London

London is too big to see, so the trick is to choose. The city grew by swallowing villages, and it still behaves like a collection of them: Westminster's government buildings, the glass towers of the City, the Georgian squares of Bloomsbury, the markets of the East End and Southwark. Each has its own pace, and a great day usually means staying in one or two of them rather than crossing the whole map on the Tube.

The good news is how much costs nothing. The British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate Modern and the Natural History Museum are all free, and so are the royal parks, the river walk along the South Bank and the view from Parliament Hill. Four or five days is a comfortable first visit. Start with our London travel guide.

London has five main airports. Heathrow and London City are inside the city's boundary, while Gatwick, Stansted and Luton are further out but linked by fast trains. The Eurostar arrives at St Pancras. Our getting there guide compares every airport and explains how to pay for the Tube.

In London the choice of area matters as much as the hotel. Covent Garden and Soho put you in the middle of the theatres. Bloomsbury and King's Cross are quieter and have the best train links, and South Kensington suits museum trips and families. Our where to stay guide compares them.

Most first trips start in Westminster, and our Westminster guide has a walking route from Parliament to Buckingham Palace. The free collections are compared in our museums guide, and the Tower, markets and viewpoints are in our things to do list.

London eats far better than its reputation. The pub is the place for a Sunday roast, and markets, from Borough Market to the food halls of King's Cross, cover the rest of the world. Some of the most interesting cooking is in the neighbourhoods: South Asian food in Tooting and Southall, Vietnamese along Kingsland Road. Check the bill before tipping, since many restaurants add a service charge.

The Romans founded Londinium almost two thousand years ago, and fragments of their wall still stand near the Tower. The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed the medieval city, so St Paul's and dozens of churches were rebuilt by Christopher Wren. The Blitz flattened whole districts again in 1940 and 1941, and the rebuilding is why a Wren church can now stand in the shadow of a glass tower.