London
Where to stay 10
Brown's Hotel, Mayfair – where Kipling spent his wedding night
Brown's Hotel on Albemarle Street, Mayfair: founded in the 1830s, Kipling's wedding-night hotel, with Charlie's, the Donovan Bar and afternoon tea in…
The Stafford, St James's – the hotel above London's old wine cellars
The Stafford on St James's Place: three 17th-century houses made a hotel in 1912, with wartime cellars holding 8,000 bottles, the American Bar and…
DUKES London – the martini, the courtyard and Ian Fleming
DUKES London on St James's Place: a hotel of 90 rooms since 1908, with the bar where Ian Fleming chose Bond's martini, a drawing room and the…
Rosewood London – an insurance palace of 1914 on High Holborn
Rosewood London on High Holborn: the 1914 Pearl Assurance headquarters, restored for £85 million, with Scarfes Bar, Holborn Dining Room and a suite…
The Lanesborough – from hospital to Regency palace at Hyde Park Corner
The Lanesborough at Hyde Park Corner was St George's Hospital for 250 years. The duke who bought it back for £6,000, Pinto's Regency rooms and the…
The Connaught – the hotel on Carlos Place that changed its name in 1917
The Connaught on Carlos Place opened in 1815 as the Prince of Saxe-Coburg Hotel. Today: Hélène Darroze's three stars and twice the world's best bar.
The Savoy – the hotel that Gilbert and Sullivan built by the Thames
The Savoy on the Strand opened in 1889 on operetta profits: Ritz and Escoffier's kitchen, Monet at the window, Kaspar the cat and the American Bar.
The Goring – the family hotel behind Buckingham Palace since 1910
The Goring on Beeston Place opened in 1910 and is still run by the Goring family: a Royal Warrant, a Michelin-starred dining room and a private…
Claridge's – Mayfair's art deco hotel with roots dating back to 1812
The story of Claridge's on Brook Street: Mivart's in 1812, the 1898 building, the art deco wing, an exiled king in suite 212 and a basement dug by…
The Ritz London – César Ritz's palace on Piccadilly since 1906
The Ritz London opened on Piccadilly in 1906: tea in the apricot Palm Court, the Rivoli Bar, guests from Churchill to Coward and a two-star…
Where to eat 6
Borough Market, London – the food market by London Bridge since the 13th century
Borough Market in Southwark, London: the food market first recorded by London Bridge in 1276, its 1851 halls and Covent Garden portico, opening days…
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay – Chelsea's three-starred address since 2001
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay at 68 Royal Hospital Road: three Michelin stars since 2001, the lobster ravioli, the chefs from Clare Smyth to Matt Abé, and…
Core by Clare Smyth – the potato that became three stars in Notting Hill
Core by Clare Smyth in Notting Hill: the Charlotte potato, the British larder treated like caviar, and how Smyth went from a Northern Irish farm to…
Afternoon tea in London – the grand hotels' salons
The history of afternoon tea and five London hotels that serve it best: the Ritz's Palm Court, the Savoy, Claridge's, The Goring and The Lanesborough.
London's MICHELIN restaurants 2026 – six with three stars
The full Michelin Guide 2026 list for London: six restaurants with three stars, fifteen with two, the newcomers Row on 5 and Bonheur, and where they…
The Ledbury in London – Brett Graham's road back to three stars
The Ledbury in Notting Hill lost both Michelin stars in the pandemic. Brett Graham rebuilt it, reopened in 2022 and won a third star in the 2024…
What to see 16
Royal Ascot – the Royal Procession, the dress code and five days in June
Royal Ascot in June: Queen Anne's racecourse from 1711, the daily Royal Procession at 2pm, the Gold Cup, the enclosures and the dress code explained.
