Living in London, I rarely use hotels. But the beauty of Mewes and Davis’s never-altered décor in the dining room at The Ritz always takes one’s breath away.

I always find certain restaurants are more atmospheric at night, and others in daytime. For lunch, it's Bellamy’s in Bruton Place, with its French-English menu.

Robin Birley’s merrily decorated trattoria, Nico’s, is a spot where you can pass many happy hours until it's time for dinner [across the road] in the almost Edwardian luxe of 5 Hertford St [Robin Birley's private members club on the same street].

The library in the Zoological Society of London, right by the London Zoo itself. There are paintings, engravings, drawings, folios and maquettes of every species… Animal magic.

I’m not mad on London pubs as a rule, but at weekends I live four minutes away from The Fox at Oddington [a 19th century village pub in Gloucestershire]. I would get out more if it were transported to Southwest London.

My Favorite Coffee Shop is Greggs on Earls Court Road, and I’m sure any other branch of Greggs. Best coffee in London.

One of my many favorite shops for buying antiques.

Another one of my many favorite antique shops.

And another favorite shop for browsing and buying antiques: Adam Calvert Bentley in Battersea, Southwest London.

The Chelsea Physic Garden is an instructive pleasure the year round. Not to be missed!

Climb the steps (345 in total, it's better than Ozempic) to the top of The Monument, a hollow column built in 1601 to memorialize the Great Fire of London. It stands, majestic, in Pudding Lane, where the fire started.