London Eye

Now an established fixture on the London skyline that's visible all around the city, the London Eye is worth a visit. There's something decidedly space-aged about the design and engineering of the wheel. It was the vision of architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, a husband and wife team, and is supposed to be 'a metaphor for the turning of the century'. Actually it got to the millenium celebration party a little late, finally arriving in March 2000. Since then though it's proven to be a draw for Londoners and London tourists alike and is now the most popular paid-for attraction in the UK. Yes, you do have to pay for the London Eye and it will set you back about £15 (£7.50 for kids). But if it's a romantic evening for two you're after it's hard to beat.

Where: on the South Bank, next to County Hall - see map.

When: 10am - 8am (10am - 9pm in June & September; 10am - 9pm July & August)

More information: visit the London Eye website.

Hyde Park Speakers' Corner

Created in 1872 as a designated area for free speech, Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner is one of the few speakers' corners in London still active on a regular basis. In the past, such world-renowned figures as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and George Orwell have come here to speak here. Today, people from all walks of life can be found at Speakers' Corner talking on a range of subjects. Although the standard of debate is not always the highest, there is a strange pleasure to be had here watching speakers whose only qualification to speak is the confidence and passion they have in what they're talk about. And if you don't agree with what you're hearing, you can always heckle. It's your right, after all.

Got something you want to say? Why not have a go yourself. All you need to do is find a free bit of space to speak, a voice loud enough to be heard over the other speakers and something to talk about.

When: every Sunday

Where: In Hyde Park, on the corner of Cumberland Gate and Park Lane, opposite Marble Arch -see map

Buckingham Palace

It's not hard to see why most people flock to Buckingham Palace when they come to London. The palace has been the official residence of British kings and queens since 1837 and its grandeur and sense of place are hard to beat. With St James' Park on either side and the historic Mall, (a road not a shopping precinct,) stretching towards Trafalgar Square, there's plenty to discover and stroll around. These distractions are especially welcome if you wish to wait to witness the Changing of the Guard.

The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

The Changing of the Guard or Guard Mounting is a colourful ceremony that involves the changing of the old guard with a new one and is accompanied by a guards band. When the Queen is in residence, there are four guards on duty and when she's away there are only two.

The ceremony takes place at the front of the palace daily at 11.30am between May and July, and then on alternate days throughout the rest of the year.

Check here for up-to-date times on the Changing of the Guard ceremony.

Free London museums

All the major galleries in London are free, thanks to government subsidies. These include all of the Tate art museums, the V&A (Victoria and Albert) design museum and the British Museum. Most feature paying temporary exhibitions but unless you have a particular interest in whatever's on, there's more than enough in all the big London museums to keep you busy for days at a time without paying a penny.

Good museums for kids...

Natural History Museum
Dominated by the aging skeletons of dinosaurs, the Natural History Museum still inspires children and adults alike to wonder what it might have been like to stand face to face with the 26-metre-long diplodocus stood in the main hallway all those millions of years ago.

Find out what's on before you visit here.

Normal opening times:
10am - 5.50pm every day (Last admission 5.30pm)

Science Museum
If the word 'science' makes you think of lessons spent at the back of the classroom trying to burn a hole in your tie with a Bunsen burner, think again. The Science Museum makes science amazing again, with thermal imaging cameras, carbon dioxide that turns from solid into gas and lots more. We recommend you head straight for Launchpad (particularly aimed at 8- to 14-year-olds) one of the most recently updated sections of the museum and work back from there.

Normal opening times:
10am - 6pm every day

Good museums for art lovers...

London has some world-beating art on offer for the connoisseur and the casual art browser alike. The addition of the Tate Modern in 2000 finally gave the Tate's extensive international contemporary art collection a home and gave the Tate Britain room to show off the work of major British artists since 1500s. Other large free art museums include the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square.

Tate Britain

Look out for...

Between October and January, the Turner Prize, an annual contemporary art award that often causes headlines for its outlandishness, is usually exhibited here. (In 2007, however it was shown in the Tate Liverpool.)

Normal opening times:
Open daily 10am – 5.50pm (Exhibitions open 10am – 5.40pm)

Find out more: http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/

Tate Modern

Normal opening times:
Sunday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday & Saturday 10am – 10pm

Find out more: http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/

National Gallery

Normal opening times:
10am - 6pm (Wednesday until 9pm)

Find out more: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/plan/default.htm

National Portrait Gallery

Look out for...
The BP Portrait Awards a yearly award that will appeal to most with its preference for finely painted figurative portraiture and a diverse range of subjects. It's also one of the few temporary exhibitions in London that's actually free.

Normal opening times:
Open daily 10am - 6pm (Thursday and Friday until 9pm)

Find out more: http://www.npg.org.uk/live/index.asp

A good museum for a sense of history...

The British Museum

Housing such prestigious and sometime contentious relics as the Rosetta Stone credited with breaking the code of Egyptian hieroglyphs and the Elgin Marbles, sculptures from the ancient Acropolis in Athens - the British Museum is well worth a visit. Leave a day or so free if you want to get a half-decent look at everything on offer.

Normal opening times:
10am - 6pm (Wednesday until 9pm)

Find out more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/