Kensington

Where much of London rushes, Kensington slows down. This is a part of the city built around grand institutions and grander trees, and it feels distinct from the rest of the capital almost as soon as you arrive - wide streets, white stucco terraces, and none of the frantic energy you find further east. It's a place people come to for the museums and the gardens as much as for the city buzz, and that gives it a character closer to a wealthy market town than inner London.

Most visitors base themselves close to the museum quarter or towards Earls Court and Olympia, where hotels like the Radisson Blu Hotel London South Kensington and the two Premier Inns (Earls Court and Olympia) offer straightforward, well-placed bases. For something more individual, the Baglioni Hotel London and the London Marriott Hotel Kensington sit right by the park, while Hux Hotel Kensington and 1 Lexham Gardens Hotel offer a smaller-scale, more residential feel typical of the area's quieter streets.

The Victoria and Albert Museum and the Design Museum anchor Kensington's reputation as a place for culture, and both reward a slow visit rather than a rushed one. Kensington Gardens is the obvious counterpoint - vast, formal in parts and wild in others - and the Princess Diana Memorial Playground within it makes the area a genuinely good choice for families, not just museum-goers.

With over a hundred restaurants listed, Kensington has more depth on the plate than its reputation for museums and gardens might suggest. It's an area that works equally well as a base for a few days of gallery-hopping, a family day out in the park, or simply a good dinner in a part of London that keeps its own pace.