Table of contents for London Guide 2020 in Britain

London Landmarks tea, The Kensington Taking inspiration from the capital’s iconic landmarks, The Kensington’s Town House restaurant offers a sweet homage to the city’s skyline. Tea is served in an elegant salon with linen-clad tables and velvet banquettes, warmed by a roaring fire in winter. The stunning centrepiece of each table is a London Eye-inspired tea stand, its tiers decked with a skyline of sweets, sandwiches and scones. Tempting though the cakes are, tradition dictates that you start with the savouries, and these are a cut above, with a stilton and broccoli quiche, mini steak and ale pie and crab cake, alongside an array of sandwiches. But it’s the sweets that steal the show: a white chocolate Gherkin filled with dark chocolate ganache, a carrot cake Shard, the classic red…

Go gallery-hopping on the Tate Boat From Waterloo sunsets to shimmering Impressionist masterpieces, the Thames has long been a source of artistic inspiration. Hop aboard the Tate Boat to get a closer understanding of what stirred painters from Monet to Canaletto to pick up their brushes. The eye-catching polka-dot Thames Clipper service runs daily between Tate Modern and Tate Britain, providing a quick and easy link between the two powerhouse galleries, plus some sightseeing along the way. Spend the morning at Tate Britain, admiring Whistler’s moonlit rendering of Old Battersea Bridge and Turner’s tumultuous-looking Thames, before boarding at Millbank for the 20-minute journey downriver. En route, you’ll pass London landmarks old and new, including the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, the Royal Festival Hall and Somerset House. International contemporary…

Bloomsbury. The name conjures up visions of bookish types on bicycles, free-wheeling through leafy London squares. Sitting between the busy central London districts of King’s Cross, Clerkenwell, Holborn and Fitzrovia, the Bloomsbury quarter has always been a bit different. London’s literary and intellectual capital has a reputation not only as a place for heavyweight learning – it harbours many of the University College London buildings – but also for liberalism and free-thinking. It was made famous in the years between the two World Wars by the Bloomsbury Group, a coterie of influential writers and artists, including Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell. Their experimental lifestyle – they “lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles”, quipped American satirist Dorothy Parker – made a lasting mark on this…

Tired of London, tired of life, so the saying goes, and we couldn't agree more. The capital's attractions – big and small, grand and low-key, ancient and modern – are too numerous to be contained within the pages of this guide. You could spend a lifetime in London and never visit the same place twice: the sheer variety of the city's attractions is astonishing. Whether you have a day, a week or more at your disposal, our London 2020 Directory is packed with inspiration to help you choose what to see and where to shop, eat and stay: all you need to get the most out of this fascinating city.…

Tea and Tattle Tea Rooms 41 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3PE T: +44 (0)7722 192703 E: teaandtattle@googlemail.com www.apandtea.co.uk Tea and Tattle is a unique yet traditional tea room that is full of charm. Located opposite the British Museum in Bloomsbury, it is the perfect place to stop off and enjoy a delicious lunch or afternoon tea. You can choose from an exciting assortment of loose leaf teas, fresh coffee, smoothies, sandwiches, pastries, scones, jams and various home-made cakes. The tea room is entered through the family-run book shop and gallery, which was established in 1903. OPEN: Tea and Tattle is open Monday to Friday from 9am until 6.30pm. On Saturday it is open from 12pm until 5pm. Reservations welcome. Classic British Fountain Pens T: +44 (0)333 006 4646 E:…

A series of dazzling London locations are brought to life by the creative eye and searching mind of Peter Dazeley, celebrated photographer and lifetime Londoner, in a new book, London Uncovered. “Uncovered” does not mean the disclosure of a private place, because these buildings and sites are all available to visit without special insider access. The common thread is the photographer’s ability to uncover a fresh perspective on a special piece of London. The subjects are eclectic, encompassing buildings, monuments and walks, with some places famous and others obscure. Here, we feature three of London’s magnificent historic homes. APSLEY HOUSE The first London house seen by travellers entering from the west through the old turnpike toll gates at the edge of town was Apsley House, famous for being the home…

London is comprised of many small communities and, commonly, each one has a terrace of useful shops at the centre. Despite the ubiquity of supermarkets and larger multi-purpose shops, and despite the ease of internet shopping, these small shops persist because of the density of the local population and the convenience of their location. They furnish our wish and whim for any small portable item – a prime cut of beef or an Eccles cake, a garden rake or a fillet of plaice. Yet they are more than merely useful businesses. Where great care has been taken over their appearance and where the shopkeepers have won many loyal customers, these shops deliver an invaluable community service that cannot be equalled by more impersonal forms of shopping. As well as drawing…

