Last updated on September 25th, 2024Are you looking for the best tour guide in London? Hiring a private tour guide or joining a public tour in London can be one of the best ways to experience the capital as a tourist, or even as a Londoner. You might be looking for an accredited Blue Badge…
The London Blog
Follow me and my London Blog for a capital round-up of London's historical, quirky and unusual places. Visit some of city's best museums and galleries, get a supreme peek at Royal London, and grab a seat next to me as I eat my way around London's restaurants.
In Conversation with Venus at the National Gallery
Last updated on September 21st, 2021I’m Venus at Her Mirror, but some people call me the Rokeby Venus or the Toilet of Venus. You can just call me Venus. The little fellow holding my mirror and helping me with my toilette is my son, Cupid. Maestro Diego Velasquez’s bold brushstrokes poured life into this, my…
Royal Love Affairs: where the British royals met their mistresses and lovers
Last updated on September 25th, 2024Ever wondered where those badly-behaved royals would meet up with their lovers for a secret rendez-vous? Or where they met for the first time? Throughout British history, members of the royal family have had liaisons, some dangereuses, some carried out in secret and others, the cause célèbre of the day….
In Conversation with: The Laughing Cavalier | Wallace Collection
Last updated on September 21st, 2021People call me The Laughing Cavalier, and I am the international man of mystery at the Wallace Collection in London. No one knows precisely who I am, and whilst people refer to me as laughing, I am, in fact smiling under those magnificent whiskers of mine. I like to think…
The best museum shops in London
Last updated on March 12th, 2021How much fun is it to browse and buy in a museum shop? It’s my guilty pleasure, and I must admit, I could get lost for hours snooping around London’s fabulous museum and gallery gift shops. And with “are we aren’t we” lockdown and social distancing, the best way to…
Bookshops of London
Last updated on February 27th, 2023London is arguably the greatest literary city in the world, and there is nothing better than losing yourself in the stacks and shelves of the capital’s bookshops. Sadly, lockdown and social distancing have thrown an economic spanner in the works for our capital’s booksellers. But fret not book lovers, here…
NW Live at the Bloomsbury Festival 2020
Last updated on October 28th, 2020With further restrictions looming in the London air like a thick Dickensian fog, I spent last week dashing around town trying to tick as many cultural boxes as possible. On Friday, I managed to catch up with some music – and not just any ordinary music. This was the Music…
Restaurant Review: Brilliant in Southall
Last updated on May 2nd, 2023What’s in a name? I’m in Southall to review Brilliant restaurant, and my greedy fingers are crossed that it’s as brilliant as it says it is. Apparently, it’s King Charles’s favourite Indian restaurant and it seems Boris is also a fan. And with “Curry Queen” Dipna Anand at the culinary…
Oxford Lieder 2020 Review: Song in the Age of Corona
Covid-19 and its pesky restrictions threw a spanner in the Oxford Lieder Festival 2020 works this year, but it didn’t dampen the spirits or the music. The UK’s biggest song festival went online instead, streaming over 40 magnificent recital concerts and events, most of them live and all set in historical surroundings across the city….
Watts Gallery and Artists’ Village Highlights
Last updated on May 14th, 2024If ever there was an excuse to visit the village of Compton in Surrey, the Watts Gallery is it. Located near Guildford, the Watts Village is dedicated to the works of the Victorian painter and sculptor, George Frederic Watts, and it’s one of the few galleries in the UK devoted…