Haymarket & St. James's: London

St. James's is still, despite the high-rents, the center of the fine art and antique market, with Duke Street St. James THE destination for wealthy art collectors willing to part with some money. Fortnum and Mason, the Royal Academy, and the various covered arcades scattered throughout the area are rich with architectural and art history.

Haymarket, just steps away, overflows with tourists en route to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and Piccadilly Circus. To get a true sense of the pace of the city sit around the steps of the statue of Eros (well, Anteros, but even a native Londoner in their ignorance will tell you it is of Eros) at the top of Haymarket on Piccadilly Circus and watch the world go by.

To then escape those very same crowds, hidden in one of the passages off Kings Street, and only a stone's throw from Christie's auction house, is an outpost of Davy's wine bar, a subterranean cavernous space lit by candlelight. Sit, relax and enjoy a glass of wine - like only a true Brit can do.
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