What we love about London

Restaurants: there are 6,128 licensed restaurants, more than one in five of the UK total. They serve cuisine from more than 70 countries or regions.

The "buzz": more than 3,800 pubs and 233 nightclubs. There are 30,000 shops and 26 street markets - more than any other western capital. Oxford Street is Europe's busiest shopping street.

Heritage: there are four world heritage sites - the Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Maritime Greenwich and Kew Gardens, eight Royal parks and more than 200 museums, 16 of them national museums.

Mix of people: the largest city in Europe with about 7.4 million, it is home to the UK's largest gay, lesbian and bisexual community; one in three residents is black, Asian or from an ethnic minority.

Sports: six Premiership clubs, Wembley to be "world's greatest football stadium" and Wimbledon, Twickenham and Lord's are the national HQs of their sports.