The essentials

Book a tour: Make My Day curates unique days out in cities around the globe (makemyday.travel), including Unseen Tours’ guided walks (£12) of London’s Camden, Brick Lane, Covent Garden ( left), Shoreditch, London Bridge and Soho. Try also Coutours’ (coutours.co.uk) ‘secret’ food and history walks, which visit hidden sites across the capital.

A hidden bite: Behind a discreet jade door marked by a tiny brass plaque in Chinatown lies Opium (opiumchinatown.com), a former illegal gambling den turned uberhip dim sum and cocktail joint.

A sneaky tipple: In Earl’s Court, Evans & Peel Detective Agency takes its speakeasy shtick seriously – to gain entry, book a ‘case’ via the website (evansandpeel.com), then buzz to be escorted in via a door/ bookcase. Meanwhile, the Discount Suit Company in Spitalfields looks like a tailors from the outside (and it once was), but the cocktails now offered inside its candlelit bar are bliss (discountsuitcompany.co.uk).