Walk is the Fountain Garden, a the yew hedge Maze (£3; free
grand, semicircular parterre with palace ticket), laid out in
featuring conical dwarf yew 1714. It’s a deceptively tricky
trees.To the south of the palace labyrinth that’s a winner with
is the more formal Privy kids and adults alike.
Garden (£3; free with palace
ticket) which feature Bushy Park
magnificent wrought-iron Bushy Park is the perfect place
riverside railings by Jean Tijou. to escape the crowds and head
The Pond Gardens, originally off into the semi-wilderness,
constructed as ornamental fish home to copious herds of fallow
ponds stocked with freshwater and red deer.Wren’s mile-long
fish for the kitchens, feature royal road, Chestnut Avenue, cuts
some of the gardens’ most through the park and is at its best
spectacularly colourful in May when the horse chestnuts
flowerbeds. Further along, are in blossom. Off to the west
protected by glass, is the palace’s of Chestnut Avenue, it’s worth
celebrated Great Vine, grown heading off to the Waterhouse
from a cutting in 1768 by Woodland Gardens, created in
1949, and at their most colourful
each spring when the
rhododendrons, azaleas and
camellias are in bloom.

Pubs
King’s Arms
Lion Gates, Hampton Court Road. Bare
bricks, wood panelling and
mosaic floor tiles combine to
recreate the feel of a Georgian
coaching inn. Popular pub food
 SWANS IN BUSHY PARK and Badger beers.

Contents Places
Accommodation

Contents Accommodation
Accommodation

Contents Accommodation
197

Hotels, B&Bs and

ACCOMMODATION Hotels, B&Bs and hostels


hostels
Compared with most European Westminster
cities, accommodation in City Inn 30 John Islip St t020/7630
London is expensive.The cheap- 1000, wwwwcityinn.com. Vast, modern,
est option is a dorm bed at one hotel close to Parliament; rooms are well
of the numerous independent insulated from outside noise and the break-
hostels, followed closely behind fasts are epic. Doubles from £165.
by the official YHA Melbourne House Hotel 79 Belgrave Rd
(wwww.yha.org.uk) places. Even t020/7828 3516, wwww
the most basic B&Bs struggle to .melbournehousehotel.co.uk. Family run,
bring their tariffs below £50 for well furnished place, offering clean and
a double with shared facilities, bright en-suite rooms, excellent communal
and you’re more likely to find areas and friendly service. Doubles from
yourself paying £60 to £70 or £85.
more. For a decent hotel room, Oxford House Hotel 92–94 Cambridge
St t020/7834 6467. The best-value near
you shouldn’t expect much
Victoria station. Pristine shared facilities, full
change out of £100 a night. In
English breakfast is included. Doubles from
upmarket hotels – particularly
£50.
those in or near the City – Sanctuary House Hotel 33 Tothill St
prices are significantly higher t020/7799 4044, wwww.fullershotels
during the week. Unless other- .co.uk. Situated above a Fuller’s pub, and
wise stated, all accommodation is decked out like one, too, in smart, pseudo-
marked on the maps in this Victoriana. Breakfast is extra. Doubles from
chapter. £85.

Booking a room
London doesn’t really have a low season, though things do slacken off a little in
the months just after Christmas. It’s wise, therefore, to try and book your accom-
modation in advance, particularly if you want to stay in one of the more popular
places. If you book by phone, many places will ask for a credit card number, oth-
ers for written or faxed confirmation, while a few may even ask for a deposit.
If you’re stuck, all London tourist offices (see p.210) operate a room-booking
service, for which around £5 is levied. You can also book online for free at
wwww.visitlondon.com; payment is made directly to the hotel on checking out,
and discounts can be excellent. Other useful websites include wwww.lastminute
.com, which almost always offers discounts, and wwww.hotelsengland.com.
In addition, Thomas Cook has accommodation desks at Gatwick Airport
(t01293/529372) and will book anything from youth hostels through to five-
star hotels for a £5 fee. There are also British Hotel Reservation Centre (BHRC;
wwww.bhrc.co.uk) desks at Heathrow (t020/8564 8808), and Gatwick
(t01293/502433) airports, and several in and around Victoria train station
(t020/7828 2425). Most offices are open daily from 6am till midnight, and
there’s no booking fee.

Contents Accommodation
198

ST GH S
HI
JO T
ACCOMMODATION 0 500 yds

HN
VALE

RT
W

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W
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30 King Henry’s Road 1 Melbourne House 23

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5 Maddox Street 11 Metropolitan 14

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Hotels, B&Bs and hostels ACCOMMODATION

PRINCE
AD

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Abbey House 16 Morgan House 19

ROAD
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Paddington Lord’s

RD
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Five Sumner Place 20 Portobello 12 D
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Contents Accommodation
1
199

CENTRAL LONDON – WEST


Regent's Park

ACCOMMODATION Hotels, B&Bs and hostels


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© Crown copyright

Contents Accommodation
200
Topham’s Hotel 26 Ebury St t020/7730 period-piece nostalgia, with doormen, lots
8147, wwww.tophams.co.uk. Charming of wood panelling and old prints. Doubles
family-owned hotel in the English country- from £140.
Hotels, B&Bs and hostels ACCOMMODATION

house style. Sumptuously furnished en-suite Edward Lear Hotel 28–30 Seymour St
twins or doubles, and full English breakfast t020/7402 5401, wwww.edlear.com.
included. Doubles from £130. Great location, lovely flower boxes and a
Windermere Hotel 142–144 Warwick plush foyer. Though the rooms themselves
Way t020/7834 5163, wwww need a bit of a makeover, the low prices
.windermere-hotel.co.uk. Tastefully deco- reflect both this and the fact that most have
rated, quietly stylish place, with mostly en- shared facilities. Doubles from £70.
suite rooms and a tasty restaurant down- Hotel La Place 17 Nottingham Place
stairs. Doubles from £90. t020/7486 2323,
Woodville House & Morgan House 107 & wwww.hotellaplace.com. Small, good-
120 Ebury St t020/7730 1048 & 7730 value place; the en-suite rooms are
2384, wwww.woodvillehouse.co.uk & equipped with lots of gadgets and comfort-
wwww.morganhouse.co.uk. Two above- ably furnished. Doubles from £120.
average B&Bs, run by the same vivacious Lincoln House Hotel 33 Gloucester
couple. Great breakfasts, patio garden and Place t020/7486 7630, wwww
an iron and a fridge for guests to use. .lincoln-house-hotel.co.uk. Wood pan-
Doubles from £65. elling gives this Georgian B&B a ship’s
cabin feel; rooms are en suite and well
equipped. Doubles from £80.
Piccadilly and Wigmore Court Hotel 23 Gloucester
Place t020/7935 0928, wwww
Mayfair .wigmore-court-hotel.co.uk. Better than
The Metropolitan Old Park Lane average Georgian B&B, boasting comfort-
t020/7447 1000, wwww.metropolitan able rooms en suite, as well as a laundry
.co.uk. This terrifyingly trendy hotel adheres and a basic kitchen for guests’ use.
to the fad for pared-down minimalism. Its Doubles from £75.
Japanese restaurant is outstanding, and the
bar is very fashionable. Doubles from
around £250. Soho
No. 5 Maddox Street 5 Maddox St The Fielding Hotel 4 Broad Court, Bow
t020/7647 0200, wwww Street t020/7836 8305, wwww
.5maddoxstreet.com. With a very discreet .the-fielding-hotel.co.uk. Quiet, traffic-free
entrance, this complex of suites is all location that’s a firm favourite with visiting
bamboo flooring and trendy minimalist performers, since it’s just a few yards from
decor. Each has an open fireplace, the Royal Opera House. Breakfast is extra.
workstation, TV, kitchen and decked Doubles from £100.
balcony, and muji foldaway bikes are Hazlitt’s 6 Frith St t020/7434 1771,
available. Suites from £230. wwww.hazlittshotel.com. Early eigh-
The Ritz 150 Piccadilly t020/7300 teenth-century hotel of real character and
2308, wwww.theritzhotel.co.uk. In a charm, offering en-suite rooms decorated
class of its own, with extravagant Louis XVI as close to period style as convenience
interiors and air of decadent luxury. Rooms and comfort allow. Continental breakfast
maintain the opulent French theme. Doubles (served in the rooms) is extra. Doubles
from around £350. from £230.
Manzi’s 1–2 Leicester St t020/7734
0224, wwww.manzis.co.uk. Above a
Marylebone restaurant of the same name, this is one of
Durrants Hotel George St t020/7935 very few easily affordable West End hotels,
8131, wwww.durrantshotel.co.uk. This although noise might prove to be a nui-
Georgian terrace hotel is a great exercise in sance. Continental breakfast is included.

Contents Accommodation
201
Doubles from £70. wwww.astorhostels.com. Quiet Astor
Oxford Street YHA 14 Noel St hostel (for under 30s), set in a lovely
t020/7734 1618, Georgian house. No bar, though still a

ACCOMMODATION Hotels, B&Bs and hostels


Eoxfordst@yha.org.uk. The West End sociable, laid-back place with a small
location and modest size mean booking kitchen, TV lounge, Internet access and
ahead is essential here. No café, but a large breakfast included. Dorms from £15; dou-
kitchen. Dorms from £25. bles from £45.
myhotel 11–13 Bayley St, Bedford
Square t020/7667 6000, wwww
Bloomsbury .myhotels.co.uk. Feng shui hotel, with
The Academy 21 Gower St t020/7631 small, double-glazed, air-conditioned rooms,
4115, wwww.theetoncollection.com. a gym, a very pleasant library and a sushi
Very smart place popular with business folk. restaurant. Doubles from £220.
Service is excellent, all rooms are air-condi- Ridgemount Hotel 65–67 Gower St
tioned, with luxurious bathrooms, and there t020/7636 1141, wwww
are two lovely patio gardens. Doubles from .ridgemounthotel.co.uk. Old-fashioned,
£180. very friendly family-run place, with small
Ashlee House 261–265 Gray’s Inn Rd rooms – half with shared facilities – a
t020/7833 9400, garden, free hot-drinks machine and a
wwww.ashleehouse.co.uk. Basic, clean laundry service. Cash only. Doubles from
and friendly hostel in a converted office £50.
block. Breakfast is included. Dorm beds for Hotel Russell Russell Square
around £20; twins from £50. t020/7837 6470,
Hotel Cavendish 75 Gower St wwww.lemeridien.com. From its grand
t020/7636 9079, wwww 1898 exterior to its opulent interiors of
.hotelcavendish.com. A real bargain, with marble, wood and crystal, this late-
welcoming owners, a lovely walled garden Victorian landmark fully retains its period
and some quite well-preserved original fea- atmosphere in all its public areas. Rooms
tures. All rooms have shared facilities. live up to the grandeur of the lobby, if not
Doubles from £50. necessarily to its style. Doubles from
Crescent Hotel 49–50 Cartwright £130.
Gardens t020/7387 1515, wwww St Pancras YHA 79–81 Euston Rd
.crescenthoteloflondon.com. t020/7388 9998 estpancras@yha.org
Comfortable and tastefully decorated B&B, .uk. Big hostel with very clean, bright,
with a lovely blacked-up range in the triple-glazed, air-conditioned dorms and
breakfast room. All rooms are en suite. private rooms, some even en suite. Dorms
Doubles from £90. from £25; twins from £50.
Generator Compton Place, off Tavistock Thanet Hotel 8 Bedford Place
Place t020/7388 7666, wwww t020/7636 2869, wwww.thanethotel
.the-generator.co.uk. Huge, funky hostel .co.uk. Small, friendly, family-run B&B
tucked away down a cobbled street. The close to the British Museum. Rooms are
post-industrial decor may not be to every- clean, bright and freshly decorated, all with
one’s taste, but it’s a bargain. Breakfast en-suite showers and tea- and coffee-mak-
included. Dorms from around £15; doubles ing facilities. The same people run the
from £25. neighbouring Pickwick hostel. Doubles from
Jenkins Hotel 45 Cartwright Gardens £95.
t020/7387 2067, wwww.jenkinshotel
.demon.co.uk. Smartly kept, family-run
place with just fourteen fairly small but well- Covent Garden
equipped rooms, most of which are en suite. One Aldwych 1 Aldwych t020/7300
Doubles from £85. 1000, wwww.onealdwych.com. Very
Museum Inn 27 Montague St fashionable, minimalist luxury hotel with
t020/7580 5360, underwater music in the hotel pool, oodles

