Heathrow Airport 1 hr 4
The Regent's Park (31 min)
Modern, glass-clad cafe and sports administrative centre, with pitches and changing rooms. Palace of Westminster (25 min)
Neo-Gothic masterpiece and seat of the UK government. Guided tours on Saturdays and in summer. Trafalgar Square (25 min)
Nelson's Column rises above this iconic square's LED-lit fountains, artworks and lion statues. Borough Market (23 min)
Huge market under the railway lines, for British-reared meat and artisanal baked and dairy goods. Tate Modern (19 min)
Modern-art gallery with international works on display, plus a cafe with panoramic river views. Victoria and Albert Museum (34 min)
Blockbuster exhibitions and permanent decorative arts collection, with design shop and ornate cafe. St. Paul's Cathedral (19 min)
Churchyard and gardens outside Saint Paul's cathedral, with a floor-plan of the original building. The Shard (22 min)
87-floor glass skyscraper with a jagged peak, with restaurants, offices, hotel and viewing platform. The National Gallery (26 min)
Trafalgar Square art museum whose masterworks trace the development of Western European painting. lastminute.com London Eye (25 min)
Huge observation wheel giving passengers a privileged bird's-eye view of the city's landmarks. Tower Bridge (14 min)
Panoramic views from high level walkways and behind-the-scenes access to original lifting machinery. The British Museum (25 min)
Huge showcase for global antiquities, including Egyptian mummies and ancient Greek sculptures. Museum of London (18 min)
Artifacts and interactives chronicle London's turbulent history from pre-Roman to modern times. Buckingham Palace (27 min)
Visitors can tour the palace's opulent private and state rooms or watch the changing of the guard. Natural History Museum (34 min)
Landmark museum of animals and natural phenomena, with hands-on exhibits and animatronic dinosaurs. | 
