London Highlights
See also:London for families
London's best markets
Cheap & free London
London's best walks
Only in London
Shopping at Harrods
The department store that has everything, including a dress code for customers. Harrods' motto - Omnia, Omnibus, Ubique, “All things, for all people, everywhere” - means what it says. Its food hall is spectacular and an endless list of peculiar and exotic requests includes sending a pound of sausages to a customer in the Mediterranean, and a sauna to someone in the Middle East. Harrods sales are major newsworthy events, during which the store may take up to £3 million, and the various lifts travel some 100 miles (160km) a day. Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, London; tel: 7730 1234; Knightsbridge Tube station 5 minutes' walk; www.harrods.com; open daily.
Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
The Changing of the Guard ceremony takes place at Buckingham Palace daily at 11.30am (alternate days in winter). The New Guard, which marches up from Wellington Barracks, meets the Old Guard in the forecourt of the palace and they exchange symbolic keys to the accompaniment of regimental music. The Irish Guards are distinctive for their massive woolly bearskin hats (now made from synthetic materials).
Drama at Shakespeare's Globe
The play's the thing, as in Tudor days. The replica of the 1599 playhouse opened in 1966 and is worth a visit even if you're not seeing a play (guided tours every half-hour 9.15am-12.15pm). The Globe has been painstakingly recreated using the original methods of construction. The season of the open-air galleried theatre runs from May to September (box office tel: 7401 9919; www.shakespeares-globe.org)
Cruise to the Thames Barrier
Take a boat from Greenwich to see London's massive defence against flooding. The giant gates of the £435 million barrier, finished in 1982, can rise to 15ft (4.6 metres) higher than the highest Thames tide, forming a wall of steel against the river's flow. You can reach the visitor centre on the south side by boat or bus from Greenwich (open 10am-4pm weekdays, 10.30-4.30pm weekends; tel; 8305 4188; www.thamesbarrierpark.org.uk; admission fee).
London's sporting shrines
In summer, see tennis played at Wimbledon and cricket played at Lord's, and visit the grounds' museums. Needless to say, tickets to either sporting shrine are extremely popular and either large wallets or extensive advance planning are advisable.
The All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club - the unbelievably long-winded official title for Wimbledon - is in southwest London, nearest Tube station Southfields, approx. 20 minutes' walk; www.wimbledon.org.
Lord's Cricket Ground is to the northwest of Regent's Park in north London; nearest Tube station St. John's Wood 10 minutes' walk; www.lords.org
A feast of roast beef
The classic English dish served up at Simpson's-in-the-Strand. This pillar of London's fine dining establishment opened in 1848, with waiters in tail-coats serving not only meat feasts galore, but also traditional English breakfasts, in glorious oak-panelled dining room. 100 Strand, London; tel: 7836 9112; nearest Tube station Embankment 10 minutes' walk.
A drink at the George
Memories of stagecoaches in London's only surviving galleried pub. Set back from Southwark's busy Borough High Street in a cobbled courtyard, the 17th-century George Inn is the only remaining galleried coaching inn in London. It was mentioned by Dickens in Little Dorrit and is now preserved by the National Trust. The benches in the courtyard fill up quickly in summer and service can be slow. Open daily; a couple of minutes' walk from London Bridge station; tel: 020 7407 2056.
London's Best Walks
Old and new London
An introductory walk, starting from Westminster Abbey, crossing Westminster Bridge, strolling along the South Bank past the London Eye, Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe, and crossing the Millennium Bridge to St Paul's Cathedral.
Hampstead Heath
Meadows, woods, lakes and ponds, plus great views over London. The three-square mile (8-sq-km) Heath in north London's leafy suburbia is topped by Kenwood House on its north side, and stretching down to Parliament Hill, which offers great views over London.
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
There are sculptures, fountains, flower gardens, an art gallery, a boating pond and a café, but mainly a glorious expanse of green space in the centre of the city.
Regent's Canal
You can walk the entire 14-km (8.5-mile) stretch from Paddington to Limehouse, taking in Camden Lock and -Little Venice, via London Zoo.
Richmond
Lots of variety here, ranging from a towpath to a royal park and herd of deer, with interesting pubs and the 17th-century Ham House for cultural - diversion.