Contents Accommodation
202
King’s Cross R O A D
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Contents Accommodation
203

WH

SH EP HE
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PROV
CENTRAL LONDON – EAST
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ACCOMMODATION Hotels, B&Bs and hostels


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AD

© Crown copyright

Contents Accommodation
204
of modern art, and TVs in the bathrooms. mer Midland Bank building, now converted
Rooms from around £225. into a boutique hotel, with every mod con
St Martin’s Lane 45 St Martin’s Lane from plasma TV screens to cordless digital
Hotels, B&Bs and hostels ACCOMMODATION

t020/7300 5500 or 0800/634 5500, telephones. Doubles from around £150.


wwww.ianschragerhotels.com. Self-
consciously chic “boutique hotel” from the
New York-based Ian Schrager chain, with Hoxton and
the startling Light Bar and the sushi Sea
Bar on site. Doubles start around £250.
Spitalfields
Seven Dials Hotel 7 Monmouth St City Hotel 12 Osborn St t020/7247
t020/7681 0791, wwww.infotel.co.uk. 3313, wwww.cityhotellondon.co.uk.
Pleasant, small, family-run hotel in an out- Spacious, clean and modern with plainly
standing location; the en-suite rooms have decorated en-suite rooms, some with
TV and tea/coffee-making facilities. Doubles kitchens; four-person rooms are a bargain
from £75. for families or small groups. Doubles from
£150.

Smithfield and
Docklands
Clerkenwell Four Seasons Hotel Canary Wharf 46
Malmaison Charterhouse Square Westferry Circus t020/7510 1999,
t020/7012 3700, wwww.malmaison wwww.fourseasons.com. A spectacular
.com. The Victorian red-brick facade gives
riverfront setting, ultra-modern interiors,
way to modern, understated decor in muted
pool, fitness centre, spa, tennis courts and
tones; well-equipped rooms have enormous
the option of taking the boat into town.
beds and the restaurant is very good.
Doubles from £175. See map on p.136.
Doubles from £165.
The Rookery 12 Peter’s Lane, Cowcross
Street t020/7336 0931, wwww South Bank
.rookeryhotel.com. Rambling Georgian
London County Hall Travel Inn
town house that makes a fantastically dis-
Belvedere Rd t020/7902 1619,
creet little hideaway. Decor is a deliciously
wwww.travelinn.co.uk. No river views at
camp, modern take on the Baroque period.
these prices, but the County Hall location is
Doubles from £265.
pretty good. Decor and ambience are func-
tional, but the flat-rate rooms are a bargain.
The City Rooms from £80.
City of London YHA 36 Carter Lane Mad Hatter 3–7 Stamford St t020/7401
t020/7236 4965, 9222, wwww.fullershotels.co.uk.
ecity@yha.org.uk. Crowded, 200-bed Situated above a pub on the corner of
hostel opposite St Paul’s Cathedral. Dorms Blackfriars Road. Breakfast is extra, week-
from £25; twins from £50. end deals are good and the location is
Great Eastern Hotel Liverpool St great. Doubles from £85.
t020/7618 5010, wwww.great Marriott London County Hall Hotel
-eastern-hotel.co.uk. This venerable County Hall t020/7928 5200,
late-nineteenth-century station hotel has wwww.marriott.com. Expensive and
had a minimalist makeover, yet manages plush County Hall hotel, with the majority of
to retain much of its clubby flavour. rooms offering river views (many have
Doubles from around £150 at the week- small balconies too). Full-size indoor pool
end. and well-equipped gym. Doubles from
Threadneedles 5 Threadneedle St around £200.
t020/7657 8080, wwww
.theetoncollection.com. Magnificent for-

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205
Bankside and also a fab roof terrace for breakfast (which
costs extra). Doubles from £230.
Southwark

ACCOMMODATION Hotels, B&Bs and hostels


St Christopher’s Village 161–165 High Street
Borough High St t020/7407 1856,
wwww.st-christophers.co.uk. Efficiently Kensington to Notting
run hostel, with upbeat, cheerful decor and
a party-animal ambience. Dorms from £10; Hill
twins from £55. Abbey House 11 Vicarage Gate
t020/7721 7395, wwww
.abbeyhousekensington.com. Inexpensive
Hyde Park and Victorian B&B in a quiet street just north of
Kensington High Street, maintained to a
Kensington Gardens very high standard by its attentive owners.
Leinster Inn 7–12 Leinster Square Rooms are large and bright – prices are
t020/7229 9641, kept down by sharing facilities. Full English
wwww.astorhostels.com. Biggest and breakfast. Cash only. Doubles from £75.
liveliest of the Astor hostels for under 30s, Holland House YHA Holland Walk
with a party atmosphere. Dorms from £15; t020/7937 0748
twins from £45. ehollandhouse@yha.org.uk. Idyllically
situated in the wooded expanse of Holland
Park, this extensive hostel offers a decent
South Kensington, kitchen and an inexpensive café. Dorms
from around £20.
Knightsbridge and The Pavilion Hotel 34–36 Sussex
Chelsea Gardens t020/7262 0905, wwww
.msi.com.mt/pavilion. The successful rock
Aster House 3 Sumner Place
star’s home from home, with outrageously
t020/7581 5888,
over-the-top decor and every room individu-
wwww.asterhouse.com. Pleasant, non-
ally themed. Doubles from £100.
smoking B&B in a luxurious white-stuccoed
Portobello Hotel 22 Stanley Gardens
street; there’s a lovely garden at the back
t020/7727 2777, wwww
and a large conservatory, where breakfast is
.portobello-hotel.co.uk. Elegant Victorian
served. Doubles from around £140 a night.
hotel with individually designed double
Five Sumner Place 5 Sumner Place
rooms of varying sizes and prices, the most
t020/7584 7586, wwww
expensive overlooking the private gardens.
.sumnerplace.com. Discreetly luxurious Breakfast is included and there’s a restau-
B&B in a pretty white-stuccoed terrace; all rant and 24hr bar. Doubles from £160.
rooms are en suite and breakfast is served Vicarage Hotel 10 Vicarage Gate
in the lovely conservatory. Doubles from t020/7229 4030, wwww
£130. .londonvicaragehotel.com. Ideally located
Hotel 167 167 Old Brompton Rd B&B with clean rooms (some with shared
t020/7373 3221, wwww.hotel167.com. facilities), and a full English breakfast
Small, stylishly furnished B&B with en-suite included. Cash only. Doubles from £80.
facilities, double glazing and fridges in all
rooms. Continental buffet-style breakfast is
served in the attractive morning Regent’s Park and
room/reception. Doubles from £90.
Sloane Hotel 29 Draycott Place Camden
t020/7581 5757, 30 King Henry’s Road 30 King Henry’s
wwww.sloanehotel.com. Discreet hotel Road t020/7483 2871,
hidden in a terrace of red-brick mansions, eeingram@30kinghenrysroad.co.uk.
sumptuously stuffed full of antiques. There’s Handsome Victorian terraced house B&B

Contents Accommodation
206
with spacious rooms, resident dog and a stead@yha.org.uk. Large and well-
real homely feel. Doubles from around appointed hostel, with its own garden
£100. and the wilds of Hampstead Heath
Hotels, B&Bs and hostels ACCOMMODATION

International Students House 229 Great nearby. Dorms from £20; twins from
Portland St t020/7631 8300, £45.
wwww.ish.org.uk. Hundreds of beds in a Hampstead Village Guesthouse 2
vast complex at the southern end of Kemplay Rd t020/7435 8679,
Regent’s Park. Beds from around £15. wwww.hampsteadguesthouse.com.
Lovely B&B in an old house set in a quiet
backstreet near the Heath. Rooms (not all
Hampstead and en suite) have “lived-in” clutter. Doubles
from £75.
Highgate Langorf Hotel 20 Frognal t020/7794
The places listed below appear on the map 4483, wwww.langorfhotel.com. Pristinely
on pp.176–7. maintained, tastefully decorated hotel in a
Hampstead Heath YHA 4 Wellgarth trio of red-brick Victorian mansions, with a
Rd t 020/8458 9054, ehamp- walled garden. Doubles from £100.

Contents Accommodation
Essentials

Contents Essentials
Essentials

Contents Essentials
209

Arrival
London’s international airports are all and is served by the Stansted Express to
less than an hour from the city centre, Liverpool Street (every 15–30min; 45min),

ESSENTIALS
and the city’s train and bus terminals are which costs £13 single, £23 return. Air-
all pretty central, and have tube stations bus #6 also runs 24 hours a day to
close at hand. Victoria Coach Station (every 30min; 1hr
30min), and costs £10 single, £15 return.
By plane A taxi into central London will cost around
Heathrow Airport (t 0870/000 0123; £75, and take at least an hour.
Luton airport ( t 01582/405100;

Arrival
w www.baa.co.uk), 15 miles west of central
London, has four terminals and is served by w www.london-luton.com) is roughly 30
two train/tube stations: one for terminals 1, miles north of London, and mostly handles
2 and 3, and another for terminal 4. The charter flights. A free shuttle-bus takes
Heathrow Express (t 0845/600 1515, five minutes to transport passengers to
w www.heathrowexpress.co.uk) travels Luton Airport Parkway station, connected
non-stop to Paddington Station (every by Thameslink trains to King’s Cross and
15min; 15–20min) for £13 each way or other stations (every 15min; 30–40min)
£25 return (£2 more if you buy your ticket for £10 single, £20 return. Alternatively,
on board). Cheaper but slower is the Pic- Green Line buses (t 0870/608 7261,
cadilly Underground line into central w www.greenline.co.uk) run from Luton to
London (every 5–9min; 50min) for £3.70 Victoria Station (every 30min; 1hr 15min),
one-way. If you plan to make several jour- costing £8 single, £11.50 return. A taxi
neys on your arrival day, buy a Travelcard will cost around £70 and take at least an
(see p.210) rather than a single-destination hour to reach central London.
ticket. National Express (t 0870/580 City airport ( t 020/7646 0000,
8080, w www.go-by-coach.com) run buses w www.londoncityairport.com), the capi-
from Heathrow’s central bus station direct tal’s smallest, is situated nine miles east
to central London’s Victoria Coach Station of central London in the Docklands area.
(every 30min; 1hr), while Airbus #2 It handles European flights only, and is
(t 0870/574 7777) runs from outside all connected by shuttle-bus with Canning
four Heathrow terminals to several destina- Town tube (every 5min; 5min; £2.50),
tions in the city (every 30min; 1hr); tickets Canary Wharf (every 10min; 10min; £3),
for either cost £10 single, £15 return. After and Liverpool Street (every 10min; 30min;
midnight, you’ll have to take night bus #N9 £6). A taxi into the city’s financial sector
to Trafalgar Square (every 30min; 1hr) for a will cost around £20 and take half an
bargain fare of £1. A taxi will cost £45 to hour or so.
central London, and take an hour (longer in
the rush hour). By train and coach
Gatwick (t 0870/000 2468; w www Eurostar ( t 0870/160 6600,
.baa.co.uk), 30 miles to the south, has two w www.eurostar.com) trains arrive at
terminals, North and South, connected by a Waterloo International station in central
monorail. The Gatwick Express (t 0870/ London. Trains from the Channel ports
530 1530, w www.gatwickexpress.co.uk) arrive at the equally central Charing Cross
train runs non-stop between the South Ter- or Victoria, while boat trains from Harwich
minal and Victoria Station (every 15–30min; arrive at Liverpool Street, just east of the
30min) for £11 single, £21.50 return. A taxi centre and linked to the tube network.
ride into central London will set you back Arriving by train ( t 0845/748 4950,
£90 or more, and take at least an hour. w www.nationalrail.co.uk) from elsewhere
Stansted ( t 0870/000 0303; in Britain, you’ll come into one of Lon-
w www.baa.co.uk) lies 35 miles northeast, don’s numerous main-line stations, all of

