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With over 30，000 shops and stores to choose from， aswell as a burgeoning reputation in the fashion world， shop-pers will not be disappointed - from designer labels in BondStreet to bustling street markets in Camden， Notting Hill orBrick Lane，The capital also has 400 live music venues，catering for everything from opera to Brit pop and sportsfans will not be short of excitement whenever they come.The summer sees the world's largest classical musicalfestival at the Royal Albert Hall -- the Proms.

In the 21st century， London has reinvented itself on amonumental scale. Don't miss the amazing views from theultra modern British Airways London Eye， the world's mostvisited modern art gallery， Tate Modern or the staggeringscale of the British Museum Great Court. Newcomers thisyear include the Firepower artillery museum in Woolwichand the Museum in Docklands.

Shopping the world's best shopping

Bo Derek once said \"whoever said moneycan't buy happiness simply didn't know whereto shop\". The answer is London. With so muchon offer you'll be delighted to know that， \"ifretail is therapy then London is a great big sym-pathetic couch\".

If you like everything under one roof， youwill love London's world-famous departmentstores. No trip to London would be completewithout a visit to Harrods in Knightsbridge- atourist attraction in its own fight. With over 300 departments there is everything that you couldpossibly want from numerous international de-signer collections to the famous Food Hall. Ashort walk away， Harvey Nichols is the placeto shop for the cream of international fashions.Fortnum Mason， a fixture in Piccadilly since1707， has a legendary food hall among its manydepartments while Selfridges is the high-light of Oxford Street-its Superbrandssection indulges designer cravings witheverything from Versace to Dior. Justaround the corner on London's mile of style， Regent Street， you'll find Liberty'sfamous Tudoresque building hosting ev-erything form Alexander McQueen tooriental rugs. Along Regent Street whynot pop into Hamleys' there are sevenfloors hosting over 30，000 toys.

If you're a luxury label lover， grabyour platinum card and head to SloaneStreet or Bond Street where designersPrada， Gucci， Louis Vuitton， Chanel andVersace all wait for you behind shinydoors. Rubbing shoulders with thesefashion giants is home grown relent suchas Stella McCartney， Nicole Farhi， PaulSmith and Alexander Mc Queen.

For high street fashions you can'tbeat Oxford Street and Regent Street，where you'll find everything from Marks Spencer， John Lewis， Debenhams，Zara， Mango， Benettion， Gap andTopshop's fashion superstore right nextdoor to Niketown.

If you're looking to take that littleslice of Britain home with you then lookno further than some quintessentially British shops. Each London shopping district hosts specialist shops such asMulberry with its luxury leather goods，The Conran Shop's stylish homeware orclassic English stores such as Bates TheHatters in Jermyn Street or James Smith，umbrella emporium on New Oxford Street. You'll be unable to resist the fa-mous check at Burberry while SavileRow is the undisputed home of Britishtailoring.

If accessories are your thing， luxuryjewelers Asprey Gerrard， Theo Fennelland Tiffany can all be found on BondStreet but don't miss Jeremy Hoye's bou-tique on Beak Street and Monty the Catand Silverworks in Kingly Court. AnyaHindmarch's Pont Street store still at-tracts hordes of handbag lovers but forthe coolest clutch head to Shizue inMayfair. Who doesn't love a new pair ofshoes? For real star quality you can't beatGina on Sloane Street， Jimmy Choo onDraycott Avenue or Manolo Blahnik onOld Church Street. For men， you'll loveChurch's in the Burlington Arcade.

Perhaps you're an antiques addict?World famous auction houses Sotheby'sand Christies are on Bond Street as wellas the many antique shops in Kensingtonand Chelsea-Antiquarious on the King'sRoad is a particular treasure trove. Forboth bargains and great atmospheres，mingle with the crowds at one ofLondon's great markets.

Visit Camden for its quirky clothing，Brick Lane， Petticoat Lane for vintagefurniture and clothes or Spitalfields andGreenwich for collectibles and crafts. Forantiques there can only be one choice-Portobello Road. Bargains are there forthe taking so get there early! SarahHiscock

Eating out: Eat your way aroundthe world

With over 7000 restaurants servingcuisine from more than 70 countries，London is a food lovers' paradise.Whether you want a plate of fish andchips washed down with a pint of ale， anauthentic-tasting curry， modern Euro-pean cuisine or a Michelin starred mealcooked by the latest celebrity chef， Lon-don really does have the world on a plate.

Fine dining is something of a tradi-tion in London. The capital's oldestrestaurant， Rules， first opened more than200 years ago and is renowned for its clas-sic game， oysters， pies and puddingsserved in its sumptuous velvet and giltdining room. Simpson's-in-the-Strand isanother institution. Amid polished woodpanelling， an ornate plaster ceiling andintimate booths， you will find terrificroasts and English breakfasts. The samegoes for the legendary Savoy Grill， withinthe art deco confines of The Savoy.

