mystery gardens even as the Chelsea Flower show gets maximum of the fame, London’s annual Open garden Squares Weekend (taking region this 12 months from 18 to 19 June) is a lesser-acknowledged alternative that opens more than 2 hundred non-public green areas to the public. starting from a vegetable lawn on a skyscraper roof to a pass lawn in Kings …

Cruising through the capital on a canal boat has given writer Helen Babbs a new perspective on London. Here she suggests some lesser-known places to visit along its navigable waterways, including a lost canal south of the river Barge-ing through … a canal boat sailing up the Regent’s canal towards Islington Tunnel. Photograph: Alamy Imoved to living on the water …

moved to living on the water almost three years ago, and one of the best things about being on a boat is the proximity to nature. One morning I opened the curtains to see a cormorant swimming westwards, fish-like and gleaming, slowly followed by a gaggle of foraging Canada geese. The whole of London’s canal network is designated a site …

THIS is a hotel with so many elements of surprise it just keeps giving and giving. From the heaving and buzzy bar to a smartypants and elegant library bar to an hypoxic gym and a theatrette, the Ham Yard hotel is a self-contained community right in the middle of what is the coolest part of London: Soho. But the one …