Buro city guide: London

Australian born model-turned-photographer and style blogger Candice Lake has lived in London for six years - giving her plenty of time to find the sprawling city's hotspots. When she's not fulfilling her ambassador duties for global brands, she's traipsing the London boroughs snapping street style pics for UK Vogue and her blog, candicelake.com, so she knows the city inside out, from Soho to South Kensington to Southbank and everywhere in between. This is where she likes to hang out. 

• Top 3 coffee shops

• 1. Flat White, Soho; flatwhitesoho.co.uk

2. Monmouth Coffee, The Borough; monmouthcoffee.co.uk
3. Fowlds cafe, Camberwell (the best coffee in London!); facebook.com/fowldscafe

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Top 3 breakfast spots

1. The Wolseley, London (equally good for lunch and dinner); thewolseley.com
2. Claridges, central London; claridges.co.uk
3. Daylesford Organic, Gloucestershire, Notting Hill, Marylebone, Pimlico and Selfridges Food Hall; daylesford.com
 
Top 3 spots for afternoon tea
London is all about afternoon tea, so it would be a travesty to leave this one out!

1. Claridges, central London; claridges.co.uk
2. Rose Bakery, Dover Street Market; london.doverstreetmarket.com
3. The Wallace Restaurant, Manchester Square; wallacecollection.org

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Top 3 lunch spots

1. The Ivy Chelsea Garden, Chelsea, theivychelseagarden.com
2. Berners Tavern at the Edition Hotel, Soho, bernerstavern.com
3. Dean Street Soho House, deanstreettownhouse.com

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Top 3 restaurants

1. Chiltern Firehouse, Marylebone, chilternfirehouse.com
2. The Orange, Pimlico (great for a pub dinner); theorange.co.uk
3. Hakassan, West End (amazing Chinese!); hakkasan.com

The 3 best suburbs to stay

1. Waterloo: a cultural hub - you're close to the BFI, Festival Hall and South Bank.
2. Soho: right  in the thick of it.
3. South Kensington or Mayfair: for a taste of old English glamour.

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Top 3 hotels to stay

1. The Berkeley, Knightsbridge, the-berkeley.co.uk
2. Covent Garden Hotel, Covent Garden, grandluxuryhotels.com
3. The London Edition, Soho, editionhotels.com/london

Top 3 places to shop

1. Mount Street (for some of my favourite boutiques).
2. Burlington Arcade (I head here when I'm dreaming of jewels).
3. Sloane Street (for serious indulgence).

Top 3 galleries

1. The Wallace Collection used to be the largest private art collection in England until it was given over to the National Galleries for the public. This is my favourite gallery in London; wallacecollection.org
2. The British Museum is an absolute must; britishmuseum.org 
3. The Tate Britain is often overlooked for the Modern, but it's spectacular and not to be missed; tate.org.uk

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Top 3 places to hang out in winter

1. Ice-skating at Somerset House is magical; somersethouse.org.uk/ice-rink
2. See The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House; roh.org.uk
3. Seeing the city lit up with Christmas lights is pretty special too!

Top 3 places to hang out in summer

1. Take a trip to Brighton Beach to eat fish and chips and soak up the English seaside. 
2. Have a long pub lunch-to-dinner on a rooftop terrace - London comes alive in summer.
3. Hyde Park has incredible live summer shows with amazing bands - pack a picnic and soak up the fun summer vibe.

Top 3 spots to soak up city views

1. The London Eye; londoneye.com
2. Primrose Hill
3. On top of The Shard; the-shard.com

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My top insider tips

1. Go to the food markets on the weekend for the best street food.  I love Maltby Street Markets in the railway arches in Bermondsey for great croissants and coffee, followed by getting lost in Lassco's Antique Shop. You can then pick up lunch from any of the local food traders.

2. Grab a Boris Bike and ride from South to North London through Hyde park.  It's magical at any time of year and if you go early enough, you'll feel like you have the city to yourself.  

Top places to exercise

Run along the South Bank, Battersea Park, Regent's Park or Hyde Park.  London is so big and exciting, I'm all for taking the headphones out and seeing and feeling the city's energy on foot.  Put away the technology and go for a jog around the city!

The number 1 best spa

The Corinthia Hotel has the best day spa in London, hands down; espalifeatcorinthia.com.

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Top 3 shops to buy homewares

1. Lots Road Antiques in Chelsea, lotsroad.com
2. Lassco's in Vauxhaull has incredible unique pieces; lassco.co.uk
3. Car boot sales are all over London and actually really incredible. 

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