London Encounter

Joe Bindloss lived briefly on Londons Caledonian Rd as a child and he headed back here as soon as he was old enough to work out the tube map. Hes lived in north London ever since, in between stints working overseas. Joe has written for more than 30 Lonely Planet guidebooks, from India and Nepal to Lonely Planets Gap Year book. When not travelling for Lonely Planet, he writes about travel, restaurants and life in London for the Independent, the Guardian, Wanderlust and other publications. For more information, see www.bindloss.co.uk.

The 1st edition of London Encounter was written by Sarah Johnstone.

First and foremost, my thanks to my partner Linda for providing a second opinion on trips to restaurants, bars and sights. Thanks also to the friends who provided dining tips Gar Powell Evans, I owe you one and the helpful Londoners who gave interviews for this book.

Jasna Bratic, John Carney, Nicholas Colicchia, Samantha Curcio, Mark Germanchis, Brice Gosnell, Frank Deim, Lainey Franks, Jane Hart, Steven Henderson, Liz Heynes, Indra Kilfoyle, Matt Langley, Doug McClurg, Ross Macaw, Leon Messerschmidt, Stephen Palmer, Darren O'Connell, Piers Pickard, Lachlan Ross, Rebecca Skinner, Kate Sullivan, Violetta Trajcevski, Textech, Justin Wark

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, claimed the great lexicographer Samuel Johnson, and were inclined to agree. Few world cities can compete with the English capital for variety, vitality and pace.

More than seven million people, from six continents, are crammed into this heaving metropolis, creating one of the largest cultural mixing pots on earth. This is where the money that drives the British economy is made and spent, where the Queen reigns and parliament governs, and where trends in music, fashion and the arts are made and discarded, sometimes in the space of a single evening.

London is the fashion capital of Mary Quant and Stella McCartney, the music capital of the Rolling Stones and Coldplay, the arts capital of the Tate Modern and Damien Hirst, the shopping capital of Harrods and Harvey Nichols, the culture capital of the BBC Proms and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Almost 2000 years of history are writ large in the streets, from the medieval spires of Westminster Abbey to the soaring dome of St Pauls Cathedral and the phallic exclamation mark of Norman Fosters Gherkin.

London obviously has its faults its expensive, overcrowded and often run-down around the edges but Londoners love it with a giddy passion. This urban love affair is fuelled by romantic dinners at restaurants run by uberchefs like Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing, by neon-coloured cocktails in the sleek bars of Shoreditch and Notting Hill, and by bass-charged all-nighters at super clubs like Fabric and the Ministry of Sound.

London is changing, and many would say improving, in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics. Youll still see the London clichs red buses, black taxis and bobbies on the beat but youll also find improved infrastructure, reinvigorated public spaces and some of the best nightlife, shopping, theatre, music and dining in the world. Catch it now before they start charging Olympic prices.

Sole brothers participants on a high during a London Pride parade
NEIL SETCHFIELD

The was the worlds largest observation wheel when it opened in 2000, soaring 135m above the River Thames. Cities around the world are now copying Londons futuristic Ferris wheel, but this was the original. The podlike gondolas offer a sweeping vista over central London, from the Houses of Parliament and Westminster to the distant towers of the City and the smokestacks of Battersea Power Station.

The wheel was originally planned as a temporary exhibit, but it was such a massive hit with visitors and locals that the owners made it a permanent feature. It has even seeped into popular culture, appearing in Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix and an episode of Dr Who as a communication device for the sinister Nestene Consciousness. Writer Will Self dubbed it Gods bicycle wheel.

Many visitors combine a spin on the Eye with a stroll through the .

London Eye
DOUG MCKINLAY

Who said museums have to be fusty? The curators at have done a fantastic job of reinvigorating the displays in this centuries-old powerhouse of history. Founded in 1753 to house the personal collection of Sir Hans Sloane, the museum was dramatically extended in the Georgian period, and the central Grand Court was covered by a soaring geometric canopy by Sir Norman Foster in 2000.

Inside you can see such historical wonders as the Rosetta Stone (room 4), which enabled archaeologists to translate Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the controversial Elgin (Parthenon) Marbles (room 18), swiped from the Acropolis by Britains ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. The collection of Egyptian mummies in rooms 62 to 63 is legendary, but dont overlook English relics like the Mildenhall Treasure and the Snettisham Hoard (rooms 49 to 50).

Funky new additions include the basement Africa gallery (room 25) and the Wellcome Trusts stunning Living & Dying exhibition in room 24. Entry is free, except for temporary exhibitions.

Great Court, British Museum
DOUG MCKINLAY

If we had to pick one building that summed up the spirit of London it would be . Designed by Sir Christopher Wren as London emerged from the ashes of the Great Fire, the building even survived the firestorm of the Blitz thanks to the efforts of volunteer fire fighters. Nowhere else in London conjures up such a sense of British grit.

Today, stripped of the grime deposited by the coal-fired power station that now houses the Tate Modern, the cathedral gleams inside and out. Most visitors head straight to the vertiginous Golden Gallery atop St Pauls famous dome, reached by 530 winding steps. En route, explore the open-air Stone Gallery (378 steps) and the acoustically brilliant Whispering Gallery (259 steps) inside the dome.