London

Gunnersbury Park

Named for a Viking royal, Gunnersbury Park has a fascinating history but perhaps should have been torn down over 90 yea…

Charing Cross Station: Ten Surprising Facts

War, severed body parts, a 700 year old monument, a fatal roof collapse and the world's first underground railway, Char…

Bethnal Green

The former stomping ground of both Jack the Ripper and the Kray Twins, Bethnal Green was a parish of large, well-to-do …

The Dramatic History of Shoreditch High Street

Shoreditch High Street – the old main street of Shoreditch – where iconic street art and outdoor markets meet vintage c…

Greenwich Park

For centuries a royal hunting ground, Greenwich Park is today famous as the birthplace of time as we know it, and a lov…

Nelson's Column

An iconic London monument built in honour of Lord Nelson who died leading the British fleet to victory in the Battle of…

Barbican Conservatory

A rainforest in the centre of London, Barbican Conservatory is the unlikely home of a reformed gang of turtles that onc…

Pudding Lane

A street named not for sweets but for animal guts, Pudding Lane is the site of Farriner's bakery, where the Great Fire …

Sky Garden

A stunning garden with panoramic views of London or 'a meagre pair of rockeries in a space designed with all the finess…

Seven Dials Market

A huge foodhall in the heart of one of London's most vibrant and bizarre neighbourhoods, Seven Dials Market is the perf…

Southmere Lake

Southmere Lake, or the 'Flatblock Marina', is a brutalist estate in Thamesmead, London, famous for its role as a totali…

Primrose Hill London

Primrose Hill is a London park and the site of a mysterious 17th century murder that resulted in the hanging of three i…

The Foundling Museum

The Foundling Museum commemorates the Foundling Hospital, which is thought to be the world's first incorporated charity…

Chelsea Physic Garden

Founded in 1673, Chelsea Physic Garden is a picturesque reminder of the vital role that botanical gardens played in the…

Neasden Temple

Neasden Temple (or BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir as it is properly known) was the first traditional Hindu temple in Eur…

Little Venice

London's answer to Italy's 'Floating City', or a realtor's cynical attempt to make the most of a couple of canals, Litt…

Bedlam Asylum

Over eight centuries old, Bethlem Royal Hospital (aka Bedlam Asylum) offers a harrowing look into England's past mistre…

Jack Straw's Castle

This odd building stands on the site on which Peasant's Revolt leader, Jack Straw, is said to have sheltered before bei…

Wellington Arch

Hyde park's Wellington Arch is the epitomy of a UK public works project: it was left unfinished for years and has a his…

Kensal Green Cemetery

Today, Western cultures shy away from the thought of death, but this wasn't always the case. Kensal Green Cemetery is a…

Leake Street Arches

Hidden beneath Waterloo station, Leake Street Arches is a disused Eurostar tunnel that's been transformed into a street…

Crossbones Graveyard

Crossbones Graveyard is the unconsecrated final resting place of Medieval London's sex workers, 'The Winchester Geese'.…

William Blake's House

'I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's.' In this house lived William Blake: poet, visionary, rebel, g…

The Hardy Tree

Thomas Hardy, author of Far From The Madding Crowd and architect of one of London's strangest landmarks: The Hardy Tree.

Old St Pancras Burial Ground

Mary Shelley famously started writing her classic novel 'Frankenstein' during a stormy stay at Lord Byron's Lake Geneva…

Viktor Wynd Museum

The Viktor Wynd Museum: where else can you find old master etchings alongside celebrity faeces; Happy Meal toys next to…

Twinings Tea Shop

Before there was Starbucks, before there was Coca Cola, before there was even the USA, there was the Twinings tea shop.

Flicker Alley

Known locally as Flicker Alley, Cecil Court was a vital hub of early British cinema with international connections.

Wormwood Scrubs

A London prison made famous by a Michael Caine film, a song by The Jam and a rooftop protest by the IRA, Wormwood Scrub…

The Temple of Mithras

The remnants of an ancient military cult that once threatened to takeover the world, the Temple of Mithras is a London …

50 Berkeley Square

Once declared the most haunted house in London, 50 Berkeley Square has a body count to send shivers down your spine. Th…

Goodwin's Court

A Georgian alley thought to be one of the main inspirations of Harry Potter's Diagon Alley, Goodwin's Court is the perf…

Highgate Cemetery

Satanism, sex rituals, vampires and duels: Highgate Cemetery was the inspiration behind Christopher Lee's Dracula, but …

Leadenhall Market

Leadenhall Market is home to Harry Potter's Leaky Cauldron pub. It's most magical resident, however, might be a Victori…

St Dunstan-in-the-East

The overgrown ruins of a 900 year old London church, St Dunstan-in-the-East is like a window into an alternate history.

St Mary Abbots Gardens

Kensington is a bustling area of London full to bursting with museums, centres of learning, galleries, shops, and resta…

Little Compton Street

Little Compton Street: A buried Bohemian time capsule beneath London's modern roads?

Mercato Mayfair

An artisanal food hall based in a Greek revival church, Mercato Mayfair has it all... if by 'it all' you mean delicious…

Mount Street Gardens

Hidden next to Mayfair's Grosvenor Chapel, Mount Street Gardens is one of London's most peaceful beauty spots. Then aga…

The Royal Academy of Arts

The Royal Academy Arts has been fostering artistic talent for over two centuries now. It is fitting, then, that it is b…

Lincoln's Inn

With elements dating back to the 1400s, and from every century since, Lincoln's Inn is a treasure trove of London archi…

Handel and Hendrix in London

Handel and Hendrix were born over two hundred years and one thousand miles apart, but, despite this, they had a lot in …

Beau Brummell Statue

The definition of a dandy, an influencer before influencers were even a thing, the laziest Officer that the Tenth Royal…

Pelican Stairs: A Hidden London Beach

Pelican Stairs is an alleyway in East London that leads to a hidden London beach. It runs alongside a historic pub, the…

Shad Thames

Former industrial hub and one-time home of David Hockney and Derek Jarman, Shad Thames is a distinct, hidden London dis…

Punch and Judy, Covent Garden

Punch and Judy, Covent Garden: a pub, a puppet show, the birthplace of an icon.

Brown Hart Gardens

Idle, disorderly and verminous persons beware: enter Brown Hart Gardens at your risk. And don't even think about practi…

Three Mills Island

A site of mills since Doomsday (the book, not the end of time), Three Mills Island is part of the oldest recorded examp…

Mayfield Lavender Farm

Mae Jemison once said, 'when God made the colour purple, God was just showing off'. If this is true, then whoever grew …

Burlington Arcade

Stunning 19th Century Arcade? Check. Luxury goods? Check. Private militia dolled up in Victorian frock coats? Check. If…