Gordon Ramsay is leading the charge among celebrity chefs at the moment. Hiseponymous flagship restaurant inChelsea is an intimate affair with three Michelin stars while the gorgeous din-ing room of Gordon Ramsay atClaridge's is one of the city's most cher-ished bookings. Another celebrity chef，Antony Worrall Thompson has recentlyadded the Kew Grill to his Notting Grill.

London's East End is the capital ofdelicious wallet-friendly Indian cuisine.Brick Lane has been nicknamedBanglatown for its high concentration ofIndian restaurants and the entire street isinfused with mouthwatering aromas. Ifyou're planning on being more central，there's Meal in Shaftesbury Avenue， orfor more truly gourmet Indian dining， try Michelin-starred Tamarind， CinnamonClub， Mint Leaf， or Quilon (where it ismmoured the Queen gets her takeaways).

After Banglatown try Chinatown， thecelebrated Soho home of London's Chi-nese community and worth a vist just toexplore. HK Diner in Wardour Streetserves a wide range of authentic Chinesedishes， amidst an enclave of streets de-voted to Chinese dining. Not far awayone of London's top Chinese restaurantsis the Michelin-starred Hakkasan. OwnerAlan Yau， has also opened Yauatcha，where you can enjoy reputedly the fin-est dim sum in London.

You could combine the whole of theFar East into one meal at a pan-Asianrestaurant. Katana， at the InternationalHotel， serves wonderful Chinese， Japanese，Thai and Vietnamese dishes， allowing youto mix and match flavours to your heart'scontent. Or lovers of Japanese dining willenjoy the very reasonably pricedWagamama or Yo Sushi chains.

European tastes are well catered forwith a host of Italian bistros and restau-rants including modern Quod， chainssuch as Caffe Uno and many family-mntrattorias and pizzerias. For something abit more exclusive try Neal Street Res-taurant or Carluccio's， both owned byAntonio Carluccio， or George Locatelli'sLocanda Locatelli. For French cuisine，take a look at the Conran family of res-taurants including Le Pont de la Tournext to Tower Bridge.

But this is Britain， so what aboutsome good old British classics? Rightnext to Le Pont de la Tour， the Conran-owned Butler's Wharf Chop House ornewly-opened Paternoster Chop Housein Paternoster Square serve traditionalBritish dishes. Many pubs and gastropubs and gastro pubs serve an excellentfull traditional roast dinner on Sundays.

London is also a great place to com-bine fabulous food with shopping orsightseeing. Selfridges has 17 differentplaces to eat， as well as a new champagnebar， and Harrods has everything from acreperie to an oyster bar. The newly reno-vated Peter Jones in Sloane Square has alovely fifth floor restaurant with greatviews across Chelsea while The Tate Modern has Cefe 7， with impressiveviews of St Paul's Cathedral and the Mil-lennium Bridge.

Late Night London

London is a truly 24-hour city withan excellent menu of late night bars， res-taurants and nightclubs to enjoy， Manybars and late night pubs have live bandsor DJs on offer While London clublandis thriving like never before.

London's bars and pubs offer a widevariety of evenings out across the capital.Sip cocktails and champagne mixes in10 Room， Air Street， or listen to the lat-est sounds at AKA at The End with itsexcellent DJ bar and fantastic soundsystem. Just off Piccadilly Circus， onAnon is seven bars in one， each with itsown theme， including a club open until3am.

With almost 250 venues to choosefrom， the London club scene is more ex-citing than it's ever been with every tasteand style catered for. In the West End，the newly-relaunched Marquee Club inLeicester Square has five foors of barsand dancefloors. Two of London's larg-est clubs， Fabric and Turnmills inClerkenwell have top international DJsplaying the latest tunes until late， and south of the river， the leg-endary Ministry of Sound continues to pull in packed interna-tional crowds. Formerly the famous Camden Palace， Koko inCamden hosts packed out eclectic club nights throughout theweek. Meanwhile to the east. Cargo is typical of the smaller butperfectly formed venues hosting live music and club nights. SouthLondon also hosts The Fridge， The Dogstar and Plan B in Brixton，cavernous club， DJ Pub and stylish live music and DJ barrespectively.

For live music， London is nmst-stop for every major band'sworld tour and the breeding ground for the next generation ofmusical superstar. Check out Wembley Arena and HammersmithApollo for A-list megastars， and Shepherd's Bush Empire andBrixton Academy host great rock and pop concerts every nightof the week. For jazz enthusiasts， Ronnie Scott's is a mecca notto be missed.

