• Tube stations: South Kensington, Sloane Square
  
• Location: bordered by the Thames south, Fulham Road in the northwest and Sloane Avenue, King’s Road, Lower Sloane Street and Chelsea Bridge Road in the east
  
• Borough: Kensington and Chelsea (www.rbkc.gov.uk)
  
• Postcode: SW1, SW3, SW10

Landmarks:
The Royal Hospital Chelsea (www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk), designed by Christopher Wren in the late 17th century, is home to a few hundred Chelsea Pensioners as well as the Chelsea Flower Show every May.

Known for:
Being one of the nicer (and therefore more expensive) areas of London. The shopping is great here – if you don’t mind shelling out half your paycheck all at once.

Who’s there?
Your run-of-the-mill Londoners who can afford to pay thousands of pounds a week in rent, drive enormous or extremely tiny cars and dine in some of the city’s most expensive restaurants every other day.

Making history:
Chelsea was taken up by marshland up until the Tudor era, when developers began building such grand estates that the neighbourhood was named the Village of Palaces. Its reputation was marred for an instant as the brief home of the birthplace of punk rock, but it was gained back when the punks scampered off north to Camden.

Pub quiz facts:
Sloane Square’s namesake Dr. Hans Sloane is credited with inventing a secret recipe of milk and cocoa powder, which was later bought by Cadbury. You’re made millions of people around the world very happy, Dr. Sloane, and Chelsea salutes you!

Famous faces:
Chelsea has always been home to is home to loads of celebrities – some past ones include literary greats Oscar Wilde and Jonathan Swift and music megastars the Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols. Now Chelsea is home to celebs like Kylie Minogue and Gwyneth Paltrow, but if you’re ever shopping in the area you’ll be sure to spot one or two.

When it’s hot:
Chelsea has dozens of little pockets of green space, but a spectacular way to spend a summer afternoon is to walk along Chelsea Embankment or Cheyne Walk to Albert Bridge – spectacular views of the Thames. If you get a chance, stop by the Chelsea Physic Garden, which has been cultivating and researching beautiful plants since 1673.

When it’s not:
Carlyle’s House at 24 Cheyne Row is a mini-museum dedicated to Victorian literary scenesters Thomas and Jane Carlyle.