1 July: Walk over the Mile End Green Bridge, created by architect Piers Gough following a £12.3 million grant from the Millennium Commission. Each day 75,000 cars pass beneath it.
2 July: Though the area was once one of the country's most important for lavender farming, today this is a relative rarity. The owners run a yearly photography competition for visitors.
3 July: On some days the hotel offers full- or half-day Berkeley Health Club & Spa membership, allowing access to non-residents.
4 July: Drink on the spot where America began. There was almost certainly a pub on the site when the Pilgrim Fathers walked the quayside, though they may not have made use of it themselves.
5 July: Swim outside in Hackney. The pool is very popular with all ages, owing to its heating, which regulates water temperatures around 25°C.
6 July: Become a groundling. It is a truly magical way to watch a play, beneath the open sky. Those who survive are always proud of their achievement.
7 July: See the Dagenham Wind Turbines. Rising 85 metres above the Dagenham estate of Ford in East London are two huge wind turbines. Completed in 2004 by Ecotricity as London's first wind farm.
8 July: Picnic beside the Serpentine. The area to the north of the Serpentine - where trees and green lawns roll down towards the lake - is one of the best spots to spend an afternoon.
9 July: A community garden located behind the Phoenix Theatre, it is still maintained by the same volunteer organisation that created it on the site of an old car park, previously a WWII bomb site.
10 July: Tours depart daily from Queensway Tube for a four-hour tour of Royal London, taking in Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
11 July: Though completed in 1860, its Arts and Crafts interior gives it a much earlier feel. William Morris's house is noted for its peaceful gardens and beautiful stairway.
12 July: Take a dip in Hampstead's Bathing Ponds, notable for being the only life-guarded open-water swimming facilities in the UK which are open to the public every day all year round.
13 July: Enjoy a night at the opera, with the resident orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia. There is a 1,600 square metre roof designed to protect the audience - if necessary - from the elements.
14 July: Drink here for Bastille Day. It is even said that Charles De Gaulle wrote his famous speech, 'À tous les Français' in the pub.
15 July: While the seats and stage are in the open air, the theatre makes a point of never cancelling a show before the start times due to poor weather, and completes 94% of performances each year.
16 July: The walkway was designed by the same architects who created the London Eye and is based on a Fibonacci numerical sequence, one of nature's most common growth patterns.
17 July: Lie on London's only public beach, found at the heart of a national nature reserve. Dug in 1811 to feed water to the Grand Union Canal, it is now a popular spot for picnics and walkers.
18 July: Find Nelson Mandela on his birthday. When he unveiled the statue in 2007, he recalled how he & Oliver Tambo had joked in the 60s that one day a black person would join the statue of Jan Smuts
19 July: The ferry has been helping people cross the Thames for around 500 years & famously featured in H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds. Ring the bell on the quarter hour to alert the ferryman.
20 July: In Ealing's Walpole Park, this is a cultural venue, contemporary art space and historical house originally built in the 17th century and partially rebuilt by John Soane 1800-1804.
21 July: The restaurant overlooks the Kensington Roof Gardens, laid out by landscape architect Ralph Hancock in the years before the Second World War. Hundreds of species of plant and a flamingo pond.
22 July: a welcoming local pub known for its popular music nights, which culminate every week in a Sunday night singalong around the piano.
23 July: Visit the MCC Cricket Museum, the world's oldest sporting museum and the permanent home of the original Ashes urn.
24 July: Created in the 18th Century by Charles Hamilton, this huge park is notable for its many follies, including a Gothic temple and tower, a Turkish tent, a Chinese bridge and a crystal grotto.
25 July: On the edge of Epping Forest - once a Royal Hunting ground - the Lodge was actually built for Henry VIII in 1543. Today it is open to visitors, allowing them to get a flavour of Tudor life.
26 July: The Pagoda was built in 1985, after the monks of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order came to London and lived within Battersea Park.
27 July: A lovely spot, affording visitors an opportunity to spend an hour sunning themselves on a deck beside the reservoir and watching the boats sailing by. Relax with a book and a cuppa.
28 July: Dating back to the 13th century, this is a formal garden containing flowers, ponds, woodland and a Tudor Barn, now a restaurant. They were once part of Well Hall House, home of E. Nesbit.
