London

William the Conqueror's castle later served as prison, mint and menagerie in turn. A moving walkway carries you past the Crown Jewels with no stopping, and the ravens have their flight feathers trimmed so they cannot leave the walls.

Coronations have happened here since 1066 and over three thousand people lie in the floor and walls. Poets' Corner mixes graves with memorial slabs, so a name cut there need not mean a body. Services halt the tours but let you sit in without a ticket.

No ticket is needed for the permanent galleries; only temporary shows charge. Around eight million objects mean you cannot do it in one visit, so pick a floor and a room first. The Great Court's glass roof reopened a courtyard hidden for a century and a half.

Big Ben is the bell inside, not the clock; the tower is the Elizabeth Tower. The quarter bells sound every fifteen minutes and the great bell strikes the hour, while tours inside run on different booking routes for UK residents and for visitors.

Wren rebuilt it on the site the 1666 fire brought down, and the dome holds a whispering gallery. A low voice against the far wall travels round the curve, though a crowd drowns it. Only stairs reach the galleries on the dome; no lift goes up there.

A power station turned gallery, so the Turbine Hall stands empty end to end and a large installation takes it over every few months.

A produce market under the arches south of London Bridge, on the same ground for a thousand years or so. At lunch the queues run long and seats are absent, so you eat by the board. Mondays are usually dark, and the first days of the week are thinner.

Keep 50 metres from the deer during the autumn rut and spring calving. Charles I walled it in as a hunting ground; the red and fallow herds remain, and dogs go on leads. The view from King Henry's Mound to the dome of St Paul's is protected in law.

The prime meridian crosses the courtyard floor. A queue forms of people trying to stand either side of it. The line follows the old transit instrument, so it sits about a hundred metres from the zero satellites measure. The climb from the river is steep.

Around forty theatres crowd the ground between Covent Garden and Piccadilly. Same-day seats go cheap at the Leicester Square booth, but the good ones vanish first. Evening curtains are usually 7:30pm, with an afternoon matinee on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The national collection fills the north side of Trafalgar Square; its main galleries are free. It holds European painting from the 13th century to about 1900; later work goes to the Tate. Sunflowers by Van Gogh draws a crowd, so make for it as the doors open.

Animals and plants are moulded into its terracotta walls; admission costs nothing. A blue whale skeleton hangs from the ceiling of the central hall. When the Cromwell Road doors have a long line, the side entrance on Exhibition Road is usually quieter.

Decorative art and design; permanent galleries are free. The Cast Courts, full-size plaster copies of European sculpture, are the showpiece. Its cafe fills 3 rooms built as the world's first museum restaurant; a pot of tea buys a seat under the tiles.

The monarch's London home; the State Rooms open on paid tickets for some weeks each summer. Changing the Guard runs several times a week, not daily, so check the official calendar. The Victoria Memorial steps beat the gates for a view.

A bascule bridge opened in 1894 whose decks still rise for tall ships. The high walkways have glass floors with traffic and river below your feet. Lift times go online beforehand; time your walk to be on the bank as it opens.

Two royal parks joined end to end, with the Serpentine lake running through the middle. At Speakers' Corner in the north-east corner anyone may get up and talk on a Sunday morning. In summer the lake takes swimmers and rowing boats for hire.

Stalls fill old stables and warehouses beside a lock on the Regent's Canal. Vintage clothes, records and street food from everywhere crowd together. At weekends Camden Town station restricts entry one way, so walking in from Chalk Farm is easier.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, granted World Heritage status in 2003. The Victorian iron and glass Palm House and a treetop walkway raised on steel legs are the draws. The grounds are large enough that many ride the little land train round.

Henry VIII's palace up the Thames, about 35 minutes by rail from Waterloo. On some days the Tudor kitchens are fired up to cook period recipes. The hedge maze, planted around 1690, is smaller than expected yet hard to escape.

An indoor garden filling the top three floors of the Walkie-Talkie in the City, free to enter for the view. A timed slot must be booked online and goes weeks ahead. St Paul's dome lies west, the Shard due south.

A bunker beneath Whitehall offices where the War Cabinet met through the Second World War. The Map Room, its lights switched off in August 1945, survives as left, pin holes in the walls. The entrance is narrow, so walk-ups queue a long time.

A street market that runs a long way between the painted terraces of Notting Hill. The antique stalls are out in full on Saturday only; weekdays it is mostly fruit and veg. Start early at the Notting Hill Gate end and work north to dodge the crush.

A round timber playhouse rebuilt in 1997 near the old Bankside site. The open yard below the stage has no roof; you stand, pay least, and since umbrellas are banned, bring a raincoat. Plays run mainly from spring through summer into autumn.

One East End street fills with flowers and pot plants on Sundays only. It opens early and packs up around 3pm; near the end traders shout the price of what is left down. The little shops along both sides open to match.

A covered market deep inside the City, under an iron and glass roof from 1881. It stood in for the streets around Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films. Its customers work in finance, so most shops close and the arcade falls quiet at weekends.

A Victorian cemetery opened in 1839, its ivy-covered stones standing like a wood. The East side holds Karl Marx under a large bust. The steeper West side, with its Egyptian Avenue, can now be walked on your own; guided tours are optional.

Counted as the oldest and largest occupied castle, with trains from both Paddington and Waterloo. Several monarchs are buried in St George's Chapel inside. On Sundays the chapel is closed to visitors for worship.