Sights—Westminster Abbey; St. Paul's Cathedral; the Tower and Tower Bridge; Shakespeare's Globe Theatre; the view from the London Eye.

Museums—The Victoria and Albert, especially its British Galleries; works by Turner at the Tate Britain; antiquities at the British Museum; art collected by the first Duke of Wellington at Apsley House; the Tate Modern.

Memorable Meals—Eclectic and delicious vegetarian fare at The Gate; modern British fare at Rhodes Twenty Four; pub lunch at the Salisbury in the West End's theater district; Friday lunch with music in Cafe Consort at the Royal Albert Hall; afternoon tea at Brown's Hotel; dim sum at Hakkasan; all-day dining at The Wolseley; Indian cuisine at Tamarind.

Late Night—Drinks at Baltic; jazz at Ronnie Scott's; dancing at megaclub Fabric; a performance in the West End; Moroccan bites, cool sounds and cocktails at Momo.

Walks—Through Hyde Park or St. James' Park; along the Jubilee Walkway from Lambeth Bridge to Tower Bridge; any Original London Walks tour; exploring the grounds at Kew Gardens; up to Primrose Hill for a panoramic view of London.

Especially for Kids—Simulators at the London Transport Museum; the London Zoo; the giant, animatronic T. Rex at the Natural History Museum; the Science Museum.

London sprawls along both banks of the River Thames. Orientation is by boroughs (Westminster and the City are the central boroughs) or by landmarks, such as Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden. Locals use postal codes (Mayfair, Oxford Street and Park Lane, for instance, are in W1—that is, West 1; Bloomsbury and part of the City are in WC2, or West Central 2; Central Kensington falls within W8; South Kensington and Knightsbridge are in SW7).

Central London can be divided into the West End (theaters, shops, restaurants, entertainment); the City (businesses, law courts, ancient buildings); and Westminster (government offices, famous landmarks). Across the river is the South Bank, with its arts venues and concert halls. Slightly beyond the reaches of central London, some of the districts that have experienced regeneration include Notting Hill, W11 (on the fringes of the West End), Greenwich, SE10 (south of the river), Hoxton and Shoreditch in N1 and EC2, and Eastside, E1 (just north and east of Liverpool Street railway terminus).

Although there is some evidence of Celtic settlements along the Thames, London's first known permanent settlers were the Romans, who established a stronghold there in AD 43. The city walls (parts of which can be seen today) were built after Londinium was burned to the ground by the Iceni tribe in AD 60. Viking and Saxon invaders were next to put down roots. And it was the Danish leader Canute who first declared London the capital of England in 1016, a position it has held ever since.

The London we know today began to take shape in the 11th century, when Edward the Confessor commissioned the original building of Westminster Abbey. Shortly after its completion, William the Conqueror launched the Norman invasion in 1066 and seized the English throne. His fortress formed the core of the Tower of London. In the 1300s, bubonic plague, called the "Black Death," wiped out about half the city's inhabitants, reducing its population to around 50,000. Under Tudor rule in the 16th century, however, London tripled in size.

Also during that time, the English church separated from Rome, and religious persecution was rampant. That century also ushered in one of London's greatest artistic periods: The reign of Elizabeth I was the age of Shakespeare and other artists whose work is still admired today. In 1666, the Great Fire destroyed much of inner London (a happier consequence is that it also put an end to the worst plague outbreak, the Great Plague of 1665). The ambitious rebuilding process, spearheaded by architect Christopher Wren, destroyed virtually all that remained of medieval London. During the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, London continued to grow and prosper during the reign of Queen Victoria. But just as the rich were getting richer, social divisions were becoming wider, with slums dramatically on the increase.

World War II brought devastation to London again—mainly during 57 consecutive days of bombing in 1940 (days now known as the Blitz). After the war, mass immigration from Britain's former colonies signaled the beginning of the multiculturalism seen throughout the city today. The 1960s were modern London's golden age, with much of the world seeking to emulate its swinging rhythm and freewheeling fashions and design. After a subsequent boom-and-bust period, there is now an unmistakable self-confidence in London.

In honor of the millennium, a number of new landmarks were built: the pedestrian bridge across the Thames, which leads to the Tate Modern art gallery, and the Millennium Wheel, better known as the London Eye. Even more construction is currently under way for the city's hosting of the 2012 Olympic Games. With new galleries, stadiums and museums, the city again exudes an air of fun.

Contrary to reputation, London's annual rainfall is less than that of New York, Sydney or Tokyo.

One of London's newer landmarks is a distinctively shaped skyscraper in the City of London. 30 St. Mary Axe is, despite the efforts of its owners, known to all Londoners as "The Gherkin."

There was once a Tube station on the Central line between Tottenham Court Road and Chancery Lane. The station is still there, but trains don't stop. Keep your eyes open and you may glimpse the ghostly platforms.

In 1237, the Thames flooded and lawyers rowed around the Great Hall at Westminster in wherries.

Cleopatra's Needle, on the Victoria Embankment near the Golden Jubilee Bridges, is one of a trio of Egyptian obelisks from the Egyptian city of Heliopolis that were made around 1450 BC. The others are in Paris and New York. None of them has any connection with Cleopatra.

The winter of 1683-84 saw one of the most famous of London's frost fairs. From December to February, the Thames was completely frozen, and at one point, a whole ox was roasted on the ice.