29 July: An atmospheric relic of the old East End, sitting alone in a park beside the Regents Canal. The pub is at its best when live bands strike up a tune at weekends.
30 July: See the houseboats. JM Barrie & Charlie Chaplin are both thought to have spent time on the boats in earlier days and more recently Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour converted one into a studio.
31 July: Go for a walk around the Palace and grounds, host to exhibitions and concerts, a pitch-and-putt golf course, a garden centre, a boating lake and a deer enclosure.
1 August: created in 1852 to purify water for surrounding areas and prevent cholera, they are now a nature reserve home to over 60 species of bird, including snipe, reed warblers & sparrowhawk.
2 August: Founded by Thomas Rule in 1798, this is London's oldest restaurant. John Betjeman described the interior as 'unique and irreplaceable, and part of literary and theatrical London.'
3 August: This artificial mound created in the 1980s overlooks the Russia Dock Woodland in Rotherhithe. Conical, it rises 30 feet with steps up one side leading to a viewing platform.
4 August: Every year since 2000, the Serpentine Gallery has built a temporary pavilion between July and October as a showcase for modern architecture and design.
5 August: Named after holticulturist Lt-Colonel J.J. Sexby, it is set out in formal style, with a range of plants & shrubs, as well as fountains, paving & pergola structures, & benches around its edge
6 August: Previously known as Endell Baths, the leisure centre boasts a 27.5-metre outdoor pool. Built on a WWII bombsite, there are two sun terraces and an indoor pool for when the weather is poor.
7 August: Learn to fly using the runways from which the brave Spitfire pilots of the Second World War took off to fight in the Battle of Britain.
8 August: DUKWS amphibious vehicles, which previously served in the armed forces, now act as tour buses. Around 21,000 DUKWS were built, and were first used during the D-Day landings in Normandy.
9 August: An urban haven for thousands of British plant and animal species. The Garden recreates seven different habitats & has been home to dragonflies, moorhens, moths, butterflies, primroses & bees
10 August: Pick blackberries on Wormwood Scrubs. The 200-acre green space is one of the largest commons in London.
11 August: One of London's best off-road cycling routes through the Lee Valley Regional Park from Docklands to Tottenham and beyond passes through Victoria Park, the Olympic site & Walthamstow Marshes
12 August: Learn to shoot on the Glorious Twelfth. Established in 1901 by the Richmond-Watson family, the school moved here in 1931 and is the country's oldest independent shooting school.
13 August: An ancient landscape used as a military firing range for over a century until 2006, when it opened to the public as a nature reserve. Boardwalks take visitors out across the marshes.
14 August: Falklands Day, marking the day in 1592 when the Islands were first sighted by Capt John Davis from his ship, Desire. Often hosts showcases of Falkland Islands products, art & photography.
15 August: Indian Independence Day. First opened in 1939 before moving here in the 1950s, the restaurant has not changed much in recent years and offers a truly authentic Indian experience.
16 August: Watch the sunset at the Point. On the hill above Greenwich, this is one of London's finest views. As the day draws to a close, its two benches are a popular spot.
17 August: A grand Jacobean house built in 1629 for Sir Nicholas Rainton, later Lord Mayor of London. The park is home to a modern vineyard, the first of its size in London since medieval times.
18 August: Go to the Proms. While the Victorian concerts were priced at the equivalent of just 5p, tickets to the modern Proms start at a still reasonable £5.
19 August: Admire the grand panelled Swedish Entrance Hall, with concrete and glass dome and the bedroom of the Courtaulds' pet ring-tailed lemur, Mah-Jongg. Art Deco features contrast with Tudor.
20 August: Designed for Queen Anne by Hawksmoor & Vanbrugh in 1704, the modern Orangery is a restaurant, set among beautiful lawns and offering champagne breakfasts, lunches & elegant afternoon teas.
21 August: Search for Butterflies in the 140-acre nature reserve alongside the River Roding. The Meadows are a SSSI and are rich in wild flowers, perfect for butterflies. Also has a herd of Longhorns.
22 August: In Victorian times, Erith attempted to style itself as an upmarket pleasure resort, with visitors arriving by paddle steamer to its deep water pier from Central London.
