London - the grand resonance of its very name suggests history and might. Its opportunities for entertainment by day and night go on and on and on. It's a city that exhilarates and intimidates, stimulates and irritates in equal measure, a grubby Monopoly board studded with stellar sights. It's a cosmopolitan mix of Third and First Worlds, chauffeurs and beggars, the stubbornly traditional and the proudly avant-garde. But somehow – between Her Majesty and Pete Doherty, Bow Bells and Big Ben, the Tate Modern and the 2012 Olympics - it all hangs together.

Many who live in London would swear that global warming has added a twist to the city's unpredictable climatic conditions. While locals used to complain about the frequent, but still somehow always unforeseen, arrival of rain, now they find themselves faced with sudden outbreaks of sunshine and dry heat instead.

Recent summers have seen record temperatures, approaching 40°C and autumns have been positively toasty. As the tube turns into the Black Hole of Calcutta and traffic fumes become choking, London is particularly ill-equipped to cope with such heat.

However, meteorologists point out that recent statistics don't yet represent anything terribly out of the ordinary for such a naturally variable climate. The average maximum temperature for July, the hottest month, is still only about 23°C. In spring and autumn temperatures drop to between 13°C and 17°C. In winter, the average daily maximum is 8°C, the overnight minimum 2°C.

Despite the appearance of snow in the past few years, it still rarely freezes in London. What weather forecasters do predict in the long-term, as a result of climate change in London, are drier summers, wetter and stormier winters and more flash floods.

London is a year-round tourist centre, with few of its attractions closing or significantly reducing their opening hours in winter. Your best chance of good weather is, of course, at the height of summer in July and August, but there's certainly no guarantee of sun even in those months - plus it's when you can expect the biggest crowds and highest prices.

Citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa do not need a visa for stays in the UK up to 6 months, but they are prohibited from working. Citizens of the European Union (EU) don't need a visa to enter the country and may live and work here freely.

Many restaurants now add a 'discretionary' service charge to your bill, but in places that don't you are expected to leave a 10% to 15% tip unless the service was unsatisfactory. Waiting staff are often paid derisory wages on the assumption that the money will be supplemented by tips. You never tip to have your pint pulled in a pub.

If you take a boat trip on the Thames you'll find some guides and/or drivers importuning for a tip in return for their commentary. Whether you pay is up to you. You can tip taxi drivers up to 10% but most people round up to the nearest pound.

Bumpkin
Tel: 020 7243 9818
This faux rustic outfit is good for an unpretentious helping of old-fashioned comfort food. Wash down everything from dorset crab bruschetta, to beef pie and huge steaks, with a glass of Guinness, Adnams or some very unusual whisky cocktails. The cooking's not fancy and it does get noisy, but there's something uncomplicatedly pleasant about the experience.

Ottolenghi
Tel: 020 7288 1454
Stylish Ottolenghi is one of Islington's best, with its long white communal table (plus a few private ones) and arty meringue displays. It's casual enough for a relaxed breakfast and chic enough for a night out. Meals are usually composed of two or three servings of delicious modern Mediterranean dishes. There's other branches in Notting Hill and Kensington.
Web: www.ottolenghi.co.uk

Baltic
Tel: 020 7928 1111
The swish, shiny bar lined with amber and vodkas tends to attract a buttoned-up after-work crowd, but the food in the high-ceilinged restaurant behind is excellent, taking Polish to the mainstream, with excellent renditions of blini (crepes), herrings, pierogi (dumplings) and caviar, black pudding and smoked eel.
Web: www.balticrestaurant.co.uk

Busaba Eathai
Tel: 020 7299 7900
This is a 21st-century Wagamama-style noodle bar - a bit more stylish with it, but brought to you by the same man, Alan Yau. Below ceiling fans and golden buddhas, customers lap up delicious Thai curries and soups on dark wood benches and communal tables. There's another branch on Wardour St in Soho.

Brick Lane Beigel Bake
Tel: 020 7729 0616
This renowned round-the-clock bakery turns out some of London's springiest, chewiest bagels and attracts daytime and after-club crowds. It's a slice of real London, but not kosher (in the Jewish sense). The hot salt-beef bagels have eager punters queuing out the door, a sure sign of a good thing.

