Buckingham Palace, the Dickens Museum, Hyde Park, a Hitchcock walking tour, Kew Gardens, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, St. Paul's cathedral, the Thames, Wimbledon -- these are just a few examples of the best of London.
It should be no surprise that a city 2,000 years old is an alphabetic mishmash of things to gawp at.
But like a Dickensian novel, the best of London’s real character seeps out of the cracks that split its major attractions.
Yes, London is the world’s financial capital (along with New York), yes it’s Europe’s cultural hub and, yes, more than 300 languages are spoken within its perimeter.
But we don’t care about any of that, mate.
The city got a no-nonsense scrubbing in the lead-up to its extravanganza of an Olympics last year. Transport links were improved, hotels had facelifts and restaurants were refitted.
London looks better as a result and now -- before the dust and grime settle down again -- is a great time to visit the city.
Print and go -- Our traveler-friendly one-page guide here: Best of London
Hotels
Luxury
The Savoy
It came a year late and £100 million over budget, but in October 2010 one of the world's most legendary hotels opened its doors after a rumored £200 million facelift.
Unlike some facelifts, however, the results for this old lady –- now owned by an Arab sheikh and run by Canadians -– are impressive.
Perfectly located for the shops of Covent Garden and the cinemas of Leicester Square, it was Marilyn Monroe’s London hotel of choice and, if you can stretch to the £450 ($670) minimum nightly fee, it's likely to become yours.
The acclaimed Savoy Grill -- now in the hands of acerbic celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay (do not expect the steaks to be as blue as his language) -- can be expensive, but is not overpriced.
Tip: rooms 328, 428, 528, 628 enjoy river views but entry-level prices.
The Savoy, Strand; +44 (0)20 7836 4343; from £450 per night
Charlotte Street Hotel
The huge, comfortable beds and trademark polished granite and oak bathrooms are suitably indulgent, and some rooms have luxuriously high ceilings.
Tip: if you can afford it, go for one of the split-level loft suites. Among other things they feature TVs in the bathroom.
Charlotte Street Hotel, 15-17 Charlotte St.; +44 (0)20 7806 2000; from £300 per night
Mid-range
The Arosfa
It's close to Euston Station, the British Museum and the shops of Oxford Street. Wi-Fi is available and breakfast is included.
Tip: Arosfa has only 15 rooms, so book early.
The Arosfa, 83 Gower St.; +44 (0)20 7636 2115; from around £120
The Rookery
There’s an honesty bar downstairs, a tiny garden terrace for the summer, 33 double rooms and two singles. All are as quirky as the building.
Bedrooms are named after people who lived in the Dickensian buildings at some point over the last 250 years -– including a disgraced preacher and a prostitute hanged for murder.
Tip: there's no restaurant, the perfect reason to head down the road to the acclaimed St. John for some meaty, masculine English fare.
The Rookery, 12 Peter's Lane, Cowcross Street; +44 (0)20 7336 0931; from £210 per night
Budget
The Hoxton
The Hoxton has been a big hit since it opened in 2006, not least for its famed £1 rooms, which it sells throughout the year.
A word of warning: during the last sale, 500 rooms were booked in less than 10 minutes.
There are no mini-bars, suites, or turndown service, but you do get complimentary Wi-Fi, a banana, yogurt and orange juice for breakfast and one hour of free calls each day to anywhere except “Costa Fortune,” according to the management.
Tip: when Pret A Manger sandwich shop entrepreneur Sinclair Beecham opened this 205-room hotel, he used the no‑frills airline approach to setting room rates -- the earlier you book, the less you pay.
The Hoxton, 81 Great Eastern St.; +44 (0)20 7550 1000; from £69 per night
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Dining
The Wolseley
Just along from the Ritz Hotel, the Wolseley exudes history and style.
Housed in a former car showroom, and later a branch of Barclays bank, it has vaulted ceilings, polished marble, an art deco interior and the odd celebrity.
Poached native lobster, Cornish crab, two types of caviar and three kinds of oyster decorate the menu.
Harden’s has tipped The Wolseley as an excellent business restaurant, but the look and feel is anything but stuffy, so leave the laptop in the office.
Traditional English breakfast here is a must and, with a reported 1,000 covers each day, so is booking ahead.
The Wolseley, 160 Piccadilly; +44 (0)20 7499 6996; expensive
Wild Honey
Not so at Wild Honey. Value is the theme in the wood-paneled dining room with favorites including crisp ox tongue and slow-cooked venison.
The Saturday lunch menu will set you back £28, while the summer dinner menu costs just shy of £30.
A la carte mains cost around £25; other Mayfair eateries will hit you for more like £30.
The cheeseboard is excellent.
Wild Honey, 12 St. George St.; +44 (0)20 7758 9160; moderate/expensive
Aurora
The walls are painted a bohemian blood red with the interior dark, cozy and unpretentious. The modern European menu is as equally unfussy and changes each month.
