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Getting Oriented | Top Attractions | Worth Noting

Updated by James O’Neill

St. James’s and Mayfair form the core of London’s West End, the city’s smartest central area. These neighborhoods epitomize the stately flavor that is peculiarly London’s—the sense of being in a great, rich, powerful city is almost palpable as you wander along the posh and polished streets.

Neither district is stuffed with must-sees, though there is no shortage of history and gorgeous architecture, but they are custom-built for window-shopping, expansive strolling, and getting a peek into the lifestyles of London’s rich and famous, 18th-and-21st-century versions. St. James’s is found to the south of Piccadily and north of the Mall, while Mayfair is located to the north of Piccadilly and south of Oxford Street.

Although many will say Mayfair is only a state of mind, the heart of Mayfair has shifted from the 19th-century’s Park Lane to beautiful Carlos Place and Mount Street. Even if you head to adjacent Bond Street to bid on a letter at Sotheby’s signed by one of the Brontë sisters, or stop in a Graff to price a weighty diamond, the window-shopping is next best to the real thing and is free. Mayfair is primarily residential, so its homes are off-limits except for two satisfyingly grand houses: Apsley House, the Duke of Wellington’s home, built by Robert Adam in 1771, and once known as No. 1, London, and Spencer House, ancestral digs of Princess Diana. The district of St. James—named after the centuries-old palace that lies at its center—remains the ultimate enclave of old-fashioned gentleman’s London, with the great clubs on Pall Mall along with famed shops for the sartorial peacock.

Despite being bounded by four of the busiest streets in London—bustling budget-shopping mecca Oxford Street to the north, traffic artery Park Lane with Hyde Park beyond to the west, and elegant boulevards Regent Street and Piccadilly to the east and south respectively—Mayfair itself is remarkably traffic-free and a delight to explore. Starting at Selfridges on Oxford Street, a southward stroll will take you through quiet residential streets lined with Georgian town houses (the area was largely developed in the 17th and 18th centuries) and, with a bit of artful navigating, to four lovely greenswards: Grosvenor Square, Berkeley Square, Hanover Square, with its splendid St. George’s Church where Handel worshipped, and the quiet St. George’s Gardens, bounded by a maze of atmospheric streets and mews. Mayfair is also London’s most exclusive shopping destination, with such enclaves as Mount Street, Bruton Street, Savile Row, and the Burlington Arcade. At the western end of Mayfair at Hyde Park corner are two memorials to England’s great hero the Duke of Wellington: Wellington Arch and the duke’s restored London residence, Apsley House.

The Royal Academy of Arts is at the southern fringe of Mayfair on Picadilly, and just across the road begins more sedate St. James’s, with its old-money galleries, restaurants, and gentlemen’s clubs that embody the history and privilege of traditional London. You’ll get the best sense of the neighborhood just to the south on St. James’s Square and Pall Mall, with its private clubs tucked away in 18th- and 19th-century patrician buildings.

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Getting Oriented

Top Reasons to Go

Call on the Duke of Wellington: His Apsley House—known as No. 1, London—is filled with splendid salons nearly wallpapered with grand old master paintings.

Get a passion for fashion: The shopping on Bond and Mount streets will keep your credit card occupied at McQueen and McCartney, and don’t forget stylish, gigantic Selfridges.

Go for Baroque at St. James’s: Designed by Sir Christopher Wren—top architect of 17th-century London—this beautiful church was the site of poet William Blake’s baptism.

Visit Spencer House: Tour the ancestral house of Princess Diana, restored by Lord Rothschild, and the only great aristocratic family mansion extant in London.

Dress to impress at Claridge’s: Afternoon tea at this sumptuous art deco gem is the perfect end to a shopping spree in Mayfair.

Feeling Peckish?

