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Jewellery by Artists: From Picasso to Koons, an exhibition organised by the culture and art portal Arterritory.com

Destinations · Europe · united kingdom · London · Routes ·

If you're in London for a day...

...and want to savour the essence of what the European megalopolis has to offer

Since you're certain to have a long day, start it healthy. Have a run in Hyde Park or in another of the city's remarkable green spaces.

Being and London and not visiting a market would be a fateful mistake. If you're here on a Friday or Saturday, you should head for Borough Market early (www.boroughmarket.org.uk). It's truly a paradise for gourmets. Don't have breakfast before you go here, because overeating is practically guaranteed. Try the oysters and definitely don't pass by the cheeses without sampling some.

Since your soul also needs sustenance, see at least one exhibit - at the moment, the one not to be missed is at Tate Britain (Millbank, www.tate.org.uk). Watercolour, on view until August 21st, is a testament to the power and diversity of watercolours. 800 years of art await you, including works by William Blake, William Turner, Anish Kapoor, Tracey Emin and other masters of the medium.

You can also find food for both the soul and body by visiting the Royal Academy of Arts (Burlington House. Picadilly, London W1J 0BD; www.royalacademy.org.uk), where the historic restaurant has recently been reopened in a completely new guise. The interior was designed by Tom Dixon is a massive glass case with a display of busts and sculptures from the museum's permanent collection. The oldest item on display dates to 1897.

A shop in which you won't be disappointed even if you buy nothing at all is the Dover Street Market (17-18 Dover Street; www.dsm.com) - no other shopping emporium on earth is anything like it. DSM is the brainchild of the inimitable Japanese fashion designer Rei Kawabuko, famous for the Comme des Garçons label. It's rather like an extravagant six-storey marketplace under expert direction, offering everything from extremely expensive designer gear to a pearl or two of mass market goods. Seeing what's hot here is quite inspiring. Not far away, at 44 Conduit Street, is the shop of Vivienne Westwood, a legend of British design. You can find her new jeans here, created in cooperation with Lee. They're as wildly eccentric as the designer herself.

Claridge's, a breathtaking example of Art Deco, is one of the oldest and most unique hotels in London (Brook Street; www.claridges.co.uk) - it's an ideal place for to try that English ritual, afternoon tea. Some things are eternally pleasurable, and tea is one of them. The traditional time to partake is between 4:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M. As the English know it, it was initiated by the Duchess of Bedford in 1840, supposedly in an effort to combat fatigue and weakness between lunch and dinner.

For further splurging, Fortnum & Mason beckons (181 Piccadilly, Picadilly Circus; www.fortnumandmason.com). This is one of the oldest, most traditional and prominent stores in London.

For a fine traditional meal, try Rules Restaurant (35 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, WC2; www.rules.co.uk). Rules has been at this location since 1798. It's far from cheap, but it's worth the price. In East End, St. John is a terrific choice ((26 St.John Street, EC1, www.stjohnrestaurant.co.uk) - not far from the Smithfield Market, meat was once smoked here. In the West End, there's Ffiona's (51 Kensington Church Street, W8 4BA, www.ffionas.com) - it's a superb, Bohemian eatery where you can savour a traditional English meal by candlelight.

If you want to catch a great movie in the evening, head for the Electric Cinema (191 Portobello Rd., W11 2ED, www.electriccinema.co.uk). This Notting Hill theatre was opened in 1910 and was one of the first spaces built with motion pictures in mind in Britain. It was fully renovated in 2001. In this last decade it has become something of a legendary place - the leather armchairs and couches as well as the fine wines available here are reason enough to make reservations in advance.

If you're seeking culture

Get an electronic Oyster Card (www.ticket-on-line.com). Trying to catch even a smidgen of the dense cultural life in London, you may well have to cross and re-cross this megalopolis zigzag, and this card could save you a pretty penny in in bus and Tube fares.

An excellent place for morning coffee is Sotheby's Cafe (34-35, New Bond Street, W1; www.sothebys.com). It's on the first floor of the famous auction house - it might not be where most would look for a nice cafe, but there it is.

You need to visit South Bank Centre (Belvedere Road, www.southbankcentre.co.uk), a place where various essential cultural institutions make their home. Hayward Gallery is here, for instance - one of the most ambitious and impressive shows to hit the London scene in quite some time is here. The British Art Show - don't miss it! Another navel - Royal Festival Hall. For those who love poetry and chamber music - Parcel Room. And then there's Queen Elizabeth Hall. Note that this is a place for serious culture vultures, not those looking for pop.

You could also visit a fabulous, legendary bookshop. Waterstone's, for instance (82 Gower Street; www.waterstones.com), next to the centre of the University, is one of the largest academic bookstores in Europe and offers a traditional British atmosphere. Then there's Foyle's (113-119 Charing Cross Street; www.foyles.com), which once made the Guinness Book of World Records as one of the largest bookshops in the world - it's still huge. If fashion and design are what you're after, the far smaller Magma may be up your alley (8 Earlham Street; www.magmabooks.com).

If you're with your children, instead of visiting the Natural History Museum you might try the V&A Museum of Childhood (Cambridge Heath Road; www.vam.ac.uk). It's in the East End, but it's not hard to get there. Grownups can get into it, too - you can return to childhood in some exhibit no matter when you were born; the playthings here date back to 1600. This museum also features special exhibits, and the museum shop is amazing (even if it can be a drain on parents' pockets...).

Once in the East End, try Vyner Street - an easy walk. This is where the galleries are concentrated. On the first Thursday of each month, they're open until nine in the evening.

Once you've finished this culture tour, you could have supper at Bistrotheque (23-27 Wadeson Street; www.bistrotheque.com) - one of the most stylish addresses in the East End.

 

If you have three days in London

London is definitely a city about which one can tell the truth by saying - everybody has their own London. The saying comes true, and when you return you realize that you find a different city each time you come - this is a city in perfect flux.

Going through the City, for instance (the financial district) - you could be accompanied by the Opera, and you can download this -http://andthelondonburns.com. This is an opera that approaches a thriller. Created in 2006, it was originally developed by Platform. It's both art and a social project; the person whose shoes you walk in is a clerk obsessed with the collapse of civilisation. You have to navigate banking, pension funds, and the oil industry. This tour of the City, lasting 70 minutes, will take you along streets that could be underwater due to climate change, past chic boutiques, and into a world that will make you wonder about investments and their consequences. You'll see the skyscrapers of the City with different eyes, after - it starts at the Starbucks at One Poultry. This tour is best taken on a weekday, when the machine is in full operation.

If you want weird tours, you can also consider what's on offer from www.londonwalks.com - depending on your taste, there's a Jack the Ripper Tour. There's The Royal Wedding Walk. There are also Literary Walks, Canal Walks and Beatles Walks...

 

 

 

 

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