Contents Essentials
210
which have adjacent Underground sta- .com), you’re most likely to arrive at Vic-
tions linking into the city centre’s tube toria Coach Station, a couple of hundred
network. Coming into London by coach yards south down Buckingham Palace
(t 0870/580 8080, w www.go-by-coach Road from Victoria train station and tube.
Information • City transport ESSENTIALS

Information
The main tourist office is the Britain and noon. In it you’ll find details of all the lat-
London Visitor Centre, near Piccadilly est exhibitions, shows, films, music,
Circus at 1 Regent Street (Mon–Fri sport, guided walks and events in and
9am–6.30pm, Sat & Sun 10am–4pm; around the capital.
t 020/7808 3864, w www.visitbritain
.com). The London Visitor Centre, run Websites
by the capital’s own tourist board, Visit
London, is in Waterloo International train w www.24hourmuseum.co.uk Up-to-
station (Mon–Sat 8.30am–10.30pm, Sun date information on virtually every single
9.30am–10.30pm; w www.visitlondon museum, large or small, in London.
.com). w www.londonnet.co.uk A virtual guide
Individual London boroughs also run to London with useful up-to-date listings on
tourist offices, the most useful of which eating, drinking and nightlife.
are: on the south side of St Paul’s Cathe- w www.myvillage.com Huge site that
dral (May–Sept daily 9.30am–5pm; covers every district/borough in London,
Oct–April Mon–Fri 9.30am–5pm; giving club, music, cinema and theatre
t 020/7332 1456); in Greenwich’s old listings, restaurant reviews, plus local
Royal Naval College (daily 10am–5pm; gossip and messageboards.
t 0870/608 2000); and inside Rich- w www.streetmap.co.uk Type in the
mond’s Old Town Hall (Mon–Fri London address you want and this site will
10am–5pm; Easter–Sept also Sat & Sun locate it for you in seconds.
10.30am–1.30pm; t 020/8940 9125). w www.thisislondon.com Website of The
For “what’s on” information, buy the Evening Standard, London’s only daily
weekly listings magazine Time Out newspaper, with constantly updated news
(£2.20), published every Tuesday after- and listings.

City transport
London’s transport network is among the transport information (t 020/7222 1234;
most complex and expensive in the world. w www.tfl.gov.uk). If you can, avoid travel-
You can get a free transport map from ling during the rush hour (Mon–Fri
any tube station, or from one of the more 8–9.30am & 5–7pm) when tubes
comprehensive Transport for London (TfL) become unbearably crowded, and some
travel information offices, at Piccadilly buses get so full they won’t let you on.
Circus tube station (daily 8.45am–6pm);
there are other desks at the arrivals at Travelcards
Heathrow (terminals 1, 2, & 4), Oxford Cir- To get the best value out of the public
cus and St James’s Park (Mon–Fri only) transport system, buy a Travelcard. Avail-
tubes, Victoria Coach Station, and Euston, able from machines and booths at all tube
King’s Cross, Liverpool Street, Paddington and train stations (and at some
and Victoria train stations. There’s also a newsagents as well), a Travelcard is valid
24-hour phone line and a website for for the bus, tube, Docklands Light Rail-

Contents Essentials
211
way, Tramlink and suburban rail networks. conductor and with an open rear platform.
Day Travelcards come in two varieties: Note that at request stops (easily recog-
Off-Peak – which are valid after 9.30am nizable by their red sign) you must stick
on weekdays and all day during the week- your arm out to hail the bus you want (or
end – and Peak, valid at all times. An ring the bell if you want to get off). In

ESSENTIALS
Off-Peak Day Travelcard costs £4.30 for addition to the Travelcards mentioned
the central zones 1 and 2, rising to £5.40 opposite, a One-Day Bus Pass (zones
for zones 1–6 (including Heathrow); the 1–4) is also available for £2.50 and can
Peak Day Travelcard starts at £5.30 for be used before 9.30am.
zones 1 and 2. Weekend Travelcards, Regular buses run between about 6am
for unlimited travel on Saturdays and Sun- and midnight; night buses (prefixed with
days, start at £6.40 for zone 1 and 2. the letter “N”) operate outside this period.

City transport
Weekly Travelcards begin at £20.20 for Night bus routes radiate out from Trafalgar
zones 1 and 2. Travelcards also give you Square at approximately twenty to thirty-
discounts on boat services (see p.210). minute intervals, more frequently on some
routes and on Friday and Saturday nights.
The tube Fares are the same as for daytime buses
and Travelcards are valid. Useful bus
Except for very small journeys, the
routes appear on the front-cover flap map.
Underground – or tube – is by far the
quickest way to get about. Each line has
its own colour and name – all you need
Taxis
to know is which direction you’re travel- Compared to most capital cities, London’s
ling in: northbound, eastbound, metered black cabs are an expensive
southbound or westbound. Services option – a ride from Euston to Victoria, for
operate from around 5.30am Monday to example, costs around £10, more at
Saturday, and from 7.30am on Sundays, weekends and after 8pm on weekdays.
and end around 12.30am every day; you The meter will show two amounts: one
rarely have to wait more than five min- calculates distance and time, while the
utes for a train between central stations. other is the fixed charge for passengers,
Tickets must be bought in advance from luggage and any off-peak extras – after
the machines or booths in station entrance these are totalled, a small tip is customary.
halls; if you cannot produce a valid ticket, A yellow light over the windscreen tells you
you will be charged an on-the-spot Penalty if the cab is available – just stick your arm
Fare of £10. A single journey in the central out to hail it. To order a black cab in
zone costs an unbelievable £2, but if you’re advance, phone t 020/7272 0272.
intending to travel about a lot, a Travelcard Minicabs are considerably cheaper,
is a better bet. but can only be phoned for in advance
The driverless Docklands Light Rail- and are something of a law unto them-
selves. Avoid taxi touts as they are illegal,
way (see p.134), which connects the City
and always establish the fare beforehand
with Docklands, Greenwich and parts of
as minicabs are not metered.
the East End, is an integral part of the
tube system. Travelcards are valid on the
DLR, which also has its own selection of Sightseeing tours
tickets and passes. and guided walks
Standard sightseeing bus tours in open-
Buses top double-deckers with live commentary
Tickets for bus journeys within London are run by several rival companies. The
cost £1; unless you have a Travelcard, Original Tour ( t 020/8877 1722,
you must buy your ticket beforehand from w www.theoriginaltour.com) and the Big
one of the machines by the bus stop. The Bus Company ( t 0800/169 1365,
only exception is on those routes covered w www.bigbus.co.uk) run several buses
by older Routemaster buses, staffed by a on various routes (daily 9am–5pm; every

Contents Essentials
212
15–20min; around £17) and you can get mixing solid historical facts with juicy anec-
on and off as often as you like. Pick-up dotes in the company of a local specialist.
points include Victoria station, Marble They cost £5 and take around two hours;
Arch, Trafalgar Square and other conspic- normally you can simply show up at the
uous tourist spots. starting point and join. Details of walks
Entertainment ESSENTIALS

Walking tours are infinitely more appear in Time Out magazine (see p.210);
appealing and Informative, covering a rela- alternatively, contact Original London Walks
tively small area in much greater detail, (t020/7624 3978, wwww.walks.com).

Entertainment
On any night of the week London offers a Barbican Centre Silk St t 020/7638
bewildering range of things to do after 8891, w www.barbican.org.uk. The two
dark, ranging from top-flight opera and venues here see everything from
theatre to clubs. puppetry and musicals to new drama
works and, of course, Shakespeare,
Theatre courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare
Company. See p.119.
The West End is the heart of London’s
Donmar Warehouse Thomas Neal’s,
“Theatreland”, with Shaftesbury Avenue
Earlham St t020/7369 1732,
its most congested drag. All of the shows
w www.donmar-warehouse.com. Noted for
are listed in the weekly Time Out and at
new plays and top-quality reappraisals of
w www.albemarle-london.com.
the classics.
Tickets under £10 are restricted to the
Drill Hall 16 Chenies St t020/7307
Fringe; the box-office average is closer to
5060, w www.drillhall.co.uk. This studio-
£15–25, with £30–40 the usual top-
style venue specializing in gay, lesbian,
whack. Agencies such as Ticketmaster feminist and politically correct new work.
(t020/7344 4444, wwww.ticketmaster ICA Nash House, The Mall t020/7930
.co.uk) or First Call (t 020/7497 9977, 3647, w www.ica.org.uk. The ICA attracts
w www.firstcalltickets.com), can get the most innovative practitioners in all
seats for most West End shows, but add areas of performance; the hits outweigh
up to ten percent on the ticket price. The the misses.
Society of London Theatre (w www.offi- King’s Head 115 Upper St t020/7226
ciallondontheatre.co.uk) runs the tkts 1916. The oldest and probably most
ticket booth in Leicester Square famous of London’s thriving pub-theatres,
(Mon–Sat 10am–7pm, Sun noon–3pm), staging adventurous performances in a
which sells on-the-day tickets for all the pint-sized room.
West End shows at discounts of up to National Theatre South Bank Centre,
fifty percent, though they tend to be in South Bank t020/7452 3000,
the top end of the price range, are limited wwww.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Three
to four per person, and carry a service performance spaces, each attracting the
charge of £2.50 per ticket. What follows country’s top actors and directors in
is a list of those West End theatres that programmes ranging from Greek tragedies
offer a changing roster of good plays, to Broadway musicals. See p.142.
along with the most consistent of the Off Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park, Inner
West End and Fringe venues. Circle t 020/7486 2431,
w openairtheatre.org. Summer programme
Theatres of Shakespeare, musicals, plays and
Almeida Almeida St t 020/7359 4404, concerts.
w www.almeida.co.uk. Excellent new plays Royal Court Sloane Square t020/7565
and excitingly reworked classics. 5000, w www.royalcourttheatre.com. Best

Contents Essentials
213
place in London to catch radical new Royal Ballet Royal Opera House, Bow St
writing. t020/7304 4000,
Shakespeare’s Globe New Globe Walk wwww.royaloperahouse.org. Recent
t020/7902 1400, wwww.shakespeares- refurbishment of the ROH has added two
globe.org. Solid, fun Shakespearean small performing spaces, where

ESSENTIALS
shows from mid-May to mid-September, experimental ballets are staged. You should
with “groundling” tickets (standing-room be able to get decent seats for around £25
only) for around £5. See p.148. if you buy early, though sell-outs are
frequent (see Royal Opera House, above,
Opera for details of day tickets and standbys).
English National Opera Coliseum, St Sadler’s Wells Rosebery Ave t020/7863
Martin’s Lane t020/7632 8300, 8000, wwww.sadlers-wells.com. Home of