Crussh.
Eating healthfully can be a challenge in London but here you’ll find excellent juices, smoothies, soups, sandwiches, salads, and wraps; take them across to nearby Green Park and snag a deck chair. | 1 Curzon St., Mayfair | W1J 5HD | 020/7629–2554.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s.
The foul-mouthed master of the kitchen takes fine dining to exquisite heights of elegance; it’s the perfect marriage of art deco beauty and culinary genius. | 55 Brook St., Mayfair | W1K 4HR | 020/7499–0099 | www.gordonramsay.com/claridges.

Richoux.
Since 1909, Richoux has been an affordable refuge from busy Piccadilly; enjoy simple but well-executed French bistro food and great afternoon teas. | 172 Piccadilly, Mayfair | W1Y 9DD | 020/7493–2204 | www.richoux.co.uk.

Getting There

Three Tube stops on the Central line will leave you smack in the center of these neighborhoods: Marble Arch, Bond Street (also Jubilee line), and Oxford Circus (also Victoria and Bakerloo lines).

You can also take the Piccadilly or Bakerloo line to the Piccadilly Circus Tube station, the Piccadilly to the Hyde Park Corner station, or the Piccadilly, Victoria, or Jubilee line to the Green Park station.

The best buses are the 8, which takes in Green Park, Berkeley Square, and New Bond Street, and the 9, one of the few routes that still use the traditional double-decker Routemaster model, which runs along Piccadilly.

Making the Most of Your Time

Reserve at least a day to experience St. James’s and Mayfair. Leave enough time for shopping and also to wander casually through the streets and squares.

The only areas to avoid are the Tube stations at rush hour, and Oxford Street if you don’t like crowds.

At all costs, stay away from Oxford Circus around 5 pm, when the commuter rush can, at times, resemble an East African wildebeest migration—but without the charm.

The area becomes as quiet as a tomb at night—so plan to party elsewhere.

Top Attractions

Fodor’s Choice | Apsley House (Wellington Museum).
The mansion built by Robert Adam and presented to the Duke of Wellington in thanks for his victory over Napoléon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 was long celebrated as the best address in town. Once popularly known as Number 1, London, because it was the first and grandest house at the old tollgate from Knightsbridge village, the mansion was the residence of the Duke of Wellington from 1817 until his death in 1852. The years of war against the French made the “Iron Duke”—born in Ireland as Arthur Wellesley—the greatest soldier and statesman in the land, so much so that the house’s location at Hyde Park Corner was soon nicknamed “hero’s corner” (in the nearby subway, beneath the turmoil of traffic, the Duke of Wellington’s heroic exploits are retold in murals). Opposite the house is the 1828 designed by Decimus Burton, with the four-horse chariot of peace at its pinnacle (open to the public as an exhibition area and viewing platform); the Achilles statue (legendarily naked and cast from captured French guns) points the way with thrusting shield to the ducal mansion from the edge of Hyde Park, entered through an elaborate gateway designed and built by Burton at the same time as the arch.

The duke’s former residence shows off his uniforms, weapons, a fine collection of paintings (partially looted from his war campaigns), and his porcelain and plate collections acquired as a result of his military success, such as a Sévres dessert service commissioned by Napoléon for his empress, Josephine. Wellington’s extensive art collection, much of it presented to him by admirers, includes works by Brueghel, Van Dyck, and Rubens, as well as the famous Veláquez portrait of Pope Innocent X and a portrait of the duke on horseback by Goya. A gigantic Canova statue of a nude (fig-leafed) Napoléon presides over the grand staircase that leads to the many elegant reception rooms. The sculptor chose to present his subject, at the time the most powerful man in Europe, as Mars the Peacemaker, depicting the short and stocky emperor as a classical god more than 11 feet tall with a perfect physique. Napoléon wasn’t happy with the nudity or the athleticism of Canova’s approach and ordered the marble statue to be hidden behind a screen.