Many restaurants open late in London including Vingt-Quatreon Fulham Road. This opens 24 hours a day and serves the per-fect pick-me-up breakfast. La Plume in the old Hippodrome onLeicester Square is open until 4am， serving an international menuamid a nightly circus act and HK Diner serves late night Chinesedelicacies until 4am.London entertains

Whatever your pleasure you'll find it on the London stage.From legendary musicals to Shakespearean classics， grand clas-sical music festivals to Shakespearean classics， grand classicalmusic festivals to world famous opera， ballet and contemporarydance in the world's most celebrated auditoria.

The West End is the heart of London's Theatreland with newproductions opening every week. It is home to performances ofevery type， from the latest musicals like Mary Poppins， TheWoman in White and The Producers and long-running favouritessuch as Les Miserables， Phantom of the Opera and Mamma Mia.And it is no surprise to find Hollywood superstars rubbing shoul-ders with Britain's finest acting talents in the many classical re-vivals and contemporary dramas.

In Covent Garden， London's oldest theatre， the Theatre RoyalDrury Lane， has put on performances since 1662. Just around thecomer， St Martin's Theatre hosts the world's longest running play，The Donmar Warehouse is one of London's many theatres forinnovative new productions， along with the Almeida in Islingtonand Kevin Spacey's Old Vic.

The grand Royal Opera House is home to wonderful balletand some of the finest operatic singing in the world. A short walkaway， the newly refurbished Coliseum is home to the EnglishNational Opera. Meanwhile， Sadlers Well's hosts some of theworld's most innovative dance.

On the banks of the River Thames Lies the faithful recre-ation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre， which hosts a number ofthe Bard's plays throughout the summer. Stand as one of the\"groundlings\" in the Globe's for a real bargain price. A shortway， the South Bank Centre is home to the National Theatre'sthree stages while the impressive Royal Festival Hall is home tonumerous classical concerts. Summer also sees the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre showcase a range of Shakespearean and otherplays.

Don't miss the breathtaking RoyalAlbert Hall， home to the world's bestclassical music festival， the BBC Proms.The Barbican Centre in the heart of the City of London hosts classical and jazzmusic concerts， films and a range of con-temporary theatre.

Last but not least London is home toinnumerable cinema spaces， from the nu-merous state of the art multiplexesthrough to the BFI IMAX in Waterloo，The National Film Theatre on the SouthBank and many arthouse screens acrossthe capital.

London Museums

London's museums and galleriesboast collections exploring everythingyou could possibly imagine. Traditionalmuseums rub shoulders with modernspaces， heritage-drenched galleries sitalongside modern private art spaces...and many of them are completely free.

The Natural History Museumtakes you to the heart of the natu-ral world while next door theScience Museum celebrates in-novation and inventions fromthe steam-age to the space-age.Just cross the road to theVictoria and Albert Museum toadmire design and style fromacross the centuries.

The British Museum con-tains over 6.5 million objectscovering 2 million years ofhistory including the ElginMarbles， the Rosetta Stoneand the spectacular GreatCourt.

In east London， the Mu-seum of London is a treasuretrove for visitors curious toknow more about their hostcity while Greenwich ishome to the National Mari-time Museum， exploring theworld's oceans in stylish， in-spirational displays.

Of the many major artgalleries in London， TheNational Gallery houses anoutstanding collection ofwestern European paintingswhile The National PortraitGallery tells the story ofBritish history throughpaintings and photographs. The RoyalAcademy presents the biggest names inthe world of art， and the Queen's Gal-lery at Buckingham Palace hosts the re-nowned Royal Collections.

Along the River Thames， Tate Brit-ain shows British art from the 16th cen-tury to the present and down river，housed in a mammoth former powerstation， Tate Modern's excellent collec-tions are matched by the stunning build-ing itself.

There are some important private col-lections open to the public including the Saatchi Gallery's controversial contempo-rary collection; 18th-century French artin the Wallace Collection and SamuelCourtauld's magnificent collection of Im-pressionist paintings within SomersetHouse. The Hayward， the Barbican ArtGallery， the Serpentine， and theWhitechapel are all renowned for their in-novative exhibitions.

It's a similarly diverse story forLondon's specialist museums. You cantake a look at the nation's finances at theBank of England Museum， catch up withDickensian London at the CharlesDickens Museum and observe the chang-ing riverscape in the Museum in Docklands. You name it， London has amuseum for it!