23 August: Home to two formal half-size croquet lawns, adjoining Golders Hill Park tennis courts, the Club welcomes players of all ages, or non-members can hire equipment directly for a small fee.
24 August: Traditional pub is marked in summer by its beautiful award-winning floral displays. It claims to be the first in Britain to serve Thai food, when landlord Gerry O'Brien took over in 1985.
25 August: The site has been owned by the Bishops of London for more than a thousand years, and the Palace was a summer retreat for more than a hundred bishops from the 11th century until the 1970s.
26 August: Embrace village life on the Green. Surrounded by houses and pubs and home to two cricket teams, the green is still a centre for village life and a lovely spot for a summer evening.
27 August: In summer, waterbuses cruise the Regent's Canal between Camden and Little Venice up to eight times a day, for a 50-minute trip on one of four converted narrow boats.
28 August: Probably London's best preserved country estate, Osterley Park consists of a large manor house in 357 acres of parkland and gardens.
29 August: The obelisk stands beside the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich to commemorate Frenchman Joseph Rene Bellot, who died on an unsuccessful expedition to rescue Sir John Franklin.
30 August: Admire the view that inspired Turner. It was here that JMW Turner observed the Temeraire being tugged to be broken up in 1838, inspiring the painting which hangs in the National Gallery.
31 August: Row on the Thames. The boathouses have occupied a prime spot on the banks of the Thames for centuries. For a reasonable price rowers can pick their way along a sleepy stretch of the river.
1 September: Sit in an alcove of old London Bridge. Two of the 1760 alcoves from London Bridge were relocated to the eastern fringes of the park in 1860, where they now act as simple park seats.
2 September: Visitors are invited to climb the 311 spiral steps to the Monument's observation gallery, and admire the views over the City.
3 September: The Lumière is a one-screen cinema which hosts screenings for a range of French films, often with English subtitles. The cinema has 300 seats, and also shows other European & world films.
4 September: Visit the largest Hindu temple outside India. The temple, which cost £12 million, is made of 2,828 tonnes of Bulgarian limestone and 2,000 tonnes of Italian marble.
5 September: The centrepiece of the Old Royal Naval College was planned as a dining hall by Wren in 1698 & decorated by Sir James Thornhill with the theme of triumph of Peace and Liberty over Tyranny.
6 September: 4-acre wetland nature reserve has two lakes, with raised walkways for visitors, and hosts frogs, toads and newts, and significant numbers of dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies.
7 September: The tavern is reputed to have a guardian ghost, who is keen to ensure it is well treated, and - so legend has it - has driven out landlords who have attempted to change it too much.
9 September: Walk a section of the London Loop, a 150-mile circular walking route which passes through some beautiful areas, often described as an 'M25 for walkers'.
10 September: There has been a velodrome at Herne Hill since 1891, and it was improved for the 1948 Olympic Games when it was used as a venue for the cycling finals.
11 September: The building took on a revolutionary zeal when Lenin edited a newspaper from an office there 1902-03, while exiled in London, and in 1933 trade unionists & communists created the library
12 September: Established in 1984, Cafe Gallery Projects is a small art gallery made up of three interlinked white rooms, with a beautiful attached patio garden.
13 September: Spend an evening with a ghostly grenadier. Each September supposedly sees a peak in hauntings here, reputedly one of London's most haunted pubs, once used as an officers' mess.
14 September: watch the crowds from the steps. Here at the very centre of London the steps offer an insight into life in the capital, where David Copperfield met Mr Peggotty and The Big Issue launched
15 September: Battle of Britain Day. This is one of the best museums of flight in the world, with displays of the 90-year history of the RAF and showcasing over 130 different aircraft.
16 September: Former T.Rex frontman Marc Bolan died on 16 September 1977 when a Mini driven by his girlfriend Gloria Jones had problems negotiating a humpback bridge near Gipsy Lane in Barnes.
17 September: Ride London's free passenger ferry, chugging across the Thames between Woolwich and Silvertown every ten minutes during the day. A ferry has crossed here since the 14th century.
18 September: Visit Samuel Johnson's house on his birthday. Today the house is open to the public, and offers a fascinating insight into the life of the great wig-wearing depressive.
