Without question, London is one of the most exciting and dynamic cities in the world. Covering an area of more than 600 square miles, Greater London is home to a remarkable diversity of attractions. Here are just a few of the city’s hidden gems to delight travellers, and why those in the know often make repeat visits to these stunning locations.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Tucked away in an area of Fleet Street traditionally associated with the city’s freewheeling journalism scene of yore, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is a pub that has been around since the time of London’s Great Fire in 1666. The age-old public house certainly looks like it. The building feels a bit like going back in time; that’s something of a fitting thought for a site that once played home to authors like Charles Dickens (who alludes the pub in “A Tale of Two Cities”), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Samuel Johnson (who lived nearby), and the poet Alfred Tennyson.

The John Keats House, Hampstead

If you’re a fan of literature, you can’t do much better on a trip to London than a trip to the home of noted Romantic poet John Keats. Set amid the leafy environs of the city’s upscale Hampstead neighbourhood, the Keats House is where the poet composed his legendary and timeless poem “Ode to a Nightingale.” For readers of Romantic poetry, this place is something of a literary Mecca. A stroll around the neighbourhood’s bookshops and cafes make for a beautiful outing; London doesn’t get much more beautiful or picturesque than this.

Handel House / Hendrix Flat

Although they lived in vastly different eras, it’s a strange twist of fate indeed that the musicians George Frideric Handel and Jimi Hendrix lived in adjacent buildings to one another in the upscale Mayfair neighbourhood of London. The two certainly had different approaches to musical composition, it is true, but music fans will probably get a kick out of the contrast between Handel’s 18th Century digs and Hendrix’s modernist apartment.

Whether you are a music or literature fan keen to check out the stomping grounds of your artistic idols or want to kick back and relax in beautiful and cosy surroundings, a trip to some of London’s secret hotspots can make your next vacation to the city feel extra special. These beautiful locations will certainly make it more difficult to not fall in love with this beautiful city.