Around Town

Skint mate from college | Grandparents | Teenage relative | Party animal | Friend with kids | Mum and dad | Long-distance lover | Seen-it-all-before cynic

Teenage relative
Lunch
Try one of the upscale pizza places, Ask or Strada (branches everywhere). They’d probably prefer Planet Hollywood, but at least you tried.

Landmark
Across the road from the Hard Rock Café, the Vault (1 Old Park Lane, W1) is an impressive collection of rare or priceless rock memorabilia. They’re bound to be impressed by having the chance to be photographed with Jimi Hendrix’s guitar (open daily 12noon-10pm; call 020 7514 1719 to book free tours).

Museum
If they’re at that age when they want to appear grown-up, try the Freud Museum (20 Maresfield Gardens, NW3) which holds Freud’s remarkable collection of antiquities. Or the Photographers’ Gallery (5-8 Great Newport Street, W1) is excellent, and also free to enter.

Shop
Head for Topshop, Oxford Circus – those in other cities are pale imitations of the mothership. This is officially ‘the world’s largest fashion store’, renowned for absurdly cheap, cool threads. Teenage girls may never reappear once they find the makeovers, personal shoppers, accessories and a café to distract them. Any boys less interested in fashion (or girls) might prefer to head to the geekier realms of the Forbidden Planet Megastore (179 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2).
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Evening
A walk along the South Bank will take them past gangs of skateboarders near Waterloo bridge, which might appeal. You can people-watch from the BFI South Bank café, and then catch a film. Or if that’s considered too cerebral, the BFI Imax theatre (1 Charlie Chaplin Walk, SE1) is only five minutes’ walk away. If your young visitor’s coming in winter, the outdoor ice-skating rinks that are dotted around the capital (Somerset House, Tower of London, Kew and the Natural History Museum, to name a few, are ideal).

Skint mate from college | Grandparents | Teenage relative | Party animal | Friend with kids | Mum and dad | Long-distance lover | Seen-it-all-before cynic