19 September: Its name supposedly derived from 'bone-hill', four wild acres of a much larger graveyard remain, containing mostly burials from the 17th, 18th & 19th centuries, though originally Saxon.
20 September: Watch for spooks in the Spying Room. Upstairs, it offers a unique vantage point to observe the building of the Secret Intelligence Service over a drink, with telescopes and binoculars.
21 September: Britain's largest anarchist bookshop has been the headquarters of Freedom Press, which runs it, since 1968. It stocks thousands of books, newspapers & pamphlets and also serves coffee.
22 September: Fly a kite on Blackheath. The heath covers more than 250 acres and combines reliable winds and a lack of overhead cables or trees to attract kiters from around London.
23 September: The park is noted for its Japanese maple tree with rich red foliage at this time of year, and paler leaves in spring and summer, as well as a Japanese shelter installed in 2005.
24 September: London's first coffee house - Bowman's - stood here before the Jamaica Coffee House took its place in the 1670s. It was later rebuilt as the Jamaica Wine House.
25 September: Highly popular with pre-show diners looking for a quick and reasonably priced bite to eat, served in generous portions and with a smile.
26 September: Thomas Twining opened his tea shop at 216 The Strand in 1717 and it still remains on the same site nearly 300 years later.
27 September: It's a great spot for Francophiles, and is authentic from the friendly 'Bonjour' as you enter the shop, to the month-long shutdown in August to head for the Riviera.
28 September: See London's Roman Amphitheatre. Deep beneath the Gallery is a series of walls which marks the remains of London's Roman Amphitheatre. Entrance is included with a ticket to the Gallery.
29 September: Take tea in Bishop Howley's Drawing Room. Designed for him by the architect S P Cockerell, it was completed in 1814 and was used for afternoon tea by the Bishops of London from then.
30 September: Founded in 1901, to bring art to East London, the Gallery was designed by architect Charles Harrison Townsend and, despite its expansion in recent years, remains in its original home.
1 October: The Regency Café, established in 1946 in Pimlico, is a quintessential greasy spoon cafes ousted in a beautiful building, which could easily be described as a design classic.
2 October: See Gandhi on his birthday. Mahatma Gandhi, the great Indian spiritual leader, visited London a number of times: as a student, he spent 3 yrs studying law at UCL. Statue erected in 1968.
3 October: Drink on German Unity Day in Katzenjammers, a re-creation of a Bavarian Bierkeller specialising in the finest German beer and food.
4 October: Discover the Royal Academy of Music Museum, home to the stringed instruments and early pianos from the Mobbs Collection, as well as paintings, photos, drawings, busts, furniture & more.
5 October: Watch cabaret in a toilet. Housed in a tiny former toilet beneath Aldwych, Cellar Door has a capacity of just 60 and is open every night until 1 am.
6 October: The menu is not just about tea and cake. Visitors are invited to choose ceramic items - from teapots to vases - and cover them with their own designs.
8 October: The Design Museum's strong design credentials have a visible presence in the Café's design, with clean lines and well-presented food & drink, but the stunning views are also a big draw.
9 October: The company acquired elegant Brunswick House in 2004 & repaired damage inflicted by squatters. It is now a fascinating showroom for a unique collection of architectural & interior fittings.
10 October: Drink here on Cuban Independence Day. Legend has it that Fidel Castro was once a shareholder in the bar. It was set up - and is still overseen - by Philip Oppenheim, a former MP & minister
11 October: Opened in 1980 in a converted Foresters' Hall, this is a bastion of the arts in North-West London, offering up a range of performing and visual arts, as well as regular cinema screenings.
12 October: From mid-Sept to mid-April, the Observatory of the Hampstead Scientific Society is open to the public on Friday, Saturday & Sunday. On clear nights visitors are invited to come & stargaze.
13 October: Watch the deer rut. Autumn marks the annual deer rut in the Park, home to around 300 red deer & 350 fallow deer. The huge red stags & fallow bucks roar, bark & clash antlers.
14 October: Severndroog Castle is a folly which was built in 1784 as a memorial to William James of the East India Co. to commemorate the conquest of the castle off the coast of Malabar in the 1760s.
15 October: Opened in January 2010, this is an 18-hole mini golf course owned by professional bridge player Nick Sandqvist. The course is London's first competition indoor mini golf course.