Spitalfields Market
Spitalfields has always been about snaffling. Up-and-coming designers tout clothes, cutting-edge jewellery and household objects, and adventurous shoppers get their fill. Unfortunately, a new retail complex now hogs a good deal of the market's space, but not enough to seriously dent its status as one of the city's best and busiest hangouts.
Web: www.spitalfields.co.uk

Rellik
Tel: 020 8962 0089
One of London's most-lauded retro clothing stores, this place is not cheap, but there is a chance of unearthing secondhand designer labels, including from the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Zandra Rhodes and even 1960s icon Ossie Clark. While you're here, have a look at Trellick Tower opposite - another love-or-hate London building.
Web: www.relliklondon.co.uk

Lesley Craze Gallery
Tel: 020 7608 0393
One of Europe's leading centres for contemporary jewellery, this has exquisitely understated, and sometimes pricey, metal designs, as well as a small selection of cheaper, mixed-media pieces. Perfect if you're looking for something out of the ordinary.
Web: www.lesleycrazegallery.co.uk

Bethnal Green Working Men's Club
Tel: 020 7739 2727
London's club of the moment mines a rich vein of post-modern irony, with its red-heart of lights on stage and events like 1950s tea-dance Viva Cake (girls on roller-skates serving Earl Grey tea and trestle tables laden with cakes), lounge-meisters The Karminsky Experience, cabaret evening Toot-Sweet, the goth Hellfire Club, Dolly Parton evenings and more.

Hollybush
Tel: 020 7435 2892
A beautiful pub that makes you envy the privileged residents of Hampstead, Hollybush has an antique Victorian interior, a lovely secluded hilltop location, open fires in winter and a knack for making you stay longer than you had intended at any time of the year. Plenty of real ale on offer and a top-shelf asking to be sampled.

Loungelover
Tel: 020 7012 1234
If you're in the mood for a little glamour, make your way to this 'maximalist' styled bar. Entering from the run-down streets outside, you'll find yourself faced with an entrancing mish-mash of chandeliers, antiques, street lanterns and comfy lounge chairs. The cocktails aren't cheap, but you'll have a memorable evening.
Web: www.loungelover.co.uk

Shakespeare's Globe
Tel: 020 7401 9919
The Globe is a near-perfect replica of the building on this site where Shakespeare himself worked in from 1598 to 1611. Even if the particular production you attend comes across a bit 'theme-park Shakespeare' - and they occasionally do - you'll never forget being in this up-close-and-personal open-roofed theatre in the round.
Web: www.shakespeares-globe.org

Fabric
Tel: 020 7336 8898
The first stop on the London scene for many international clubbers, 1500-capacity Fabric is still going strong. In a converted meat cold-store, it's a bit of a labyrinth: you enter on the ground floor and the club stretches down through three dance floors (including a vibrating one), chill-out spaces and plenty of dark corners.
Web: www.fabriclondon.com

National Gallery
Tel: 020 7747 2885
The National Gallery is to the north of Trafalgar Square and was founded in 1824. Counting some 2100 paintings on display at any one time, it is one of the world's largest and richest art galleries. The gallery's paintings are hung in a continuous timeline so you can gaze your way through the ages.
Web: www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Royal Observatory
Tel: 020 8312 6565
Standing with one foot in the world's western hemisphere and the other in the east: that's the Royal Observatory's cheap thrill. Other than the chance to straddle the prime meridian (of time and longitude), there's also an absorbing tale of how the observatory's astronomers battled to accurately measure longitude, and help improve maritime navigation.
Web: www.nmm.ac.uk

Tate Modern
Tel: 020 7887 8000
A spectacularly converted power station, the world's most successful contemporary art gallery hasn't ever really been about the art, but about the building, location and views. So the recent rearrangement of its works into a more thematic and chronological order is a refreshing bonus rather than a vital reinvention.
Web: www.tate.org.uk

Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret
Tel: 020 7188 2679
This former Victorian surgical theatre is not for the squeamish. However, others will be compelled to see the rough-and-ready conditions under which simple 19th century operations took place - without antiseptic or anaesthetic, and on a wooden table in what looks like a modern lecture hall. There's a nod to alternative therapies in the adjoining herb garret.
Web: www.thegarret.org.uk

Whitechapel Art Gallery
Tel: 020 7522 7888
The Whitechapel is one of the most interesting and challenging of London's contemporary art galleries. Behind its Art Noveau facade and entry hall, you'll find revolving exhibitions of photography, painting, sculpture and video art, plus fundraising events, poetry readings and educational programmes.
Web: www.whitechapel.org

Highgate Cemetery
Tel: 020 8340 1834
Highgate Cemetery can't be beaten for Victorian-Gothic atmosphere and downright eeriness. Its overgrown grounds include Egyptian-style catacombs, enough chipped angels to please the most discerning Joy Division fan, Karl the more serious Marx brother and personalised tombs reflecting their eccentric inhabitants.
Web: www.highgate-cemetery.org

Sir John Soane's Museum
Tel: 020 7405 2107
Sir John Soane's Museum is partly a bewitching house and partly a small museum brimming with surprising effects and curiosities, representing the taste of celebrated architect and hoarder extraordinaire, Sir John Soane (1753-1837). The candlelit night-time tours are utterly enchanting, with the light flickering off busts, old coins and dark paintings.
Web: www.soane.org

If beer and chips are adding excess to your waistline, London offers a number of ways to work it off. Take out a rowboat for a dreamy drift after a picnic or promenade with a pipe in Hyde Park. Or hire a nag and go for a canter.

