Trips to London have been fewer since Mike retired from Air Jamaica, but the memories live on. Everyone knows you have to visit Harrods Food Hall, shop for the best cashmere and China deals, pick up a Liberty scarf and tie, have tea at Selfridges and walk New Bond St; — but to make the most of a short layover, a resident son helps — that’s Craig… And eating’s our hobby.

Craig booked us at The Wolseley, next to the Ritz at 160 Piccadilly. He claimed it wasn’t crazy expensive (we never saw the bill), but who cares, it was fun! And I loved the bowler hats! Elegantly housed in a converted Barclays Bank building, it’s worth the time we spent lollygagging with Champagne Tea at £29 pounds and without the Champagne, delicate finger sandwiches, fruit-filled scones and clotted cream for £21 sterling… A most enjoyable afternoon, great too for brunch or after theatre — you absolutely must see a show while in London!

Upscale Dim Sum at Yauatcha, 15 Broadwick, Soho is more Craig’s style, as is W-Ming (ask for William). It’s all very nice and fancy, and the food is tasty mind you, but Mike and I favour the home comfort, noise and clatter of the restaurants in Chinatown, Leicester Square. It’s not that we don’t love caviar, but not with Chinese dumplings.

Mike found Halepi on his own, which serves the best Greek food, is always crowded and so typically English squished together that, you’re literally rubbing shoulders with the likes of Richard Branson. Try the milk lamb shank (yummy), or the fresh fish (delectable)! And although the baklava is worth ordering, you get pistachio-filled Turkish delight on the house. Located at 18 Leinster Terrace, you can get off at the Queensway or Bayswater tube stop.

You have to get in a little shopping! Hand- crafted jewellery picked up along Camden Passage in Islington makes the walk in that area a must as the pieces are not extravagantly priced. The stalls in Portobello and Notting Hill are well worth visiting, with young designers displaying their fashions there as well as at my favourite spot, the Old Spitalfields Market — one of the country’s last bastions of consumer diversity and individuality (use the Liverpool St tube station). You’ll find a plethora of chic bohemian businesses in a market that truly embraces an entrepreneurial and cultural melting pot with an eclectic mix of clothes, craft, jewellery and food. Be prepared to plough through some junk though.

Craig recommends a walk along Redchurch St, which he describes as “frighteningly hip”, and Mike suggests his old fish and chips haunt on Berwick St, near Oxford St, but unfortunately he can’t remember the name (comes with retirement). If you find it, don’t order the cod since it’s always prepared ahead; order the double haddock, one for him, and have a pint at the pub for him too! You should go to the theatre – I’d see Lion King again.

Lloyd and Sonia Tomlinson’s London Faves

Lloyd and Sonia Tomlinson’s London faves are off-the-beaten track, but lovely.

Hotel choice: Conrad, Chelsea Harbour

Favourite restaurants:

* Hilton Park Lane, 28th Floor — British/French cuisine and a gorgeous view of the city, (ask for Jeff, Premium Club).

* Bengali Gardens — Fulham, trendy garden setting, one of my favourite hang-outs when we were in London.

* La Porte — Indian theme, near to Cumberland Street.

Favourite hangouts:

* Chimes in Peckham — Wine Bar (not sure if it’s reopened)

* Munckberry — Jeremy Street, off the Strand

* Gulliver’s — Near Park Lane

* Stringfellows — Covent Garden

Favourite theatres:

* Her Majesty in Haymarket

* Queens — Shaftsbury

* Lyceum — Wellington Street

Favourite shopping spots: There aren’t many, but love the eccentric buys at Kings Road, Sloane Square, in Fulham on a Sunday morning.

Favourite tailor: Ozwald Boateng — Savile Row, love his work!

Favourite places to visit: Windsor Castle, just up the M4 and Henley on the Thames on a Sunday afternoon.

London, The Big Smoke, where to start…

Fave Watering Hole: Just recently it was my very own local Park House where I had my own bartender and drinks made to measure — now defunct due to the evils of the wicked recession. Fortunately, I always have a spare and it is El Rincon, the best sangria this side of Mallorca for winter warmers, but for sheer style the rooftop bar of Shoreditch’s Boundary is relaxed hauteur.

Fave Restaurant: Oh why do you taunt me so? Must I choose the wickedly three alarm spicy Hunanese delight of Ba-Shan in Soho over the ordinary cookshop looking but extraordinary taste offered by the humble Vietnamese Loong Kee on Kingsland High Road heading east.

On Sunday afternoon I am usually trying desperately to recover from the previous two nights and one day’s excesses, whether epicurean or otherwise, and write my weekly blog dispatchesfromanislandgirl www.gdubworldwide.wordpress.com.

Failing that and being easily led, Sunday is also a good-catching-up-with-a-friend/movie day at my Clapham Picture House followed by a good Sunday afternoon dinner.

