10 great things to do in London

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Having completed a full year in London, it is time to reflect on the favourite things that I have done in London so far. Really tough to write a top 10 list, and some of the best experiences have been simple nights out with good friends, but in this list I will stick to my favourite places to visit in London:

1. Wimbledon

A uniquely London experience is the tradition of the original lawn tennis championship at Wimbledon. We got to the fields outside the courts at 5am on the middle Saturday and were number 3,840 in the queue for ground passes. Needless to say, it was an epic queuing experience - and we even got a 20 page guide to queuing complete with 10 rules of queuing! Only the British could come up with that. Coffee and newspapers were needed to get through the morning.

Once we finally got inside we headed straight to Court 5 and got a great seat to watch the doubles action. From Court 5, you can also see 4 other outdoor courts. The setup at Wimbledon is amazing, the courts are all ivy covered and it all looks so traditional and authentic. After spending the morning there it was time to head to Henman Hill to watch the centre court action and enjoy some Pimms and Lemonade, the drink of choice at Wimbledon it seems. Henman Hill was its usual rowdy self, a place to escape the politeness of watching at a court and the people are drinking and merry watching Nadal destroy his third round opponent.

The queues to get into courts can take 20 minutes or so, but a ground pass at Wimbledon is a great way to take in the atmosphere of the Championships and appreciate the traditional tennis tournament. Certainly a unique London experience and my favourite so far.

2. Cricket at Lords

A trip to Lords is also a uniquely London experience. The cricket ground is positioned in amongst the posh suburb of St. Johns Wood and is a small enough size that it has a suburban ground type feel to it. It isn't a stadium, but rather a series of beautiful stands, particularly the members stand.

We went to a one-dayer between Australia and England on a gloriously sunny July day. Perhaps I enjoyed it so much because the Aussies had a victory as well! Hussey went nuts with the bat and Tait bowled very fast to take 4 for 25 including the smug Kevin Peterson for a duck! But one of the highlights of the day was just wandering around the back of the stands admiring the perfectly manicured little lawns with pristine outdoor furniture where tweed jacketed men sipped champagne. It was certainly the exact opposite of the Australian cricket experience, where it would be standing around on concrete eating a dodgy hotdog in some ratty old shorts and t-shirt. The Lords experience was certainly a spin out for me - a fantastic place to watch cricket!

3. Food markets

Borough, Spitalfields, Brick Lane, Broadway and the king of them all - Camden. London is awash with amazing markets to visit. At any opportunity I can find, I will visit these markets to get lunch. The choices available are always amazing - whether it is latin american food, asian food or north african food - I can't get enough of it!

The Up Market off the awesome Brick Lane would be one of my favourites - all of the food stalls are so tightly packed together that some of them are cooking on the floor. The food is all so delicious and authentic though and it often gets so busy that the only place to eat is standing on the street or sitting in the gutter of Brick Lane as hundreds of people push past you. Surrounding the market is some pretty cool bars, including the Rootmaster. A double decker bus that serves organic food and non-alcoholic drinks.

But Camden Market does take the cake for me for the sheer bizarreness of the shops and stalls, the people and most of all, the Churros. Love it!

4. Regent's Park Open Air Theartre

In July each year, the middle section of Regent's Park transforms into an open air theatre. We went to see some of London's biggest names in stand-up comedy on a Sunday evening. Watching a show as the sun sets over the beautiful park was a great experience. We took a picnic dinner and sat outside on the grass beforehand. With the flowers all out and the squirrels running around, the picnic in the park and open air theatre was a rather unique London experience.

5. Ice Skating

There is little to like about the bleak cold winters of London, but perhaps one of the best ways to enjoy the chilly conditions is to head to one of the many picturesque outdoor ice skating rinks that are set up temporarily in London each year in December/January. We hit the National History Museum for the 5pm session, just as it was dark and all lit up. The skating was somewhat hazardous with so many people on the ice - many of them teenagers going a little nuts. Then there were people like me who clearly can't ice skate well. I found myself pushing over little kids everywhere as I lost my balance, but thankfully no bad wipeouts. The atmosphere on the ice in front of the lit up old building of the Natural History Museum was great.

6. The large open spaces such as Hampstead Heath

During summer, the parks of London come alive. On the weekends, thousands of people hit the huge open space of Hamstead Heath, where outdoor lidos provide a refreshing dip for those who like a swim, but we instead walked around the huge heath, which includes Parliament Hill, which is the highest vantage point to see London from a distance and truly appreciate the huge size and scale of the magnificant city.

7. Premier League football

London has plenty to offer for football fans with 5 clubs in the premier league. My first premier league experience was a rather subdued game at Stamford Bridge watching Chelsea play Portsmouth. Then was the great experience of going to Emirates Stadium to watch Champions League action between Arsenal and Porto (from Portugal). Arsenal won 5 nil and the big Dane, Nicolas Bendtner scored a hat-trick. The Gunners fans went wild. It was a very cool experience.

However, for the real football experience, it had to be the visit to White Hart Lane to watch Tottenham play Aston Villa. Thankfully Tottenham won otherwise I sensed there may have been some anger spill onto the streets and local pubs. Spurs fans are proper working class from what I could tell, incredibly passionate about their team. They were in full song and their new signing, the incredible Dutchman Raphael Van de Vaart scored twice, the crowd erupting each time and singing his name. Both before and after the game, Spurs fans were singing their songs and drinking copious amounts of lager. There were little to no women around - and why would there be? This was a man's domain and 6 pints after the game and the rest of the night is a blur.

Football is such a huge part of British male culture. I can't go get a haircut or go into the office on a Monday morning without hearing all about what happened on the weekend. When a big game is on mid-week, many pubs become lock-outs and people forget it's a work night and go nuts. My favourite moment was during the World Cup when England was playing Slovenia at 3pm on a Wednesday afternoon, we went to about 15 pubs around the city and all of them were lock-outs! Good to see the English know their priorities.

8. Electric Cinema

In Notting Hill, on the bustling Portobello Road lies one of London's hidden gems in the Electric Cinema. The cinema is an old 1930s style cinema that is the ultimate cinema experience. Comfortable leater seats are huge and the footstools and massive amount of leg room make it a very comfortable experience. There is also a bar and cafe inside the cinema.

9. Hampton Court Palace

The fabulous Tudor Palace is a short train ride out of central London and is a remarkably well done tourist attraction. Each day follows a program with very well decked out actors re-enacting the wedding day of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn. The re-enactment takes in most of the rooms of the palace, including the monsterous kitchen. The amount of wealth that royalty had (and still has) is incredible. After the re-enactment we went though the huge gardens surrounding Hampton Court Palace including a huge hedge maze. Hampton Court Palace was a great little day trip and escape from central London.

10. West end theatre

I'm not a big fan of theatre in general, but when in London it is just something that has to be done. London seems to have every show that ever existed playing accross a range of theatres that sprawl from Tottenham Court Road to Charing Cross and there never seems to be any shortage of packed houses to watch the great musicals. Of course, being more into rock music, I went to We Will Rock You, the Queen musical that was now into its 9th year, and still selling out shows! About 20 great Queen songs were part of the show which was very well done and the Dominion Theatre was a beautiful theatre that made for amazing acoustics and a great show.

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