THE LUXURY TRAVEL
MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT
TRAVELLERS

There is something magical about flying over a big city. Most people crane to see out of the plane’s windows, hoping to spot its highest and best-known buildings, its great parks, inland lakes and winding waterways.

For me, flying into London rekindles the awe I felt as a child, when I watched Peter Pan take off from the nursery ledge and into the sky, trailing a magic carpet of stars around Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. It’s that sense of wonderment, that below you exists a city of such immensity and diversity, that you can only ever hope to capture it whole for a few minutes as you wing your way over it. Once on the ground, it would take more than a lifetime to know it completely.

If Paris is ‘The City of Light’ and Rome, ‘The Eternal City’, then London for me is ‘Neverland’. A living, breathing paradox, it is at once ancient and contemporary, frenetic and calm, majestic and self-effacing, proper and downright ‘dodgy’. This must be partly why it is one of the world’s favourite capitals. London offers just about everything.

Many people visit London for its history and tradition. It has magnificent buildings and world-famous attractions. It has a Queen! Standing on Westminster Bridge and turning in a complete circle affords the visitor a veritable eye-carnival of sights and wonders spanning centuries. Who can picture London without seeing red? Pillar-boxes, London buses, uniforms of Yeomen Warders, telephone boxes. The city has exploded into the new millennium: The Tate Modern, Millennium Bridge, London Eye, London’s ‘Gherkin’ – all born over the last decade standing proud today, landmarks of this wonderful city.

The anonymity, that this vast metropolis affords, attracts outsiders like magnets but it’s in Londoners themselves that perhaps the greatest diversity abides – cultures, languages, customs, all different. As are London’s boroughs: once small villages beyond the walls of London City, today they are linked by a vast transport network. However, they are as different from one another as are night and day. For me, it makes them all the more interesting. I’ve highlighted a sprinkling of my favourite places – shops, eateries, parks, hotels and splashes of culture – a mere morsel of what London has to offer… leaving you to continue seeking ‘Neverland’ for yourself… second star to the right and straight on
till morning.

Just off Oxford Street

Any first time visitor to London who excitedly pops out of the tube at Oxford Circus station may find a circus indeed. Total mayhem abounds as ardent shoppers heave themselves and their shopping around Europe’s largest high street (tip: get out at Bond Street or Marble Arch station instead – they’re far less daunting).

Many people get so caught up in the overwhelming energy of Oxford Street that they miss what is behind the scenes. It is astonishing that you can slip into a tiny gap in the wall between H&M and the O2 store, opposite Bond Street station, and come out at St Christopher’s Place. Here is a tranquil oasis of calm, where a delicious Bicerin (Florentine drinking chocolate, coffee and cream) served al fresco at Carluccio’s –
St Christopher’s Place, +44 (0) 20 7935 5927, www.carluccios.com, will revive even the weariest of foot. This beautiful square offers one of the greatest concentrations of outdoor dining in London and the little alleyways leading off it, chock-full of eclectic shops and boutiques are a must see.

At lunchtime, workers join shoppers in their frenetic scramble for sustenance. My preferred places are hidden away and Truc Vert – 42 North Audley Street, +44 (0) 20 7491 9988, www.trucvert.co.uk, a delightful French café, is the perfect place. If it’s too full, grab something from its delicatessen and walk two minutes down the road to bench-laden Grosvenor Square.

If you’re intent on throwing yourself back into the madding throng of shoppers, a hop-skip-and-a-jump away is old favourite Selfridges & Co – 400 Oxford Street, www.selfridges.com, where just about everything under the sun is available for purchase under one roof. When it all gets too much, prêt-a-pose with London’s fashion pack at the stylish Moët Bar on the ground floor mezzanine and don’t miss their tantalizing champagne cocktails.

