Berkshire

<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-87641" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/04/westminster-1176318_1280-1-copy.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="497" />
Country life is all very well, but sometimes the siren call of the capital is hard to resist. There’s something so exhilarating about the buzz, isn’t there? With this in mind, we’ve created a new marvellous Muddy Insider Guide to London – its best events, experiences, hot spots, culture, shopping, pampering and walks (fear not, we won’t be sending you traipsing down Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon!).
Whether you’re planning a family adventure during the Summer hols, a romantic jaunt à deux or letting your hair down with a gang of friends, check out our Top 10 Tips to city-slicking like a pro. Let’s go!
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-87640" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/04/blue-sky-bright-clouds-532917.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667" />
1. First things first – use your brain and take the train. I never drive into London any more as GWR trains into London Paddington are a dream. From my local station, Pangbourne, it takes just 45 minutes, for goodness sake – it used to take me longer than that to get into town when I lived in East Dulwich!
<div id="attachment_87403" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-87403" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/03/Mary-Quant-exhibit.jpg" alt="" width="1003" height="668" />
Mary Quant at the V&amp;A
</div>
2. While we’re talking London transport, once you’re in town never, ever get sucked into going on one of those open-top tourist buses to see the sights. Take it from an idiot who once dropped £70 to take her kids on one, only for them to complain of being cold and that that earphones didn’t work properly. Instead, think laterally and hop aboard the 7 bus to Oxford Circus, or the  number 23 to Kensington for all the Natural History, V&amp;A and Science Museums. Boom! Better still it’s gratis with your travelcard. And if your children are as bus and train-mad as mine, you can also take them to the <a href="https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/">London Transport Museum</a> in Covent Garden where they can play to their hearts’ content in life-size carriages.
<div id="attachment_87419" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-87419 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/03/london-transport-museum.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="666" />
London Transport Museum
</div>
3. There’s no business like showbusiness in London. Theatrical big-hitters on my to-do list include <a href="https://hamiltonmusical.com/london/">Hamilton</a> at the Victoria Palace Theatre – the West end run has recently been extended to the 30 November, so book up.
<div id="attachment_87421" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-87421 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/03/hamilton.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="666" />
Hamilton
</div>
I also fancy Broadway smash-hit musical <a href="https://waitressthemusical.co.uk/">Waitress</a>, starring Katherine McPhee, at the Adelphi and runs until 19 Oct. It’s about a small-town server who dreams big.
&nbsp;
4. Don’t laugh but the hottest ‘hood in London right now is King’s Cross. Yes, really. The area where I was afraid to walk after dark 20 years ago is brimming with brilliant things to do, thanks to Central Saint Martins, Google and Facebook HQs moving in to the area. The American hipster favourite Standard Hotel opens its first overseas outpost there later this summer (rooftop dining ahoy), while <a href="https://www.coaldropsyard.com/">Coal Drops Yard</a>, amid the old Victorian brick viaducts, is a new supercool centre of art, retail and food. You can shop at Cos, &amp; Other Stories, Jigsaw and Wolf &amp; Badger, or eat and drink yourself silly at Caravan, Granger &amp; Co or German Gymnasium.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-87648" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/04/CARAVAN3.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="666" />
5. Talking of food, where else do you fancy? I’d head to Mortimer House, a fabulous six-storey Art Deco beauty in Fitzrovia. It’s a members’ club but the ground-floor Mediterranean restaurant, all exposed brick and groovy plants, is open to the public. I like perching at the bar here with a cocktail – it’s a prime spot for hipster-watching. Meanwhile over in the <a href="https://www.bernerstavern.com/">Berners Tavern</a>, Jason Atherton’s chic restaurant at The London Edition hotel just north of Oxford Street, I prefer to watch the ceiling. Which sounds weird until you see it – it really is the most beautiful dining room you can imagine. In Soho, I’m obsessed with the zingy Peruvian flavours at <a href="https://www.cevichefamily.com/">Ceviche</a> on Frith Street, although if I’ve got the children with me, we’re more likely to plump for family-friendly Mexican at <a href="https://www.wahaca.co.uk/locations/soho/">Wahaca</a> on Wardour Street.
<div id="attachment_87398" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-87398 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/03/ceviche-pork-dish-e1553698331652.jpg" alt="" width="995" height="667" />
Iberico pork with sweet potato from Ceviche
</div>
Meanwhile, in Marylebone if I’ve got time to kill, dip into the hidden-away <a href="https://nepnep.co.uk/">Nep Nep</a>, a tasty Vietnamese on Lisson Grove that only locals know about or grab a classic fish supper from London institution, <a href="https://www.seashellrestaurant.co.uk/">Sea Shell,</a>on the same street, just behind the station. And if I’m with my mother – and she’s paying – we’ll take afternoon tea at <a href="https://www.landmarklondon.co.uk/afternoon-tea-marylebone/">The Landmark Hotel</a> in its insane eight-storey high glass-roofed atrium. Thanks mum!
&nbsp;
6. The thing I miss most about not living in the smoke is the museums. I mean, how fricking lucky are Londoners? So if I’m town I make sure I get my culture fix. My current favourites are the oft-overlooked permanent fashion exhibition at the <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/">V&amp;A</a> – the whizzy Dior show there is all sold out but this is worth a punt (and so much quieter).