Entertainment
w www.eno.org. The cheaper and more Britain’s best contemporary dance
experimental of London’s two opera companies, and visited by many of the
houses, with all operas sung in English. finest international companies. As well as
Ticket prices start from as little as £3, the main auditorium, the Lilian Baylis
rising to just over £60; day seats are also space, tucked around the back, puts on
available to personal callers after 10am smaller-scale shows.
on the day of the performance, with
balcony seats going for just £3. Three Comedy
hours before the performance, standbys Comedy Café 66 Rivington St
(all tickets that are unsold) go on sale at t020/7739 5706,
£12.50 to students and £18.00 to senior w www.comedycafe.co.uk. Long-
citizens and the unemployed. established, purpose-built club in Hoxton,
Royal Opera House Bow St t020/7304 often with impressive lineups. Free
4000, wwww.royaloperahouse.org. The admission for the new-acts slot on
Floral Hall hosts regular free lunchtime Wednesday. Wed–Sat.
recitals, and there are modestly priced, Comedy Store Haymarket House, 1a
small-scale productions in the studio-sized Oxendon St t020/7344 0234,
Linbury Theatre. The ROH main auditorium w www.thecomedystore.co.uk. Closed
remains over-priced (over £120 for the Mon. Improvisation on Wednesdays and
best seats). A small number of day seats Sundays, in addition to a stand-up bill;
(for £30 or under) are put on sale from Friday and Saturday are the busiest
10am on the day of a performance – nights, with two shows, at 8pm and
these are restricted to one per person, and midnight – book ahead.
you need to get there by 8am for popular Jongleurs Camden Lock Dingwalls
shows. Four hours before performances, Building, 36 Camden Lock Place, Chalk
low-price standbys (subject to availability) Farm Road; box office t 020/7564 2500,
can be bought for around £15 by students, information t0870/7870707,
senior citizens etc. See p.108. w www.jongleurs.com. The chain store of
comedy, doling out high quality stand-up
Dance and post-revelry disco-dancing on
London Coliseum St Martin’s Lane Fridays. Book well in advance.
t020/7632 8300, w www.eno.org.
Performances here by the touring Live music and clubs
company of the English National Ballet Astoria 157 Charing Cross Rd
(ENB; w www.ballet.org.uk) include a t020/7454 9592,
regular Christmas slot. w www.meanfiddler.com. One of London’s
The Place 17 Duke’s Rd t 020/7387 best and most central medium-sized
0031, w www.theplace.org.uk. New venues, generally hosting slightly
choreographers and student performers, alternative bands (from underground US
and some fine small-scale contemporary hip-hop to thrashing rock). Club nights on
dance from across the globe. Friday and Saturday.

Contents Essentials
214
Bagley’s King’s Cross Goods Yard, off York sound system and the pick of visiting US
Way t020/7278 2777. Vast warehouse- and Italian DJs. Corporate clubbing and
style venue in a post-apocalyptic industrial full of tourists, but it still draws the top
estate. Perfect for enormous raves. talent, especially on Saturdays.
Bar Rumba 36 Shaftesbury Ave Ronnie Scott’s 47 Frith St t 020/7439
t020/7287 2715, 0747, w www.ronniescotts.co.uk. London’s
Festivals and events ESSENTIALS

w www.barrumba.co.uk. Fun, smallish most famous jazz club: small, smoky and
venue with an adventurous mix of nights still going strong. The place for top-line
ranging from future-jazz on Mondays to names, – book a table, or you’ll have to
glamorous house sessions at weekends. stand.
Cargo 83 Rivington St t 020/7739 5446, Scala 278 Pentonville Rd t020/7833
w www.cargo-london.com. Club and live 2022, w www.scala-london.co.uk. Unusual
music venue offering modern-genre and multi-faceted nights that take in film,
mixups that blend jazz with Brazilian, live bands and music ranging from quirky
Latin and African music, often hip-hop to drum’n’bass and deep house.
complemented by DJs. Shepherds Bush Empire Shepherds
The End 18 West Central St t 020/7419 Bush Green t 020/8771 2000. Grand old
9199, w www.the-end.co.uk. Large and theatre that now plays host to the finest
spacious, with chrome minimalist decor cross-section of mid-league UK and US
and a devastating sound system. Best for bands in the capital.
tech-house at weekends, or anything- 12 Bar Club 22–23 Denmark Place
goes bacchanalia on Mondays. t020/7916 6989,
Fabric 77a Charterhouse St t 020/7336 w www.12barclub.com. A combination of
8898, w www.fabriclondon.com. live blues and contemporary country
Cavernous three-room underground seven nights a week.
space holding 2500 people. Fridays are Turnmills 63 Clerkenwell Rd t020/7250
Fabric Live, a mix of drum’n’bass and 3409, w www.turnmills.com. Famed for
hip-hop that features lives acts, while the glorious gay extravaganza, Trade,
Saturdays see cutting-edge house from which begins on Sunday morning at 4am,
big-name DJs. this is the place to come if you want to
Jazz Café 5 Parkway t 020/7916 6060, sweat from dusk till dawn.
w www.jazzcafe.co.uk. Futuristic venue Wigmore Hall 36 Wigmore St t020/7935
with an adventurous booking policy 2141, wwww.wigmore-hall
exploring Latin, rap, funk, hip-hop and .org.uk. Popular classical music venue,
musical fusions. boasting near-perfect accoustics, that’s
Ministry of Sound 103 Gaunt St best-known for performances of chamber
t020/7378 6528, music, and for recitals from some of the
w www.ministryofsound.co.uk. Vast, state- world’s greatest singers. Mid-morning
of-the-art enterprise with an exceptional Sunday performances are especially busy.

Festivals and events


January 1 Chinatown explodes in a riot of dancing
London Parade A procession of floats, dragons, firecrackers and heaving
marching bands, clowns, American crowds. w www.chinatown-on-
cheerleaders and classic cars wends its line.org.uk.
way at noon from Parliament Square to
Berkeley Square. t 020/8566 8586,
Late March/Early April
Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race Since
w www.londonparade.co.uk.
1845, Oxford and Cambridge university
Late January/Early February rowers have battled it out on a four-mile,
Chinese New Year Celebrations upstream course on the Thames from

Contents Essentials
215
Putney to Mortlake. sporting and social calendar. t020/8946
w www.theboatrace.org. 2244, w www.wimbledon.org.

Third Sunday in April Early July


London Marathon The world’s most Pride in the Park/Mardi Gras Colourful,
popular city marathon, with over 40,000 whistleblowing lesbian and gay march

ESSENTIALS
runners sweating the 26.2 miles from through the city streets followed by a
Greenwich Park to Westminster Bridge. huge, ticketed party in a London park.
t 020/7620 4117, w www.london- w www.londonmardigras.com.
marathon.co.uk.
Mid-July to Mid-September
May Bank Holiday Weekend BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
IWA Canal Cavalcade Lively celebration of The Proms are a series of outstanding

Festivals and events


the city’s inland waterways held at Little nightly classical concerts at the Royal
Venice (near Warwick Avenue): decorated Albert Hall, with standing-room tickets
narrowboats, Morris dancers and children’s from as little as £3. t020/7589 8212,
activities. wwww.waterways.org.uk. w www.bbc.co.uk/proms. See p.156.

Third or Fourth Week in May Last bank holiday weekend in


Chelsea Flower Show The world’s finest August
horticultural event, with the public admitted Notting Hill Carnival The two-day free
only for the closing stages (the last two festival is the longest-running, best-
days). Tickets must be bought in advance: known and biggest street party in Europe,
t0870/906 3781, wwww.rhs.org.uk. a tumult of imaginatively decorated
floats, eye-catching costumes, thumping
Late May/Early June sound systems, irresistible food and huge
Beating Retreat Annual military display
crowds. w www.lnhc.org.uk.
held on Horse Guards’ Parade over three
evenings, marking the old custom of Third Weekend in September
drumming the troops back to base at dusk, Open House Peek inside hundreds of
followed by a floodlit performance by the buildings around London, many of which
Massed Bands of the Queen’s Household are normally closed to the public.
Cavalry. t020/7739 5323, wwww.army w www.londonopenhouse.org.
.mod.uk/ceremonialandheritage.
September–November
June–August Dance Umbrella Six-week season of
Morris Dancing This ancient, peculiarly often ground-breaking new dance work at
English form of folk dancing can be seen various venues across town. t020/8741
outside Westminster Abbey every 5881, wwww.danceumbrella.co.uk.
Wednesday evening.
Late October/Early November
Second Saturday in June State Opening of Parliament The Queen
Trooping the Colour The Queen’s official arrives by horse-drawn coach at the
birthday celebrations, featuring massed Houses of Parliament at 11am,
bands, gun salutes and fly-pasts. Tickets accompanied by the Household Cavalry
for the ceremony itself must be applied and gun salutes. t 020/7219 4272,
for before the end of February, but there w www.parliament.uk.
are free rehearsals (minus Her Majesty)
on the two preceding Saturdays. November
t020/7414 2479. London Film Festival Three-week
cinematic season, with scores of new
Last Week of June and First international films screened at the
Week of July National Film Theatre and other central
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis venues. t 020/7928 3232,
Championships This Grand Slam w www.bfi.org.uk or (nearer the time)
tournament is one of the highlights of the w www.rlff.org.uk.

Contents Essentials
216
Early November Guildhall to the Strand and back. Later,
London Jazz Festival Ten-day there’s a big fireworks display on the
international jazz fest held in all London’s Thames. t0207606 3030,
jazz venues, large and small, in wwww.cityoflondon.gov.uk.
association with BBC Radio 3. t020/7405
Christmas (6–24 December)
Directory ESSENTIALS

9900, wwww.bbc.co.uk/radio3.
Trafalgar Square carols In gratitude for
November 5 British help in liberating the country from
Bonfire Night In memory of Guy Fawkes the Nazis, Norway supplies a mighty
– who tried to blow up King James I and spruce tree for Trafalgar Square. Decorated
the Houses of Parliament in 1605 – with lights, it becomes the focus for carol
effigies are burned on bonfires all over singing versus traffic noise each evening
London, and numerous council-run fires (from 5pm) until Christmas Eve.
and fireworks displays are staged.
t020/8365 2121.
New Year’s Eve
The New Year is welcomed en masse in
Second Saturday in November Trafalgar Square as thousands of
Lord Mayor’s Show The newly appointed inebriated revellers stagger about and
Lord Mayor sets off at 11.10am, in the slur to Auld Lang Syne at midnight.
1756-built State Coach at the head of a London Transport runs free public
vast ceremonial procession from the transport all night.

