My friend Guillaume opened the swankiest rooftop in London that still feels like a house party. Louie is a French-Creole restaurant, live jazz music venue and oyster bar too.

Getting lost is an age old suggestion but a good one. Put away your cell phone or your A-Z and just wander around. I still do this regularly even though Ive lived here for nearly 10 years. London is a big city and it drip feeds you its secrets sometimes. You will come across things you wouldn't usually, in amongst the Starbucks and pret a mange there are some amazing sights. Just 'being' somewhere is a great experience and one no guide book can help you find.

I go to the Heath every weekend (often via the wonderful Waterlow Park which skirts Highgate Cemetery) and during the week too if I’m working from home; it helps to put things in perspective when I’m thinking about my work. It’s great in the summer for obvious reasons but I love it the most in autumn and on those rare days it snows so much London grinds to a halt (which doesn’t take much). Everyone heads up there to make giant snowballs/cats/creatures and surf down Parliament Hill on anything they can get their hands on. Grown ups turn into kids for the day. My husband and I made this snow yeti last year, it was sad to leave him behind but he soon made friends and even made it into the Camden New Journal.

Founded in 1828 the museum houses around 67,000 specimens many of which are now extinct or endangered. My favorite is the skull of a Bottlenose Whale from 1860.

One of the few remaining bastions of alternative Soho, The Crobar is a metal bar which attracts a friendly crowd and serves a top selection of beer and whisky