First-time visitors to London should ensure they have their Schengen visas (if your book has a picture of the crocodile on the front). Book a ridiculously cheap seat in advance on the Eurostar and run over to Paris, if only for a day. London will be there when you get back and you will have killed two birds with one stone. But if we must remain this side of the Channel, please take a walk along the Thames or across any of the amazing bridges that span it. Like the Nile or the Seine it is as old as time and is the lifeblood of this town. On a summer day its magnificence is downright magnetic!

My insider tip about London is, it is cheaper than you think. It has a well-deserved reputation for being pricey, but it is doable in style without breaking your bank with websites like https://toptable.com for food. Museums and galleries are still free from the Tate to Saatchi, so do culture. The outdoor markets from Brixton to Camden to Spitalfield have great vintage and altogether funky bits of differentness that H&M could never manufacture. If you can score an outdoor table at any restaurant in the West End, a whole day of great enjoyment can go by just people-watching and having a pint.

I am really looking forward to the cultural and entertainment smorgasbord that will herald the lead-up to and peak during the Olympics 2012. Please believe the hype, it is going to be awesome! From Wynton Marsalis to Toni Morrison to hardcore Caribbean-style lyming when whoever cannot be found in Kingston, Bridgetown or Port of Spain will be right here. Jamaica will be 50 and make no mistake about it, this town is waiting to see what Jamaica has to deliver… me too.

All this can be done alone but when with company, it tun up!

Gaile A Walters.

Greenleaf Caribbean Limited

International Environmental & Energy Law Consultants

Mischa Mills

Fave watering hole: Without a doubt, Trailer Happiness, the coolest rum tiki bar in London. https://www.trailerh.com.

Fave restaurant: Roka, 37 Charlotte Street. The ultra-cool HK owners also own the Zuma chain. It is a fusion Japanese restaurant with a basement shochu bar and good looking staff and clients.https://www.rokarestaurant.com.

On Sunday afternoon I am usually in bed, reading the local papers, and surfing international papers online.

First-time visitors to London…Should definitely take the double-decker ‘hop on, hop off’ bus around London to understand how it is laid out. Stop off at the London Eye, the Tate Modern, have a drink at the National Portrait Gallery’s rooftop bar, and stroll through any one of the massive parks.

My insider tip about London:You can almost always get a “Bob Marley discount” if you tell people you are Jamaican.

I am really looking forward to showing off in 2012. We will rule at the Olympics, especially since the men’s 100m victory ceremony will take place on the 50th anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence. Wouldn’t it be great if we swept the medals?

Yvonne Brewster’s London…

Watering hole: I don’t drink a lot and local pubs hold no fascination for me, but if it’s a pre-theatre drink then nothing beats The American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in the Strand where the piano tinkles delightfully, the martinis are superb and the nibbles are by far the best in London.

Restaurant: I have a list of special restaurants as they feed the mood: I love breakfast at the Wolseley in Piccadilly where porridge, tea and toast or the ‘full nine breakfast yards’ are available. Lunch at any of the Giraffe chain of restaurants is cheap and cheerful, but brimming over with attitude. Tea is great at Fortnum and Mason in the mezzanine and dinner at Rules in Covent Garden for English food of distinction or Vijay’s in Kilburn, which has a great London following for the best South Indian food.

On Sunday afternoons I usually go for a walk in Hyde Park, regardless of the weather, with a friend, often Rosie who introduced me to this pastime. I start at Marble Arch and cut diagonally across this mammoth green space, through the rose garden, ending upstairs at Harvey Nicks for a glass of Champagne. It’s easy to get lost, but that’s part of the fun as one can always ask for directions, and it is also a good way of meeting knowledgeable foreigners.

First-time visitors to London should definitely do all that the tourist trail offers. One can see so much for so little. First, make sure you buy an Oyster card from the tube (London Underground) station for inner-city travel unless you are loaded and can take the very expensive taxis. London transport is fantastic but expensive, and the Oyster gets you tickets at roughly half-price.

Major Sights: the London Eye (I like it at night), visit as many museums and galleries as you can since they are all free and are of world-class standard. The National Gallery, The British Museum and the Victoria and Albert are essential. I wouldn’t miss the Science Museum for the world. You could take a walk across the Hungerford Bridge, which joins the Strand to the South Bank and extol the views of the city to the left and right, then wander among the stalls and concert halls, the theatres and the bookshops on the South Bank. For those who shop, Selfridges is a great experience but Oxford Street is now a bit of a hassle. Primark Oxford Street, for cheap bargains, is a magnet but the crowds are really quite extraordinary.

Insider tip about London: Research has revealed that every Londoner is photographed by security cameras at least 300 times in any one day when they leave home, and it will be more during the Olympics… so don’t drive with your phone to you ear, don’t jaywalk, don’t sit in a priority seat for the elderly, don’t try a ting…it aint worth it: there are no ‘blighs’.

I am really looking forward to seeing my golden Jamaicans on one of the ginormous open-air screens and waving my black, green and gold flag.