A guide to world cities: Culture, sport and a bit of business

Built on the back of an empire that once stretched over a quarter of the globe, London is perhaps the quintessential world city. But don't be fooled into thinking its days as a global business hub are over, the UK's multicultural capital is now a hi-tech financial centre. Nick Mathiason reports

London was built on trade. From here an empire was forged. And the rewards can be seen today in its museums, galleries and historic buildings.

London's current renaissance - its restaurants, theatres, art, media, fashion and universities - is due to its attractiveness as a centre of finance encouraged by favourable tax laws, which have lured people from all over the world to base their professional lives here.

No city on earth has more reason to call itself a world city than London. More languages are spoken here than anywhere else. It is London as a modern multicultural place set against its historic backdrop that makes it so attractive - and challenging.

Consequently, you can always fit in here, though London does have a reputation for not being the most friendly city in the world. Or the cheapest.

Locals rightly grumble, but its often-packed tube network makes it easy to navigate around what is a large and exhausting metropolis.

But walking through the steel and glass cluster in the City, where occasion legacies of its past reveal themselves, or the Georgian streets of Mayfair and St James in the West End are rewarding, and offer the best insights. Black and licensed cabs are plentiful but expensive. For all its energy-sapping hubbub, London is remarkable for the number of large royal parks. The walk from the Royal Academy art gallery through to Buckingham Palace can be made through St James's Park. Hampstead Heath is a natural treasure trove to the north of the city while Victoria Park in London's East End is as magnificent and underrated green space as you could find anywhere.

Perhaps the most famous view of London - at least in films - is to be had from the top of Primrose Hill. Grabbing a coffee at one of the chi-chi Primrose Hill cafes before visiting Camden Market would make a good day out.

The business traveller is catered for well in this city. Sport lovers can get tickets to see any one of the city's five Premier League football teams, but be prepared to pay top dollar for it.

A visit to Lords - the spiritual home of English cricket - in the summer is a pilgrimage for aficionados.

London's nightclubs are legendary, while shoppers are more than well served. Luxury goods can be found in Knightsbridge or Bond Street, while those looking for vintage clothing and bargains should head for Camden or Greenwich Market. In Greenwich visitors should check out the Royal Observatory overlooking the Thames - the second most famous view in town.


Sleeping and eating


Any traveller - whether on business or leisure - will never be stuck for things to do or places to stay in London. There are hotels to suit all pockets: Claridge's or The Ritz for those with money to burn to a wide range of budget accommodation.

Hotel prices start at £30 for cheap Bed & Breakfast accommodation and go beyond £600 for luxury digs. The website hotels-london.co.uk offers a full range of possibilities.

London, once derided for its standard of restaurants, now boasts the a huge range of cuisine from across the world and some home-grown favourites.

Hidden gems include the Bleeding Heart in London's diamond quarter off Greville Street, EC1. London's oldest restaurant, Rules at 35 Maiden Lane is worth a visit for traditional British fare specialising in classic game cookery, oysters, pies and puddings.

Spicy food lovers should make their way to Brick Lane, on the edge of the City of London. Once home to London's Jewish community, it has now become Banglatown - a vibrant place full of Indian restaurants and bars and clothing shops. Or for great dim sum, visitors can head to Chinatown in Gerrard Street, Soho.

Perhaps the most captivating restaurant is SkyLon at the Royal Festival Hall within the South Bank art complex, which offers sensational views of London from a Thames-side eyrie. Best viewed as dusk falls.


History

A visit to the Museum of London in the Barbican centre reveals that London was inhabited from the Stone Age and that for the Romans it was a vital city. The Romans established London as a port city. It was the city guilds in the 12th and 13th centuries who first brought local government here. Now controversial mayor Ken Livingstone is in charge, but he's up for re-election in May in what is shaping up as a tight race.

The guilds inspired the look and layout of the old City. Traces of it still survive among the gleaming steel and glass totems to finance within the Square Mile's narrow streets. It was during the Restoration period in the late 17th century that London developed into a trading city to challenge the Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese empires. This was the London of coffee houses and the architecture of Sir Christopher Wren - a visit to his masterpiece, St Paul's cathedral, is essential.

Pursuit of mammon brings its dark side. Perhaps best depicted by William Blake, the 18th century poet, London was a place where the vulnerable and poor were trampled in the 'chartered streets' of the city.

London has always loved a rogue and a thief. East End gangsters or Fagin, a gangmaster brought to life by Charles Dickens, have always flourished.

In retrospect, the London of the Swinging Sixties, which put the King's Road in Chelsea, Carnaby Street in the West End and the Roundhouse music venue in Chalk Farm at the centre of the world, appears not just as a celebration of youth but perhaps the end of Britain's cultural domination of the world's stage.

Subsequent years were tough economically. London, once the world's biggest port, saw nearly all shipping businesses move away in just two decades as containerisation began. The rapid closure of its docks, the dispersal of government functions and the end of the city's industrial base were painful. Social problems emerged with the Brixton riots in 1981. But 15 years ago, things started looking up for the city. London successfully shifted its economy to financial services. How long this will last is another matter.


Top tips

Londoners have a love-hate relationship with tourists, though most are polite and will help if you ask for directions. Be careful crossing the street. A cyclist may appear from nowhere and swear at you if you don't look. Don't get ripped off. Always ask: 'How much?' before buying anything, especially ice creams.