<div id="attachment_87580" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-87580 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/03/design-museum-official--e1554107348275.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="665" />
Image by Gareth Gardner
</div>
Talking of under-the-radar art, I also love the elegant, tranquil <a href="https://www.wallacecollection.org/">Wallace Collection</a>with its gilt-framed 18th and 19th century paintings (it’s also pleasingly close to the station). Then there’s the <a href="https://designmuseum.org/">Design Museum</a>. Have you been since it moved to the old 1960s Commonwealth building on Kensington High Street? I could happily hang out in the airy John Pawson atrium all day without even seeing any design classics.
&nbsp;
7. We don’t tend to think of London as being particularly relaxing but the city can make for a wonderful wellbeing destination (leave the kids behind for this jaunt though). My first stop would be the stunning <a href="https://www.seacontainerslondon.com/unwind/spa-beauty/?cidPPC:SeaContainersLondon:tug&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw1dzkBRBWEiwAROVDLLznmMVOZXyqlY6zA6su5AEolvoRXjgobK7fU50z-9WCPIzRig1MIBoCvV4QAvD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds">Agua bathhouse and spa</a> at the Sea Containers hotel by the river. Think luxe treatments amid a backdrop of floaty ceiling-to-floor white silk curtains and Tom Dixon sculptures. Shall we all hide here and never go home?
<div id="attachment_87429" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-87429 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/03/agua-spa-london.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="666" />
Agua bathhouse and spa
</div>
Then if your nails look a bit manky, take your pick from super-chic salons <a href="https://www.mytownhouse.co.uk/">Townhouse</a> or <a href="http://dryby.co.uk/">DryBy</a> nails, both just north of Oxford Street so handy for the station. I had the best manicure I’ve ever had in the latter. And pop just next door to ultra-modern spin, yoga and barre centre, <a href="https://psyclelondon.com/">Psycle</a>. I’ve done drop-in spin classes here and it’s like going to a rave, complete with music, lights, whooping and the endorphins turned up to 11. OAP Zumba in a village hall it is not.
&nbsp;
8.  Strollin’ strollin’ strollin’? I love a city mooch but I try not to make it too aimless – no one wants to accidentally stumble into Nike Town on Oxford Circus, right? Marylebone High St is utterly amazing of course (I pretty much prop up Anthropologie and Matches sales single handed), but you can also try Chiltern Street, near the station, a ‘hood that’s gone from zero to hero in recent years thanks to the <a href="https://psyclelondon.com/">Chiltern Firehouse</a> boutique hotel which opened in 2013, below. Now the buzz has died down it’s far easier to nab a table on the verdant terrace.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-87650" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/04/chiltern-firehouse.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="666" />
Then you can pop in Bella Freud for all your slogan cashmere jumper needs, Cire Trudon for insanely spendy candles and the quirky <a href="https://www.musevery.com/#main">Museum Of Everything</a>. I’m also a sucker for the indie retail delights of Lamb’s Conduit Street in Bloomsbury. This pedestrianised Victorian delight has Folk for fashion, Volte Face (just round the corner admittedly) for super-cool stationery and Persephone for cult female authors.
&nbsp;
9. All about the kids? As someone who literally dragged my young children around the Tate Britain’s David Hockney exhibition, I take the ‘if it interests me, it had better interest you’ approach. But hey, you’re probably nicer than me.
<div id="attachment_87437" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-87437 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/03/arcelormittal-orbit.jpeg" alt="" width="1000" height="666" />
ArcelorMittal Orbit
</div>
There’s some amazing stuff happening for kids in London this Summer – at the <a href="https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/">SouthBank Centre</a>, Nile Rogers&#8217; Meltdown – packed full of exclusive collaborations, worldwide musical one-offs (now – 11 Aug). There’s the must-see free <a href="https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/wonderlab-equinor-gallery">Wonderlab</a> at Science Museum (50 exhibits, live experiments and demonstrations to blow tiny minds). Or for something slightly terrifying that they’ll totally love, head over to the Olympic Park and shoot your children down the <a href="http://arcelormittalorbit.com/whats-on/the-slide/">ArcelorMittal Orbit</a>, the world’s longest ‘play’ tunnel slide at 178 metres long, winding through the UK’s tallest sculpture and finishing with a devilish corkscrew section named the ‘bettfeder’ (it means ‘bedspring’ in German). Boiiiing!
&nbsp;
10.  A London guide just isn’t a London guide without a bit of parklife, obvs. Regent’s Park is easy to reach from the station and you can hide in the fragrant, serene rose garden if you’ve had enough of the kids.
<div id="attachment_87435" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-87435 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/03/regents-park.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667" />
Regent’s Park
</div>
Hyde Park is always a winner – my children are mad for the <a href="http://coramsfields.org/">Diana memorial playground</a> with its sand and pirate ship. And here’s one you may not know – <a href="https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/things-to-see-and-do/diana-memorial-playground">Coram’s Fields</a> in Bloomsbury, on the site of an historic foundling hospital, can only be accessed if you’re with a child (I used to walk past it every day on the way to work and wish I could pop in!) Its seven acres take in an adventure playground, paddling pool and even a cute city farm.
Blimey, that lot should keep you busy *gasp*. Go forth, enjoy the (train) ride,  and have a brilliant day in London!

London calling!

You may also like