This is THE place in south London for drums and percussion – whether you’re buying a starter kit for your grandchild or wanting to try a new set of cymbals on your next stadium tour.

This extraordinary townhouse, designed by Denis Severs (who died in 2000), is a recreation of the home of an imaginary Huguenot silk-weaving family. Through its evocative room sets, it tracks the changing style of two hundred years of history.

Groovy frames that don’t cost a fortune. Choose your frame, select your colour (tortoise shell to cool grey), pass over your prescription and… Voilà! Frames ready in no time at all. Each frame is hand crafted – and Cubitts has recently launched glasses-making workshops for craftier oldies.

The original Victorian pleasure ground was named after the Crystal Palace exhibition building which was moved from Hyde Park after the 1851 Great Exhibition and rebuilt to form the centrepiece of the pleasure garden.

A four floor warehouse brimming with antiques. Wardrobes, tables, paintings, whatever you go in wanting to find, you’ll leave with that...and something else. It's fantasically old-fashioned smelling.

The cronut is a delicious but unholy union of croissant and doughnut: a doughnut with extra crunch. Along with many other unusual creations, these can be found at pretty well any of the mindbogglingly hipster bakeries on London’s Brick Lane.

Very sweet café down Half Moon Lane, a little distance from the hubbub of this villagey south London hamlet. Delicious breakfasts, coffee and the friendliest staff. They even offer a chocolate croissant loaf – which is the exact same shape as a loaf of bread, only it’s a croissant with a chocolate filling.

Chelsea Physic Garden was established in 1673 and is now a registered charity, open to the public since 1893. There is plenty to coo over: pomegranates, eucalyptus and gikgos, as well as the Victorian fernery, not to mention the world's most northerly outdoor grapefruit tree.

Camberwell Church Street is now a very good street on which to eat. Why? There’s Nape. A new ham and cured meats joint. There’s Sophocles, a Greek bread shop and bakery. And just off the main drag is the Hill Bakery, a cheese and sourdough purveyor run by Adam Newey that opened last year.

Opened by Russian entrepreneur Leonid Shutov in 2008, it has since gained fame for its opulent interiors, its vodka (served at precisely -18C) and, most thrillingly, the 'Press for Champagne' buttons next to every table.

Take a guided tour of the other side of a theatre's red rope - the magical world of props, dressing rooms and set design studios that will capitvate event the most seasoned theatre-goer.

A family run business established 1984. A longstanding members of the Guild of Master Craftsman, Serving London and the South East, Bathglaze will renovate and repair your enamel rollmop bath. 

The Art Academy in Borough offers lots of choice: evenings, weekends, part-time, summer school, 'creative days' and everything from handmade ceramics to portrait painting. An excellent foundation to the craft – we did life sculpture, busts and finished with our own project.

The Erechtheum Gallery and the Nereid Tomb Gallery are always completely empty at the British Museum - while the Elgin Marbles are stuffed full of backpack-toting tourists. Enjoy the best of 4th century BC sculpture in splendid isolation.

I’ve long suspected that Tate Britain may be my favourite of London’s Tate galleries – and its All Too Human exhibition has closed the deal. This new show, which spans eleven rooms, has anchored some of the 20th century's – and, indeed, modern British art's – greatest names: Paula Rego, Stanley Spencer and Jenny Saville are but a few.

Visit the Modernist home that the Brutalist architect Erno Goldfinger, built for himself in 1939.  It was greeted with horror in some quarters, in others, it was revered as visionary. Local resident Ian Fleming named his famous Bond villain after the architect, such was his disenchantment.

From 1875, satirical magazine Punch's one-time illustrator Linley Sambourne lived in this terraced townhouse in Kensington with his wife and family. The typical Victorian middle-class home was opened to the public, a fine surviving example of the celebrated style of the 19th-century.

Llangwm, perched on the banks of the River Cleddau estuary, is holding its third annual literary festival this summer. The speakers are an Anglo-Welsh mix and the general focus of this year’s festival is contemporary Welsh writing, travel and Europe. 

From the makers of the classic Ladybird series, who then brought us the Ladybird Guide for Grown-Ups comes the new Ladybird Expert series. Guides to hard-hitting subjects such as Quantum Physics, Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change written by pioneers in their fields

Tucked off Upper Street is this wonderful, white, square building. If you’re disenchanted with inflated theatre prices, set your alarm for 1pm Tuesdays. Each week, discounted tickets are released for the top-class performances on a first come, first served basis for the following week.

House of Cards meets The Crown in this tale of post-Brexit chaos and ruthless political ambition. A government grandee sees it as his destiny to restore the country’s fortunes – and he’ll use murder, blackmail & treason to do it. It kept me guessing to the end (and even then I got it wrong!).

In 1835 Mr James Newlove lowered his young son Joshua into a hole in the ground that had appeared during the digging of a duck pond. Joshua emerged describing tunnels covered with shells. He had discovered the Shell Grotto. Visitors can experience the beauty of the subterranean shell encrusted tunnels.

No sweet tooth has lived until it has visited the Fudge Kitchen. The portions are generous and the selection diverse: including traditional toffee, rum raisin, salted caramel and lemon meringue pie. The fudges are served in half-pound slices and made with whipped cream.

This miniature Railway, shuttling out from Dymchurch is fantastic. You can chug your way, open air, all the way to Dungeness – Britain’s only shingle desert. You can even load up your bikes on to the train if you want to combine as part of a cycle trip.