Mayfair & Shepherd Market

The lowdown

Everyone knows Mayfair as the dark blue square on the Monopoly board, but few people actually walk it, and wandering its Georgian streets is free. Hidden in the middle is Shepherd Market, a tiny pedestrian enclave of narrow lanes, old pubs and pavement tables that feels more like a country village than the priciest postcode in London.

Drift the surrounding streets and you pass grand townhouses, blue plaques on every other door, and quiet mews where the carriage horses once lived, now some of the most expensive little houses in the world. It is window-shopping of the very best kind, all for nothing.

There is plenty to spend money on if you want, but the pleasure here is simply the architecture and the unexpected sense of calm. Wind up in Shepherd Market with a drink outside and you have found the secret heart of Mayfair.