Your essential guide to London

DINE

Inspired by centuries of British gastronomy, the two-starred Dinner by Heston Blumenthal takes dining to another dimension. This is food as fine art, from the famous Meat Fruit to Heston’s legendary Tispy Cake. Low on time? The chef’s game-changing triple-cooked chips can also be ordered at the bar.

SEE

It’s a quarter of an hour’s stroll to the V&A, whose collections celebrate art, design and human ingenuity. Spend an hour or two amid its many and varied treasures, which run from Rodin-sculpted bronzes and a maharajah’s throne to singer Prince’s stack-heeled satin boots.

SIP

In need of a cup of tea? Claim a Formica-topped table at Anya Café, designer Anya Hindmarch’s retro reinvention of a post-war British caff. The Welsh rarebit is second to none, while Instagrammers are drooling over its bakes, from plump, ganache-filled clouds and hearts to buttercream-piped ‘monster’ cakes.

EXPLORE

Shop like a local in Belgravia’s tiny boutiques, tucked between cobbled mews and wood-panelled pubs. In a whitewashed former dairy, Egg is stocked with all things beautiful and useful, while Rachel Vosper sells exquisite hand-poured candles. In search of gifts? Try Rococo Chocolates’ Earl-Grey thins and beautifully boxed truffles.

DRINK

Sample the city’s adventurous cocktail scene, starting with a shochu-spiked Peacock Room at The Aubrey. Over in Soho, Bar Termini is the spot for a classic negroni, while Swift is an excellent all-rounder – from a lemon sorbet-laced sgroppino at the ground-floor bar to late-night tipples in the basement.

SHOP

On Sundays, Columbia Road is the place to be. This perennially charming flower market spills across an East End street. Behind the blooms and banter, it’s lined with adorable shops, from parfumiers to vintage dealers. Pick up a coffee and pistachio croissant at Speciality Cafetiere’s hatch (no.146), or feast on handmade pasta at Campania & Jones.

VISIT

How to choose between London’s two Tates? Simple: don’t even try. Instead, take in the Turners at Tate Britain (including his solemn self-portrait), then hop aboard a boat up the Thames to the towering Tate Modern, with its soaring Turbine Hall, experimental ‘Tanks’ and endlessly eclectic collection.

LUNCH

Sunday lunch is one of the best things to do in London – and nowhere does it better than the Michelin-starred Harwood Arms, with its perfect Yorkshire puddings and exemplary roast beef. Dessert, meanwhile, goes far beyond the usual crumble-and-custard; an exquisite blood-orange trifle, say, or masterful panna cotta.

EXPLORE

An hour on the train from Victoria, Brighton’s a seaside charmer, with its pebbled beach, Victorian pier and charismatic cafés and pubs. Its flea markets include the fabulous Snooper’s Paradise, while vintage jewellery dealers line the Lanes. The Royal Pavilion is also worth a wander: it’s a fantastical Regency palace, built by a playboy prince.

EAT

For a long lunch, Sessions Arts Club is the place (you’ll need to book way ahead). Set in an old Clerkenwell courthouse, it feels like a private members’ club, with its flickering candles, veto on children and artfully Italianate menu dreamed up by the uber-talented Florence Knight.

SEE

Just north of London, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour is magical for Harry Potter fans (spoiler: kids won’t ever want to leave, so go for a morning ticket). Hunt down golden snitches, brave the dark forest, or wander Diagon Alley, with its dusty wand emporium and Wizard Wheezes store, complete with top hat-doffing giant.

DISCOVER

If you’re staying a little longer, get to know some of the city’s smaller – and stranger – museums. Try the Sir John Soane’s Museum, crammed with antiquities and oddities, or take a tour of Dennis Severs’ House – a theatrical, slightly spooky time-warp in an old silk-weaver’s house.

Changing The Queen’s Lifeguard – now referred to as The King’s Lifeguard – and commonly known as Changing the Guard, begins at neighbouring Hyde Park Barracks before heading to Buckingham Palace to take over guard duties for the following 24 hours. Since 1660, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment has passed the hotel at 10.28am on weekdays and 9.28am on Sundays, and this is still the case today, with many guests requesting window tables at breakfast to watch the cavalcade pass.

- The concierge team at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London.

The city seems a world away down in the hotel’s Spa, with its low-lit vitality pool and amethyst steam room. Among its signatures is the English Rose Massage – a heavenly, headily fragrant two-hour experience.

Your nearest green space, meanwhile, is one of London’s best: the 350-acre Hyde Park. You could stroll here every day for a year and always see something different, from riders trotting by on Rotten Row to herons hunched by the Serpentine. Alternatively, travel back in time at Chelsea Physic Garden, founded in 1693. There are rustling ferns, medicinal plants, beehives and pomegranate trees, along with a delightful café serving Champagne by the glass.