Introduction
If you know a little about it, London isn't that bad.
General Information (Getting Around etc.)
It seems Wikitravel's London page is as good as any resource for getting general information.
Areas
The rule of thumb is: North of the river is posher than south of the river (there is rather limited Tube access there) and the west is posher than the south. Gentrification seems to proceed clock-wise: Angel is done, Hoxton too but more hipster, Whitechapel was a current battleground (before the recession that is). East of Zone 1 you also get some hipster pockets such as Bethnal Green, London Fields, some parts of Hackney Wick.
Camden
Punk Rock Disneyland. But it isn't as bad as one might think. There are some nicely weird shops still around Camden market, my favourite would be Cyberdog which takes you back to the 90s when people believed neon was a colour. Don't get put off by the boring website, the shop is fun. See also: http://www.vexen.co.uk/alternative/camden.html
Angel
This area is full of expensive furniture shops, antiques, Pret a Manger and Starbucks. You'll find everything on the "Stuff White People Like" list here. The Breakfast Club in Camden Passage is quite nice. Walking along the canal to either Hoxton or Camden is a nice way to pass the time.
Hoxton (Old Street Tube Station)
Watch Nathan Barley and then go to Hoxton, preferable in Summer when the hipsters drink on Hoxton Square. There isn't that much to see or do in Hoxton, just explore a few side streets around Hoxton square, get some beer from the excellent City Beverage Company and get wasted on Hoxton Square.
Whitechapel
It isn't pretty or anything but there are some nice spots: Freedom Bookshop, the Castle and some parts of Brick Lane.
Barbican
The Barbican Estate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbican_Estate) is how they thought the future would look like in the 50s. Definitely worth walking around and trying to come up with a Sci-Fi film which couldn't have been shot here.
Brighton
Brighton really is a suburb. Sure you'll have to take a train (from London Bridge) but if you book early it can be quite cheap and there are many trains. In Brighton you obviously go to the pier.
Southbank
The Royal Festival Hall is one of the few free places left in London: nobody bugs you to buy stuff, free wifi, a few power outlets, free water. A really nice spot to hang out. Added bonus: they have a big balcony overlooking the Thames, so you can get some cheap booze from the off license and drink it overlooking some of London's most famous sites. Don't bother with the London Eye it is expensive, you wait ages and it is rather dull. Shakespeare's Globe theatre can be quite nice (though expensive). You should have read the play before going because it is fast and old English.
Pubs
The Princess Louise, Holborn loads of small corners and snugs, basically the whole place is subdivided by milk glass walls into these little rooms all connected to the bar. Ale centric. 208-209 High Holborn, WC1V 7BW
Old Bank of England, Holborn it just looks fantastic. That's all. 194 Fleet Street, EC4A 2LT
Foundry, Hoxton a courier and anarchist hang out. In summer up to 100 people will hang out in front of it and if the staff catch you with with a can from an off-license they will kindly ask you to dispose of it in the provided bins when you are done. Unfortunately, this one will not make it to 2010 because the council is demolishing it to build a damn hotel for the Olympics 2012. 84-86 Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3HY Update: closed, then squated, then evicted.
