Get your espresso fix in a gentlemen's toilet. Sip a cappuccino in a cafe-cum-upholstery shop. Scoop up a vintage Hermes scarf while you wait for your macchiato. London's new and adventurous coffee culture is full of exotic surprises and unexpected entertainments. Coffee enthusiasts in search of the best brew in town are being spoiled by baristas who have turned coffee-making into an art form; many cafes today roast their own beans, combine coffee with art, music, and literature, sell equipment for home brewing, or can be found in unusual locations such as lavatories and barber shops. This modern guidebook takes you on a caffeinated journey to the capital's hippest, tastiest, and most unusual coffee shops.

Which garden can you only enter if you are accompanied by children? Where can you find walrus bones, vampire stories and inspiration for red telephone boxes? And since when do you see skateboards and mobile phones in roman mosaics? London's gardens and parks form the green lung of the multimillion-housing capital, but also its heart and soul. Londoners commemorate their beloveds on park benches, they volunteer to keep up community gardens and nature reserves, and they get upset when snails attack their favourite plant. The city's 400-plus green spaces are not only testament to the English love of gardening; they are also steeped in history. Kings hunted here, airships were built in London parks, and many famous Londoners are buried in graveyards-turned-gardens. Our guide leads the way into the unknown: dark corners of major parks, enchanted green paradises, and tiny gardens tucked away in rubbish skips or on the rooftops.

Some people think London is a metropolis that is constantly reinventing itself - but in reality, it's a whole planet in itself. Right under its surface, and nonetheless well-hidden, the true heart of London is beating: individual little shops offering everything special - from cuff links and vests to ancient fireplaces and sinks, books of artists, old lamps, ukuleles, magicians tricks and accessories, stuffed animals, choice wine and paper - here, the connoisseur and browser will find whatever the heart desires. Can you buy fairies, or buttonholes, equipment for Freemasons, old tools, or theatres made out of paper? All this and so much more is no problem in this cosmos of eccentricities, in London's craziest and most tantalising shops. An indispensable guide for everyone out for a stroll, and for enjoyment!