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Tricycle Theatre
If political theatre is your thing, the Tricycle delivers. The Tricycle has made a name for itself in recent years as the theatre-world's conscience, with plays that draw on world events (conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East) in intelligent and provocative ways. There's a nice cinema and bar on site, too.
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Troubadour
Bob Dylan and John Lennon have performed here and this friendly café-bar remains a wonderfully relaxed boho hang-out decades later. There's still live music (folk, blues) most nights and a large, pleasant garden open in summer.
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Turnmills
This cavernous, long-running institution gets rammed on weekends when mini-festival Together kicks up a storm with its DJs, and all-weekend parties take over with big names and tonnes of good fun.
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Two Brewers
Clapham may have a rather suburban feel in general, and the High St in particular, but the Two Brewers endures as one of the best London gay bars outside the gay villages. A friendly, laid-back, local crowd comes for a quiet drink during the week and some madcap cabaret and dancing at weekends.
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Two Floors
It's amazing Two Floors has managed to keep its relaxed atmosphere when so many bars in Soho have been mobbed by drunken weekenders; it might have to do with the fact that it's hard to notice from the outside, and this low profile has helped maintain its cool personality. The punters are young, cool and bohemian, the bar staff equally so, and the music usually über-now. The distressed décor is leather sofas and country-diner tables and chairs.
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Underworld
Hear all ye metal heads out there! The Underworld awaits! Metallica, Black Sabbath, Sepultura and other skull-clad screamers have made their appearance either live or as a DJ's choice in this underground warren beneath the World's End pub. It's got plenty of nooks and crannies for ritual head-banging, but it does also host some 'softer' musicians like KT Tunstall and Radiohead.
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Union Chapel
One of London's most atmospheric and individual music venues, the Union Chapel is an old church that still holds services, and concerts - mainly acoustic - in between. It was here that Björk performed one of her most memorable concerts to a candlelit audience. The chapel hosts a monthly comedy night.
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Up the Creek
Bizarrely enough, the hecklers can be funnier than the acts at this great club. Up the Creek was established and is still living in the spirit of the sorely missed (and indeed legendary) Malcolm Hardee, who died in 2005. Hardee, who was the patron sinner of British comedy, famously stole Freddie Mercury's 40th birthday cake and donated it to his local old folks home. Mischief, rowdiness and excellent comedy are the norm.
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Vauxhall Tavern
Rough around the edges to say the least, the Vauxhall Tavern is the perfect antidote to the gleaming new wave of gay venues now crowding Vauxhall's gay village. Friday's Le Phreeque and Saturday's Duckie, a wonderful indie performance night hosted by Amy Lamé, are rightly considered to be two of the best club nights in London.
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Vertigo 42
The stratospheric views from this 42nd-storey champagne bar are matched by the prices - the cheapest bottle of champers is around £44 - and for security reasons you must book ahead and go through airport-like security checks. Seats are arranged around the glass-walled circular space, where you quaff champagne while taking in an unforgettable 360° view; evenings are the better time to visit, when you can watch the lights come on across London.
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Vibe Bar
Once the epicentre of the Hoxton scene, the Vibe is part bar, part club and still attracts a regular crowd, although it's safe to say that its time has long passed. On quieter nights drinkers can still enjoy themselves in the spacious bar, which has scuffed leather sofas, arcade games and computer terminals.
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Viva Cake Bitches
An evening with the self-declared Viva Cake Bitches usually kicks off in the late afternoon with tea, cake and sandwiches served by girls on rollerskates. Other diversions include dominos, knitting, baking and, if plans come off, a beauty bar, before the evening steps it up a gear with classic rock 'n' roll bands and jive-dancing. Remember to raid the dressing-up box for some vintage wear before you turn up.
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Vortex Jazz Club
This was Stoke Newington's (and London's) favourite jazz place before relocating to the Dalston Culture House in 2005. Many feared the Vortex would never reopen, but all are celebrating its return to the live jazz scene. While the venue still feels a little new, the programme is as good as ever, with musicians from the UK, US and Europe.
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Warrington Hotel
This former hotel and brothel is now an ornate Art Nouveau pub with heaps of character and an atmosphere so laid-back it's virtually horizontal. The huge saloon bar, dominated by a marble-topped hemispherical counter with a carved mahogany base, is a fabulous place to sample a range of real ales. There's outdoor seating and a good Thai restaurant upstairs.
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Wembley Arena
Some years and around £30 million later, the Wembley Arena has been vastly improved, though its size will never make you feel 'at one' with the artist. It's the place to come and see big names like Gwen Stefani, vintage artists like Lionel Richie, or dance and scream to Girls Aloud. Tickets can be massively overpriced (up to around £100 for really big names).
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Westbourne
The Westbourne has a largish outdoor area, although inside it's more cramped and there is a little more attitude. As you'd expect, the crowd is beautiful and trust-fund fuelled.
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White Cross
The riverside location, good food and fine ales make this pub on the site of a former monastery a winner. There are entrances for low and high tides, but when the river is at its highest, Cholmondeley Walk running along the Thames floods and the pub is out of bounds to those not willing to paddle (wade).
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White Horse
This mixed bag of a pub/bar/club might appear to house some people for the entire weekend. It consists of just one big room decorated with modern art against one long bar, but it's lots of fun. We usually play pool here.
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White House
Attracting Clapham's beautiful people with its stylish low-lit interior - all tan sofas, small square tables, expansive bar and polished wooden floors - this recently renovated chic bar on three floors also boasts a decent restaurant serving dim sum and a fantastic roof terrace in summer.
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White Swan
The White Swan is a fun East End kind of place, with a large dance floor as well as a more relaxed pub area. Its legendary amateur strip night has sadly disappeared, but there's still plenty of flesh on stage on Saturdays. Club classics and cheesy pop predominate.
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Wigmore Hall
This is one of the best concert venues in town, not only because of its fantastic acoustics, beautiful Art Nouveau hall and great variety of concerts and recitals, but also because of the sheer standard of the performances. Built in 1901 as the recital hall for Bechstein Pianos, it has remained one of the top places in the world for chamber music.
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Windows Of The World Bar
This swish bar is a popular place for observing London from a great height: the 28th floor of the Hilton Hotel. You might think it resembles something out of Miami Vice, with its '80s-style armchairs, suave and extortionately priced (around £20 ) cocktails and live entertainer who pretends to be playing his guitar (he has a prerecorded track, really). Non-hotel guests arriving after will have to pay a £7.50 cover charge.
The views of the city are breathtaking, particularly at dusk.
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Windsor Castle
A wonderful, relatively out-of-the-way tavern between Notting Hill and Kensington High St, this place has history, warmth and charm on tap. It's worth the search for the roaring winter fireplace, great beer garden, historic interior and friendly regulars.
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Wine Wharf
Located in a smart warehouse space close to the culinary joys of Borough Market, this wine bar's selection will delight oenophiles as well as people just coming along for a drink. The range is truly enormous, and the staff are more than happy to advise, offering you the chance to taste before buying.
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Wrestlers
Another great, great local where the ambience, beer, food and décor just combine to make you happy to be alive, although when the very friendly Irish governor gets chatting you can begin to have second thoughts.
