A London day from Borough Market to the National Theatre

A thousand-year-old food market under the railway arches south of London Bridge. Kappacasein's raclette toastie is the breakfast pick; Monmouth Coffee around the corner is where Borough chefs get their beans.

The often-overlooked medieval cathedral tucked beside the market. John Harvard's baptismal record is here; Shakespeare's brother Edmund is buried in the quire. Free; thirty minutes.

Walk west along the river. The view opens up at the Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge — St Paul's on the opposite bank. Street performers, the Globe reconstruction, Shakespeare's Southwark, all strung along a broad pavement.

A power station turned modern art museum. The Turbine Hall is the architecture; the permanent collection rotates but always has the Rothkos. Two hours. Free, except for the special exhibitions.

A standing-only pasta bar just north of Borough Market. The pici cacio e pepe and the pappardelle with beef shin ragu are the signatures. A thirty-minute queue at 15:00 is the sweet spot.

Cross back north over London Bridge and walk to the Barbican — a 1960s concrete estate with a cultural centre inside. The tropical conservatory on the top floor, free at weekends, has two thousand plants.

A Denys Lasdun brutalist building on the South Bank with three stages and a world-class repertory company. Book months ahead, or try the day-ticket queue the morning of for £20 front-circle seats.