The number of bespoke tailors may have declined, but several venerable businesses remain. Gieves & Hawkes, at no. 1, were the first tailors to establish themselves here back in 1785, with Nelson and Wellington among their first customers, and their wares are still an exhibition of upper-class taste.

Savile Row also has connections with the pop world at no. 3, where Apple, the record label set up by The Beatles, had their offices and recording studio from 1968 until 1972. In February 1969 The Beatles gave their last live gig on the roof here, stopping the traffic and eventually attracting the attentions of the local police - as captured on film in Let It Be.

On Saturday, it’s huge, with over 2,000 stalls, selling everything from books to bric-a-brac and lace to Limoges - even fashion and exotic cooking ingredients are on sale. Thousands of people mill around browsing second-hand clothing stalls or choosing outlandish material. For those who have the patience to search, there are some fantastic bargains.

This really is the place to shop-and-eat and then shop some more. It is best to go in the morning, by the afternoon you will find yourself getting a little flustered winding your way through the crowds.

The fountain’s archer is one of the city’s top attractions, a status that baffles all who live here. Despite the bow and arrow, it’s not the god of love at all but the Angel of Christian Charity, erected to commemorate the Earl of Shaftesbury, a Bible-thumping social reformer who campaigned against child labor.

If Eros’s fame remains a mystery, the regular queue outside the nearby Rock Circus (Mon, Wed, Thurs & Sun 10am-8pm, Tues 11am-8pm, Fri & Sat 10am-9pm; £8.25; www.rock-circus.com) is a good deal more perplexing. Billed as an all-singing extravaganza, it’s little more than an array of Madame Tussaud’s waxen rock legends accompanied by snippets of their hits.

Next door is the equally tacky Trocadero (Mon-Fri 10.30am- midnight, Sat & Sun 10.30am-1am), Europe’s largest indoor virtual-reality theme park. For all the hype, this is really just a glorified amusement arcade with a few virtual-reality rides thrown in.

Most of the West End theaters are scattered around the Victorian Shaftesbury Avenue. In the square, would-be theatre goers queue at the half-price ticket booth while touts endeavour to entice them away. Street entertainers bring the square to life while the 1874 Shakespeare Fountain and 1981 Charlie Chaplin statue cast an approving eye on the scene below.

The tradition of entertainment and the square goes back to the 19th century when music halls such as the Empire and Hippodrome brought in the punters with prostitutes providing extra entertainment in the nearby accommodation houses. By 1930, cinemas began to take a stronghold in the square with the Odeon at its helm. Premieres are generally held at the grand Empire.

Soho has the densest concentration of restaurants, cafés, clubs and bars in central London, and represents the vibrant, bustling heart of the city. Although true of much of Soho, and some districts immediately surrounding it (such as Covent Garden), the area immediately surrounding Old Compton Street in the southern part of Soho is widely recognized as London’s premier gay village.

Soho is also the hub of London’s media world with multiple advertising agencies, television and radio studios and post-production companies choosing Soho as their base of operations. Soho is also frequently featured in film and song with the Pogues, Kirsty MacColl and others having made Soho their choice of inspiration.

Soho is sometimes considered to include London’s Chinatown. Chinatown, however, lies south of Shaftesbury Avenue and, having a culture distinctly different from the rest of the West End, must be considered a unique district within itself, adjoining - but not really part of - Soho.

A popular variant is the breakfast roll, which is a French bread demi-baguette filled with the contents of a full breakfast. The concept developed as a ready-to-go meal from convenience stores. It was spurred on by the innovation of in-store ovens being used to cook part-baked frozen French bread.

When an English breakfast is ordered to contain everything available, it is often referred to as a “Full Monty”, and often attributed to Field Marshal Montgomery, the prominent British military officer of World War II. However the OED states that “Perhaps the most plausible (explanation) is that it is from a colloquial shortening of the name of Montague Maurice Burton (1885-1952), men’s tailor, and referred originally to the purchase of a complete three-piece suit”.

At the heart of the Covent Garden piazza lies the famous market, designed in 1632 by Inigo Jones and now visited by 30 million tourists each year. The large glass covered building comprises several arcades of fashionable boutiques, cafés and an arts and crafts, the Apple Market.

In the open piazza jugglers, mime artists, variety acts and musicians delight and amaze the crowds.

Restaurants, cafés and bars line the piazza, offering great views of this daily spectacle.

Until recently, pubs closed at 11pm. There were other licensing laws that allowed other types of establishments to be open and serve drinks later (such as dance clubs, etc.), but pubs were limited to 11pm. New law recently came into effect which allows pubs to apply to be open later. You’ll now find that some are open until midnight or 1am, and some have licenses to open around the clock. However, most still seem to close at 11pm.