Visit the Charles Dickens Museum at 48 Doughty Street, his home from 1837 to 1839

Go into the Sir John Ritblat Gallery at the British Library and see the Magna Carta of 1215 and the Lindisfarne Gospels

Visit Dr Johnson's House at 17 Gough Square, where he compiled his Dictionary, published in 1755

Find the Platform 9¾ trolley at King's Cross station

Charles Dickens lived at 48 Doughty Street from 1837 to 1839, and it is now his museum. At 17 Gough Square, Dr Johnson compiled his Dictionary, published in 1755. The British Library's Sir John Ritblat Gallery shows the Magna Carta of 1215 and the Lindisfarne Gospels, and at King's Cross a luggage trolley disappears into the wall at Platform 9¾.

Literary London: Dickens, the British Library and Dr Johnson

See the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon sculptures at the British Museum, founded in 1753

Look up at the blue whale skeleton in Hintze Hall at the Natural History Museum, in the Waterhouse building opened in 1881

Find the two halves of Trajan's Column in the Cast Courts at the Victoria and Albert Museum

See the Apollo 10 command module and Puffing Billy, the oldest surviving steam locomotive, at the Science Museum

The British Museum, founded in 1753, holds the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon sculptures. In South Kensington, a blue whale skeleton hangs in Hintze Hall in the Natural History Museum's Waterhouse building of 1881, the V&A's Cast Courts hold the two halves of Trajan's Column, and the Science Museum has the Apollo 10 command module and Puffing Billy, the oldest surviving steam locomotive.

London's Great Museums: The British Museum and South Kensington

Visit Temple Church, the round Templar church consecrated in 1185

Find the remains of the Roman London Wall at Tower Hill

Visit the Roman amphitheatre under Guildhall Art Gallery, discovered in 1988

Visit St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield, the Norman church founded in 1123

Temple Church, the round church of the Knights Templar, was consecrated in 1185. At Tower Hill a stretch of the Roman London Wall still stands, under the Guildhall Art Gallery lie the remains of the Roman amphitheatre found in 1988, and in Smithfield St Bartholomew the Great is a Norman church founded in 1123.

Medieval London: Temple Church, the Roman Wall and St Bartholomew's

Visit Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street, rebuilt soon after the Great Fire and traditionally linked with Dr Johnson

Drink at The Prospect of Whitby in Wapping, which claims the site of London's oldest riverside tavern, near the old Execution Dock

Visit The George Inn in Southwark, the last surviving galleried coaching inn in London, owned by the National Trust

Have a drink at The Mayflower in Rotherhithe, the riverside pub named after the Pilgrim Fathers' ship, and look out at low tide for the spot the pub gives as her 1620 mooring point

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street was rebuilt soon after the Great Fire of 1666, and tradition makes Dr Johnson, who lived round the corner in Gough Square, one of its regulars. In Wapping, the Prospect of Whitby claims to stand on the site of London's oldest riverside tavern, from around 1520, near the old Execution Dock; in Southwark, the George Inn is the last galleried coaching inn in London, owned by the National Trust; and the Mayflower in Rotherhithe is named after the Pilgrim Fathers' ship, which was based here on the Thames and whose master, Captain Jones, lived and is buried in Rotherhithe.

London's Oldest Pubs

See Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Turner's The Fighting Temeraire at the National Gallery, founded in 1824

Walk the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, the former Bankside Power Station converted by Herzog & de Meuron and opened in 2000

See Michelangelo's marble Taddei Tondo at the Royal Academy of Arts in Burlington House

See Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère at the Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House

The National Gallery, founded in 1824, holds Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Turner's The Fighting Temeraire. Across the river, Tate Modern opened in 2000 in the old Bankside Power Station, converted by Herzog & de Meuron around the Turbine Hall. The Royal Academy in Burlington House has Michelangelo's Taddei Tondo, and the Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House has Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.

London's Galleries: The National Gallery, Tate Modern and the Courtauld

Climb the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, Christopher Wren's masterpiece built between 1675 and 1710, to the Whispering Gallery and the outer galleries

Go up The Shard, Renzo Piano's tower of 2012, 310m tall, to The View from The Shard

See the Palace of Westminster and the Elizabeth Tower, the home of Big Ben, designed by Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin after the fire of 1834

Look up at 30 St Mary Axe, Norman Foster's 'Gherkin' of 2004, and Richard Rogers's Lloyd's Building of 1986

Christopher Wren built St Paul's Cathedral between 1675 and 1710, and its dome can be climbed to the Whispering Gallery and beyond. The Palace of Westminster and the Elizabeth Tower, the home of Big Ben, were designed by Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin after the fire of 1834. In the City, Norman Foster's Gherkin of 2004 stands near Richard Rogers's Lloyd's Building of 1986, and across the river Renzo Piano's Shard of 2012 is 310m tall.

London's Landmarks: St Paul's, the Shard and Westminster

Watch the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London, the nightly locking-up said to date back to the 14th century, booking a ticket from Historic Royal Palaces well in advance

Ride the London Eye after dark, the 135m wheel that opened in 2000

Join a Jack the Ripper walking tour through Whitechapel and Spitalfields, past the sites of the 'canonical five' murders of 1888

Every night the Tower of London is locked in the Ceremony of the Keys, said to have been held in some form since the 14th century; tickets must be booked well in advance from Historic Royal Palaces. The London Eye, 135m high, opened in 2000, and walking tours follow the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888 through Whitechapel and Spitalfields.

London After Dark: The Ceremony of the Keys and the Eye

Visit the Churchill War Rooms, the underground Cabinet War Rooms used from 1939 to 1945, and the Map Room

Board HMS Belfast, the cruiser that supported the D-Day landings of 1944 and is moored by Tower Bridge

Explore the Imperial War Museum on Lambeth Road

Stand in St Paul's Cathedral, which survived the Blitz

Under Whitehall, the Cabinet War Rooms were used from 1939 to 1945, Map Room included. HMS Belfast, the cruiser that supported the D-Day landings in 1944, is moored by Tower Bridge, the Imperial War Museum is on Lambeth Road in Southwark, and St Paul's Cathedral came through the Blitz.

London at War: The Churchill War Rooms and HMS Belfast

Cross the zebra crossing on Abbey Road, photographed for the Beatles' album cover on 8 August 1969, outside Abbey Road Studios

Attend a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, opened in 1871 and home of the BBC Proms

Hear jazz at Ronnie Scott's in Soho, the club founded in 1959

Walk Denmark Street, Britain's old Tin Pan Alley of music publishers, now lined with guitar shops

The Beatles were photographed on the zebra crossing outside Abbey Road Studios on 8 August 1969 for the album cover. The Royal Albert Hall opened in 1871 and is the home of the BBC Proms, Ronnie Scott's has been playing jazz in Soho since 1959, and Denmark Street, Britain's old Tin Pan Alley of music publishers, is now lined with guitar shops.