A charming garden centre with cafe and restaurant, both located in beautiful greenhouses. Well worth a visit at any time of the year. 

Epping Forest is a 2,400 hectares area of ancient woodland between Epping in the north and Wanstead in the south, straddling the border between Greater London and Essex. I tend to get off at Loughton Tube Station (Central Line), which is about 10–12min walk to the forest.

It might sound rather odd to suggest going to a cemetery, but this has to be one of my new favourite places to visit. Getting lost down one of the narrow paths certainly doesn’t make you feel like you’re in London anymore which can be refreshing. Another interesting fact about this place is that the late Amy Winehouse shot her music video for ‘Back to Black’ here.

It's a members-only library but you might be granted access with a research request. The writer's room is great but there's a few special, hidden corners among the bookshelves to tuck yourself away in.

Greatest "free" bar view over London. The Heron Tower is a commercial skyscraper in London. It stands 230 metres tall including its 28-metre mast making it the tallest building in the City of London financial district and the third tallest in the UK.