Camden Market in London offers the opportunity to purchase everything the latest fashion items and musical instruments to kids toys and food items from around the world. It should go without saying that anybody staying in a holiday apartment in London should not consider their London adventure complete until they have visited here. It is not widely known that Camden Market is actually a collective term for a number of smaller markets within a close proximity. They're called Camden Stables Market, Camden Lock Market and Inverness Street Market to name but a few. Each market places you'll find here are slightly different in layout and even in content, but have the core vibe and atmosphere synonymous with this world famous market. In a city which is jam packed with some of the most famous attractions in the world, you'll find Camden Market ranked as the fourth most popular attraction in London. Hundreds of thousands of people pass through the market each month, and it is this sheer number of people which creates the atmosphere for which the market is renowned. The iconic image of the London market seller shouting the latest deals and trying to attract people top their stalls ...

A great way to add diversity to a visit to London is to visit one of the many parks around the city. One of the most famous and popular parks is Regents Park located in the North West of London. Regents Park is of royal status and has plenty to offer the visitor, with enough attractions to entertain for an entire day. Of the many different features that Regents Park has to offer, the open space is perhaps the most conventional and is certainly a great way to escape the hustle and bustle of the busy city centre. The greenery within the park is stunning, whilst the large lake complements it perfectly. The gardens provide the opportunity to explore some of the best kept flower displays in the city, with spotless arrangements on display all year round. Another feature of the gardens is the specimen plants, some of which are unique to the park. Regents Park is a great day out for those of an active disposition as there are a variety of sporting and physical activities to enjoy. The sports pitches are a great place to stretch your legs and enjoy a kick about with kids or with some friends on ...

Excellent transport links from London’s many railway stations ensure that there is a very wide choice of day trips that can be taken from London. Close to south east London is Greenwich, which is home to the Cutty Sark, the famous tea clipper that is currently being restored, and the Greenwich observatory. It is possible to stand astride the Greenwich Meridian and have one foot in the eastern hemisphere and another in the western. Greenwich Park is massive and there are plans afoot to hold the three-day eventing equestrian competition in the park when the Olympics are hosted by London in the summer of 2012. Charing Cross is the true centre of London and all measurements to the capital are taken from there. Thirty minutes by train from Charing Cross station is the market town of Sevenoaks, once voted as the most pleasant town in which to live in England. At the top end of the town is Knoll House, which was home to the Sackville-West family and resides in one of the most stunning deer parks in the UK. If you are travelling by car, there are other historic houses to visit in the area including Penshurst Place and Hever ...

Dear me at 15, Please let mum and dad take your photo outside Big Ben. You are prettier than you think, and you will regret those empty pages in your holiday albums when you are older. And please get out of Topshop on Oxford Street. You have spent the past three days swooning over the same camisoles and t-bar heels, when revolving outside the door is a city that will continue to define your life. You will spend this afternoon trawling behind your parents at the Tate Modern. Only when you get to Andy Warhol's canvas of Marilyn Monroe on level five, will you stop moping and become mesmerised. Why? Because of her fame. Because she seemed so happy in the spotlight, while you are still too scared to tiptoe away from the darkness. So this will please you, your next big trip to London will be in four years, interning at the fashion and beauty department of a celebrity magazine. Through the glass facade of your sky-scraping office, you will see the London skyline slip across the grey Thames, from the Gherkin to the Westminster. Just like you saw yesterday, trapped in a dome on the London Eye. But you ...

The Tate Modern broke the mould in many ways when it opened in 2000. Here, at the beginning of the new millennium, was a new landmark for London - a stunning piece of architecture converted from a disused power station on the banks of the Thames at Bankside - and the first British national gallery devoted entirely to modern art. Originally the Tate collection’s contemporary component was shown alongside British art from 1500 onwards in a much smaller gallery at Millbank (this has since become a national gallery of British art). After the Bankside site was secured, an international architectural competition was called and a project from the then little-known Swiss practice Herzog and de Meuron won, largely for proposing to alter the exterior of the edifice very little and retaining its 90-metre high chimney. A new bridge was built across the river adjacent to the building, giving the Tate Modern direct dialogue with another of London’s most famous landmarks, St. Paul’s cathedral. (Wren’s masterpiece can also be viewed from the glass-enclosed top floor, which was added by the architects). One of the Tate’s most stunning features is the Turbine Hall, a mammoth entrance-gallery that over the past ten ...