Directory
AIRLINES Aer Lingus t0845/084 4444, 30–40min; 1hr); typical fares are around
wwww.aerlingus.com; Air France £6.50 single, £8 return. From April to
t0845/084 5111, wwww.airfrance.com October, you can also take a boat from
/uk; Alitalia t0870/608 6001, wwww Westminster via Kew and Richmond to
.alitalia.co.uk; American Airlines Hampton Court (3hr 30min; £12 single,
t020/7365 0777, wwww.aa.com; British £18 return); shorter trips to the Tower of
Airways t0845/773 3377, wwww London (around £3 single) are also
.britishairways.com; Buzz t0870/240 available. For a full list of operators, pick
7070, wwww.buzzaway.com; Canadian up the Thames River Services booklet
Airlines t0870/524 7226, wwww from a TfL travel information office,
.aircanada.ca; Delta t0800/414767, phone t020/7222 1234, or visit
wwww.delta.com; easyJet t0870/600 w www.londontransport.co.uk.
0000, wwww.easyjet.com; KLM t0870/ CAR RENTAL Avis t0870/606 0100,
575 0900, wwww.klm.com; Lufthansa w www.avis.com; easyCar t0906/333
t0845/606 0310, wwww.lufthansa 3333, w www.easycar.com; Global
.co.uk; Qantas t0845/774 7767, Leisure Cars t0870/241 1986,
wwww.qantas.com.au; Ryanair t0871/ w www.globalleisurecars.com; Hertz
246 0000, wwww.bookryanair.com; Virgin t0870/599 6699, w www.hertz.com.
t01293/450150, wwww.virgin-atlantic CINEMAS
.com. Electric 191 Portobello Rd t020/7299
AMERICAN EXPRESS 30–31 Haymarket 8688, w www.the-electric.co.uk; ICA
t020/7484 9600 (and other branches); Cinema Nash House, The Mall, SW1
w www.americanexpress.com. Mon–Sat t020/7930 3647, w www.ica.org.uk;
9am–6pm, Sun 10am–5pm. BFI London IMAX Centre South Bank,
BOAT TRIPS The most central departure t020/7902 1234, w www.bfi.org.uk
point for pleasure cruises along the /imax; National Film Theatre South
Thames is Westminster Pier. The most Bank t 020/7928 3232, w www.bfi
popular trip is to Greenwich (every .org.uk/nft; Prince Charles 2–7 Leicester

Contents Essentials
217
Place t 020/7494 3654, w www ICE SKATING Leisurebox, 17 Queensway
.princecharlescinema.com. (t020/7229 0172), is a centrally located
CONSULATES AND EMBASSIES year-round ice rink. From October to
Australia, Australia House, Strand March, there’s the Broadgate outdoor ice
t 020/7379 4334, w www.australia.org rink (t 020/7505 4068,

ESSENTIALS
.uk; Canada, Canada House, Trafalgar w www.broadgateestates.co.uk/ice/frame
Square t020/7528 6533, set.htm); in the Christmas and New Year
w www.canada.org.uk; Ireland, 17 period there are outdoor rinks at
Grosvenor Place t 020/7235 2171, Somerset House (w www.somerset-
w ireland.embassyhomepage.com; New house.org.uk) and Marble Arch
Zealand, New Zealand House, 80 (w www.marblearchicerink.com).
Haymarket t 020/7930 8422, INTERNET Most hotels, B&Bs hostels and

Directory
w www.nzembassy.com; USA, 24 libraries will have Internet access; there
Grosvenor Square t020/7499 9000, are also Internet cafés (£2–5 per hour)
w www.usembassy.org.uk. dotted around the city;
DENTISTS Emergency treatment: Guy’s w www.easyEverything.com is the
Hospital, St Thomas St t 020/7955 4317 biggest chain, with eight branches.
(Mon–Fri 9am–3pm). LEFT LUGGAGE Charing Cross (daily
DOCTORS Walk-in consultations are 7am–11pm); Euston (Mon–Sat
available at Great Chapel Street Medical 6.45am–11.15pm, Sun 7.15am–11pm);
Centre, Great Chapel St t020/7437 Victoria (daily 7am–10.15pm); Waterloo
9360 (phone for surgery times). International (daily 7am–10pm).
ELECTRICITY Electricity supply in London LOST PROPERTY Airports Gatwick
conforms to the EU standard of t01293/503162 (Mon–Sat 8am–7pm,
approximately 230V. Sun 8am–4pm); Heathrow t020/8745
EMERGENCIES For police, fire and 7727 (daily 8am–4pm); London City
ambulance services, call t 999. t020/7646 0000 (Mon–Fri
HAIRDRESSERS Basecuts 252 5.30am–10pm, Sat 5.30am–1am, Sun
Portobello Rd t020/7727 7068; Charles 10am–10pm); Stansted t01279/680500
Worthington 7 Percy St, London and (daily 6am–midnight). Buses t020/7222
other branches t020/7631 1370, 1234, wwww.londontransport.co.uk
w www.charlesworthington.co.uk; Fish (24hr). Heathrow Express t020/8745
30 D’Arblay St t 020/7494 2398, 7727, wwww.heathrowexpress.co.uk
w www.fishweb.co.uk; Terry Jacks 2 (daily 8am–4pm). Taxis (black cabs only)
Bathurst St t 020/7706 7030; Toni & t0791/82000 (Mon–Fri 9am–4pm). Train
Guy 8 Marylebone High St and many stations Euston t020/7387 8699
other branches t 020/7240 6635, (Mon–Fri 9am–5.30pm); King’s Cross
w www.toniandguy.co.uk; Trevor Sorbie t020/7278 3310 (Mon–Fri 9am–5.30pm);
27 Floral St t 020/7379 6901, Liverpool Street t020/7247 4297
w www.trevorsorbie.com; Windle 41 (Mon–Fri 9am–5.30pm); Paddington
Shorts Gardens t 020/7497 2393, t020/7313 1514 (Mon–Fri 9am–5.30pm);
w www.windle-hair.com. Victoria t020/7922 9887 (daily
HOSPITALS For 24hr accident and 7am–midnight); Waterloo t020/7401
emergency: Charing Cross, Fulham 7861 (Mon–Fri 7.30am–8pm). Tube trains
Palace Rd t020/8846 1234; Chelsea & London Regional Transport t020/7486
Westminster, 369 Fulham Rd t 020/8746 2496, wwww.londontransport.co.uk.
8000; Royal Free, Pond St t 020/7794 MARKETS Brick Lane Brick Lane,
0500; Royal London, Whitechapel Rd Cygnet St, Sclater St; Bacon St, Cheshire
t020/7377 7000; St Mary’s, Praed St St, Chilton St. Sun 8am–1pm. Fruit and
t 020/7886 6666; University College, veg, cheap goods, bric-a-brac.
Grafton Way t 020/7387 9300; Brixton Electric Avenue, Pope’s Rd, Brixton
Whittington, Highgate Hill t 020/7272 Station Rd, Atlantic Rd. Mon, Tues &
3070. Thurs–Sat 8am–6pm; Wed 8am–3pm.

Contents Essentials
218
African and Caribbean foods, hair and March/early April); Spring Bank Holiday
beauty products, records, clothes. Camden (first Monday in May); May Bank Holiday
Camden High St to Chalk Farm Rd. Daily (last Monday in May); August Bank
10am–6pm. A conglomeration of markets, Holiday (last Monday in August);
selling food, clothes, jewellery, gifts, Christmas Day (December 25); Boxing
Directory ESSENTIALS

records, arts and crafts. Columbia Road Day (December 26). Note that if January
Columbia Rd. Sun 8am–1pm. Flowers and 1, December 25 or December 26 falls on
plants. Covent Garden The Piazza, and a Saturday or Sunday, the holiday falls on
Jubilee Market, off Southampton St. Daily the following weekday.
9am–5pm. Crafts, gifts, clothes and (on SAUNAS Turkish baths: Ironmonger Row
Mon only) antiques. Greenwich Greenwich Baths, Ironmonger Row (t020/7253 4011)
High Rd, Stockwell St, and College and Porchester Spa, 226 Queensway
Approach. Thurs–Sun 10am–5pm. t020/7792 3980. Women-only: The
Antiques (Thurs, Sat & Sun), crafts, clothes, Sanctuary, 12 Floral St t0870/770 3350,
food (Sat), bric-a-brac, books and furniture. wwww.thesanctuary.co.uk. Gay: Chariots
Petticoat Lane Middlesex St and around. 1, 201–207 Shoreditch High St;
Mon–Fri 10am–2pm, Sun 9am–2pm. t020/7247 5333, wwww.gaysauna.co.uk.
Cheap clothes. Portobello Portobello Rd SWIMMING Outdoor and indoor pools at
and Golborne Rd. Mon–Wed, Fri & Sat Covent Garden’s Oasis Sports Centre, 32
8.30am–6pm, Thurs 8.30am–1pm. Endell St t020/7831 1804. Outdoor
Antiques (Sat), fruit and veg, clothes, swimming at the Serpentine Lido in Hyde
furniture and bric-a-brac. Old Spitalfields Park (June–Aug daily 10am–6pm; £3), or
Commercial St, between Brushfield St and the open-air pools on Hampstead Heath
Lamb Streets. Organic food, crafts and (daily 7am–9pm or dusk).
clothes. TELEPHONES There should be a public
MONEY The basic unit of currency is the payphone within five minutes’ walk of
pound sterling (£), divided into 100 pence wherever you’re standing. Most take all
(p). Coins come in denominations of 1p, coins from 10p upwards, though some
2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2; notes take only phonecards (available from post
come in denominations of £5, £10, £20 offices and newsagents).
and £50. For exchange, you’’ll find a TIME Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is
branch of at least one of the big four used from October to March; for the rest
high-street banks (NatWest, Barclays, of the year the country switches to British
Lloyds TSB and HSBC) in every area; Summer Time (BST), one hour ahead of
opening hours are generally Mon–Fri GMT.
9.30am–4.30pm. Outside banking hours TIPPING Porters, bellboys and table
go to a bureau de change; these can be waiters rely on being tipped to bump up
found at train stations and airports in their often dismal wages. It’s not normal,
most areas of the city centre. however, to leave tips in pubs, although
POLICE Central police stations include: bar staff are sometimes offered drinks,
Charing Cross, Agar St, WC2 t 020/7240 which they may accept in the form of
1212; Holborn, 70 Theobalds Rd, WC1 money. Taxi drivers expect tips on long
t020/7404 1212; King’s Cross, 76 journeys – add about ten percent to the
King’s Cross Rd, WC1 t 020/7704 1212; fare – as will traditional barbers.
West End Central, 10 Vine St, W1 TRAIN ENQUIRIES For national rail
t020/7437 1212; City of London Police, enquiries, call t 0845/748 4950 or visit
Bishopsgate, EC2 t 020/7601 2222. w www.nationrail.co.uk.
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS On the following days, TRAVEL AGENTS STA Travel, 33 Bedford
all banks and offices are closed, while St t020/7240 9821,
everyone else pretty much runs to a w www.statravel.co.uk; Trailfinders,
Sunday schedule: New Year’s Day Lower Ground Floor, Waterstone’s,
(January 1); Good Friday (late 203–205 Piccadilly t020/7292 1888,
March/early April); Easter Monday (late w www.trailfinders.co.uk.

Contents Essentials
Index and small print

Contents Index and Small Print


220
A Rough Guide to Rough Guides
London DIRECTIONS is published by Rough Guides. The first Rough Guide to Greece, published
in 1982, was a student scheme that became a publishing phenomenon. The immediate success
of the book – with numerous reprints and a Thomas Cook prize shortlisting – spawned a series
SMALL PRINT

that rapidly covered dozens of destinations. Rough Guides had a ready market among low-
budget backpackers, but soon also acquired a much broader and older readership that relished
Rough Guides’ wit and inquisitiveness as much as their enthusiastic, critical approach. Everyone
wants value for money, but not at any price. Rough Guides soon began supplementing the
“rougher” information about hostels and low-budget listings with the kind of detail on restau-
rants and quality hotels that independent-minded visitors on any budget might expect, whether
on business in New York or trekking in Thailand. These days the guides offer recommendations
from shoestring to luxury and a large number of destinations around the globe, including almost
every country in the Americas and Europe, more than half of Africa and most of Asia and Aus-
tralasia. Rough Guides now publish:
• Travel guides to more than 200 worldwide destinations
• Dictionary phrasebooks to 22 major languages
• Maps printed on rip-proof and waterproof Polyart™ paper
• Music guides running the gamut from Opera to Elvis
• Reference books on topics as diverse as the Weather and Shakespeare
• World Music CDs in association with World Music Network
Visit www.roughguides.com to see our latest publications.