The free audio guide highlights the most significant works and the superb decor, most notably the stunning Waterloo Gallery, where an annual banquet for officers who fought beside Wellington was held beneath the sculpted and gilded ceiling and old-master paintings on red damask walls. Special events take place on the annual Waterloo weekend and occasionally on Waterloo Day (June 18) itself, in addition to other special events throughout the year. Call or check the website for details. Limited disabled access. | 149 Piccadilly, Hyde Park Corner, Mayfair | W1J 7JZ | 020/7499–5676 | www.english-heritage.org.uk | £6.50; check website for joint ticket with Wellington Arch | Mar.–Oct., Wed.–Sun. and bank holiday Mon. 11–5; Nov.–Feb., weekends Sat.–Sun. 11–4 | Station: Hyde Park Corner.

Bond Street.
This world-class shopping haunt is divided into northern “New” (1710) and southern “Old” (1690) halves. You can spot the juncture by a bronzed bench on which Franklin D. Roosevelt sits companionably next to Winston Churchill. On New Bond Street you’ll find Sotheby’s, the world-famous auction house, at No. 35, as well as upscale retailers like Asprey’s, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Georg Jensen, and Church’s. You’ll find even more opportunities to flirt with financial ruin on Old Bond Street: flagship boutiques of top-end designers like Chanel, Gucci, and Yves St. Laurent; an array of fine jewelers including Tiffany’s; and art dealers Colnaghi, Spink Leger, and Agnew’s. Cork Street, which parallels the top half of Old Bond Street, is where London’s top dealers in contemporary art have their galleries. | Bond St., Mayfair | W1 | Station: Bond St., Green Park.

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A Brief History

The name Mayfair derives from the 15-day May fair that was once held in the charming warren of small streets known as Shepherd Market.

But in the 18th century, the residents of this now-fashionable neighborhood felt the fair was lowering the tone and so put a stop to it.

The area was mostly fields and farms belonging to families whose names are commemorated in the surrounding streets—Grosvenor, Burlington, and Berkeley—until it was developed in the early 1700s.

The beautiful St. James’s Park, meanwhile, stands as an idyllic emblem of this elite past.

It’s the oldest royal park in London and all that remains of the royal hunting grounds that once traversed the city to Islington, Marylebone, and Hampstead.

Henry VIII acquired the land in 1532 for a deer park.

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Burlington Arcade.
Perhaps the finest of Mayfair’s enchanting covered shopping alleys is the second oldest in London, built in 1819 for Lord Cavendish, to stop hoi polloi from jettisoning rubbish (oyster shells in particular) into his garden at Burlington House, behind the arcade. Top-hatted watchmen called Beadles—the world’s smallest private police force—still patrol, preserving decorum by preventing you from singing, running, or carrying an open umbrella. The arcade is also the main link between the Royal Academy of Arts and its extended galleries at 6 Burlington Gardens. | Piccadilly, Mayfair | W1 | www.burlington-arcade.co.uk | Weekdays Mon.–Fri. 10–7, Sat. 9–6:30, Sun. 11–5; opening times of shops within the arcade vary | Station: Green Park, Piccadilly Circus.

Quick Bites: Several of London’s most storied and stylish hotels are in Mayfair. Even if you’re not staying at one, sample the high life by popping into their glamorous bars for a cocktail or some afternoon tea. Claridge’s Bar takes its cue from art deco, as do the Ritz’s intimate Rivoli Bar and the eponymous Connaught Bar; the bar at Brown’s Hotel is modernist.

Marble Arch.
John Nash’s 1827 arch, moved here from Buckingham Palace in 1851, stands amid the traffic whirlpool where Bayswater Road segues into Oxford Street, at the top of Park Lane. The arch actually contains three small chambers, which served as a police station until the mid-20th century. Search the sidewalk on the traffic island opposite the cinema for the stone plaque recalling the Tyburn Tree, an elaborately designed gallows that stood here for 400 years, until 1783. The condemned would be conveyed here in their finest clothes from Newgate Prison in The City, and were expected to affect a casual indifference or face a merciless heckling from the crowds. Towering across the grass from the arch towards Tyburn Way is a vast patina-green statue of a horse’s head called Horse at Water by sculptor Nic Fiddian. Cross over (or under) to the northeastern corner of Hyde Park for Speakers’ Corner. | Park La., Mayfair | W2 2DS | Station: Marble Arch.

Piccadilly Circus.
The origins of the name “Piccadilly” relate to a humble 17th-century tailor from the Strand named Robert Baker who sold picadils—a stiff ruffled collar all the rage in courtly circles—and built a house with the proceeds. Snobs dubbed his new-money mansion Piccadilly Hall, and the name stuck.

Pride of place in the circus—a circular junction until the construction of Shaftesbury Avenue in 1886— belongs to London’s favorite statue, Eros (actually, the 1893 work is a representation of Eros’ brother Anteros, the Greek God of requited love). The creation of young sculptor Alfred Gilbert is a memorial to the selflessness of the philanthropic Earl of Shaftesbury (the god’s bow and arrow are an allusion to the earl’s name). Gilbert cast the statue he called his “missile of kindness” in the then-novel medium of aluminum. Unfortunately, he spent most of his £8,000 fee ensuring the bronze fountain beneath was cast to his specifications. Already in debt, Gilbert eventually went bankrupt and fled the country. (In the end he was redeemed with a knighthood.) Beneath the modern bank of neon advertisements surrounding the circus are some of the most elegant Edwardian-era buildings in London. | St. James’s | W1J ODA | Station: Piccadilly Circus.

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!.
Ripley’s contains five floors of curiosities: natural mutations (an albino alligator), cultural artifacts (Eucadorian shrunken heads), and historic memorabilia (a piece of the Berlin Wall). | 1 Piccadilly Circus, Mayfair | W1J ODA | 020/3238–0022 | www.ripleyslondon.com | £25.95 | Daily 10–midnight| Station: Piccadilly Circus.

Fodor’s Choice | Royal Academy of Arts.
Burlington House was originally built in 1664, with later Palladian additions for the 3rd Earl of Burlington in 1720. The piazza in front is a later conception from 1873, when the Renaissance-style buildings around the courtyard were designed by Banks and Barry to house a gaggle of noble scientific societies, including the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Linnean Society of London, and the Royal Astronomical Society.

Burlington House itself houses the draw-card tenant, the Royal Academy of Arts. The statue of the academy’s first president, Sir Joshua Reynolds, palette in hand, is prominent in the piazza of light stone with fountains by Sir Phillip King. Within the house and up the stairs are statues of creative giants J.W.M. Turner and Thomas Gainsborough. Free tours show off part of the RA collection, some of it housed in the John Madejski Fine Rooms, and the RA hosts excellent temporary exhibitions. Every June for the past 240 years, the RA has put on its Summer Exhibition, a huge and always surprising collection of art by living Royal Academicians and a plethora of other contemporary artists. | Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair | W1J 0BD | 020/7300–8000, 0207/300–5839 lectures, 0207/300–5995 family programs | www.royalacademy.org.uk | From £12; prices vary with exhibition | Sat.–Thurs. 10–6, Fri. 10–10; tours Tues. 1, Wed.–Fri. 1, and 3, Sat. 11:30 | Station: Piccadilly Circus, Green Park.

Quick Bites: Royal Academy Restaurant. The Royal Academy Restaurant, with its walls covered in Gilbert Spencer murals, is almost as beautiful as the art hanging in the galleries. The accent is on flexibility: you can linger over a three-course meal, order tapas-style, or just pop in for a quick, delicious bite (open Sunday–Thursday 10–6, Fri. and Sat. 9–11. | 020/7300–5608). For something a little less substantial, have a snack at the Gallery Café, which offers a range of muffins, sandwiches, and pastries. Outdoor tables are available in the summer.

Selfridges.
With its row of massive Ionic columns, this huge store was opened three years after Harry Gordon Selfridge came to London from Chicago in 1906. Now Selfridges is comparable to Harrods in size and scope, and, since investing in major face-lift operations, to Harvey Nichols in designer cachet. | 400 Oxford St., Mayfair | W1A 1AB | 0800/123-400 | www.selfridges.com | Mon.–Sat. 9:30–9, Sun. 11:30–6:15 | Station: Marble Arch, Bond Street.