London, at least central London, may not be the place you associate with outdoor food markets. It wasn’t always this way. London has been an important trading centre since Roman times, but the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed a huge swathe of the city within the walls, and the subsequent rebuilding led to the relocation of many neighbourhood markets. Come the industrial age, urban space needed for increased traffic and public transport infrastructure caused them to disappear all together One fantastic survivor from of the days of barrow boys and pearly queens is the

Here at Holiday Velvet we often get asked about where you can leave your luggage whilst you are waiting to 'check in' to your apartment or after you have 'checked-out'. Whilst you can always ask the owner directly if they are able to look after your bags for a few hours, left luggage facilities still exist at many major train stations and other transport hubs. These days, most of these facilities run on an automated locker system (gone are the days when you checked in your bag in as you would a coat in a nightclub). Remember that they may fill up at peak periods. Rome When arriving at Termini Station on the Leonardo Express train from Fiumicino airport, you can leave your baggage in the ‘piazza’ on the lower-ground floor (follow the ‘Deposito bagagli’ signs). It’s open 6am-midnight, 7 days a week. Venice ‘Deposito bagagli’ is available at Santa Lucia Train Station (open 6am-midnight daily). Cooperative Trasbagagli is a private company that will not only store you luggage for you, but take it by boat to your place of accommodation, saving you schlepping bags over the bridges and canals. They have two offices in Venice; one at the Piazzale ...

London has no less than five international airports and although three of them are quite far from the city centre, they all offer good transport links. HEATHROW Heathrow is London’s largest and most important airport and there are four ways of getting into London from the airport. The simplest way is to take a black taxi cab which has a priority route on the main arterial road, the M4. Black taxi cabs are spacious inside and offer plenty of room for luggage and will take you to the entrance of your hotel. The Heathrow Express is the quickest way into central London and starts operating at about 5am and stops at about midnight. The Heathrow Express will take you to Paddington Station from where you can easily get a taxi cab, a bus or go on the London Underground. A cheaper way of getting into London from Heathrow but not as convenient as going by taxi, is the Piccadilly Line on the London Underground which serves Terminals 1-3 and also Terminals 4 and 5. This is a fast and efficient way of getting into the heart of the city but, if carrying heavy bags, it can be a problem for some people. National ...

For over a decade, the Last Night of the Proms has been broadcast to a vast audience in Hyde Park in what is the most wonderful open air concert imaginable. It is an event that is loved by people of all ages and nationalities and enjoys a massive global TV audience. Proms in the Park is a chance for families and friends to get together for a picnic, for Pimms, and to share a unique experience. For one great night of the year, the nation is united in music and song in one of London’s most gracious and iconic parks sharing in the creative joy with thousands of people within the Royal Albert Hall. In 2009, Proms in the Park was hosted by Sir Terry Wogan supported by some of the UK’s top singing talent such as Lesley Garrett, Will Young, and the amazing Juan Diego Florez from Peru. Also in attendance is the Young Musician of the Year, Mark Simpson, and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by the composer Carl Davis which will fill Hyde Park with ravishingly beautiful music. Towards the end of the evening, there is a big-screen live link-up with the Royal Albert Hall and the chance ...

If you choose a holiday rental in London Chelsea area, it is perfectly possible to enjoy eating out at home as a number of restaurants will deliver directly to your London accommodation. Food is generally paid for by credit card in advance and not at the point of delivery as it is with pizzas. The choice of home-delivery foods is much as you would expect, for example: • Gourmet Oriental in Fulham Road, Chelsea, offers Chinese, Dim Sum, Japanese, Malaysian and Thai foods and considers itself to be the premier home-delivery address in Chelsea. http://www.gourmetoriental.com, 290 fulham road, chelsea - +44 (0)800 975 9761 • Koi is a Japanese and Sushi restaurant in Palace Gate and it operates a home-delivery service from 6pm until 10:30pm. 1E Palace Gate, London, W8 5LS - +44 (0) 871 0758968. • Itsu is a Japanese and Sushi restaurant in Draycott Avenue, Chelsea, and it delivers “health and happiness” to your door. http://www.itsu.co.uk/, 118 Draycott Avenue, +44 (0)20 7590 2400 • Firezza is a specialist pizza restaurant in Finborough Road, Chelsea, and a typical dine-out-at-home-delivery menu is a half-metre pizza, marinated olives, a side order of salad, ice cream, and either a bottle of red or white wine. Alternatively, ...