If you prefer to treat your whole body rather than your taste buds alone, take yourself down New Bond Street and straight to the Elemis Day-Spa – 2/3 Lancashire Court, +44 (0) 20 7499 4995, www.elemis.com. My favourite ritual is a steam rasul – a combination of mud treatments and a steam, which all takes place inside a tiny Arabian temple – followed by a dreamy, hour long, well-being massage. It’s agonizing even to contemplate moving afterwards.

However, the promise of a cosy chair, a fireplace and a glass of your favourite tipple may just tempt you back to reality. Jump into a black cab outside the spa and ask for CVO Firevault – 36 Great Titchfield Street, +44 (0) 20 7580 5333, www.cvo.co.uk, which is a few minutes away by car. This hidden gem is a designer fireplace showroom during the day, becoming a flickering, flame-lit bar and restaurant by night. The food is a tantalizing mix of Gallic origin, infused with a delicate contemporary English style. Watch where you seat your derrière, as the beautiful furniture is by partners Ligne Roset, +44 (0) 20 7323 1248, www.ligne-roset.co.uk and you may want to take it all home!

Soho and beyond

At the Tottenham Court Rd end of Oxford Street, make your way south and you’ll find yourself in the heart of Soho. Unlike its wealthy neighbours Marylebone and Mayfair, Soho has always attracted a different crowd. From the early part of the 1700s, immigrants arrived and it never became fashionable for the rich. Instead, it ran a little rough and wild, which appealed to creative sorts and intellectuals. Today, it has not lost any of its wayward charm and has become ‘trend central’ for television and radio stations, the film industry, designers and all things ‘arty’. Soho is most famous for its frenetic energy, which can be experienced in its pubs, clubs, bars, theatres and restaurants, many of which seem to stay open all night (along with a sex shop or two)!

Most important in London is to find a hotel that is easily accessible to your favourite haunts and if you are a first-timer, a place where you can set off on foot and explore. My absolute favourite is The Soho Hotel – 4 Richmond Mews, +44 (0) 20 7559 3000, www.sohohotel.com. The minute you walk into its bustling lobby and meet the charming staff… as you drink or dine at Refuel, its hip restaurant and bar… and by the time you’ve encountered the spectacular fifth floor suites, each with wraparound terraces and views stretching far over London, you’ll want to be adopted permanently. From here, the delights of Soho sit right on your doorstep. Everything is within walking distance: Charing Cross Road is famous for its bookstores. I can’t walk past my favourite art bookshop Shipley at 70, +44 (0) 20 7836 4872, without having a peek inside. It’s packed with volumes and slightly musty – exactly as a bookshop should be.

For a quick bite, grab a ready-made sushi box from Itsu – 103 Wardour Street, +44 (0) 20 7479 4790, www.itsu.com. ‘Perfect for one person or two supermodels’, it’ll take all your restraint to walk up the road to eat in the vibey Soho Square without devouring it en route. I love that you never know what’ll happen over your lunch there… it’s so full of lively, happening people. Last time, over my tuna nigiri, I was asked to introduce a Take That song on camera for a trendy TV music channel!

Shaftesbury Avenue has London’s main concentration of theatres along its length. Do go and see ‘Mary Poppins’ at The Prince Edward Theatre on Old Compton Street, +44 (0) 87 0850 9191, www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk and then find out what’s in an Electric Iced Tea at popular and well-established Bar Soho, +44 (0) 20 7439 0439, www.barsoho.co.uk opposite. Once you’ve sampled one or two more specialties from their huge cocktail list, you’ll be ready to take on Soho by night! If it’s simply another venue or some lively club action you seek, ask the barman what’s hot and happening as the scene changes weekly.

For the hungry, one of my favourite restaurants for lunch or dinner is just around the corner in Frith Street, Arbutus at 63/64, +44 (0) 20 7734 4545, www.arbutusrestaurant.co.uk, which has recently won the ‘Time Out’ London 2007 award for Best New Restaurant. The menu changes weekly so you’re assured of something innovative as well as fresh goods from the market.