I will be arriving at Heathrow at 7AM on Dec 6 and taking the Tube to King's Cross Station. The apartment I am renting in Clerkenwell is not available until 4PM and I am not able to store luggage there before that time. Does anyone know about the lost luggage area at King's Cross: the cost of storing luggage and if a 28" suitcase can be stored? Also, any ideas of what to do in that area until 4PM? Restaurants for breakfast and lunch? Many thanks.

You can store luggage for the day at King's Cross/St. Pancras for 8 pounds a bag.

The British Library is virtually next door & the British Museum isn't too far to walk. But there's no reason to stay in the area.

Just one point - it's going to be VERY busy when you reach KX if you are travelling on a working day

You could go to the British Library which is practically next door and see the excellent permanent exhibit or the new Evolving English exhibit. Both are free. There are a couple of cafes there, several in St. Pancras. Or you could go to the Wellcome Collection, just a few blocks away and see their new exhibit. They also have a very nice cafe.

KX is the best-connected station in the system, and you've got from around 9 to 3.30 to kill. While there's an interesting exhibition on at the Wellcome at present, and the BL is probably the world's best literary museum as well as a library, there really isn't much need to restrict yourself to the KX area, especially as you'll be staying reasonably near anyway. You're only a 10 min tube ride from practically anywhere.

But for what it's worth, there's a couple of decent breakfast places in Chalton St, about 100 yds west of KX. A rather antiseptic and poncified place (fresh orange juice and yogurt as well as real food) on the east side: a sensible greasy spoon that includes bubble & squeak on its breakfast menu on the opposite side.

For lunch: I'm partial to the Addis, an Ethiopian place at 41 Caledonian Rd, or the Chop Chop, a surprisingly excellent but very basic noodle place right opposite KX at 1, Euston Rd. There's a few plastic and hyper-gentrified eating places inside St Pancras station: the southern end of the station is a pretty but soul-less and almost train-free parody of a real station, though it feels more like a proper station as you go towards the newer bits at its north end. There's a pleasant cluster of Indian places along Drummond St, slightly NW of Euston station: the Ravi Shankar has been the standby for decent South Indian veg for several decades. Or, for something unusual, the Great Nepalese in Eversholt St. But the area's not London's foodie mecca.

But really: you've got all of London to choose from. Personally, after an overnight flight, I'd start off by walking up to the Regent's Canal and having a good brisk walk westwards along the towpath (the towpath peters out into a path-free tunnel a few yards east) to get the system working, then hit the real centre. If you're feeling sprightly and the weather's OK, you can stay on the towpath to Camden Town, Regent's Park, the Zoo and all points west and north: at Camden Lock, there's a signpost to some of the nearer destinations you can walk to, like Liverpool: a mere 300 miles' stroll away.