Look out for the mosaic floors in the main entrance and stairwell. Fascinating. Work by the same artist can be seen at Tate Britain.
The square here was laid out by Inigo Jones in 1630, on land once used by the monks of Westminster Abbey as a garden, but confiscated by Henry VIII during the Reformation.
One of the world's great museums. To avoid the queues, use the 'secret' entrance on Exhibition Road.
The glass and iron hall built here for the Great Exhibition of 1851 was nicknamed ‘the crystal palace’ by Punch magazine. In 1854 it was moved piece by piece to south London and rebuilt.
The vision of American actor Sam Wanamaker, this replica of Shakespeare’s legendary theatre opened near the site of the original in 1997. It has the first thatched roof in London since the Great Fire.
Even if you are not visiting one of the many exhibitions and events organised here throughout the year, come to sit in its beautiful and quiet neoclassical courtyard away from London’s busy streets.
The V&A is the world’s largest museum of decorative art and design and holds 4.5 million objects. Henry Cole, the museum’s first director, printed the world’s first Christmas card in 1843.
‘Soho’ is thought to come from the hunting and battle cry of the Duke of Monmouth, a local landlord. He used it at the Battle of Sedgemoor where he was defeated in 1685, and later executed.
This grand Tudor palace was built by Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor Cardinal Wolsey, but passed to the king in 1529. His 4th queen Catherine Howard is said to haunt the gallery outside the chapel.
Built in 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham, George III acquired it in 1762 as a private house. It became an official royal residence in the reign of Queen Victoria, when it was greatly enlarged.
The Bankside Power Station was built as a ‘cathedral of power’ in 1963, but closed in 1981. It reopened as one of Europe’s finest modern art galleries in 2000. The Turbine Hall is 35m high.
Hampstead Heath was a favourite outing for Karl Marx and his family, and held a popular fair in the 19th century. Like the Guy Fawkes night bonfires held here, it oftern turned drunken and violent.
Tate Britain is built on the site of the 19th century Millbank Prison. Between 1816 and 1868, this is where thousands of convicts began their journey to the penal colonies of Australia.
Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club opened on nearby Gerrard St in 1959, moved here in 1965 and is now the most famous jazz club in Britain. Jimi Hendrix’s played his last public performance here in 1970.
Behind the Pump House is a statue of a brown dog. In 1985 it replaced the original, removed in 1910 when it became a focus of riots between medical students and animal rights campaigners.