Paddle Boating
If you feel like a paddle on the water, hire a pedalo for an hour or two and go boating on the Serpentine in Hyde Park.

Cycling
You can hire a bike practically anywhere in the city, although if you're planning to ride in traffic you might be taking your life in your hands. It may be wiser to stick to the parks.

Swimming
North of the centre, Highgate Ponds on Hampstead Heath offer open-air swimming all year round. Otherwise, take a dip in Ironmonger Row Baths or the Art Deco Porchester Spa.

Horseriding
Aristocrats of the 19th century used to promenade on horseback along the paths of Hyde Park. If you want to follow in their hoofprints, steeds can be hired by the hour.

Gym
Many hotels in London lack gym facilities. If you're missing your work-out try the popular Oasis Sports Centre in Covent Garden, which has everything a healthy heart desires.

Roller Skating
Join packs of roller-blade enthusiasts in Hyde Park - every Friday evening there's a communal skate starting out at Wellington Arch.

Walking
It's good for the constitution, and London's parks - especially Hyde Park and Regents Park - are delightful settings for a stroll.

There is no denying London food has taken a turn for the better with the advent of high-profile chefs like Gordon Ramsay steering palates in innovative directions. However, trying to snag a reasonable meal without being left sucking on the lint of your empty pockets is still a challenge. Avoid the tourist trap chains and keep an ear out for local favourites.

London is one of the favourite urban haunts of visitors to Europe because of landmark sights like Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral and the historically rich Westminster Abbey. The city also boasts some of the world's greatest museums and art galleries, and more parkland than most other capitals.

London is a Mecca for shoppers. Designer labels, refined classic cuts, cutting-edge street wear and Harrods hampers all clamour for attention. Make sure your plastic is in a healthy state before you set off on an expedition; shopping, like most of London's pleasures, doesn't come cheap.

Choosing how to entertain yourself in London can be daunting. Whether you like your culture high or low, your dance in pointed shoes or heels, your music in strings or sub bass, being sporty or watching others play, drinking cocktails in an elegant club or a bitter at a pub, London has it all.

Ten years after Ikea told British households to 'chuck out your chintz', London's hotels have followed suit. Prices are still steep, but old dames are updating and the rise of 'budget boutique' hotels is throwing affordable chic into the mix . Remember, where you hang your hat will flavour your impression of London, so consider location as well as luxury.

Most businesses close on public holidays such as New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day Bank Holiday (the first Monday in May), Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May), Summer Bank Holiday (the last Monday in August), Christmas Day and Boxing Day (26 December) although London's essential multiculturalism means you'll always find some shops open.

There are countless festivals and events in London. It all kicks off with the New Year's Eve fireworks and street party in Trafalgar Square, followed by the New Year's Day Parade. On Shrove Tuesday pancake races are held in Covent Garden, and in early May more serious racers take part in the London Marathon.

All London gets its colours on for the FA Cup Final in mid-May. There's even more colour at the Chelsea Flower Show, held in the last week of May.

Trooping the Colour, the Queen's birthday parade, is held in June; Wimbledon runs for two weeks in the same month and London Pride, Europe's biggest gay and lesbian festival, also hits the streets. The raucous Notting Hill Carnival takes over the West End streets in August, although there is now a smaller celebration in Hyde Park, too. In September, some 500 normally inaccessible buildings throw open their doors as part of the Open House weekend. This month, the city also celebrates its greatest natural asset with the Thames Festival on the south bank of the river.

Things wind down as the weather gets colder, though there are plenty of bonfires on Guy Fawkes Night, on the 5th of November. The Lord Mayor's Show is held in late November, complete with floats, bands and fireworks. Trafalgar Square lights up in December with the Lighting of the Christmas Tree.

Considering its size and the great disparities in wealth, London is a remarkably safe city; it has one of the lowest murder rates in the developed world. Nevertheless, you should take the usual precautionary measures against pickpockets, who operate in crowded public places such as the Underground and major tourist attractions. At night, a bus or taxi can be a safer option than the Tube. A major London hazard remains its traffic. Remember to look right before crossing its highly congested roads, and don't expect mercy from couriers or taxi drivers.