Publishing Information
This 1st edition published May 2004 by © Rob Humphreys, May 2004
Rough Guides Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
345 Hudson St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10014, form without permission from the publisher except
USA. for the quotation of brief passages in reviews.
Distributed by the Penguin Group 240pp includes index
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL A catalogue record for this book is available from
Penguin Group (USA), 375 Hudson Street, NY the British Library
10014, USA
Penguin Group (Australia), 487 Maroondah ISBN 1-84353-316-2
Highway, PO Box 257, Ringwood, Victoria 3134,
Australia The publishers and authors have done their best to
Penguin Group (Canada), 10 Alcorn Avenue, ensure the accuracy and currency of all the infor-
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 1E4 mation in London DIRECTIONS, however, they
Penguin Group (NZ), 182–190 Wairau Road, can accept no responsibility for any loss, injury, or
Auckland 10, New Zealand inconvenience sustained by any traveller as a result
Typeset in Bembo and Helvetica to an original of information or advice contained in the guide.
design by Henry Iles. 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed and bound in Italy by Graphicom

Help us update
We’ve gone to a lot of effort to ensure that prefer) for the best letters. Everyone who
the first edition of London DIRECTIONS is writes to us and isn't already a subscriber
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Contents Index and Small Print


221
Rough Guide Credits
Text editor: Polly Thomas Picture research: Sharon Martins, Joe Mee
Layout: Katie Pringle, Dan May, Andy Hilliard Proofreader: Amanda Jones, Karoline Densley
Photography: Victor Borg Production: Julia Bovis

SMALL PRINT
Cartography: Ed Wright Design: Henry Iles

The author
Rob Humphreys has lived in London since the late capsizing in the city’s reservoirs, spotting bitterns
1980s and has written several Rough Guides. or steering a Norfolk reed cutter up and down the
When not working, he can usually be found Thames.

Acknowledgements
Rob Humphreys would like to thank editor Polly against the grain; Sharon for focus; Ed for
Thomas; Sharon Martins and Joe Mee for photo painstaking attention to detail; Katie for her
research beyond the call of duty; and Ed Wright for patience and luscious layouts; Helena for all her
all his hard toil on the maps. pertinent suggestions; Kate for overall guidance;
Polly Thomas would like to thank Rob for good Karoline for proofing under pressure; and the
humour, spiritual counsel and captions that went couriers of London for their initiative and panache.

Photo credits
All images © Rough Guides except the following:
p.1 Old Bond Street sign © Dave Bartruff/CORBIS p.21 Tate Britain © Alamy
p.2 Face sculpture, British Museum © Robert p.22 Trooping the Colour © Sean Dempsey/PA
Harding Photos
p.4 Taxi light © Mark Thomas p.23 Imperial Crown of India, Tower of London ©
p.5 Neon Piccadilly © Mark Thomas Tim Graham/CORBIS
p.5 Brick Lane with Bollywood posters © Timothy p.23 Royal Mews © Matthew Fearn/PA Photos
Allen/AXIOM p.24 Harrods Food Hall © Harrods
p.6 Berkeley Square © Tim Allen/AXIOM p.25 Paul exterior © Paul
p.6 Thames at sunset © Mark Thomas p.26 Lewis chessmen, British Museum © British
p.7 Soho at night © Inge Yspeert/CORBIS Museum
p.7 Cutty Sark © Adam Woolfitt/CORBIS p.26 Imperial War Museum guns © Barclay
p.7 Covent Garden Piazza © Alamy Graham/CORBIS
p.8 Diplodocus skeleton, Natural History Museum p.27 Cast Courts, V&A Museum © Sandro
© Bill Varie/CORBIS Vannini/CORBIS
p.10 Tate Modern exterior © Biniam Ghezai/Travel p.27 Sir John Soane’s Museum © Massimo
Ink Listri/CORBIS
p.11 Chapel of Henry VII, Westminster Abbey © p.27 Science Museum © PNS/REX
www.britainonview.com p.27 National Maritime Museum © National
p.11 Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait © National Maritime Museum
Gallery/CORBIS p.29 Temple Church © Alamy
p.12 New Tayyab dining room © New Tayyab p.31 London Central Mosque © Chris
p.14 Somerset House ice rink © Mark Thomas Capstick/REX
p.16 Old Compton Street © Alex Segre/REX p.32 London Aquarium © Tony Kyriacou/REX
p.17 Mardi Gras © Paul Brown/REX p.33 Syon Park © Syon Park
p.19 Cheshire Cheese sign © Rupert p.33 No. 11 bus © Mark Thomas
Horrox/CORBIS p.33 Child with monkey © Natural History
p.20 Manet’s Bar at the Folies-Bergère © Museum
Courtauld Institute p.33 Diana Memorial Playground © Graham
p.20 Courbet’s Young Ladies on the Bank of the Tim/CORBIS
Seine © National Gallery/CORBIS p.34 Koi Carp Lounge © The Sanctuary
p.21 Tate Modern exterior © Alamy p.35 Charles Worthington salon © Charles
p.21 Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood House © Bill Worthington
Batten/English Heritage p.35 Cocktails at the Savoy © Savoy
p.21 Wallace Collection gallery © Michael St Maur p.40 Karl Marx tomb, Highgate Cemetery © Nils
Sheil/Collections Jorgensen/REX

Contents Index and Small Print


222
p.41 Gilt-bronze tomb, Westminster Abbey © p.59 Hampton Court Palace © Mecky Fogeling
Angelo Horak/CORBIS p.60 Freud Museum © Freud Museum
p.41 Wellington monument, St Paul’s Cathedral © p.61 Leighton House © Leighton House
Angelo Horak/CORBIS p.61 Handel House Museum © Handel House
p.45 Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral © p.61 James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake manuscript,
SMALL PRINT

www.britainonview.com British Library © HIP/Scala


p.48 Proms © Robbie Jack/CORBIS p.61 2 Willow Road © National Trust
p.48 Carnival © Arena-Pal p.62 Ritz © Ritz
p.49 IWA Cavalcade, Little Venice © Michael p.62 Savoy © Savoy
Freeman/CORBIS p.63 Dorchester © Dorchester
p.49 Durbar Court, Foreign Office © Peter p.63 Claridge’s © Claridge’s
Aprahamian/CORBIS p.63 Lanesborough © Lanesborough
p.49 Dance Umbrella © Dance Umbrella p.64 Big Ben reflection © Alamy
p.49 Wimbledon © Nils Jorgensen/REX p.69 Uccello’s Battle of San Romano © Archivo
p.50 Chamber of Horrors © Madame Tussauds Iconografico/CORBIS
p.51 London Dungeon © Cordaiy Photo p.70 Isambard Brunel, National Portrait Gallery ©
Library/CORBIS Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS
p.51 Old Operating Theatre © Michael p.78 Blake’s Newton, Tate Britain; Newton ©
Jenner/Collections Bettman/CORBIS
p.52 Shakespeare’s Globe production © Julian p.98 Soho at night © Inge Yspeert/CORBIS
Nieman/Collections p.100 Martini © CORBIS
p.52 National Theatre © Hideo p.109 Somerset House fountains © Peter
Kurihara/Collections Durant/Somerset House Trust
p.53 Donmar Warehouse production © Robbie p.128 White Cube, Hoxton Square © Mark
Jack/CORBIS Thomas
p.53 Comedy Café © Inge Yspeert/CORBIS p.142 Royal Festival Hall © Jeremy
p.54 Royal Opera House © David Horner/CORBIS
Paterson/Collections p.144 Dali sculpture with Big Ben in background
p.54 Jazz Café © Jazz Café © Doug McKinlay/AXIOM
p.55 Wigmore Hall © Wigmore Hall p.148 Tate Modern interior © Timothy
p.55 Shepherds Bush Empire © Mark Thomas Allen/AXIOM
p.55 Guitar man © Mark Thomas p.158 Diplodocus skeleton, Natural History
p.56 Lloyds Building © Mark Thomas Museum © Bill Varie/CORBIS
p.56 Swiss Re © Barry Beattie/Collections p.160 Stephenson’s Rocket, Science Museum ©
p.57 Serpentine Gallery summer pavilion © Alamy Science & Society Picture Library
p.57 Millennium Bridge © Rachel Royse/CORBIS p.161 Miniature zebra painting, V&A © Stapleton
p.58 Globe Theatre © Yann Arthus- Collection/CORBIS
Bertrand/CORBIS p.167 Trellick Tower © Alberto Arzoz/AXIOM
p.59 Middle Temple Hall © Michael p.186 Lion sculpture, Hampton Court Palace ©
Jenner/Collections Sandro Vannini/CORBIS
p.59 Ham House © www.britainonview.com

Contents Index and Small Print


223

Index
A Bush House 109
Bushy Park 194
Butlers Wharf Gastrodome 151
Konditor & Cook 145
Kopi-Tiam 98
Ktchn 132
Butterfly House 186 Lauderdale House 178
accommodation 197 Lisboa Patisserie 167
accommodation maps 198, Louis Patisserie 179
202 Maison Blanc 191
C

INDEX
afternoon tea 62, 72 Maison Sagne 93
airlines 216 Marine Ices 172
airports 209 Masters Super Fish 145
Cabinet War Rooms 71 Mô 89
Al Fayed, Mohamed 161
cafés (by area) Monmouth Coffee Company
Albert Memorial 39, 156
Bankside and Southwark 151 111, 152
American Express 216 Bloomsbury 105 The Orangery 157
Apsley House 153 The City 126 Patisserie Valerie (Soho) 99
arrival 209 Clerkenwell 120 Patisserie Valerie at Sagne 93
Covent Garden 110 Paul 93
Greenwich 185 Pistacchio’s Café 185
B Hampstead and Highgate 178
High Street Kensington to
Notting Hill 167
The Place Below 127
Primrose Patisserie 172
Red Veg 99
B&Bs 197 Holborn 116 Rock and Sole Place 111
ballet 213 Hoxton and Spitalfields 132 Sotherby’s 89
Bank of England 125 Hyde Park and Kensington Tai Won Mein 185
Bankside and Southwark 42, Gardens 157 Viet-Anh Café 172
146 Kew and Richmond 191 Vingt-Quatre 163
Marylebone 93 World Food Café 111
Bankside and Southwark
Piccadilly and Mayfair 89 Yokoso Sushi 116
map 146 Regent’s Park and Camden Zoomslide Café 111
Banqueting House 71 172 Camden 170
Barbican 119, 212 Soho 98 Camden map 170
BBC World Service 109 South Bank 145 Camden Market 171
Beating Retreat 215 South Kensington, Canary Wharf 57, 137
bed-and-breakfasts 197 Knightsbridge and Chelsea car rental 216
Bedlam 144 162 Carnival 48, 215
Beefeaters 135 The Tower and Docklands 138
Cenotaph 41, 70
Bevis Marks Synagogue 31, Trafalgar Square and
Changing of the Guard 22
126 Whitehall 72
Chapel of St John 135
Big Ben 73 cafés
Bar Italia 98 Charing Cross Road 97
Blake, William 130 Chariots Roman Baths 17
Bligh, Captain 144 Beatroot 98
Brew House 178 Chelsea 158
Bloody Tower 135 Chelsea map 159
Brick Lane Beigel Bake 132
Bloomsbury 101 Chelsea Flower Show 215
Café 1001 132
Bloomsbury map 102 Café Delancey 172 Chelsea Physic Garden 162
Boat Race 214 Café in the Crypt 72 children 32
boat trips 15, 216 Café Mozart 178 Chinatown 30, 95
Boleyn, Anne 135 Cashbar 167 Chinese New Year 214
Bond Street 87 Centrale 98 Christ Church, Spitalfields 131
Bonfire Night 216 Chelsea Kitchen 162 churches 28
Borough Market 25, 149 Clark & Sons 120 cinemas 216
Brick Lane 31, 130 Coffee Gallery 105 City airport 209
Britain at War Experience 150 Costas Fish Restaurant 167 City churches 125
British Library 61, 103 Daquise 162
City Hall 57, 150
British Museum 11, 26, 101 De Gustibus 126
City, The 122
Brixton market 30 Deli Bar 120
dim T café 178
City, The map 122
Brompton Oratory 38, 161 Clarence House 82
Feast 120
Brunei Gallery 103 Food for Thought 110 Cleopatra’s Needle 109
Buckingham Palace 23, 80 Gambardella 185 Clerkenwell 117
Bunhill Fields 129 Goddard’s 185 Clerkenwell map 118
Bunyan, John 130 Golden Hind 93 Clockmakers’ Museum 125
Burlington Arcade 86 Hothouse Café 191 club-bars 36
bus tours 211 Hubbub 138 clubs 213
buses 211 K10 127 Bagley’s 214

