The world - like life, is not a candy coated pudding! You can't simply read some non-sense from some guy who sat in a bar one afternoon in some foreign place and had 'such a fabulous' time!! If this is what you're looking for then you've missed the whole point of travel and indeed life itself! The greatest moments come when they're least expected, in places you'd never dream of enjoying. The moments in life that stay with us, the most profound and valuable, are those in which we had an emotional link, a bond with special people around us - it's called poetry / art / life / love. You have to get out there and find it for yourself - not sit in front of a computer screen or walk around with your nose in a guide book hoping paradise and 'the most amazing experience of your life' can be reached on the number 56 bus!! My recommendation? Burn the guide books and walk with your eyes and heart open. Find your own moments and places which are special. Other people can not live your life for you!

Look around you!

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Tucked into a little pocket of peace in between Olympia, Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush, Brook Green is one of the most peaceful and 'villagey' areas of central London. And in the midst of it's charming backstreets and friendly pubs lies the Havelock, a simple, busy pub serving simply excellent food.

57 Masbro Road, Brook Green, W14 0LS; 020 7603 5374

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

A genuinely unique experiment, this Site of Special Scientific Interest features 40 hectares of created wetland in the midst of the city, and should not be missed for its beauty and for the diversity of the plants and animals that thrive there.

From Hammersmith tube a 'Duck Bus' (number 283) will take you to the Centre in ten minutes; www.wwt.org.uk

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

During the week, the City is a place to be avoided, but come Saturday morning it is eerily, magically silent. The chance to walk the empty streets and explore the extraordinary number of churches, all utterly different in architectural style and atmosphere, should not be passed up.

Nearest tubes: Bank, St Paul's, Mansion House, Monument

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Shopping on Kensington High Street can be a fraught affair, so cut into Holland Park, ignoring the initial, undistinguished expanse of grass crammed with sunbathers and footballers, and find the little patch of heaven that is the Japanese Garden. Avoid the weekends when it is over-run by tourists, and you are guaranteed to forget that you're in one of the busiest cities in the world.

Kensington High Street; Nearest tube: High Street Kensington or Holland Park; www.rbkc.gov.uk/ParksAndGardens/HollandPark/default.asp

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

For peace and quiet, go into the City of London at weekends or wander around the botanical splendour of Kew Gardens.

Kew Gardens, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB; Tube: Kew Gardens; www.rbgkew.org.uk/

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

Take your pick of Greenwich Park, Hampstead Heath, Hyde Park, Richmond Park or Kew Gardens.

www.royalparks.gov.uk/

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

A secret walled garden beside the river in Chelsea. The second oldest botanic garden in the UK, it was founded by the Society of Apothecaries in 1673 and has been growing plants with medicinal uses ever since.

It's sheltered, sunny and dry enough to grow plants from the Canary Islands, Madeira and South Africa - and is a great place to escape from the fast pace of city living for an hour or two.

www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/
Note, it's only open to the public on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends