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Getting Oriented | Kensington and Chelsea | Knightsbridge

Updated by Ellin Stein

In the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (or “K&C” as the locals call it) you’ll find London at its richest, and not just in the moneyed sense. Once-bohemian Chelsea is where James McNeill Whistler and the Pre-Raphaelites painted and Mick Jagger partied. In South Kensington you’ll come upon a concentration of great museums near Cromwell Road, including the Victoria & Albert, the Natural History Museum, and, within Hyde Park, historic Kensington Palace. Knightsbridge has become a playground for the international wealthy, with shopping to match their tastes. It is all summed up in adjacent Belgravia: comprised of block after block of cream-beige and white-porticoed mansions, this eminently walkable enclave of imposing residences and splendid embassies is like a stage set designed by Cecil Beaton.

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Getting Oriented

Top Reasons to Go

Treasure-hunt the V&A Museum: The Victoria & Albert Museum is the greatest museum of decorative arts in the world—even Edwardians got “interactive” by sketching in the Sculpture Court (stools are still provided today).

Encounter a dinosaur at the Natural History Museum: Watch children catch on that the museum’s animatronic T. rex has noticed them—and is licking its dinosaur chops. Then see some of those fearsome teeth for real in the dinosaur room.

Get a glimpse of royal lifestyles at Kensington Palace: Home to royal personages including Queen Victoria, Princess Diana, and current residents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Kate). Selections from the massive Royal Dress Collection are always on display.

Go Wilde at 18 Stafford Terrace: Filled with Victorian and Edwardian antiques and art, the charming Linley Sambourne House could be the perfect setting for The Importance of Being Earnest.

Feeling Peckish?

The Café at the V&A.
The Café at the V&A serves breakfast, light snacks, tea, and full meals throughout the day, all in a grand room at modest prices (stop by just to see the original Arts and Crafts decor, one of William Morris’s earliest commissions, with stained-glass by Edward Burne-Jones). Eat in the courtyard if the weather’s good, or have a buffet supper on Friday late nights. | Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Rd., South Kensington | SW7 2RL | 020/7942–2000.

Getting There

There are several useful Tube stations for this area: Sloane Square and High Street Kensington on the District and Circle lines; Knightsbridge and Hyde Park Corner on the Piccadilly line; Earl’s Court, South Kensington, and Gloucester Road on the District, Circle, and Piccadilly lines; Holland Park on the Central line; and Victoria on the District, Circle, and Victoria lines.

Safety

This entire, posh region is quite safe but beware of pickpockets in shopping areas.

Nearest Public Restrooms

Most old-style public restrooms have been replaced by futuristic “autoloos”—podlike booths on street corners that usually cost £1 to use. If you’re not brave enough to trust the push-button locks, try the free and clean restrooms at department stores Peter Jones or Harvey Nichols. Or ask for the “loo” in a pub but be prepared for “sorry” if you’re not a paying customer.

Making the Most of Your Time

You could fill three or four days in this borough: A shopping stroll along the length of the King’s Road is easily half a day. Add lunch and some time weaving back and forth between the King’s Road and the river and you can fill a day. Give yourself a half day, at least, for the Victoria & Albert Museum and a half day for either the Science or Natural History Museum.

A Grazer’s Paradise

West London’s answer to Borough Market, the Duke of York Square Food Market (020/7823–5577), an open-air market at 80 Duke of York Square, a chic shopping precinct, hosts 40 stalls every Saturday, from 10 to 4. Purveying artisinal and locally produced meat, game, fish, breads, cakes, cupcakes, honey, pasta, cheese, and chocolate from more than 150 small specialty food producers, this is a true grazer’s paradise, with everything from around the world, ranging from paellas to pirogi to pad Thai to empanadas.

Kensington and Chelsea

Chelsea was settled before the Domesday Book and was already fashionable when two of Henry VIII’s wives lived there. On the banks of the Thames are the vast grounds of the Royal Hospital, designed by Christopher Wren. A walk along the riverside embankment will take you to Cheyne Walk, a lovely street dating back to the 18th century. Several of its more notable residents—who range from J.M.W. Turner and Henry James to Laurence Olivier and Keith Richards—are commemorated by blue plaques on their former houses.

The Albert Bridge, a candy-color Victorian confection of a suspension bridge, provides one of London’s great romantic views, especially at night. Nearby is one of London’s most exciting shopping streets, the King’s Road (Charles II’s private way from St. James’s to Fulham). Leave time to explore the tiny Georgian lanes of pastel-color houses that veer off the King’s Road to the north—especially Jubilee Place and Burnsall Street, leading to the hidden “village square” of Chelsea Green. On Saturday there’s an excellent farmers’ market up from the Saatchi Gallery selling artisanal cheese and chocolates, local oysters, and organic meats, plus stalls serving international food.

Kensington laid its first royal stake when King William III, fed up with the vapors of the Thames, bought a country place there in 1689 and converted it into Kensington Palace. Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert, added the jewel in the borough’s crown when he turned the profits of the Great Exhibition of 1851 into South Kensington’s metropolis of museums: Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), the Science Museum, and the Natural History Museum. His namesakes in the area include Royal Albert Hall, with its bas-reliefs that make it resemble a giant, redbrick Wedgwood pot, and the lavish Albert Memorial.

Turn into Derry Street or Young Street and enter Kensington Square, one of the most complete 17th-century residential squares in London. Holland Park is about ¾ mile farther west; both Leighton House and 18 Stafford Terrace—two of London’s most gorgeously decorated Victorian-era houses (the lavish use of Islamic tiles, inlaid mosaics, gilded ceilings, and marble columns make the former into an Arabian Nights fantasy)—are nearby as well.

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Exploring Kensington and Chelsea

Albert Memorial.
This gleaming, neo-Gothic shrine to Prince Albert created by Sir Gilbert Scott epitomizes the Victorian era. After Albert’s early death from typhoid in 1861, his grieving widow, Queen Victoria, had this elaborate confection erected to the west of where the Great Exhibition had been held a decade before. A 14-foot bronze gilt statue of the prince—depicted thumbing through a catalogue for his Great Exhibition—rests on a 15-foot-high pedestal, along with other statues representing his passions and interests. | Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Kensington | SW7 2AP | Station: South Kensington, High Street Kensington.

Fodor’s Choice | 18 Stafford Terrace.
The home of Punch cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne in the 1870s is filled with delightful Victorian and Edwardian antiques, fabrics, and paintings (as well as several samples of Linley Sambourne’s work for Punch) and is one of the most charming 19th-century London houses extant—small wonder that it was used in Merchant Ivory’s A Room with a View. The Italianate house was the scene for society parties when Anne Messel was in residence in the 1940s. This being Kensington, there’s inevitably a royal connection: Messel’s son, Antony Armstrong-Jones, was married to the late Princess Margaret, and their son has preserved the connection by taking the title Viscount Linley. Admission is by guided tour only. Apart from the 11:15 tour on weekends and all Wednesday tours, these are given by costumed actors. | 18 Stafford Terr., Kensington | W8 7BH | 0207/602–3316 | www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/museums.aspx | £6 | Guided tours Wed. 11:15, 2:15, weekends 11:15, 1, 2:15, 3:30. Closed mid-June–mid-Sept. | Station: High Street Kensington.

Holland Park.
Formerly the grounds of an aristocrat’s house and open to the public only since 1952, Holland Park is an often-overlooked gem and possibly London’s most romantic park. The notrhern “Wilderness” end offers woodland walks among native and exotic trees first planted in the early 18th century. Foxes, rabbits, and hedgehogs are among the residents The central part of the park is given over to the manicured lawns—still stalked by raucous peacocks—one would expect at a stately home, although Holland House itself, originally built by James I’s chancellor and later the site of a 19th-century salon frequented by Byron, Dickens, and Disraeli, was largely destroyed by incendiary bombs in 1940. The east wing was reconstructed and has been incorporated into a youth hostel, while the remains of the front terrace provide an atmospheric backdrop for the open-air performances of the April–September Holland Park Opera Festival (0207/361–3570 box office | www.operahollandpark.com). The glass-walled Garden Ballroom (every home should have one) is now the Orangery, which hosts art exhibitions and other public events, as does the Ice House, while an adjoining former granary has become the upmarket Belvedere restaurant. In spring and summer the air is fragrant with aromas from a rose garden, great banks of rhododendrons, and an azalea walk. Garden enthusiasts will also not want to miss the tranquil, traditional Kyoto Garden, a legacy of London’s 1991 Japan Festival. The southern part of the park is given over to sport: cricket and football pitches, a golf practice area, and tennis courts, and a well-supervised children’s Adventure Playground. And don’t miss a new addition, the giant outdoor chess set. | Holland Park, Holland Park | W8 6LU | Daily 7:30–30 mins before dusk | Station: Holland Park, High Street Kensington.

Kensington Palace.
Neither as imposing as Buckingham Palace nor as charming as Hampton Court, Kensington Palace is something of a Royal Family commune, with various close relatives of the Queen occupying large apartments in the private part of the palace. Bought in 1689 by Queen Mary and King William III, it was converted into a palace by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor, and Royals have been in residence ever since. Its most famous resident, Princess Diana, lived here with her sons after her divorce, and this is where Prince William now lives with his wife, Catherine.

On March 2012, the palace unveiled a £12 million refurbishment, with four new “visitor routes,” showcasing four famous phases of the palace’s history: Queen Victoria (with the theme “love, duty, and loss”); the splendid King’s State Apartments, with a peek into the age of George II (“the curious world of the court”); the regal Queen’s State Apartments (the private life of Queen Anne); plus a special exhibition of Princess Diana’s dresses (“it’s not easy being a princess”). There’s also a new café, restored garden, and underground visitors’ center.

Kensington Palace Highlights

In addition, the palace is home to the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, a collection of 10,000 items that include royal raiments ranging from the elaborate (an 18th-century mantua—a dazzling court dress with a 6-foot-wide skirt) to the downright odd (King George III’s socks). Also of special note are the King’s Staircase, with its panoramic trompe l’oeil painting, and the King’s Gallery, with royal artworks in a jewel-box setting of rich red damask walls, intricate gilding, and a beautiful painted ceiling.

Kensington Palace Tips

If you also plan to visit the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Banqueting House, or Kew Palace, become a member of Historic Royal Palaces. It costs £43 per person, or £83 for a family, and gives you free entry to all five sites for a year.

Picnicking is allowed on the benches in the palace grounds. (You can also picnic anywhere in the adjoining Kensington Gardens.)

There’s a delightful café in the Orangery, near the Sunken Garden. Built for Queen Anne, it’s a great place for formal afternoon tea, although it gets busy during peak hours.

The Broad Walk, Kensington Gardens, Kensington | W8 4PX | 0844/482–7799 advance booking, 0844/482–7777 information, 0203/166–6000 from outside U.K. | www.hrp.org.uk | £14.50 | Mar.–Sept., daily 10–6; Oct.–Feb., daily 10–5; last admission 1 hr before closing | Station: Queensway, High Street Kensington.

Fodor’s Choice | Natural History Museum.
The delightfully ornate terra-cotta facade of this enormous Victorian museum is strewn with relief panels depicting living creatures to the left of the entrance and extinct ones to the right (although some species have subsequently changed categories). It’s an appropriate design, for within these walls lie more than 70 million different specimens.

Only a small percentage is on public display, but you could still spend a day here and not come close to seeing everything. The museum is full of cutting-edge exhibits, with all the wow-power and interactives necessary to secure interest from younger visitors.

Natural History Museum Highlights

A giant diplodocus skeleton dominates the vaulted, cathedral-like entrance hall, affording you perhaps the most irresistible photo opportunity in the building. It’s just a cast, but the Dinosaur Gallery (Gallery 21) contains plenty of real-life dino bones, fossils—and some extremely long teeth.

You’ll also come face to face with a giant animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex—who is programmed to sense when human prey is near and “respond” in character. When he does, you can hear the shrieks of fear and delight all the way across the room.

A dizzyingly tall escalator takes you into a giant globe in the Earth Galleries, where there’s a choice of levels—and Earth surfaces—to explore. Don’t leave without checking out the earthquake simulation in Gallery 61.

The centerpiece of a major expansion is the Darwin Centre, which houses some of the (literally) millions of items they don’t have room to display, including “Archie,” a 28.3-foot giant squid.

Natural History Museum Tips

“Nature Live” is a program of free, informal talks given by scientists, covering a wildly eclectic range of subjects, usually at 2:30 (and on some days at 12:30) in the David Attenborough Studio in the Darwin Centre.

The museum has an outdoor ice-skating rink from November to January, and a popular Christmas fair.

Free, daily behind-the-scenes Spirit collection tours of the museum can be booked on the day—although space is limited, so come early. Recommended for children over eight years old.

Got kids under seven with you? Check out the museum’s free “Explorer Backpacks.” They contain a range of activity materials to keep the little ones amused, including a pair of binoculars and an explorer’s hat.

Cromwell Rd., South Kensington | SW7 5BD | 0207/942–5000 | www.nhm.ac.uk | Free (some fees for special exhibitions) | Daily 10–5:50, last admission at 5:30 | Station: South Kensington.

Royal Albert Hall.
Its terra-cotta exterior surmounted by a mosaic frieze depicting figures engaged in artistic, scientific, and cultural pursuits, this famously domed, circular 5,223-seat auditorium was made possible by the Victorian public, who donated the money to build it. After funds were diverted toward the Albert Memorial (opposite), more money was raised by selling 999-year leases for 1,276 “Members’” seats at £100 apiece—today a box with five Members’ Seats goes for half a million pounds. The notoriously poor acoustics were fixed after a 2004 renovation and the sight lines are excellent. The RAH hosts everything from pop and classical headliners to Cirque du Soleil, ballet on ice, awards ceremonies, and Sumo wrestling championships, but is best known as the venue for the annual July–September BBC Promenade Concerts—the “Proms”—with bargain-price standing (or promenading, or sitting-on-the-floor) tickets sold on the night of the concert. | Kensington Gore, Kensington | SW7 2AP | 0845/401–5045 from U.K., 0207/589–8212 from outside U.K. | www.royalalberthall.com | Prices vary with event | Station: South Kensington, High Street Kensington.

Royal Hospital Chelsea.
Charles II founded this hospice for elderly and infirm soldiers in 1682 to reward the troops who had fought for him in the civil wars of 1642–46 and 1648. Charles wisely appointed the great architect Sir Christopher Wren to design this small village of brick and Portland stone set in manicured gardens (which you can visit) surrounding the Figure Court—the figure being a 1682 bronze statue of Charles II dressed as a Roman general—the Great Hall (dining room), and a chapel. The chapel is enhanced by choir stalls created by the great Grinling Gibbons (who made the statue of Charles as well), the Great Hall by Antonio Verrio’s vast oil of Charles on horseback, and both are open to the public at certain times during the day. The real attraction, along with the building, is the pensioners themselves. Recognizable by their traditional scarlet frock coats with gold buttons, medals, and tricorne hats, they are all actual veterans, who wear the uniform, and the history it conveys, with a great deal of pride. Chelsea Flower Show. Also in May (usually the third week), the Chelsea Flower Show (0844/338–7505 in U.K., 121/767–4063 from outside U.K. | www.rhs.org.uk), the year’s highlight for thousands of garden-obsessed Brits, is held here. Run by the Royal Horticultural Society, this mammoth event takes up vast acreage, and the surrounding streets throng with visitors. | Royal Hospital Rd., Chelsea | SW3 4SR | 020/7881–5298 | www.chelsea-pensioners.org.uk | Free | Museum open weekdays 10–noon and 2–4, Sun. 2–4. Closed weekends, also closed holidays and for special events. Grounds, Chapel, Courts, and Great Hall open Mon.–Sat. 10–noon and 2–4. | Station: Sloane Sq.

Saatchi Gallery.
Charles Saatchi made his fortune building an advertising empire that successfully “rebranded” Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party but then went on to find worldwide fame as Britain’s most highly regarded collector of contemporary (and often scandalous) art. The result is this museum—its third in 10 years—located at the very imposing Duke of York’s HQ, just off Chelsea’s King’s Road. Built in 1803, its suitably grand period exterior belies its imaginatively restored modern interior, which was transformed into 14 gallery exhibition spaces of varying size and shape. Unlike Tate Modern, there is no permanent collection; instead the galleries are given over to a single exhibition that normally runs for about three months—they are cutting-edge and excellent. There’s also a nifty café (open late). | Duke of York’s HQ Bldg., King’s Rd., Chelsea | SW3 4RY | 020/7811–3085 | www.saatchigallery.com | Free | Daily 10–6 | Station: Sloane Sq.

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Historic Plaque Hunt

As you wander around London, you’ll see lots of small blue, circular plaques on the sides and facades of buildings, describing which famous, infamous, or obscure but brilliant person once lived there. The first was placed outside Lord Byron’s birthplace (now no more) by the Royal Society of Arts. There are about 700 blue plaques, erected by different bodies—you may even find some green ones that originated from Westminster City Council—but English Heritage now maintains the responsibility, and if you want to find out the latest, check the website www.english-heritage.org.uk.

James Barrie (100 Bayswater Rd., Bayswater | W2); Frederic Chopin (4 St. James’s Pl., St. James’s | W1); Sir Winston Churchill (28 Hyde Park Gate, Kensington Gore | SW7); Captain James Cook (88 Mile End Rd., Tower Hamlets | E1); T.S. Eliot (3 Kensington Court Gardens, Kensington | W8); Benjamin Franklin (36 Craven St., Westminster | WC2); Mahatma Gandhi (20 Baron’s Court Rd., West Kensington | W14); George Frederic Handel and Jimi Hendrix (23 Brook St., Mayfair | W1); Alfred Hitchcock (153 Cromwell Rd., Earl’s Court | SW5); Karl Marx (28 Dean St., Soho | W1); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (180 Ebury St., Pimlico | SW1); Horatio Nelson (103 New Bond St., Mayfair | W1); Sir Isaac Newton (87 Jermyn St., St. James’s | SW1); Florence Nightingale (10 South St., Mayfair | W1); George Bernard Shaw (29 Fitzroy Sq., Fitzrovia | W1); Percy Bysshe Shelley (15 Poland St., Soho | W1); Mark Twain (23 Tedworth Sq., Chelsea | SW3); H.G. Wells (13 Hanover Terr., Regent’s Park | NW1); Oscar Wilde (34 Tite St., Chelsea | SW3); William Butler Yeats (23 Fitzroy Rd., Primrose Hill | NW1).

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Science Museum.
One of the three great South Kensington museums, this stands next to the Natural History Museum in a far plainer building. It has loads of hands-on painlessly educational exhibits, with entire schools of children apparently decanted inside to interact with them. Highlights include the Puffing Billy, the oldest steam locomotive in the world and the actual Apollo 10 capsule, plus six floors devoted many subjects, from the history of flight to steam power. Also here are a 450-seat IMAX cinema and the Legend of Apollo, an advanced motion simulator that combines seat vibration with other technical gizmos to simulate the experience of a moon landing. TIP If you’re a family of at least five, you might be able to get a place on one of the popular new Science Night sleepovers by booking well in advance. Aimed at kids 8–11 years old, these nighttime science workshops offer the chance to camp out in one of the galleries, and include a free IMAX show the next morning. Check the website for details. | Exhibition Rd., South Kensington | SW7 2DD | 0870/870–4868 | www.sciencemuseum.org.uk | Free, charge for cinema shows and special exhibitions | Daily 10–6, 10–7 during school holidays (check website) | Station: South Kensington.

Serpentine Gallery.
Overlooking the large Serpentine stream that winds its way through Hyde Park, this small brick building set in Kensington Gardens—once a favorite cause of Princess Diana—is one of London’s foremost showcases for contemporary art, and has featured exhibitions by lumiaries such as Damien Hirst, Louise Bourgeois, John Currin, and Gerhard Richter. From May through September, check out the annually redesigned Serpentine pavilion (Frank Gehry, Daniel Liebeskind, and Jean Nouvel have been among the designers). | Kensington Gardens, Kensington | W2 3XA | 0207/402–6075 | www.serpentinegallery.org | Free | Daily 10–6 | Station: Lancaster Gate, Knightsbridge, South Kensington.

Fodor’s Choice | Victoria & Albert Museum.
Always referred to as the V&A, this huge museum is devoted to the applied arts of all disciplines, all periods, and all nationalities. Full of innovation, it’s a wonderful, generous place in which to to get lost. First opened as the South Kensington Museum in 1857, it was renamed in 1899 in honor of Queen Victoria’s late husband and has since grown to become one of the country’s best-loved cultural institutions.

Many collections at the V&A are presented not by period but by category—textiles, sculpture, jewelry, and so on. Nowhere is the benefit of this more apparent than in the Fashion Gallery (Room 40), where formal 18th-century court dresses are displayed alongside the haute couture styles of contemporary designers, creating an arresting sense of visual continuity.

The British Galleries (rooms 52–58), devoted to British art and design from 1500 to 1760, are full of beautiful diversions—among them the Great Bed of Ware (immortalized in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night). Here, a series of actual rooms have been painstakingly reconstructed piece by piece after being rescued from historic buildings. These include an ornate music room and the Henrietta St. Room, a breathtakingly serene parlor dating from 1722.

The Asian Galleries (rooms 44–47) are full of treasures, but among the most striking items on display is a remarkable collection of ornate samurai armor in the Japanese Gallery (Room 44). There are also galleries devoted to China, Korea, and the Islamic Middle East. Several new galleries opened in 2009: a Buddhist Sculpture gallery, a new Ceramics gallery, and a Medieval and Renaissance gallery, which has the largest collection of works from the period outside of Italy.

Victoria & Albert Museum Tips

The V&A is a tricky building to navigate, so be sure to use the free map.

You could take a free one-hour tour at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, or 3:30. There are also tours devoted just to the British Galleries at 12:30 and 2:30. Occasional public lectures during the week are delivered by visiting bigwigs from the art and fashion worlds (prices vary.) There are free lectures throughout the week given by museum staff.

Whatever time you visit, the spectacular sculpture hall will be filled with artists, both amateur and professional, sketching the myriad artworks on display there. Don’t be shy; bring a pad and join in.

Although the permanent collection is free, the V&A also hosts high-profile special exhibitions that run for up to three months (from £5).

Cromwell Rd., South Kensington | SW7 2RL | 020/7942–2000 | www.vam.ac.uk | Free | Sat.–Tues. 10–5:45, Fri. 10–10 | Station: South Kensington.

Knightsbridge

There’s no getting away from it. London’s wealthiest enclave (not many other neighborhoods are plagued with street racers in Maseratis) is shop-’til-you-drop territory of the highest order. With two world-famous department stores, Harrods and Harvey Nichols, a few hundred yards apart, and every bit of space between and around taken up with designer boutiques, chain stores, and jewelers, it’s hard to imagine why anyone who doesn’t like shopping would even think of coming here. If the department stores seem overwhelming, Beauchamp Place (pronounced “Beecham”) is a good tonic. It’s lined with equally chic and expensive boutiques, but they tend to be smaller, more personal, and less hectic. Nearby Sloane Street is lined with top-end designer boutiques such as Prada, Dior, and Tods.

Another place to find peace and quiet is a divinely peaceful stroll in fashionable Belgravia, one of the most gorgeous set-pieces of urban 19th-century planning. Street after street is lined with grand white terraces of aristocratic town houses, still part of the Grosvenor estate, and owned by the Dukes of Westminster. Many are leased to embassies, but a remarkable number around Lowndes Square, Belgrave Square, and Eaton Square remain homes of the discreet, private wealthy and outright super-rich. Some people call the area near Elizabeth Street Belgravia, others Pimlico–Victoria. Either way, now that you’ve had a break, it’s time to shop again, and this street is the place to be.

Exploring Knightsbridge

Belgrave Square.
This is the heart of Belgravia, once the epicenter of posh London though now mostly occupied by organizations, embassies, and the international rich. The square and the streets leading off it share a remarkably consistent stately yet elegant architectural style thanks to all being part of a Regency redevelopment scheme commissioned by the Duke of Westminster and designed by Thomas Cubitt with George Basevi. The grand, porticoed mansions were snapped up by aristocrats and politicians due to their proximity to Buckingham Palace just around the corner, and still command record prices on the rare occasion when they come onto the market. The private garden in the center is open to the public once a year (see www.opensquares.org). Walk down Belgrave Place toward Eaton Place and you pass two of Belgravia’s most beautiful mews: Eaton Mews North and Eccleston Mews, both fronted by grand rusticated entrances right out of a 19th-century engraving. TIP Traffic can really whip around Belgrave Square, so be careful. | Belgrave Sq., Belgravia | SW1X 8PG | Station: Hyde Park Corner.

Harrods.
Just in case you don’t notice its 4.5-acre bulk, this legendary shopping destination frames its domed terra-cotta exterior in thousands of small white lights each night. The store’s motto is Omnia, omnibus, ubique (Everything, for everybody, everywhere), and, if the days when it provided an alligator as a Christmas gift for Noel Coward or embalming services to the body of Sigmund Freud are long gone, you can still find pretty much every luxury brand under the sun here, along with esoteric services like a custom-made Madame Tussaud’s waxwork, should you be in the market for one. Don’t miss the extravagant Food Hall, with its stunning Edwardian Rococo ceilings, art deco marble pillars and art nouveau mouldings and ceramic tiles. Repair to the excellent fifth-floor Urban Retreat spa if it all gets to be too much. | 87–135 Brompton Rd., Knightsbridge | SW1X 7XL | 020/7730–1234 | www.harrods.com | Mon.–Sat. 10–8, Sun. 11:30–6 | Station: Knightsbridge.

Harvey Nichols.
Tourists flock to Harrods, but Harvey Nicks (as it’s familiarly known to its well-heeled fashionista aficionados) is where in-the-know locals shop. The Fifth Floor Restaurant, Café, and Champagne Bar offer outstanding views and stylish refreshments that attract an equally stylish clientele. | 109–125 Knightsbridge, Knightsbridge | SW1X 7RJ | 020/7235–5000 | www.harveynichols.com | Mon.–Sat. 10–8, Sun. 11:30–6 | Station: Knightsbridge.

Leighton House Museum.
Leading Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton lived and worked in this building on the edge of Holland Park, spending 30 years (and quite a bit of money) transforming it into an opulent “private palace of art” infused with an orientalist aesthetic sensibility. The interior is a sumptuous Arabian Nights fantasy, with walls lined in peacock blue tiles designed by Leighton’s friend, the ceramic artist William de Morgan, and beautiful mosaic wall panels and floors, marble pillars, and gilded ceilings. The centerpiece is the Arab Hall, its marble walls adorned with even more intricate murals made from 16th- and 17th-century ceramic tiles imported from Syria, Turkey, and Iran, surmounted by a domed ceiling covered in gold leaf with a gold mosaic frieze running underneath. You can also visit Leighton’s studio, with its huge north window and dome, and the house is filled with several of his paintings along with works by other Pre-Raphaelites. There are free tours of the house on Wednesday at 3. | 12 Holland Park Rd., Holland Park | W14 8LZ | 020/7332–3316 | www.rbkc.gov.uk | Wed.–Mon. 10–5:30 | Station: Holland Park.

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