London

Leaving Sydney Sunday 23 August · back to LA from London Sunday 30 · Jane & Johnny

The week

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Museums, houses and walks

• The V&AFree · the Cast Courts, and lunch in the 1868 refreshment rooms, the first museum restaurant in the world · South Kensington, and it stays open till 10pm on a Friday
• Somerset House and the CourtauldManet, Van Gogh, Cézanne · eight minutes' walk
• Two Temple PlaceA lavish Victorian mansion on the Embankment · free, and open Thursday to Sunday that week, 11am–6pm
• Sir John Soane's MuseumLincoln's Inn Fields, free, six minutes' walk
• The Wallace CollectionFree, and a lovely courtyard restaurant
• The Postal MuseumIncluding the little Mail Rail train

Theatre

• Shakespeare's GlobeThe open-air playhouse on Bankside · the Wednesday matinee has gone, but there are other afternoons and returns do come up

Restaurants

• Rules, Covent GardenLondon's oldest restaurant, 1798
• Brasserie ZédelA grand art deco dining room off Piccadilly
• The Wolseley and The DelaunayGrand cafés, good for lunch

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Looked into

• The PromsSold out for our nights — we tried the box office too
• London Symphony OrchestraNot playing while we're there
• Kew GardensBeautiful, but a full day and a long way out
• Notting Hill and PortobelloCarnival takes over the whole area that weekend
• Natural History MuseumSchool holidays — it'll be heaving
• Tate ModernSwapped for Borough Market and the river walk
• The Painted Hall, GreenwichClosed to visitors all that week

Updated 15 August