Soho and Covent Garden

Top Reasons to Go

Royal Opera House: Make sure you visit (even if you're not going to the opera or ballet) for the beautiful architecture and sense of history.

Courtauld Gallery: Admire your favorite Impressionist painting up close in the Courtauld Gallery, then discover Cranach the Elder's mischievous Adam and Eve.

Shaftesbury Avenue: Take in a show on London's equivalent of Broadway, and snaffle half-price tickets at the Leicester Square kiosk.

Somerset House: Watch the skaters and ice-wall climbers on a December evening. Otherwise, try the London Craft Fair, held each autumn in a specially designed pavilion. In summer, dine at the terrace restaurant overlooking the river.

London Transport Museum: Explore the city's history with interactive installations about its public transport.