16 October: on this night in 1834, the medieval Palace of Westminster caught fire. As the building burned, Lord Althorp cried out: 'Damn the House, let it blaze away; but save, oh save the Hall.'
17 October: Created to alleviate overcrowding in Central London graveyards, it covers 32 acres and is surrounded by fairly built-up areas. There's a real feeling of wilderness in sme parts.
18 October: take a walk for St Luke's Little Summer. For centuries, the days around St Luke's Day have been known as Little Summer, offering one last chance to get outside before the winter closes in.
19 October: The Troubadour is an original 1950s coffee house with a live music club downstairs, which, since opening in 1954, has hosted countless gigs inc Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Dylan & Paul Simon.
20 October: The Centre is housed in an old Victorian water pumping station and is officially the most visited climbing centre in the country. It even sometimes has an in-house DJ to climb to.
21 October: Drink with Nelson on Trafalgar Day. Built the year Victoria came to the throne, the Tavern was once at the forefront of naval history, attracting high-profile visitors such as Gladstone.
22 October: the Phoenix is believed to be the oldest purpose-built cinema in the country, dating back to 1910. Saved from demolition in 1985 the interior retains distinctive features & vaulted ceiling
23 October: Situated beside the Regent's Canal, the Museum opened in 1992, charting the history of the capital's inland waterways from the 18th century to today, housed in an old warehouse.
24 October: Visitors are welcomed to the court, where it is possible to sit in the courtrooms and hear some of the finest legal minds in the country make their cases. Exhibitions and a café.
25 October: Situated 92 feet above ground level on the top floor of the Portrait Gallery, it is a unique spot & offers stunning views over the National Gallery towards Nelson's Column & Big Ben.
26 October: The bartenders at Duke's pride themselves on their reputation for serving some of the world's best Martinis. Duke's was a popular haunt of James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
27 October: At the Mysteries shop, they've been indulging in all sorts of New Age ideas since 1982 and they're still going strong. Join the likes of Naomi Campbell & Alanis Morrisette.
28 October: Legend has it that Victorian body snatchers once drank in the Rising Sun before going on body snatching raids to nearby St Bartholomew's Hospital. Various ghosts said to haunt the premises
29 October: Visitors get a behind-the-scenes look at the working block where the regiment's horses are stabled, to see them groomed, watered and saddled ready for duty.
30 October: A beautiful 15th-century village inn, The Flask is a pleasant spot at any time of year, but in autumn it's low ceilings and dark-wood features make it a cosy spot.
31 October: A unique exhibit, offering visitors the opportunity not only to learn about the team of scientists working in the Darwin Centre but also to meet & interact with them, witnessing real work.
1 November: Step Inside 50 Berkeley Square, London's most haunted house, for the Day of the Dead. The house developed its fearsome reputation in Victorian times when a Mr Myers was jilted at the altar
2 November: Since 1833, the Greenwich Time Ball has helped people to ensure their watches are correct, rising halfway up its mast at 12.55pm, then to the top at 12.58pm, before falling at exactly 1pm
3 October: Established in 1797, Hatchards is the oldest bookshop in Britain, and one of the most famous in the world. The shop was started by John Hatchard & was granted a Royal Warrant by George III.
4 November: The evensong service is held at St Paul's Cathedral every day, allowing visitors of all faiths access to inside London's famous Cathedral, to see it as it was meant to be seen.
5 November: Celebrate Bonfire Night. If you are looking for something on the night itself, the Westway Development Trust's annual event here is usually a good bet with a giant bonfire.
6 November: Catch a Routemaster bus. Original Routemasters still operate on two routes in Central London, with both the Number 9 and the Number 15 operating every day between Kensington & Tower Hill.
7 November: Search for Fagin's lair. In Dickens' Oliver Twist, the criminal Fagin's bases his gang of youths in a lair off Saffron Hill, where 18th C tenements became an infamous rookery.
8 November: Explore the V&A Cast Courts. These take up a pair of huge rooms, displaying plaster casts of some of the world's gat architectural & sculptural masterpieces collected since 1873.
