Mary McCartney

As a Londoner, I’m obviously totally biased, but I do think it is the most beautiful city anywhere. It’s also the greatest walking city, so I’ve focused my tour, on foot, around central London. 

To start the day I’d hop on the tube to Green Park, that brings me straight out into the bustle of Piccadilly. Crossing the road to enter the epic courtyard at The Royal Academy of Arts, a sanctuary from the madness, to grab a coffee - during the summer months they set up a cafe outside.  From there, I’d get away from the cars by taking a shortcut through Burlington Arcade to Burlington Gardens, take a left and over to Dover Street to check out the Robert Rauschenberg exhibition at Thaddaeus Ropac. Then I would meander back to Cork Street, via the Piccadilly Arcade, window shopping, to the Flowers Gallery on Cork Street to see the Tai Shan Schierenberg exhibition. From there, it’s another short hop to Hauser & Wirth on Savile Row to take in the Isa Genzken exhibition.

Now I’d head across Regent Street, past Liberty, and into Soho, somewhere close to my heart as it was where I lived and worked when I had my first job as a photographic researcher. Now would be a good time to stop off for lunch at the amazing Middle Eastern cuisine vegetarian restaurant, Bubala on Poland Street, it’s open 7 days a week, and they take walk ins,  so I’d get a seat at the bar and watch the world go by. Replenished,  I’d make my way to Golden Square to the Frith Street Gallery to see the Dayanita Singh exhibition, her work masterfully uses black and white photography and collected images to then create mobile museums that can be moved around to alter the narrative and emotion.

Wandering down Broadwick Street onto Old Compton Street towards my last exhibition of the day, Nan Goldin. In conjunction with Gagosian, she has chosen a deconsecrated church on Charing Cross Road to show her 'Sister, Saints, Sibyls' installation, inspired by her sister, Barbara.

Finally I would then dip back into Soho to The French House, the iconic, small but perfectly formed pub on Dean Street, it has a welcoming community feel and a rich history of artists who have wet their whistles there. If I’m feeling peckish (again) I’d pop upstairs to their restaurant, overseen by chef Neil Borthwick who has turned this tiny space into a must visit.