London walks: Enjoy the riverthames

Start your walk at WestminsterUnderground Station opposite ThePalace of Westminster and BigBen. Cross over WestminsterBridge and on reaching thesouth side， mm right down thesteps. Follow signs to the BALondon Eye and keep walkingpast the London Eye and thenon under Hungerford Bridge.Keeping to the fiver path as itpasses the Royal Festival Halland the National FilmTheatre， continue under Wa-terloo Bridge， then mm at the National Theatre and climbsome steps to walk over Wa-terloo Bridge. Once over thebridge， turn right intoSomerset House to see thecourtyard， then exit via theEmbankment entrance.Turn left， cross the roadand head for BlackfriarsBridge. At the bridge， mmright and walk over，crossing the road at theend before taking thesteps down onto the fiverpath and then left to-wards Tate Modem andMillennium Bridge(you can cross the Mil-lennium bridge to see St Paul's Cathedra)Continue on the river path to Shakespeare'sGlobe Theatre and Bankside Pier that hasboats back to Westminster. Carry on along-side the fiver under Southwark Bridge alongBankend and Clink Street， past Vinopolis，Clink Prison Museum and the GoldenHinde. Turn right towards SouthwarkCathedral， and continue to London BridgeStation to return to Westminster.

ENJOYING LONDON PARKS

Start at Marble Arch Station， and walk down Park Lane， crossing it a Upper BrookStreet， to enter Hyde Park by Brook Gate，Follow the path for 100m， taking the thirdleft to a mosaic signpost and follow signs toThe Serpentine. Once there， turn right andwalk along the lake towards a large bridge.Cross the bridge into Kensington Gardens，following signs to the Serpentine Gallery.Form here， follow signs to KensingtonPalace， via a bandstand， and then return tothe Albert Memorial， opposite the RoyalAlbert Hall. (You can exit the park here andcross the road， turning left towards Exhibi-tion Road， for the Science Museum， Natu-ral History Museum and Victoria and AlbertMuseum.) Carry on taking a path back to-wards the serpentine Gallery and cross theroad to a sandy path by Rotten Row， Fromhere， walk for about 1300m to Hyde ParkComer. Pass through the gates and turn leftto Apsley House (Wellington Museum)， thentake the subway to the Wellington Arch andanother subway to Green Park. Walk throughthe park， keeping Constitution Hill to yourfight until you reach Buckingham Palace.Here， cross The Mall and enter St James'sPark， turning left at the lake and walkingalong and over the bridge， taking in viewsof Whitehall. Exit the part through St Anne'sGate， crossing Birdcage Walk to St James'sPark Underground station.

Each walk is shown on the LocaterMap on the inside of the back page.

Getting around

THE UNDERGROUND

Almost every place of interestreachable by \"The Tube\". A Tube map isin the inside flap of.the front cover. Ser-vices run constantly form around 05.30-24.00. www.thetube.com

LONDON BUSES

An excellent way to get aroundLondon. You can buy discounted packs ofbus tickets from newsagents and numer-ous transport ticket points. Some routesrequire an advance ticket points. Someroutes require an advance ticket purchasedat the bus stop machines. A Night bus/24bus service is available on many routes.

DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY

The Docklands Light Railway orDLR connects Tower Gateway， near theTower of London with Canary Wharf andhistoric Greenwich.

TAXIS AND MINICABS

To order a black taxi cab， just lookout for the orange TAXI sign on the frontof the cab-if it is lit you can hail itimmediately. Private hire minicabs needto be ordered in advance. Always use li-censed taxis and ask for an estimate ofthe cost of the journey first

NATIONAL RAIL

There are nine main rail stations inLondon. Paddington serves the WestCountry， Wales and the South Midlands.Liverpool Street serves East Anglia andEssex. Euston， King's Cross， Maryleboneand St Pancras serve north and centralBritain. Charing Cross， Waterloo andVictoria serve southern England. For infoon timetables， tickets and running reportsvisit www.nationalrail.co.uk or call08457 484950 (UK only) or (020) 72785240. Eurostar comes into WaterlooInternational.

TRAVELCARDS

A Travelcard allows you to travel onany Underground， tram， DLR， bus and na-tional railway routes (excluding HeathrowExpress) within London， and you get 33%off any standard riverboat service.Travelcards are available from Under-ground stations， Transport for London In-formation Centres or newsagents. They in-clude the One Day Travelcards and Fam-ily Travelcards. Weekend Travelcards arevery popular with visitors on a long week-end visit. Visitor Travelcards are availableprior to travel to London.

TRAVEL INFO

There are London Travel InformationCentres at Euston， Camden Direct (nearSt Pancras Station) Victoria， LiverpoolStreet， Oxford Circus， Piccadilly Circus，St James's Park， Paddington，Hammersmith and West Croydon as wellas at each terminal at Heathrow Airport.London Travel Information: 020 72221234， www.tfl.gov.uk