Big Ben towering over London. Photograph © Jodi Cobb

London, a British Revival
By Simon Worrall

Rejuvenated districts in London are making this grand old dowager of a city feel younger than at any time since the Swinging Sixties. With direct flights available from many U.S. cities, why not witness the revival yourself?

You might base yourself in Clerkenwell, a case in point east of Fleet Street. Here, abandoned factories and workshops have been converted into lofts and design studios.

"The whole area from Islington all the way down to Shoreditch, Hoxton, and Clerkenwell is being turned into a glittering new London," says novelist Peter Ackroyd, sitting outside the Fox and Hounds pub (29 Passmore St. SW1W; 20-7730-6367). "It's becoming the vibrant new part of London, the new Soho."

There are designer bars, art galleries, cafés, the city's biggest disco—Fabric (77A Charterhouse St. EC1; 20-7336-8898), which holds 2,000-and many new restaurants, including two of London's better French locales: Maison Novelli (29 Clerkenwell Green EC1; 20-7251-6606) and Club Gascon (57, West Smithfield EC1A; 20-7796-0600). They are among London's 6,000 restaurants—serving food from every corner of the planet—that are making this city once famous for soggy fish and chips one of the gastronomic power houses of Europe.

"Clerkenwell is busy; it's fun; it's steeped in history," says John Eichler, the Falstaffian publican at the Three Kings (7 Clerkenwell Close EC1; 20-7253-0983). "It's all those things that make London London."

Another historic district being reborn is Bankside, on the south bank of the Thames. In Shakespeare's day, all the pleasures—and vices—of London could be found here. Now only the pleasure remains. See a play as performed in the bard's day at the restored Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (New Globe Walk SE1; 20-7401-9919). Marvel at Britain's new national museum of modern art, the Tate Modern (Bankside SE1; 20- 7887-8000), spectacularly converted from a power plant. Also check out the gargantuan London Eye (Jubilee Gardens, South Bank SE1; 870-500-0600), British Airways' 450-foot-high Ferris wheel put up during the millennium hoopla.

New restaurants are making the Thames feel as romantic as the Seine. From my table at Oxo Tower (Barge House St. SE1; 20-7803-3888), a stylish new restaurant on the top floor of what used to be a spice warehouse, I could look down on the boats chugging along the river. In the background, the floodlit dome of St. Paul's rose into the night sky.

A good Clerkenwell hotel is the Rookery (Peter's Lane, Cowcross St. EC1; reservations@rook ery.co.uk; 20-7336-0931), an 18th-century house expensively refurbished in neo-Victorian style. Rooms aren't numbered; they're named for historical figures who lived there. A pricier choice in a great West End location is One Aldwych Hotel (1 Aldwych WC2; 20-7300-1000). For something hip and trendy, consider St Martins Lane (45 St Martin's Ln. WC2N; 20-7300-5500) or the Sanderson (50 Berners St. W1P; 20-7300-1400). The London Marriott at County Hall (The County Hall SE1; 20-7928-5200) has a swimming pool and fitness room on the top floor, plus restaurant. Get a room overlooking the river: The view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament is breathtaking. Fortunately, some parts of London will never change.

The information in this story was accurate at the time it was published, but we suggest you confirm all details before making travel plans.