Must see attractions in The West End

The striking Tudor gatehouse of St James’s Palace is the only surviving part of a building initiated by the palace-mad Henry VIII in 1531 on the grounds…

Designed by John Nash in 1828, this huge white arch was moved here next to Speaker's Corner from its original spot in front of Buckingham Palace in 1851…

Architect John Nash had originally designed Regent St and Piccadilly in the 1820s to be the two most elegant streets in London but, restrained by city…

At 23 hectares, St James's is the second-smallest of the eight royal parks after Green Park. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in grooming, as it…

The official office of British leaders since 1735, when King George II presented No 10 to 'First Lord of the Treasury' Robert Walpole, this has also been…

The handsome border dividing the trainer-clad clubbers of Soho from the Gucci-heeled hedge-fund managers of Mayfair, Regent St was designed by John Nash…

When the Earl of Bedford commissioned Inigo Jones to design Covent Garden Piazza, he asked for a simple church 'not much better than a barn'; the…

Five ground-floor rooms of Clarence House, the official residence of Charles, the Prince of Wales and his consort, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are…

In a district that was once pastureland, the name Soho is thought to have evolved from a hunting cry. While the centre of London nightlife has shifted…

In 1859, architect William Butterfield completed one of the country's most supreme examples of High Victorian Gothic architecture, with extraordinary…

This neo-Gothic house built in the late 1890s for William Waldorf Astor, of hotel fame and once the richest man in America, showcases art from UK museum…

George Frederick Handel lived in this 18th-century Mayfair building for 36 years until his death in 1759. This is where he composed some of his finest…

Christopher Wren designed the original church here in 1682, but only the walls and a steeple added by James Gibbs in 1719 survived bombing in 1941; the…

This parish church to the Royal Family is a delightful fusion of neoclassical and baroque styles. It was designed by architect James Gibbs, completed in…

Northwest of Leicester Sq but a world away in atmosphere, this grand tile-roofed and red-pillared gate marks the entrance into Chinatown. Although not as…

The prolific writer Charles Dickens lived with his growing family in this handsome four-storey Georgian terraced house for a mere 2½ years (1837–39), but…

Where the Strand joins Fleet St, you’ll see the entrance to this gargantuan melange of Gothic spires, pinnacles and burnished Portland stone, built in…

From the Strand, look for a studded black door labelled ‘Middle Temple Lane’, opposite Bell Yard and the Royal Courts building, and you’ll find yourself…

This striking Greek Revival church has a tower designed to imitate the Temple of the Winds in Athens, a portico with six Ionic columns and a wing…

Thomas Coram established the Foundling Hospital in 1739 for children abandoned or handed over by their mothers; when it closed in 1953 it had been the…