Contents Index and Small Print


224
Bar Rumba 214
Cargo 214
The End 214
F Henry Wood Promenade
Concerts 48, 215
Herb Garret 51, 149
Fabric 214 Hermitage Rooms 109
Ministry of Sound 214 Fenton House 174
festivals 48, 214 High Court 113
Ronnie Scott’s 214
Film Festival 215 High Street Kensington to
Scala 214
Turnmills 214 fish and chips 12 Notting Hill 164
cocktails 35 Fleet Street 114 High Street Kensington to
Columbia Road flower market Floral Hall 108 Notting Hill map 165
Highgate Cemetery 40, 178
INDEX

131 Fortnum & Mason 24, 88


comedy clubs Foyles 97 Highgate map 176
Comdey Café 213 Freud Museum 60, 174 HMS Belfast 150
Comedy Store 53, 213 Hogwarts Express 104
Jongleurs Camden Lock 213 Holborn 113
Constitution Arch 153
consulates 217
County Hall 143
G Holborn map 114
holidays 218
Holland Park 164
Courtauld Institute 20, 110 Gatwick Airport 209 Holmes, Sherlock 92
Covent Garden 106 gay and lesbian London 15 Holocaust Exhibition 144
Covent Garden map 107 Geffrye Museum 131 Holy Redeemer 120
crown jewels 135 Gerrard Street 96 Holy Trinity Church 161
curry 12 Gilbert Collection 109 Horse Guards 71
Cutty Sark 180 GLA headquarters 150 hospitals 217
Globe Theatre 58, 148 hostels 197
Ashlee House 201

D Golden Hinde 149


Golders Hill Park 176
Goldfinger, Ernö 175
City of London YHA 204
Generator 201
Hampstead Heath YHA 206
Dalí Universe 143 Great Court (British Museum) Holland House YHA 205
Dance Umbrella 49, 215 101 International Students House
Darwin Centre 159 Greenwich 180 206
Defoe, Daniel 130 Greenwich map 181 Leinster Inn 205
Dennis Severs House 131 Greenwich Market 180 Museum Inn 201
dentists 217 Greenwich Park 183 Oxford Street YHA 201
Design Museum 151 Guards’ Museum 80 St Christopher’s Village 205
Diana and Dodi fountain 161 guesthouses 197 St Pancras YHA 201
Diana Memorial Playground Guildhall 124 hotels and B&Bs 197
Guildhall Art Gallery 125 5 Maddox Street 200
33, 157
Guy Fawkes Night 216 30 King Henry’s Road 205
Diana, Princess 157
Abbey House 205
dim sum 13 The Academy 201
Docklands 43, 134
Docklands map 136
Docklands Light Railway 134 H Aster House 205
Hotel Cavendish 201
City Hotel 204
doctors 217 City Inn 197
Dome, The 138 hairdressers 35, 217 Crescent Hotel 201
Donmar Warehouse 53, 212 Hall, Radclyffe 178 Durrants Hotel 200
Downing Street 71 Ham House 59, 189 Edward Lear Hotel 200
Dr Johnson’s House 115 Hampstead and Highgate 174 Fielding Hotel 200
Drake, Francis 149 Hampstead and Highgate Five Sumner Place 205
map 176 Four Seasons Hotel 204
Hampstead Heath 175 Great Eastern Hotel 204

E Hampstead Ponds 14
Hampton Court Palace 23, 59,
192
Jenkins Hotel 201
Hampstead Village
Guesthouse 206
Hampton Court Palace map Hazlitt’s 200
electricity 217
Hotel 167 205
Elgin Marbles 101 193
Hotel La Place 200
Eliot, George 178 Handel House Museum 61, 88
Lanesborough 63
embassies 217 Harrison, John 184 Langorf Hotel 206
emergencies 217 Harrods 161 Lincoln House Hotel 200
English National Opera 213 Harry Potter 104 London County Hall Travel Inn
Eros 85 Harvey Nichols 162 204
Eurostar 209 haute cuisine 13 Mad Hatter 204
events 214 Hayward Gallery 141 Malmaison 204
Exmouth Market 120 Heathrow Airport 209 Manzi’s 200

Contents Index and Small Print


225
Marriott London County Hall
Hotel 204
Melbourne House Hotel 197
K M
The Metropolitan 200
Midland Grand Hotel 104
Keats’ House 60, 175 Madame Tussaud’s 50, 92
Morgan House 200 Kensal Green Cemetery 40, Mall, The 79
myhotel 201 166 Marble Arch 155
No. 5 Maddox Street 200 Kensington Gardens 155 Marble Hill House 190
Oxford House Hotel 197 Kensington Gardens map Mardi Gras 17, 215
One Aldwych 201 154 markets 217

INDEX
The Pavillion Hotel 205 Kensington Palace 157 Marx Memorial Library 119
Portobello Hotel 205 Kenwood House 45 Marx, Karl 178
Ridgemount Hotel 201 Kew and Richmond 186 Marylebone 91
Ritz 62 Kew and Richmond map Marylebone map 91
The Rookery 204 187 Mayfair 85
Hotel Russell 201 Kew Gardens 188 Mayfair map 86
St Martin’s Lane 204 King’s Cross Station 104 Maze, Hampton Court 194
Sanctuary House Hotel 197 King’s Library 104 Middle Temple Hall 59, 113
Savoy 62 King’s Road 162 Millennium Bridge 57, 146
Seven Dials Hotel 204 Knightsbridge 158 Millennium Dome 138
Sloane Hotel 205 Koh-i-Noor 135 Millennium Wheel 142
Thanet Hotel 201 minicabs 211
Threadneedles 204 money 218
Topham’s Hotel 200
Vicarage Hotel 205
White Cross Hotel 191
L Monument 126
Morris dancing 215
Museum in Docklands 138
Wigmore Court Hotel 200 Leadenhall Market 39, 126
Windermere Hotel 200
Museum of Garden History
left luggage 217 144
Woodville House 200
Leicester Square 95 Museum of London 119
Houses of Parliament 39, 64 Leighton House 61, 164
Howard, Catherine 135 museums 26
Lenin 119 music venues 213
Hoxton and Spitalfields 128 Liberty 89 musicals 53
Hoxton and Spitalfields map Lincoln’s Inn 115
129 Lindisfarne Gospels 104
Hoxton Square 128
Hungerford Bridge 140
Hunterian Museum 116
live music venues
Astoria 55, 213
Coliseum 213
N
Hyde Park and Kensington Jazz Café 54, 214
National Film Theatre 141
Gardens 153 Royal Opera House 54, 108,
213
National Gallery 11, 20, 67
Hyde Park and Kensington National Maritime Museum
Gardens map 154 Shepherd’s Bush empire 55,
214 27, 183
12 Bar 214 National Portrait Gallery 69
Wigmore Hall 55, 214 national rail enquiries 218
I Lloyd’s Building 56, 126
London Aquarium 32, 143
National Theatre 52, 142, 212
Natural History Museum 33
London Aquatic Experience 188 Nelson, tomb of 125
ICA 84, 212 London Butterfly House 186 Nelson’s Column 67
ice skating 217 London Central Mosque 31, New Year’s Eve 216
Imperial War Museum 26, 169 nightclubs 213
144 London Dungeon 51, 150 No. 11 bus 33
information 210 London Eye 10, 46, 142 Notting Hill 165
Inns of Court 113 London Film Festival 215 Notting Hill map 165
Internet 217 London Jazz Festival 216 Notting Hill Carnival 48, 215
Ironmonger Row Baths 34 London Marathon 215 Notting Hill Farmers’ Market
Island Gardens 138 London Parade 214 166
Iveagh Bequest 21, 177 London Planetarium 92
IWA Canal Cavalcade 49, 215 London University 103
London Zoo 32, 171
London’s Transport Museum O
J 108
Lord Mayor’s Show 216
lost property 217
Old Bailey 117
Old Compton Street 16, 97
Jazz Festival 215 lunchtime concerts 44 Old Operating Theatre and
Jewel Tower 75 Luton Airport 209 Herb Garret 51, 149

Contents Index and Small Print


226
Old Royal Naval College 42 Knightsbridge and Chelsea Lord Moon of the Mall 72
Old Spitalfields Market 131 163 Market Bar 168
Old Truman Brewery 130 St James’s 84 Match Bar 94
One Canada Square 138 Trafalgar Square and Museum Tavern 105
Open House 49, 215 Whitehall 72 O’Conor Don 94
opera 108, 213 The Tower and Docklands 139 Old Cheshire Cheese 116
Westminster 78 The Pool 133
Oxford and Cambridge Boat
pubs and bars Porterhouse 112
Race 214
AKA 36, 111 Prince Bonaparte 168
Oxford Street 88 Albert 78 Prospect of Whitby 139
Oxo Tower 47, 142
INDEX

Alphabet 100 Punch and Judy 112


American Bar 112 Red Lion, Crown Passage 84
Anchor 19, 152 Red Lion, Duke of York St 84

P Audley 90
Baltic 145
Bar Vinyl 173
Red Lion, Parliament St 72
Richard I 185
Royal Oak 152
Pagoda, Kew Gardens 188 Barley Mow 95 Salisbury 18, 112
Palm House, Kew Gardens 39, Bartok 173 The Social 100
188 Bed Bar 168 Sosho 37, 133
Parliament Hill 47, 175 Blackfriar 116 Spaniard’s Inn 179
Parliament, state opening of 215 Blenheim 163 Star Tavern 163
Percival David Foundation of Bunch of Grapes 163 Tollesbury Thames Barge 139
Bünker Bier Bar 112 The Toucan 100
Chinese Art 103
Café Kick 121 Trafalgar Tavern 185
Peter Pan statue 155
Camden Brewing Company Viaduct Tavern 121
Petticoat Lane market 130 173 Vibe Bar 37, 133
Philatelic Collections 104 Candy Bar 17, 100 The Westbourne 168
Photographers’ Gallery 97 Cherry Jam 36, 168 Westminster Arms 78
Piazza, The 106 Cittie of Yorke 116 White Cross Hotel 191
Piccadilly 85 Claridge’s 63, 90 White Swan 191
Piccadilly and Mayfair map The Counting House 127 Windsor Castle 168
86 The Cow 168 WKD 173
Piccadilly Circus 85 Cross Keys 163 Ye Grapes 90
pie and mash 13 Cutty Sark 185 Zero Degrees 185
Planetarium 92 Detroit 112 Pygmalion 107
Poets’ Corner 75 Dickens Inn 139
police 218 Dog and Duck 100
Portobello Road Market 15, 165
Potter, Harry 104
Pride in the Park 215
Dorchester 63, 90
Dover Street wine bar 90
Dragon 37, 133
Q
The Edge 100
Prince Henry’s Room 59, 114 Elbow Room 168 Queen Charlotte’s Cottage 188
Proms 48, 215 The Engineer 173 Queen’s Gallery 82
public holidays 218 Film Café-bar 145 Queen’s House 183
public transport 210 Fire Station 145 queer London 15
pubs and bars (by area) First Out 16, 112
Bankside and Southwark 152 Flask 179
Bloomsbury 105
The City 127
Clerkenwell 121
Fox and Anchor 121
Freedom 100
Freemason’s Arms 179
R
Covent Garden 111 George Inn 152 Ralegh, Walter 135
Greenwich 185 Grenadier 157 Ranger’s House 184
Hampstead and Highgate 179 The Gun 139 ravens 135
Hampton Court 194 Hamilton Hall 127
Regent Street 85
High Street Kensington to Holly Bush 179
Notting Hill 168 Home 133
Regent’s Canal 170
Holborn 116 Hoxton Square Bar and Regent’s Park and Camden
Hoxton and Spitalfields 133 Kitchen 133 169
Hyde Park and Kensington ICA 84 Regent’s Park and Camden
Gardens 157 Ion 168 map 170
Kew and Richmond 191 Jamaica Wine House 127 restaurants (by area)
Marylebone 94 King’s Arms 194 Bankside and Southwark 152
Piccadilly and Mayfair 90 King’s Bar 105 Bloomsbury 105
Regent’s Park and Camden Lab 100 Clerkenwell 120
173 The Lamb 19, 105 The City 127
Soho 100 Lamb and Flag 112 Covent Garden 111
South Bank 145 Lansdowne 173 Greenwich 185
South Kensington, Lifthouse 121 Hampstead and Highgate 179