St. James’s Church.
Blitzed by the German Luftwaffe in 1940 and not restored under 1954, this was one of the last of Sir Christopher Wren’s London churches—and his favorite. Completed in 1684, it envelops one of Grinling Gibbon’s finest works, an ornate lime-wood reredos (the screen behind the altar), and the organ was brought here in 1691 from Whitehall Palace. The church is a lively place, with all manner of lectures and (some free) concerts. A café enjoys a fine location right alongside the church, while a small, sedate garden is tucked away at the rear. The market out front is full of surprises, hosting antiques on Tuesday, and arts and crafts from Wednesday to Saturday. | 197 Piccadilly, St. James’s | W1J 9LL | 020/7734–4511, 020/7381–0441 concert program and tickets | www.st-james-piccadilly.org | Station: Piccadilly Circus, Green Park.

Wellington Arch.
Opposite the Duke of Wellington’s mansion, Apsley House, this majestic stone arch surveys the busy traffic rushing around Hyde Park Corner. Designed by Decimus Burton and built in 1828, it was created as a grand entrance to the west side of London and echoes the design of that other landmark gate, Both were triumphal arches commemorating Britain’s victory against France in the Napoleonic Wars. The exterior of the arch was intended to be much more ornate but King George IV was going vastly over budget with his refurbishment of Buckingham Palace and cutbacks had to be made elsewhere. Atop the building, the Angel of Peace descends on the quadriga, or four-horse chariot of war. This replaced the Duke of Wellington on his horse, which was considered too large and moved to an army barracks in Aldershot. Inside the arch, three floors of exhibits reveal the history of the building and explore other great arches around the world. Best of all is the platform at the top of the arch, where you can enjoy brilliant panoramas over Hyde Park and peer into the private gardens of Buckingham Palace. | Hyde Park Corner, Mayfair | W1J 7JZ | 020/7930–2726 | www.english-heritage.org.uk | £3.50 | Check website for opening hours | Station: Hyde Park Corner.

Worth Noting

Berkeley Square.
As anyone who’s heard the old song knows, the name rhymes with “starkly.” Not many of its original mid-18th-century houses are left, but look at Nos. 42–46 (especially No. 44, now an exclusive casino, which the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner thought London’s finest terraced house) and Nos. 49–52 to get some idea of why this was once London’s top address. Incidentally, No. 50 (now Magg’s Bros. antiquarian booksellers) is known as London’s most haunted house, with claims of ghostly goings-on stretching back to the early 19th century. | Berkeley Sq., Mayfair | W1K | Station: Bond St.

Grosvenor Square.
Leafy Grosvenor Square (pronounced Grove-na) was laid out in 1725–31 and is as desirable an address today as it was then. Americans have certainly always thought so—from John Adams, the second president, who as ambassador lived at No. 38, to Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose wartime headquarters was at No. 20. Now the massive 1960s block of the U.S. Embassy occupies the entire west side, and a British memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt stands in the center. There is also a classically styled memorial to those who died in New York on September 11, 2001. Little brick Grosvenor Chapel, completed in 1730 and used by Eisenhower’s men during World War II, stands a couple of blocks south of the square on South Audley Street, with the entrance to pretty St. George’s Gardens to its left. Across the gardens is the headquarters of the English Jesuits as well as the society-wedding favorite, the mid-19th-century Church of the Immaculate Conception, known as Farm Street Church because of its location. A Barclays Cycle Hire docking station is immediately northeast of the square. | Mayfair | W1K | Station: Bond St.