London is one of the world's major transport hubs, and your choices of ways to get in and out of it are myriad. Its major airports - the monster Heathrow and the smaller Gatwick, Stanstead, Luton and City - are all efficiently linked to the metropolis. You've always been able to hop to the European mainland (and Ireland) by ferry, but now the Chunnel link makes it a breeze.

Ferry
There is a bewildering choice of ferries travelling between Britain and Ireland and mainland Europe. Ferries will carry your car, motorcycle or bike, and they can be a cheap option - but book early.

Bus
You can get to Europe by bus, and unless you use the Channel Tunnel, there's a short ferry/hovercraft ride thrown in as part of the deal. Bus travellers arrive and depart from Victoria Coach Station, about 10 minutes walk south of the Victoria railway and Tube station.

Plane
Heathrow Airport is accessible by bus, London Underground (Piccadilly line) and the Heathrow Express, which makes the journey from Paddington Station to Terminals 1-3 in 15 minutes and to Terminal 4 in 20. The Gatwick Express runs between Gatwick Airport and Victoria Station in 30 minutes or you can take Airbus No 5 to Victoria Coach Station. The Stansted Express will get you to Stansted Airport from Liverpool Street Station in 45 minutes. Cabs to all the airports are only an option for the seriously loaded.

Train
For the first time since the ice ages, Britain has a land link (albeit a tunnel) with mainland Europe. Two services operate through the Tunnel: Eurotunnel operates a rail shuttle service (Le Shuttle) for motorbikes, cars, buses and freight vehicles between terminals at Folkestone in the UK and Calais in France; and the railway companies of Britain, France and Belgium operate a high-speed passenger service, known as Eurostar, between London (mainly Waterloo Station), Paris, Lille and Brussels. Within the UK, fast InterCity trains whisk you to destinations from 10 mainline terminals around London.

The wrathful congestion of London streets makes both driving and cycling an extreme sport. Hop on a bus, a Thames ferry or an elegant black cab - and let a native negotiate the chaos on your behalf. Or take the Tube: you're sure to come up against its notorious, infuriating inefficiencies, but in most cases it's still the quickest way to get about.

Boat
Various boats ply London's Thames and canal system, with numerous companies running shuttle boats on the river. Traditionally, these cruises have been genteel affairs. But after a traditional guided tour down to Canary Wharf, the new services from RIB London Voyages roar back up the river at 30-35 knots - a good choice for thrill-seekers.

Bicycle
Although it is inexpensive, heavy traffic makes cycling a rather grim way to get around. Most London cyclists wear masks to avoid fumes and become artful at dodging.

Walking
Since many of the main sights are relatively close together in central London, walking is an excellent transport option. It will also give you a more coherent picture of the city than travelling by Tube will.

Car
If you drive a car in London, beware that you'll have to pay £8.00 a day to enter the centre. You're also in for a parking nightmare - it's almost impossible to park in the city centre, and the punishments for parking illegally are cruel and unusual indeed.

Taxi
London's famous black cabs are excellent but expensive. Minicabs are cheaper competitors, with freelance drivers, but you can't flag them down on the street.

Train
Several rail companies now run passenger trains in London, most of which interchange with the Tube. The driverless Docklands Light Railway (DLR) links the City at Bank and Tower Gateway at Tower Hill, with services to Stratford to the east and the Docklands and Greenwich to the south.

Bus
If you're not in a hurry, buses are a pleasant and interesting way to get around, as long as the traffic's not gridlocked. The classic red double-deckers are sadly a thing of the past now, but due to enormous outcry, they have been retained on two 'heritage' routes. Route No 9 goes westbound only from the Royal Albert Hall to the Strand and loops back to Piccadilly Circus. Route No 15 runs from Trafalgar Square past St Paul's Cathedral to Tower Hill. Normal tickets are valid; for more details see www.tfl.gov.uk/buses.

Underground Rail
London's immense Tube (consisting of 12 lines) is legendary, but mainly because it's not that much fun to use - inevitably, you'll spend a lot of time sitting in tunnels. Still, it's usually the quickest and easiest way to get around.

GMT/UTC 0

Daylight Saving Start: Last Sunday in March
Daylight Saving End: Last Sunday in October

Metric

240V 50Hz (RM)

Local Area Code: 020

English (official)
Perhaps England's greatest cultural export has been the English language, the current lingua franca of the international community. There are astonishing regional variations in accents, and it is not unusual to find those in southern England claiming to need an interpreter to communicate with anyone living north of Oxford.

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