After the chicane around All Souls, you enter Portland Place, laid out by the Adam brothers in the 1770s, and incorporated by Nash in his grand route. Once the widest street in London, it's still a majestic aenue, lined exclusiely with Adam-style houses boasting wonderful fanlights and iron railings.

Arguably the finest of all the buildings on Portland Place, though, is the sleek Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA; www.architecture.com), built in the 1930s. The highlight of the building is the interior, which you can view en route to the institute's excellent first-floor café (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat 8am-6pm, Tues & Thurs 8am-9pm), or during one of the frequent exhibitions and Tuesday-evening lectures held here. The main staircase remains a wonderful period piece, with its etched glass balustrades and walnut enever, and with two large black-marble columns rising up on either side.

Explore Chiwick to Windsor
Chiwick to Windsor
Chiwick House
Ham House
Hampton Court Palace
Hogarth House
Kew Bridge Steam Museum
Kew Gardens 
Musical Museum
Osterley House
Richmond
Syon House
Windsor
Windsor Castle
Eton College
East End & Docklands
Hyde Park, Kensington,
Chelsea, Notting Hill
Lambeth and Southwark

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