There are two sittings, one at 7:15 p.m. and the other at 9:15 p.m. -– opt for the latter and you can finish off at one of the many late-night bars of Soho, London’s boozy and sometimes seedy entertainment quarter.
Tables on the ground floor enjoy a better ambience than those downstairs.
Aurora, 49 Lexington St.; +44 (0)20 7494 0514; moderate
Busaba Eathai
The no-booking policy means you can expect queues on Friday and Saturday nights, providing the perfect opportunity for people-watching (and Sohoites deserve some watching).
For groups of two or less, the wait should be no more than 15 minutes.
There are no starters or desserts, just mains and sides, but they're excellent. The tom yam talay, green papaya salad and morning glory are particularly hard to decline.
Service, unfortunately, can be hit-and-miss.
Busaba Eathai, 106–110 Wardour St.; +44 (0)20 7255 8686; budget
Leon
Right behind the Tate Modern museum, this is one of 10 Leon eateries in London and arguably the best.
It's the ultimate credit-crunch restaurant, comprising healthy eating, ethically sourced fast-food and rock-bottom prices.
Dishes are fresh, simple and seasonal. They include a range of wraps, superfood salads, soups and hot meals –- the Moroccan meatballs and the chili chicken are great.
Lunchtimes can be busy with office workers from the Blue Fin building rubbing shoulders with journalists from the nearby Financial Times.
Leon, 7 Canvey St.; +44 (0)20 7620 0035; budget
Nightlife
Experimental Cocktail Club
Cocktails here aren't that experimental, but they're excellent and come in at around £10. The Havana is a house favorite.
You'll find mirrored ceilings, ancient Parisian architecture, tiny couches, total intimacy and a £5 cover charge after 11 p.m. Check out the loos, which sport flamingo wallpaper.
The entry consists of a scruffy door, absolutely no signage and doormen with firmly held views on just about everything. Good luck.
Experimental Cocktail Club, 13A Gerrard St.; +44 (0)20 7434 3559; expensive
No best of London experience is complete without a beer at one of its many historic pubs and they don't come much older or more historic than Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.
Frequented by Mark Twain, Voltaire, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde, the pub has been on this site since it was rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire of London. Charles Dickens, known to have been a regular of this higgledy-piggledy temple to serious drinking, referred to it in "A Tale of Two Cities."
Expect to have to stoop, dive down cramped staircases and contend with sawdust-strewn floors as you move from room to room.
The real draw? A pint of Sam Smith's for £2.17.
145 Fleet St.; +44 (0)20 7353 6170; cheap; no website
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Booking Office
It's a great place to enjoy a cocktail while admiring what is undoubtedly one of the architectural wonders of the capital -- a magnificent red-brick Gothic masterpiece that was formerly the Midland Grand Hotel.
The Midland Grand closed almost 80 years ago and only narrowly avoided demolition. It was reopened in 2011 after a seemingly never-ending £150-million refit.
The cocktail menu lives up to the surroundings and shows a deep respect for the history (and abundance) of British drinking with sours, fizzes and cobblers.
Booking Office, St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel, Euston Road; +44 (0)20 7841 3566; expensive
Ronnie Scott's
Ella, Miles and Curtis are just some of the greats to have graced Ronnie’s down the years.
This seminal jazz club tucked away on Soho’s Frith Street is worth a visit even if you don't like jazz. It's jazz hands all-round if you do.
Tables are arranged in neat, tiered rows around a sunken stage, with luminous red lamps dotted around the dim room.
Seats, priced according to the view and act, start at £24.
Cocktails are very much a club asset. Unfortunately they've stopped serving The Ellington, apparently a favorite of the Duke himself, but the choice is plentiful.
A bottle of house red will set you back £19, while a beer costs around £4.02.
Forget eating here -- it's not the main draw and largely a disappointment.
Ronnie Scott's, 47 Frith St.; +44 (0)20 7439 0747; moderate/expensive
Cabaret
London has begun something of a love affair with cabaret.
The capital is awash with new acts and clubs -- some significantly better than others -- but if you like the bizarre mixed with a bit of comedy, dance, acrobatics and perhaps a touch of nudity, then a London cabaret night is for you.
Highly recommended is Cantina, which runs until the end of September, on the South Bank.
Cabaret, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road; +44 844 545 8282; moderate; over 18s only
Shopping
Selfridges
Although second to Harrods in terms of size and celebrity, it's less touristy, more cutting-edge and attracts a more discerning clientele.
It's high-end, high-octane and comes highly recommended. You can stay the whole day, leave empty-handed and still feel like Julia Roberts in that scene from "Pretty Woman."
In any case, it contains 10 restaurants to keep your energy levels up while its personal shoppers can do the hard work for you.
Selfridges, 400 Oxford St.; +44 800 123400; expensive
Borough Market
On the banks of the Thames just south of London Bridge, you'll find beautifully displayed organic fruit and veg, cheese, cakes, bread, olive oil, fish, meat, beer, wine and chocolate.
