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The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, home to The Milestone Hotel is a truly wonderful location to explore, with world-renowned theatres and museums, to chic boutiques and fashionable inhabitants.

If you wish to avoid the major attractions and instead discover the hidden areas of Kensington, our favourite being Church Street, the Milestone’s expert Concierge team are on hand to help. Guests can now enjoy our iPod walking tours of the top attractions and areas to visit in London.

Jim Cameron, Head Concierge and his team have a wealth of knowledge, being able to let you know what to do and where to go in the fabulous city. Jim recommends a few delights that await your visit to London:

The Changing of the Guard
The Changing of the Guard takes place in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace at around 11am every other day. The St. James' Palace detachment of the Queen's Guard bears the Queen's Colour if she is home or the Regimental Colour is she has gone out. The guard marches along the Mall to Buckingham Palace, where the Buckingham Palace detachment has formed up to await their arrival. From there the climax begins. Ask Jim to check the schedule. 

Big Ben
Big Ben – the world's greatest clock, (Big Ben is the name of the greatest bell) has to be heard, seen, photographed and remembered for you will probably see it many times again. Every time you do see Big Ben on the media you will think back to standing there waiting to hear the ‘dong’. Big Ben is not the tallest clock in the empire but it’s the best, the icon, probably the most televised clock in the world, even Londoners love it. London would not be London without Big Ben.

The National Gallery in London
Walk around the aisles of the National Gallery and expose yourself to some of the greatest European art on the planet. Housed in a majestic building in Trafalgar Square the National Gallery is surprisingly unstuffy and relaxed. Get up close and personal to Monet's Water lily pond, Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Rembrandt's portraits, the spectacular Da Vinci's 'Virgin of the Rocks' and Raphael's 'Madonna of the Pinks' to name a few. The National Gallery is home to 2,000 masterpieces of the Western European art. The Van Gogh room is a must. Entry is free.

Natural History Museum
Known for its underfed Dinosaur at its entrance the Natural History Museum itself is large and quite impressive. Have a good look at the columns and floors for the detail contained within their architecture. What really matters of course is what awaits you inside. The awesome Whale Hall starring the biggest creature on earth, past and present, the endangered Blue Whale, the spectacular Darwin Centre Cocoon, the exciting Attenborough Studio, the big facts about the rise and fall of the Dinosaurs and the eruptive studies of volcanoes and ground shaking work on earthquakes. If that's not enough there are special displays that show case topical insights into the natural world.

Westminster Abbey
Every year over one million people come to Westminster Abbey to explore it history, marvel at it's architecture and artefacts and worship at its daily services. Westminster Abbey is a very special place with the current building dating back 700 years and its predecessors dating back to over a 1,000. Benedictine monks first came to the site of Westminster Abbey in the middle of the tenth century. They established a tradition of daily worship which continues on to this day. Since 1066 English Kings and Queens have been crowned here and 17 monarchs have been buried here. In fact, there are a total of 3,000 or more bodies buried within the Church and Cloisters accounting for most of the significant ex-people in England's history. The impressive list of dead people is only matched by the architecture and sculpture within the Abbey. It is easy to arrive at Westminster Abbey not quite know which way to turn. Audio guides are available in eight languages but for a small fee you can and should sign up to the highly-popular verger-led tour. For well over an hour you will be guided gently around Westminster Abbey to the Shrine (containing the tomb of Saint Edward the Confessor), the Royal Tombs, Poets' Corner, the Cloisters and the Nave.

Tower of London
The Tower of London is one of the world's top tourist attractions. When it fulfilled a more 'functional' role the Tower of London was all about misery, torture, body stretching and head removal. Its ancient stones conceal dark secrets, stories of treachery, treason and the lust for power. The priceless Crown Jewels still glint within its fortified vaults. Beefeaters still guard and patrol its grounds. The big difference now is you get to leave. In its distant past there were few return trips to the Tower.
The ravens are the last remaining captives still held in the Tower of London. Myth has it that if the ravens were to be released the Tower of London would crumble into dust. This grand old fortresses has served its master well as royal palace, prison, armoury and even as a zoo. It’s history is so rich that a visit to London is not complete without a spell inside of its walls.

St. Paul's Cathedral (St. Paul's)
Sir Christopher Wren's much loved St Paul's is part of the heart and soul of London. St Paul's was targeted by the Luftwaffe during World War Two. It is miracle that it wasn't destroyed by the intensive bombing and resulting firestorm. Most of the buildings that surrounded St Paul's were not so fortunate. St Pauls contains the story of the men and women who risked their lives to preserve this historic, beautiful building. St. Paul’s Cathedral was built by Christopher Wren in 1710. You will find the famous Whispering Gallery 30 metres above the cathedral floor. Venture below and you will find the tombs and memorials of English hero’s such as Admiral Lord Nelson and the Duke Of Wellington.

The Royal Mews
One of the finest working stables anywhere in the world and home to the royal collection of historic coaches and carriages, the Royal Mews is still to this day responsible for all road travel arrangements for Her Majesty The Queen. The Royal Mews has been the location of the sovereign’s road transport since 1760. London visitors can see the Glass Coach, used by Royal brides, the luxurious Australian State Coach (with central heating included!) and the most dazzling of all, the Gold State Coach, which has been used at every coronation since 1821.

London Eye
The London Eye is the great big wheel opposite the Houses of Parliament. It is the largest ferris wheel in the world. Good weather helps to make this worth queuing up for. London isn’t Paris or New York. Thank the German air force and a history of lousy town planning. The skyline with St Paul's, House of Parliament and Big Ben and some of the more recent buildings like City Hall and The Gherkin still give you much to look at. Then there is the River Thames snaking its way into the distance and towards the sea.

Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum
The Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms are dedicated to the life of Sir Winston Churchill. The secret underground headquarters were Churchill's command centre during world war two. The Churchill Museum covers all ninety years of Winston Churchill’s life, divided into five chapters: his early year’s as British Prime Minister starting May 1940; his later years; his childhood; his early political career and the period famously known as the ‘Gathering Storm’. The museum uses cutting edge technology and unique media displays to chart the life of Winston Churchill, including a fifteen metre long ‘Lifeline’, which visitors can touch to access a digital ‘filing cabinet’ of Churchill’s life, categorised by time. Winston's bed and bedside cigar, sketches of Hitler, maps, taped phone conversations of Churchill talking to FDR and old furniture. The Cabinet War Rooms are like a time capsule - buried and forgotten for sixty years. You can almost feel what it must have been like. Fighting, not for political ideals or oil, but for a nation's very survival. A landmark in time. The War Rooms was where much of the action was orchestrated.

Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum or V&A in South Kensington is said to be the world's greatest museum of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. With 3000 years' worth of amazing artefacts from many of the world's richest cultures the Victoria and Albert Museum is a must see. The exhibits include ceramics, furniture, fashion, glass, jewellery, metalwork, photographs, sculpture, textiles and paintings. This vast array of interesting and well presented material tell an intriguing story of transformation through war, technology and economic advancement, social and political change.

Click here to listen a podcast by Jose Pauco from the Concierge desk with top London restaurant and exhibition recommendations.