9 November: Watch Fijian fish at the Aquarium. Visitors are offered the chance to immerse themselves in the underwater worlds of tropical Fijian coral reefs, British pond life, a mangrove swamp etc.
10 November: The Bar at the Stafford Hotel dates back to the 1930s, when rich American tourists began arriving en masse by ocean liner. Today the bar is covered with yacht-club flags & signed photos.
11 November: Remember the Glorious Dead. The monument was designed in Portland stone by the imperial architect Lutyens & finished in 1920. It is a Grade I-listed structure & bears little decoration.
12 November: traditionally, the days around Martinmas, in mid-November, offer the final warm spell before winter sets in. The Woods are the biggest area of woodland inside Greeater London.
13 November: A settlement house founded in 1884 by Samuel Barnett & his wife Henrietta. The aim of the house was to arrange for rich & poor in society to live more closely together.
14 November: A 22-mile system of tunnels dug over the course of nearly 800 years between the 13th & 19th centuries, as chalk & flint mines. Today they are open to the public five days a week.
15 November: Reopened in late 2010 after extensive renovations at its base in St John's Gate, originally the entrance to the former Priory of the Knights of St John, their English base from the 1140s.
16 November: Home to books covers every aspect of naval and maritime history, including countless old, new, out of print, used and rare volumes of all sizes and shapes.
17 November: Ride the dodgems. There are few locations in Central London where you can partake in traditional activities such as riding dodgems. The Centre has a number of nippy Italian dodgem cars.
18 November: One of East London's prettiest pubs, situated on a beautiful street that survived the bombs which destroyed huge sectors of the surrounding area. Used as a location by film and TV crews.
19 November: opened in 1995, it hosts a range of artistic & historical exhibitions focusing on Asia, Africa & the Middle East over three floors. Free to visit, it has a Japanese-style roof garden.
20 November: The owner, Bob Cooke, was born above the shop and talks of the pie and mash trade with great pride, offering friendly advice to customers and stories about the history of the shop.
21 November: Watch the Mousetrap. The world's longest running show, with 20,000 performances under its belt, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap has been at St Martin's for more than 35 years.
22 November: Legend has it that the Stone was part of an altar built by Brutus of Troy, the legendary founder of London. Its safety is said to be intrinsically linked to that of the City itself.
23 November: Acquired by the Trust for Urban Ecology in 1988, the Park is a 5.2-acre nature area, located on the site of Stave Dock in the centre of the former Surrey Commercial Dock.
24 November: The highest point in Beckton, the hill was formed from a century of toxic waste dumped beside the nearby gas works, which closed in 1970. Beautifully bleak and neglected.
25 November: The Baths was built in 1931 and houses a 30-metre pool, a Turkish Bath and a gym. The Turkish Bath has a steam room, three hot rooms, marble slabs for massage & an ice-cold plunge pool.
26 November: Founded in 1922, Atlantis is London's oldest occult bookshop, specialising in books on magic, ghosts and spiritualism. Supposedly haunted by its original owner, Michael Houghton.
27 November: Built by the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes for the Great Exhibition in 1851, in order to demonstrate how a model home should be designed.
28 November: The Nags Head is a fiercely independent pub overflowing with character, and full of local curios in its small front bar and tiny back bar.
29 November: Wander the streets by gaslight. Pall Mall was the first street to be gaslit, in 1807. There are still around 2,000 gas-powered street lights in London, offering added atmosphere.
30 November: Have a drink at the 7th-floor bar, which offers unrivalled views over St Paul's Cathedral and the City of London. Seats are limited but the bar is open to all.
1 December: Buy a Christmas tree. On Christmas Day 1851, a couple took out a 90-year lease on a plot of land to begin a business. More than 160 years later, it is London's oldest garden centre.
2 December: It might seem like Christmas comes earlier and earlier each year, but the owners of the Christmas shop have been celebrating every day for 20 years.
3 December: Created by fertiliser entrepreneur Colonel John North, the Winter Garden dates from 1880, and its grand central Victorian hothouse contains tropical plants from around the world.
4 December: The Webb Patent Sewer Gas Lamp as found here was invented in the 19th C as a way to draw off smells from underground sewers. Over the years, the lane has been nicknamed Farting Lane.
