Carnaby Street has seen it all. Synonymous with the ‘Swinging 60’s’, it also played its part in the ‘Snarling 70’s’. The West End street has had a knack for placing its finger on the mood of the day and driving fashions and aspects of modern culture - particularly music.

Brixton is one of many London areas that has been reborn over the last couple of decades. In the 1970’s it was a place not to wonder into by accident after nightfall, today it’s a thriving, stylish, trendy, desirable, fun, fascinating cultural explosion and, at the heart of it, is Brixton Village Market.

There happens to be much more to Baker Street than Sherlock Holmes and the classic Gerry Rafferty song. Of course Holmes’ 221B Baker St. is one of the most famous addresses in the world, but he has had many well-known neighbours including William Pitt the Younger (who became Prime Minister at the age of 24), H.G Wells, the explorer Sir Richard Burton, Dusty Springfield and Madame Tussaud.

No prizes for guessing what lies at the heart of this tranquil and rather gorgeous slice of relaxed and refined London. Ferraris and lots of opera singing waiters.
Not really, it is, of course, the canal (although the first part may well be true also).

Leadenhall Market is historic, ornate, spectacular, awe-inspiring and, thanks to Harry Potter films, you can add ‘magical’. The remarkable marketplace located in the centre of London’s financial district on Gracechurch Street has seen trading for 100’s of years.

Hay’s Galleria sits between London Bridge Station and the River Thames and its importance in the area dates back to the mid-1600’s. Alexander Hay took over the lease on a brewhouse and his business empire flourished where tea clippers had propelled global trade.

It is said that a successful life is dependent on being able to spot the right signs. OK, maybe not shop signs, but until the metaphysics and divine interventions kick in, these will certainly pass the time…

Covent Garden Market is one of London’s must-visit shopping/entertainment and cultural areas for all visitors. Sitting between Charing Cross and Drury Lane, it’s a shopping area where you don’t even need to shop, just enjoy the sights, sounds, atmosphere and historic ambience… and maybe a couple of drinks.

If you are ever involved in a quiz and asked the question, “What is the 4th most popular visitor attraction in London?” you will now be able to answer with absolute confidence and authority…
Camden Market.

Let's get one thing straight from the outset….the giant ornate tower at Westminster with a four-sided clock on it is not called Big Ben! This is likely to shock people from all over the world, and indeed possibly the majority of UK residents too. But it is a fact.

Abbey Road. Has a piece of infrastructure ever been more associated with the world of rock and pop? It is impossible to hear the address without thinking The Beatles. The fact they named an album Abbey Road helps propel this association of course, but the fact is, this remarkable site already had a significant musical heritage before any of the Beatles were born.

London’s Borough Market was front-page news worldwide in 2017 for all the wrong reasons. Knife and machete-wielding jihadist lunatics drove into the thronging and thriving area and proceeded to hack and stab as many people as they could.

There has been a market in this site for over 350 years and you cannot help but sense the hustle and bustle and echoes of trading over the centuries… No place name partially made up of the word ‘spital’ is going to sound too glamorous, but it is a fantastically authentic piece of London.

Babylon might lay claim to a Wonder of the World, but its Hanging Gardens are no more (and may never even have existed at all), and anyway – they never served a decent pint.
London’s Hanging Gardens are still very much alive and well.

Shopping and shops appear to split people into two camps: those who treat shopping as an exciting recreational activity full of wonder and possibilities, and those who shop reluctantly only because they need something.