Hampton Court Palace – Henry VIII's Thames palace and Wren's Baroque wing
Hampton Court Palace near London: Wolsey's Tudor palace, Henry VIII's Great Hall and kitchens, Wren's Baroque wing, the astronomical clock, maze and…
Royal Opera House and Covent Garden – opera, ballet and Inigo Jones's piazza
The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London: the 1732 theatre, E. M. Barry's 1858 building, the Paul Hamlyn Hall and Inigo Jones's 1630 piazza…
Holland Park, London – Holland House, the Kyoto Garden and Kensington's villas
Holland Park in Kensington, London: the Jacobean Holland House and its Blitz ruins, the Kyoto Garden, peacocks, Opera Holland Park and the Victorian…
Greenwich, London – a guide to Maritime Greenwich and the Prime Meridian
Greenwich in London: a guide to the Royal Observatory and Prime Meridian, the Cutty Sark, Wren's Old Royal Naval College and Inigo Jones's Queen's…
Pall Mall and St James's – a walk through London's clubland
Pall Mall and St James's in London: the 17th-century ball game behind the name, the gentlemen's clubs from White's to the Reform, and a walk through…
Regent's Park and Primrose Hill – John Nash's terraces and London's best view
Regent's Park and Primrose Hill in London: John Nash's stucco terraces, Queen Mary's Gardens and the Open Air Theatre, London Zoo and the view from…
Spitalfields, London – Huguenot silk weavers' houses and Hawksmoor's Christ Church
Spitalfields in east London: the Huguenot silk weavers' houses of Fournier Street, Hawksmoor's Christ Church, Dennis Severs' House on Folgate Street…
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens – a guide to London's great royal park
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London: Henry VIII's hunting park, the Serpentine, Rotten Row, Speakers' Corner, the Albert Memorial and Peter…
South Kensington museums – Albertopolis from the V&A to the Royal Albert Hall
South Kensington's museums in London: how the 1851 Great Exhibition created Albertopolis, with the V&A, Natural History Museum and Royal Albert Hall.
Three private museums in London – the Wallace, the Soane and Leighton House
Three London homes left almost untouched: the Wallace Collection's French art, Sir John Soane's architectural cabinet and Leighton House's Arab Hall.
Chelsea Flower Show – May in London when the gardening world comes together
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show fills the Royal Hospital grounds for five days each May. Its history since 1913, how the week works and how to get…
Hampstead and the Heath – London's village on the hill
A guide to Hampstead in north London: the 320-hectare Heath, the protected view from Parliament Hill, the bathing ponds, Kenwood House and old pubs.
Kew and Chelsea Physic Garden – London's two botanical treasures
London's two great botanical gardens: World Heritage Kew with the Palm House, closing in 2027, and the walled Chelsea Physic Garden from 1673.
Belgravia's mews – the stable streets behind London's whitest façades
Behind Belgravia's white stucco lie cobbled mews where coachmen once lived. Thomas Cubitt's history, a mews walk and VERA PI's prices street by…
Notting Hill – hidden gardens, mews and Portobello Road
A guide to Notting Hill: the Ladbroke Estate's secret communal gardens, crescents on an old racecourse, the mews and the Saturday Portobello Road…
Where to shop 8
Harrods and Knightsbridge – London's grandest department store
Harrods on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London: from a one-room grocer in 1849 to Europe's largest department store, plus the dress code and food…
Liberty London – the Tudor store that gave Art Nouveau its Italian name
Liberty London on Great Marlborough Street: Arthur Liberty's 1875 shop, the 1924 Tudor building made from two warships, its prints and Stile Liberty.
Burlington Arcade and Piccadilly Arcade – London's Regency shopping arcades
Burlington Arcade and Piccadilly Arcade in London: the history of the 1819 arcade, its beadles and whistling ban, and how to explore both off…
Mount Street – Mayfair's terracotta street from the 1880s
Mount Street in Mayfair was rebuilt in red brick and terracotta from 1880 to 1900. Scott's at number 20, Purdey's Audley House and Mount Street…
Jermyn Street – the shirtmakers' street in St James's
A guide to Jermyn Street in St James's: shirtmakers, John Lobb and Edward Green shoes, Paxton & Whitfield cheese since 1797 and Floris perfumes.
Bond Street and Savile Row – Mayfair's two sides of luxury
A guide to Mayfair's luxury streets: Bond Street's jewellers and auction houses, Burlington Arcade's beadles and Savile Row's bespoke tailors since…
King's Road – from Charles II's private road to Chelsea's main thoroughfare
A walk down King's Road from Sloane Square: Peter Jones, the Royal Court, Saatchi Gallery and the shops where Mary Quant and Vivienne Westwood worked.
Marylebone High Street – the village in the heart of London's West End
A walk down Marylebone High Street in London, from the parish church to the Wallace Collection, via Daunt Books, Chiltern Street and quiet mews.