5 December: Thought to be the oldest pub in Covent Garden, the Lamb & Flag dates back to at least 1623. Poet John Dryden was mugged in the alleyway outside & the upstairs bar is named after him.
6 December: The only cemetery to be owned by the Crown, it was opened in 1836 during the Victorian cemetery boom. It contains 35,000 monuments, based around a central avenue and a magnificent chapel.
7 December: Serving Londoners with toys since 1780, Hamleys is Europe's oldest and largest toy store and is a leading authority on toys.
8 December: The centre consists of one 120-metre slope, serviced by a button lift, and four tiny nursery slopes, a perfect spot to put in a couple of pre-season lessons to learn the basics.
9 December: A village pub which offers a warm welcome and an even warmer fire, providing a cosy spot to spend a winter's evening. In 1807 it was converted from the stables of a house called The Mount.
10 December: Admire the Christmas windows. The team spend months each year working away in secret in an attic room in their premises to produce seasonal masterpieces.
11 December: At Christmas, the Market pulls out all the stops, and as well as the usual crafts, antiques, food and drink, visitors can expect mince pies, mulled wine and carol singers.
12 December: As well as the Sunday flower market, it boasts many independent shops. In the weeks before Christmas, the traders offer late-night shopping evenings, with festive events, food & music.
13 December: Sing carols around the tree. The carols take place in the evenings in mid-December, raising funds for charity. Proceedings start at around 5pm.
14 December: Watch The Nutcracker. The English National Ballet has been staging productions of The Nutcracker for more than 60 years, and continues to do so annually, the company's most popular show.
15 December: See the Christmas lights. The traditional lights were introduced in 1959, and since the 1980s a famous person has been invited each year to switch them on.
16 December: Every Christmas season, the rooms are decorated with the sights and smells of Christmases past, making it a particularly special time to make a visit.
17 December: Listen to the choir. The annual carol concerts at the church help to raise funds for the Christmas Appeal, and for various other good causes, and are a great way to pass a few hours.
18 December: When Soane eventually died, he had collected so much he arranged for an Act of Parliament to allow him to bequeath it to the nation, and it remains to this day.
19 December: Get a turkey. It is still where some of London's best turkeys can be found. The market's Great Annual Turkey Auction can be a chance to pick up a bargain.
20 December: A perfect traveller's bookshop, it is a grand Edwardian bookshop, with a dark green and oak frontage and thousands of books inside, arranged by country.
21 December: At Christmas, the cobbled Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court at the centre of Somerset House is transformed into a winter wonderland, with a large ice rink overlooked by a huge Christmas Tree
22 December: A family business, founded during the Second World War. Alongside the world's largest list of malt whiskies, it also sells Armagnacs dating back as far as 1879.
23 December: A market leader in handmade chocolates since 1875, when Mrs Walker decided to work with Madame Charbonnel, an experienced chocolatier from the Parisien Maison Boissier chocolate house.
24 December: The Christmas Eve service is enough to make even the most hardened cynic feel seasonal joy. It has attracted people from all walks of life to see in Christmas Day for nearly 1000 years.
25 December: At 9am every year since 1864, members have come together for a 100-yard Christmas Day swim known as the 'Peter Pan Cup', in reference to J.M. Barrie, who was a patron of the race.
26 December: Place a bet on the King George VI chase. Moved to Boxing Day - snow permitting - when the course reopened after WWII, horses have run on the three-mile course on the same day ever since.
27 December: London Walks have been running for more than 50 years, making it the oldest urban walking tour company in the world. It tries to operate as a guides' co-operative - proceeds are shared.
28 December: It was built in 1585, and was for many years a tollgate inn, forming the entrance to the Bishop of London's estate. The tollgate remains and traffic is reduced to one lane outside.
29 December: Find Thomas Becket's memorial on the day of his death. Born in Cheapside in the 12th century, Thomas Becket is a saint remembered on 29 December, the day he was brutally murdered in 1170.
30 December: Drink wine for Rudyard Kipling's birthday. Gordon's is found in the subterranean cellar of a former warehouse that was home to Samuel Pepys in the 1680s and Rudyard Kipling in the 1890s.
31 December: 250,000 people line the banks of the Thames to see in the New Year, with a soundtrack dominated by the bongs of Big Ben.