London has arguably the most vibrant theatre scene in the world, and the capital is abuzz year-round. This season, theatreland has launched itself into the new year with a raft of high-profile openings. First up is an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s masterpiece of malaise, Uncle Vanya, at the Harold Pinter Theatre. A top-notch British cast, including Toby Jones, Richard Armitage and Ciaràn Hinds, should ensure a spectacular production. It runs until 2 May. The Royal Shakespeare Company will shake things up with Kunene and the King at the Ambassadors Theatre until 28 March. Written by actor, activist and playwright John Kani, who stars alongside RSC legend Sir Anthony Sher, the two-hander explores contemporary South Africa. Distinguished director Richard Eyre and actress Jennifer Saunders are the dream duo breathing new life…

Thames Tigers 88 London Ltd, 2 Vinegar Street, London E1W 2QQ T: +44 (0)20 7871 3097 www.thamestigers.com Get your ticket for a trip to remember. Ride a Tiger through London! Jump on at Blackfriars Pier and see the sights of the world’s greatest city from a different perspective. See Tate Modern, The Tower of London and get the selfie of all selfies as you pass under the iconic Tower Bridge. Then hold on as we blast through historic Wapping, past Canary Wharf, the Cutty Sark at Greenwich to the O2 Arena and back for home. The Thames Tigers are the largest rigid inflatable boats operating on the River Thames and, equipped with Ullman suspension seats, shock and vibration will be minimised making the ride not only fun but more comfortable.…

All Londoners have their favourite haunts – and for the most part, they’re well away from the tourist honey pots. There’s an alluring corner of southeast London, however – genteel yet with a dash of urban grit – that holds timeless appeal for locals and tourists alike. Leafy Greenwich hugs a crook of the Thames, just seven miles from the centre of town, and its story has always been tied to the river – London’s historic arterial link to the world. While a train will whisk you here from London Bridge in minutes, begin the perfect day by jumping on a Thames Clipper ferry. Leaving the City’s skyscrapers behind as the boat gathers pace beyond Tower Bridge, the centuries peel back as you speed past Victorian wharves (now trendy apartments)…

If the walls of Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the predominantly Victorian Houses of Parliament, could talk, their 1,000-year tale would be epic in scope and unparalleled in incident. For, more than any other single building, its stone walls, dating from 1097, have borne witness to a millennium’s worth of nation-shaping events and played host to everyone who has ever been anyone in British politics. It is here that the fates of Guy Fawkes, William Wallace, Thomas More and Charles I were sealed, each tried and sentenced to death in this room. It is where Richard II was deposed; where King Henry VIII and later Elizabeth I’s coronation banquets were held; where George V, George VI, Winston Churchill and, most recently, the Queen Mother lay in state; and where…

Florence Nightingale Museum 2 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7EW T: +44 (0)020 7188 4400 www.florence-nightingale.co.uk Leading the international bicentenary celebrations of Florence Nightingale, the social reformer and founder of modern nursing, is London’s Florence Nightingale Musuem. Its landmark exhibition, ‘Nightingale in 200 Objects, People and Places: Leader, Icon and Pioneer’, will offer unparalleled insight into the real life of the woman behind the mythical ‘lady with the lamp’. Located on the South Bank and running from 8 March 2020 to 7 March 2021, the exhibition will explore Florence’s heroic role in the Crimean War, which propelled her to fame, as well as shine a light on the next thirty years of her life, during which she revolutionised nursing while suffering physical illness and depression. Key exhibits include her ‘lamp’;…

Ace Hotel London Shoreditch 100 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JQ T: +44 (0)20 7613 9800 www.acehotel.com/london@acehotellondon Ace Hotel London Shoreditch hangs its hat in London’s most creative, engaged district. A hub for galleries, theatre and design, Shoreditch is home to Brick Lane Market, landmark creatives and renegade artists from around the world. Walkable, bike-able and let’s-get-lost-able, Shoreditch is the open-air version of what they aim for each Ace Hotel to be: somewhere you don’t want to leave. From their rooftop bar and lounge, you can enjoy panoramic views of the city. With DJs, dancing, cocktails and Sunday brunch, the bar and terrace is open to groups large and small, raucous affairs and intimate gatherings. Meanwhile the hotel’s fine dining brasserie, Hoi Polloi, serves up English modernist food. Chef Peter…