An ornate Victorian covered market off Gracechurch Street: cream, maroon and green ironwork, cobbles, and a painted glazed roof that throws beautiful light down the arcades. Famous on screen as Diagon Alley. Dead quiet at weekends, heaving with suited City drinkers on a weekday evening.

Best time: weekday lunchtime and after-work (Tuesday to Thursday) for people and energy. Early weekend mornings for the empty architecture and clean light.

Look for: the vanishing-point symmetry straight down the central arcade, the roof detail overhead, and a single figure placed under the ironwork for scale. After work, the pub crowd spilling across the cobbles.