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Tyburn Convent
One of the buildings of this sorrowful and silent place has the distinction of being the smallest house in London, measuring just over a metre in width. A convent was established here in 1903, close to the site of the Tyburn Tree gallows where many Catholics were executed because of their faith during the 16th century, and which later became a place of Catholic pilgrimage.
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Tyburn Tree
A plaque on the traffic island at Marble Arch indicates the spot where the infamous Tyburn Tree, a three-legged gallows, once stood. An estimated 50,000 people were executed here between 1300 and 1783, many having been dragged from the Tower of London.
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V&A Museum Of Childhood
Housed in a renovated Victorian-era building which has won a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) award for outstanding design, this museum is aimed at both kids - with its activity rooms and corners of child-friendly, interactive exhibits, games and toys - and nostalgia-seeking grown-ups who come to admire the antique doll houses, model trains, teddy bears and other toys arranged thematically.
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Victoria & Albert Museum
When you come to see the V&A, give yourself plenty of time, because we can guarantee that you'll spend much longer than planned in this brilliant museum. The Museum of Manufactures, as the V&A was originally known when it started in 1852, specialises in decorative art and design, with four million objects collected over the years from Britain and around the globe.
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Victoria Park
If you want a little more green than Mile End Park affords, head north from Mile End tube along Grove Rd, until you reach 87-hectare Victoria Park. This leafy expanse has lakes, fountains, a bowling green, tennis courts, a deer park and much more. It was the East End's first public park when it opened in 1845 and came about after a local MP presented Queen Victoria with a petition of 30,000 signatures.
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Vinopolis
Vinopolis, spread over a hectare of Victorian railway vaults in Bankside, cashes in on Londoners' love affair with things red, white and rosé. Vinopolis provides a pretty cheesy tour of the world of wine and it's very popular with hen parties; need we say more?
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Wallace Collection
Arguably London's finest small gallery (relatively unknown even to Londoners), the Wallace Collection is an enthralling glimpse into 18th-century aristocratic life. The sumptuously restored Italianate mansion houses a treasure-trove of 17th- and 18th-century paintings, porcelain, artefacts and furniture bequeathed to the nation by the widow of Sir Richard Wallace (1818-90) on condition it should always be on display in the centre of London.
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Wandsworth Common
Wilder and more overgrown than the nearby common in Clapham, Wandsworth Common is full of couples pushing prams on a sunny day. On the common's western side is a pleasant collection of streets known as the toast rack, because of their alignment. Baskerville, Dorlcote, Henderson, Nicosia, Patten and Routh Rds are lined with Georgian houses. There's a blue plaque at 3 Routh Rd, home to the former British prime minister David Lloyd George.
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Wellington Arch
Opposite Apsley House in the little bit of green space being strangled by the Hyde Park Corner roundabout is England's answer to the Arc de Triomphe (except this one commemorates France's defeat - specifically, Napoleon's at the hands of Wellington).
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West End Theatre
There are some 50 theatres in London's West End, so you'll need a listings guide like www.timeout.com or www.whatsonstage.com for the latest productions. For tickets, including to music gigs, comedy shows etc, try Ticketmaster; a booking fee is charged. For last-minute booking, turn to the tkts booth in Leicester Sq. It sells half-price, same-day tickets for a reasonable commission.
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Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is such an important commemoration site for both British royalty and the nation's political and artistic idols, it's difficult to overstress its symbolic value or imagine its equivalent anywhere else in the world. With the exception of Edward V and Edward VIII, every sovereign has been crowned here since William the Conqueror in 1066, and most of the monarchs from Henry III (died 1272) to George II (died 1760) were buried here.
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Westminster Cathedral
John Francis Bentley's 19th-century cathedral is a superb example of neo-Byzantine architecture: its distinctive candy-striped redbrick and white-stone tower features prominently on the west London skyline. This is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain.
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White Cube Gallery
Alongside Charles Saatchi, owner of the erstwhile Saatchi Gallery, the White Cube's Jay Jopling was the man responsible for bringing 'Britart' to the public's attention in the 1990s. White Cube is now firmly part of Britain's 'new establishment' but shows by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and other less well-known artists mean it's always worth coming just to have a look. There's another White Cube in St James's.
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Whitechapel Art Gallery
It's all change at the Whitechapel Art Gallery as it doubles its size by expanding into a disused library next door. During that time, one of the capital's more interesting contemporary art galleries becomes the Whitechapel Laboratory, with changing exhibitions, live music, poetry, talks and film. The new space will contain three new galleries, an Education and Research Tower and a street-facing café.
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Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry been standing on this site since 1738, although an earlier foundry nearby is known to have been in business in 1570. Both Big Ben (1858) and the Liberty Bell (1752) in Philadelphia were cast here, and the foundry also cast a new bell for New York City's Trinity Church, damaged in the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.
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Wimbledon Common
Running on into Putney Heath, Wimbledon Common covers 460 hectares of South London and is a wonderful expanse of open space for walking, nature trailing and picnicking. On the southern side of the common, the misnamed Caesar's Camp is what's left of a roughly circular earthen fort built in the 5th century BC, which proves that Wimbledon was settled before Roman times.
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Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
This museum is of specialist interest, dwelling as it does on the minutiae of the history of tennis playing, traced back here to the invention of the all-important lawnmower in 1830 and of the India-rubber ball in the 1850s. It's a state-of-the-art presentation, with plenty of video clips to let fans of the game relive their favourite moments. The museum houses a tearoom and a shop selling all kinds of tennis memorabilia.
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Winchester Palace
All that remains of a huge palace complex, built by the powerful and corrupt bishops of Winchester in the early 12th century, is a 14th-century rose window carved in a wall from the Great Hall, and parts of the flooring, both visible from the street. The rose window was discovered in a Clink St warehouse in 1814.
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Women's Library
Just round the corner from the Whitechapel Art Gallery, the Women's Library, part of the London Metropolitan University, is a unique repository for all manner of books and documents related to women's history. It contains a reading room open to the public, as well as archive and museum collections, and organises talks and special exhibitions (last seen: Prostitution: What's Going On?).
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