Somerset House

The riverside terrace at Somerset House is where you'll actually want to sit with a coffee, watching the Thames slip past while tourists queue for the galleries inside. It's a proper London spot - all neoclassical grandeur fronting onto the water, with that satisfying sense you've stumbled onto something real rather than manufactured.

The courtyard is the heart of it. In winter it transforms into an ice rink (genuinely good fun, not a tourist trap), and come summer the space hosts film screenings and live music. The fountains are genuinely lovely - choreographed jets that surprise you if you're not watching. The building itself dates back to the 1770s and you can feel that weight of age without it ever becoming heavy-handed.

Inside there's the Courtauld Gallery, which holds a seriously strong collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings - the kind of place where you can spend two hours or twenty minutes depending on your mood. There's also rotating exhibitions and the Strand Galleries, though admission fees vary depending on what's on.

For families with younger kids, the courtyard alone is worth the trip. The fountains keep them entertained, there's space to move about, and it doesn't require any commitment to lengthy indoor viewing. Older children and adults benefit from the galleries if art's your thing.

It's five minutes walk from Covent Garden, or you could base yourself at Lovat Parks just 1.8 miles away and do the culture run into central London. Free to wander the courtyard and terrace - that's the real gem here.