Pride of Spitalfield, off Brick Lane, it can be a bit crowded, but overall quite nice. Rumour has it that it's a police pub though! Opens till 1am. You cannot see it from Brick Lane, I guess that helps. They have Doom Bar on tap, which for some people matters. 3 Heneage Street, E1 5LJ
The Castle, Whitechapel big-ish place, opens late, nice place to drink outside on the street (cans from the off-license if you want). 44 Commercial Road, Whitechapel, E1 1LN
The Crown Tavern, Clerkenwell "It is said that Lenin and a young Stalin met in the Crown and Anchor pub (now known as The Crown Tavern) on the Green when the latter was visiting London in 1903" (Wikipedia). I haven't been. 3 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0EG
The Palm Tree, Mile End A nice place especially in summer when a lot of people just hang out outside and drink cans from god knows where. Haverfield Road, Bow, London, E3 5BH
Coffee Shops
The Juggler near Hoxton Square (Old Street Tube Station). The coffee isn't actually that great, but the place is nice and hardly ever overcrowded. 5 Hoxton Market, N1 6HG
Brick Lane Coffee guess where. Good coffee and nice place. 157 Brick Ln, E1 6SB
Tinderbox near Angel Station. The coffee is good and they serve brezels. The place is nice but was recently refurbished, i.e. everything is a bit shiny. 21 Upper Street N1 0PQ
Music
Posh Places
Cirque du Soir for a posh club it isn't that bad actually. The music is hip-hop-ish electro-stuff and they have acrobatics, snake charmers, magicians and dancers to stare at. There's a little bit of gender bending going on show-wise but just about as much as the mainstream audience can take. It's fucking expensive though and apparently you can't get in if you're not with a member. 12 New Burlington Street, W1S 3BF
Whisky Mist It's a pretty well-known posh club apparently occasionally frequented by the princes. The place is expensive, the crowd is really obnoxious and the whole thing just isn't fun. If you go, don't tell anyone what you do for work, just pretend you're a rich kid with a portfolio or so. Or better: just don't go. 35 Hertford Street, W1J 7SD
Bookstores
Comics
Forbidden Planet It seems reasonably big and most of the time I go there they have my books on shelf. I think it is by far the biggest comic book shop in London. I know way too little about comics to pass a serious judgement. 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H+8JR
Radical Stuff
Housmans radical, activist-y bookshop, they also have selection of current journals etc. and announcements of stuff going on. 5 Caledonian Road, N1 9DX They also often host small public meetings, check their website.
SPGB, Clapham The SPGB is one of the oldest Socialist parties in Britian, founded in 1904. They didn't change their programme ever since, which is something they seem to be quite proud of. They wrote against national liberation in 1907, in favour of free love in 1913 and never liked Leninism. They have their headquarters in Clapham where they sell their books and stuff. If you are in the area, it might be fun to stop by for a coffee and have a chat. 2 Clapham High St, SW4 7UN
56a London's only infoshop, I haven't been. 56 Crampton Street, SE17 3AE
Bookmarks classical Leftist bookshop, but they have a corner for current event flyers etc. 1 Bloomsbury Street, WC1B 3QE
Freedom Anarchist bookstore, quite small. Angel Alley, 84b Whitechapel High Street, E1 7QX
Restaurants
Dans Le Noir is a restaurant where you eat in pitch black darkness. Rumoured to be a very interesting experience. I haven't been yet.
Brick Lane Most Benghali & Indian food places on Brick Lane are not worth it, they are tourist traps (surprise!)
Walluc Bistrot near Brick Lane. They do Raclette and Fondue, the portions aren't really big, but the food is nice. 40 Redchurch St E2
40 Redchurch St E2 7DP
Addis Restaurant Ethiopian food, it's excellent. 40-42 Caledonian Road, N1 9DT
Other Stuff
Highgate Cemetery Karl Marx was buried here and his grave is decorated with one of those slightly scary eastern block sculptures of his head. However, the most fun is to stroll around the area of the tomb and spot all the 'great leaders' of more or less well known socialist parties who insisted on being buried close to Marx.
Social Centres these are what other people call autonomous centres. London usually has a few of them but they come (being squatted) and go (being evicted) quite quickly. The current list should be available at http://londonscn.wordpress.com/
Harrods Overrated, but worth a visit. The food section is pretty neat but for most stuff there are way better specialised shops in London it seems. The electronics department was a big disappointment (although they had one of those LG True3D TVs on display). The toy department is a joke which they try to cover up by presenting an RC car decorated with some sort of precious stones for £1500. The kids fashion department is seriously weird (and worth a visit), Gucci, Ralph Laurent etc. for your three month old kid at an asking price of >£80.
Cyber Candy Colourful candy shop, that's all … Lucky Charms! http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/aaasmt/