Contents Index and Small Print


227
High Street Kensington to Rasa Samudra 99 St Stephen Walbrook 125
Notting Hill 167 Real Greek 133 The Sanctuary 34, 218
Hoxton and Spitalfields 133 Rodrizio Rico 167 saunas 218
Kew and Richmond 191 RSJ 145 Savoy 62
Marylebone 94 Spiga 100 Science Museum 27, 159
Piccadilly and Mayfair 90 St John 121
Selfridges 89
Regent’s Park and Camden Tentazioni 152
Senate House 103
173 Tas 145
Soho 99 Truc Vert 90 Serpentine 155
South Bank 145 Viet Hoa Café 133 Serpentine Gallery 57, 156
Shakespeare’s Globe 52, 148,

INDEX
South Kensington, Wagamama 105
Knightsbridge and Chelsea Zero Degrees 185 213
163 RIBA 92 Sherlock Holmes Museum 93
St James’s 84 Richmond 43 shops (by area)
The Tower and Docklands 139 Richmond map 187 Bankside and Southwark 151
Westminster 78 Richmond Park 189 Bloomsbury 104
restaurants Richmond Riverside 189 Clerkenwell 120
1 Lombard Street 127 Covent Garden 110
Ritz Hotel 62
Abeno 105 Greenwich 184
Ronnie Scott’s 214
Al Duca 84 High Street Kensington to
rooms 197 Notting Hill 166
Al Waha 167
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel 178 Hoxton and Spitalfields 132
Baradero 139
Belgo Centraal 111
Round Reading Room 101 Kew and Richmond 190
Bevis Marks (restaurant) 127 Royal Academy 87 Piccadilly and Mayfair 88
Bibendum Oyster House 163 Royal Armouries 135 Regent’s Park and Camden
Busaba Eathai 99 Royal Ballet 213 172
Café des Amis 111 Royal Botanic Gardens 188 Soho 97
Café Naz 133 Royal College of Surgeons South Bank 144
Chapter Two 185 116 South Kensington,
Chez Linsay 191 Royal Court Theatre 212 Knightsbridge and Chelsea
China City 99 Royal Courts of Justice 113 162
Chowki 99 Royal Festival Hall 45 St James’s 83
Cicada 120 royal London 22 Westminster 77
Cigala 105 Royal Mews 23, 82 shops
Cinnamon Club 78 Royal National Theatre 142 Agent Provocateur 97
Cucina 179 Atlantis Bookshop 104
Royal Naval College, Old 182
Delfina Studio Café 152 Backhaus 190
Royal Observatory 183
Fairuz 94 Benjamin Pollocks’ Toyshop
Fine Estampa 152
Royal Opera House 54, 108, 110
Galicia 167 213 Berry Bros & Rudd 83
The Gate 2 179 RSJ 145 Birkenstock 110
Gordon Ramsay 35, 163 rush hour 210 Blewcoats School Gift Shop
Hunan 163 77
The Ivy 111 Book Market 144
Jin Kichi 179
Kiku 90
S Browns 88
Charbonnel et Walker 88
Kozachok 191 Compendia 184
La Galette 94 Saatchi Gallery 143 Daddy Kool 97
Little Saigon 145 Sadler’s Wells 213 Davenport’s Magic Shop 110
Mandarin Kitchen 167 St Bartholomew-the-Great 29, Duffer of St George 110
The Mandola 167 117 Dunhill 83
Mango Rooms 173 St Bride’s 114 ec one 120
Manna 173 St James’s 79 Flow Gallery 166
Mem Saheb on Thames 139 St James’s map 80 Fortnum & Mason 88
Mildred’s 99 St James’s Palace 82 Foyles 97
Miso 84 St James’s Park 79 Freedom Press 132
Moro 121 St John 121 Frosts of Clerkenwell 120
Mr Kong 99 St Katharine’s Docks 136 Gay’s the Word 104
New Tayyab 133 Geo F Trumper 83
St Margaret’s Church 75
O Fado Gosh! 105
St Martin-in-the-Fields 70
Odette’s 173 Hamleys 88
Oxo Restaurant 145 St Mary Abchurch 125 Harvey Nichols 162
Phoenix Palace 94 St Mary Woolnoth 125 Hatchards 89
Pizza Express 99 St Mary-at-Lambeth 41, 144 Inflate 120
Prism 127 St Pancras Station 38, 104 Koh Samui 110
The Providores 94 St Paul’s Cathedral 28, 41, Laurence Corner 172
Quilon 78 45, 46, 123 Liberty 89
Racine 163 St Paul’s Church 106 The Lion and Unicorn 190

Contents Index and Small Print


228
Marcet Books 184 Swiss Re 56, 126 vegetarian food 13
Marks and Spencer 89 Syon Park 33, 186 Victoria and Albert Museum
Modern Age Vintage Clothing 160
172 Victoria Embankment 109
Mr Bongo 98
Neal’s Yard Dairy 25, 110
Neal’s Yard Remedies 110
T Victorian London 38
visitor centres 210
Odette’s 173
Offstage Theatre and Cinema
Tate Britain 21, 77
Bookshop 172 Tate Modern 10, 21, 147
taxis 211 W
INDEX

Parliamentary Bookshop 77
Paxton and Whitfield 83 tea, afternoon 62, 72
Playin’ Games 105 telephones 218 walking tours 212
Prowler Soho 97 Temple 113 Wallace Collection 21, 91
Queens 132 Temple Church 29, 113 Wanamaker, Sam 148
R. Holt & Co 120 theatre 212 Wapping High Street 137
Radio Days 144 theatres Waterloo International 209
Ray’s Jazz Shop 97 Almeida 212 websites 210
Rhythm Records 172 Barbican Centre 119, 212 Wellington Arch 153
Rigby and Peller 162 Donmar Warehouse 53, 512 Wellington Museum 153
Rough Trade 166 Drill Hall 212 Wellington, tomb of 125
Selfridges 89 ICA 84, 212 Wesley’s Chapel and Museum
Silver Moon 97 King’s Head 53, 212
Sister Ray 98
128
National Theatre 52, 142, 212
Skoob Books 105 West End musicals 53
Open Air Theatre 212
Stanford’s Map and Travel Royal Court 212
Westminster 73
Bookshop 110 Shakespeare’s Globe 52, 148, Westminster Abbey 11, 28,
Steinberg and Tolkein 162 213 41, 75
Stern’s African Record Centre Theatre Museum 108 Westminster Abbey College
105 time 218 Gardens 15, 76
Tatty Devine 132 tipping 218 Westminster Cathedral 29,
The Vintage House 98 tourist offices 210 47, 76
Vivienne Westwood 162 Westminster map 74
The Tower and Docklands 134
Waterstone’s 89 Whispering Gallery 123
The Tower and Docklands
sightseeing tours 211 White Cube gallery 128
map 136
Sir John Soane’s Museum 27, Whitechapel Art Gallery 130
Tower Bridge 47, 135
116 Whitehall 67
Tower Green 135
Slade 103 Whitehall map 68
Tower of London 11, 23, 134
Smithfield 51, 118 Wigmore Hall 55, 214
Tradescant, John 144
Soane’s Museum, Sir John 116 Willow Road, 2 61, 175
Trafalgar Square and Whitehall
Soho 95 Wimbledon Lawn Tennis
67
Soho map 96 Championship 49, 215
Trafalgar Square and
Somerset House 109 Winston Churchill’s Britain at
Whitehall map 68
Somerset House ice rink 14, War 150
train enquiries 218
217 World Service (BBC) 109
trains 209
Sotheby’s auction house 44, 87
Traitors’ Gate 135
South Bank 43, 140
transport 210
South Bank map 141
South Kensington,
Knightsbridge and Chelsea
travel agents 218
travelcards 210 Y
Trooping the Colour 22, 215
158 youth hostels 197
tube 211
South Kensington, Ashlee House 201
Tudor and Stuart London 58
Knightsbridge and City of London YHA 204
2 Willow Road 61, 175
Chelsea map 159 Generator 201
Tyburn 155
Southwark 146 Hampstead Heath YHA 206
Southwark map 146 Holland House YHA 205
Southwark Cathedral 149
Speakers’ Corner 155
Spencer House 83
U International Students House
206
Leinster Inn 205
Spencer, Lady Diana 157, 161 Museum Inn 201
University of London 103
Oxford Street YHA 201
Spitalfields 128
St Christopher’s Village 205
Spitalfields map 129
St Pancras YHA 201
Stansted Airport 209
Strand 108
Strang Print Room 103
V
swimming 218 V&A 27

Contents Index and Small Print


CENTRAL LONDON
A

W E

GL

K E
BO
B
B

MAIDA VALE
M
AI

WARWICK
AVENUE

S T W

O BIS
UC
ES

UN
EY
DA
R

N
D
R

LITTLE VENICE

A Y

HO P
TE

Natural History

K
Museum
C R O

IN
M W E

GLOUCESTER
ROAD

OLD BR O
DR
AY
ED

G'
VA

L L

M
T
IT

S
ARY
O
HA


TE
ONH
RR A
M

Kensington
Gardens

Albert
Memorial
S
Royal
D
I LT
LE

SB
EA
GA
U

F
GR

R
ST
AC

Albert Hall
RD
ON
BO
OV

ID
UR
E

ROA D
LO U D O N

R
ER
NE

LANCASTER
GATE
EN
E

I
QUEE
L O

G
S

R
TE A
RR
OAD
E
D .

Serpentine
Gallery
N’S

N G T
G AT E

PT
H

O
A D

ON

A
FINCHLEY
ROAD
GR O V E
EN

ST
RR

Science
Museum
.
BED
MG RO

JO

Paddington
TE

Station
W
AU

D
Q
SWISS
COTTAGE
AD

UE

Lord’s
Cricket
Ground

HN
A
PR

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N’
W
E

PADDINGTON

R O A D

RO
FO
CH
R

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SOUTH
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EXHIBITIO
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Victoria
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Hyde Park
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Harrod’s

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VER

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MARBLE ARCH

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Regent's Park
R KR
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C
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Madame Tussaud’s PARK
Marylebone & Planetarium A D

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London Zoo

BOND ST
Marble Arch

STRE
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A

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Coach
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Buckingham PARK
Palace

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Station

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Euston
Station

TO
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TOTTENHAM
COURT ROAD

PICCADILLY
CIRCUS

Westminster
Cathedral

A Y

KR
A

D
PA

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L

Palace M A

VICT
TH

Park
L

St James's L L
E

St James’s

VA
CR
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DG

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BIRDC
AG

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MAS
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EUSTO

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WA

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SQUARE

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PIMLICO

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SQUARE

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