The Mall became a ceremonial route in the early twentieth century – on state occasions the Queen rides her golden carriage down The Mall past waving crowds. Read more.
Somerset House contains a formidable art gallery (the wonderful Courtauld), a beautiful fountain court, a terraced café and a classy restaurant. Read more.
The concrete-clad, 1960s modernist grandmother of them all: no theatrical tour of London is complete without a visit to the National. Read more.
The original Globe Theatre, where many of William Shakespeare's plays were first staged, burned to the ground in 1613. Nearly 400 years later, it was rebuilt not far from its original site. Read more.
Kew Gardens is a magnificent World Heritage Site covering 300 acres with over 30,000 species of plants. Read more.
The square here was laid out by Inigo Jones in 1630, on land once used by the monks of Westminster Abbey as a garden, but confiscated by Henry VIII during the Reformation.