Handel House Museum.
The former home of the composer, where he lived for more than 30 years until his death in 1759, is a celebration of his genius. It’s the first museum in London solely dedicated to one composer. In rooms decorated in fine Georgian style you can linger over original manuscripts (there are more to be seen in the British Library) and gaze at portraits—accompanied by live music if the adjoining music rooms are being used by musicians in rehearsal. Some of the composer’s most famous pieces were created here, including Messiah and Music for the Royal Fireworks. To hear a live concert here—there are Thursday evening performances, mostly of baroque music—is to imagine the atmosphere of rehearsals and “salon” music in its day. Handel House makes a perfect cultural pit stop after shopping on nearby Bond and Oxford streets, and if you come on Saturday, there is free admission for kids. The museum occupies both No. 25 and the adjoining house, where life in Georgian London is displayed, and where another musical star, Jimi Hendrix, lived for a brief time in the 1960s, as a blue plaque outside the house indicates—also look for the petite exhibition of Hendrix photos. Tours of his flat, currently administrative offices and not usually open to the public, are offered twice a year. Phone or check the website for details. | 25 Brook St., entrance in Lancashire Court, Mayfair | W1K 4HB | 020/7495–1685 | www.handelhouse.org | £5 | Tues.–Sat. 10–6, Thurs. 10–8, Sun. noon–6 | Station: Bond St.

Spencer House.
Ancestral abode of the Spencers—Diana, Princess of Wales’s family—this is perhaps the finest example of an elegant 18th-century town house extant in London. Reflecting his passion for the Grand Tour and classical antiquities, the first Earl Spencer commissioned architect John Vardy to adapt designs from ancient Rome for a magnificent private palace. Vardy was responsible for the external elevation, including the gorgeous west-facing Palladian facade, its pediment adorned with classical statues, and the ground-floor interiors, notably the lavish Palm Room, which boasts a spectacular screen of columns covered in gilded carvings that resemble gold palm trees. The purpose of the bling-tastic decor was not only to attest to Spencer’s power and wealth but also to celebrate his marriage, a love match then rare in aristocratic circles (the palms are a symbol of marital fertility). Midway through construction—the house was built between 1756 and 1766—Spencer changed architects and hired James “Athenian” Stuart, whose designs were based on a classical Greek aesthetic, to decorate the gilded State Rooms on the first floor. These include the Painted Room, the first completely neoclassical room in Europe. In recent years the house was superlatively restored by Lord Rothschild (to impress close friend, Princess Diana), but in 2010 the Spencer family scandalously decided to sell off all the house’s best furnishings and paintings at Christie’s so that today’s viewers see a decidedly denuded house, alas. The garden, of Henry Holland design, has also been replanted in the 18th- and 19th-century fashion. The house is open only on Sunday (closed January and August), and only to guided tours. The garden is open some Sundays in summer. Check the website for details. | 27 St. James’s Pl., St. James’s | SW1A 1NR | 020/7499–8620 | www.spencerhouse.co.uk | £9 | Sept.–Dec. and Feb.–July, Sun. 10:30–5:45, last tour 4:45 | Station: Green Park.

St. James’s Square.
One of London’s oldest and leafiest squares was also the most snobbish address of all when it was laid out around 1670, with 14 resident dukes and earls installed by 1720. Since 1841, No. 14—one of the several 18th-century residences spared by World War II bombs—has housed the London Library, founded by Thomas Carlyle. With its million or so volumes, this is the world’s largest independent lending library and is also considered the best private humanities library in the land. The workplace of literary luminaries from T.S. Eliot to Bruce Chatwin, Kingsley Amis, Winston Churchill, John Betjeman, and Charles Dickens, the library invites you to read famous authors’ complaints in the comments book—but you’ll need a £15 day or £50 week membership to peruse the collection (bring ID and proof of address), although these have to be booked in advance. Other notable institutions around the square include the East India Club at No. 16, the Naval and Military Club (known as the “In and Out” after the signage on its gateposts) at No. 4, as well as Chatham House, a think tank on international affairs. A small epitaph to WPC Yvonne Fletcher—shot by a Libyan gunman—can be found on the sidewalk around the square. | St. James’s | SW1Y 4LE | www.londonlibrary.co.uk | Mon.–Wed. 9:30–9, Thurs.–Sat. 9:30–5:30;, closed Sun. | Station: Piccadilly Circus.

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