Mount Street Gardens

The lowdown

Hidden behind the grand red-brick mansions of Mayfair is one of the most charming small gardens in London, and almost nobody who is not local knows it is there. Mount Street Gardens is a sheltered, leafy enclosure of huge London plane trees, shrubs and flowerbeds, free to sit in, ringed by the back of an ornate Victorian church.

Its great quirk is the benches. Many carry touching inscriptions, a surprising number from Americans who loved this quiet corner of London, little messages of devotion to the city and to the garden itself. Reading them is a gentle, moving way to pass a few minutes.

Because the surrounding buildings shelter it from the wind, it acts as a sun-trap, which is why on any bright day you will find Mayfair workers and in-the-know locals tucked on its benches with a sandwich. A free, peaceful pocket in one of the priciest postcodes in the world.