Go hungry, go early, sample everything and bring cash -- few stallholders accept credit cards.
Borough Market, Southwark Street; +44 (0)20 7407 1002; cheap/moderate
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Columbia Road Flower Market
With thousands of flowers crammed into one noisy Victorian terraced street, London's Columbia Road Flower Market -- now lined with fancy boutiques -- is a throwback to the old East End.
From 8 a.m.-2 p.m. every Sunday, the flowers and plants up for sale are some of the best (and cheapest) around. Arrive early to avoid the crowds. Blooming marvelous.
Columbia Road Flower Market, Columbia Road; cheap/moderate
Attractions
Views from Waterloo Bridge
Although it contends for the title of ugliest bridge in London, the views are inspiring, and you can save yourself the £19 it costs to ride the London Eye (and the one-hour wait) and head here.
On one hand are the Royal Festival Hall, Elizabeth Tower (as Big Ben has been renamed to commemorate the queen's Diamond Jubilee), the Houses of Parliament and the BT Tower.
Looking in the other direction you can take in the views of St. Paul’s, Canary Wharf, the Gherkin (as the rather phallic skyscraper properly called 30 St. Mary Axe is dubbed), the Oxo Tower and the just-completed Shard, which cost £450 million to build and at 310 meters is the tallest building in the European Union.
The views after dark are especially good.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
It famously withstood the Blitz and has become something of a monument to the resilience of London.
Down in the crypt you can check out the tombs of some of the nation’s greatest heroes including Admiral Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington.
You can also try out the acoustic quirks of the Whispering Gallery and continue the climb to the Golden Gallery for views across London.
Tickets cost £14.50 from Monday to Saturday. The cathedral reverts to its traditional role on Sunday, when it's open to worshippers for free.
St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Paul's Churchyard; +44 (0)20 7246 8350
48-hour itinerary
Taking on London in one weekend is like eating soup with chopsticks. You haven't got a chance.
But if you insist on trying to devour the monster in one short sitting, here's a suggested hit list.
1. Arty start
After an early breakfast at one of the many stalls of Borough Market (see review), take the short walk beside the river to the Tate Modern.
Tate Modern
The interior is a glorious, unpretentious playground of modern art, as appealing to children and amateurs as it is to adults and art experts.
Permanent collections include works by Matisse, Rothko and Andy Warhol, as well as the best of contemporary British art.
If you get bored, you can wander along the South Bank to find the Royal Festival Hall, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, The Hayward art gallery, The Royal National Theatre and the London Film Museum.
Plus a gaggle of performance artists who could be break dancing or impersonating Charlie Chaplin.
Tate Modern, Bankside; +44 (0)20 7887 8888
2. Showstopper
Soho is perfect for an early dinner -- Aurora and Busaba Eathai are strong contenders (see reviews) –- and one of many shows in Theatreland.
Theatreland
It's bordered by The Strand to the south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west and Kingsway to the east with its heart being Shaftesbury Avenue, home to six theaters.
No trip to London is complete without catching a show, but show business can be an expensive business, so head to the half-price (for performances that day) ticket booth in Leicester Square.
It opens at 9 a.m. but queues form much earlier.
3. Tower trail
Day two begins with breakfast at the Wolseley (see review) and a trip east to the Tower of London.
Tower of London
Luckily, these days it serves only to entertain and educate them.
The biggest draw is the crown jewels. The Imperial State Crown alone is made up of 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and five rubies -- basically very bling.
The medieval palace, Traitors’ Gate, the Yeomen Warders ("Beefeaters") and the ravens add to the atmosphere.
Legend says Britain and the Tower will fall if the six ravens ever leave. Best to get there before that happens.
Tower of London, ower Hill; +44 (0)20 3166 6000
4. Park up
Weather dependent (yes, it sometimes rains in London) the rest of the day could be best spent in Hyde Park -– one of the capital's lungs.
But if the weather beats you, nearby Exhibition Road can offer cover in the form of the Science Museum, The Natural History Museum or the Victoria and Albert Museum. Entrance is free, although charges are sometimes levied for special exhibitions and events.
Hyde Park
It has been open to the public since 1637, covers 142 hectares and contains more than 4,000 trees, a large lake, a meadow, ornamental flower gardens and two restaurants.
Monuments include The Serpentine Bridge, the Joy of Life fountain, the Achilles statue and the Diana Memorial Fountain. Swimming races are staged in the Serpentine on Saturday morning and Christmas Day.
Open from 5 a.m. to midnight all year round.
Hyde Park; +44 (0)20 7262 5484
5. Bike with Boris
Set up in July 2010, the public bicycle sharing scheme is modeled on Montreal’s.
The bikes, referred to as "Boris bikes" because rumbustious, larger-than-life mayor Boris Johnson launched the scheme, can be picked up at any one of 315 docking stations dotted around central London.
They're designed for short trips and, so while the first 30 minutes are free, a two-and-a-half-hour trip will cost £10.
+44 (0)20 8216 6666; transport for London website
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