Travel Postcard: 48 hours in London

Got 48 hours to explore the British capital during a business trip? Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors explore London's mix of old world charm and modern culture.

Friday

4:00 p.m. If you're in London's square mile financial district known as the City, there are countless pubs and bars, from the ancient haunts of Charles Dickens to smart bars for the bankers, lawyers and other City professionals in need of refreshment.

On historic Fleet Street, the former home of most of the British press, known for centuries as the "street of adventure" for its foreign correspondents and latterly as the tabloid press reporters' "street of shame", you'll find Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.

If it's raining, you might try the Lamb Tavern situated at the heart of the covered Leadenhall Market first built in 1309 and rebuilt after the Great Fire. If you'd rather a more modern vibe, nearby is the sleek Revolution in the City bar which sits opposite the famous Lloyds and Gherkin buildings, or Abacus bar across the street from the Royal Exchange.

7 p.m. Elegant Mayfair has a selection of good restaurants where, after eating, you can carry on with the end of week festivities. The Dover Street Wine Bar has an upscale restaurant, good live music and a dance floor that is hopping on a Friday night. The restaurant has a French/Mediterranean menu. Langan's Brasserie, just off Piccadilly, is popular with a smart crowd.

If you'd like to go a bit higher up the food chain, try Nobu Berkeley St, also in Mayfair, or The Wolseley nearby. Both are good for celebrity-watching and may require the help of a well-connected hotel concierge to get you a table.

11 p.m. - Later you could also try the raucous nightlife of the London bar and club scene at top venues such as China White and Whisky Mist -- popular with premier league soccer stars and tabloid regulars. Boujis and Mahiki are favourites with young royals and the Sloane Ranger set.

Saturday

9 a.m. If you're not wild about the offering at your hotel, try the Ritz in Mayfair, the Savoy Hotel's Restaurant overlooking the River Thames on The Strand, or any of the numerous cafes offering a hearty Full English breakfast.

10 a.m. Time for a spot of shopping.

Savile Row has been the home of bespoke British tailoring for centuries. Drop in to Gieves and Hawkes, Norton and Sons or Anderson and Sheppard to get an idea of what's on offer. Go around the corner to Jermyn Street for shirts.

12 p.m. Grab a bite at any of the ubiquitous sandwich chains or go upmarket at Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly, which has been feeding Britons since 1707.

1 p.m. Try the British Museum and spend a few hours wandering around to see the Elgin marbles taken from the Parthenon, the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies and endless other fascinating artefacts collected over hundreds of years. There is nearly always a temporary exhibition.

Or, if you're up for some more retail therapy, head to Bond Street, home to many of the city's high-end shops.

Harrods and Harvey Nichols are a short underground ride away in Knightsbridge.

3 p.m. Call time on all the shopping and take your weary bones for a refreshing afternoon tea.

Top tea-taking venues in London include the Ritz, Fortnum's and Claridges. All are on or just off Piccadilly.

7 p.m. London's West End boasts some of the best theatres in the world. Whoopi Goldberg in "Sister Act", "Les Miserables" and the triumphant latest version of "Oliver" are all on at the moment.

If you haven't booked online in advance (Do an Internet search for "London theatre tickets" and get an endless number of Web sites), then on Friday afternoon you'll have to queue up at the box office in Leicester Square for a good deal on Saturday night theatre tickets.

8 p.m. Dinner. There are some 140 restaurants in Britain with Michelin stars, four of which have the highest accolade of three stars. Two of those are in London.

One is Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea, the other is Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.

11 p.m. Fancy some music? You could head to Ronnie Scott's on Frith Street in Soho.

Ronnie Scott's is one of the oldest jazz clubs in the world for the 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. set. Anyone who is anyone in the world of jazz has played Ronnie Scott's since it first opened in 1959 and since a 2006 refurbishment it has hosted greats such as Wynton Marsalis, Chick Corea, David Sanborn, Kenny Garrett, Billy Cobham and many more.

Sunday

10 a.m. Today is tourist day, so head down to the nearest Underground station or if you feel some exercise would do you good, hire a "Boris bike".

London's Oxford-educated, bicycle-riding, slightly rumpled and witty Mayor Boris Johnson has just set up the British capital's very own bicycle hire scheme, similar to the "Velib" in Paris.

However you travel, head to the Tower of London for opening time.

Founded by William the Conqueror after his 1066 invasion of England, the Tower, with its strategic location on the River Thames, has been a royal palace, a place of execution, a prison for traitors and still holds Britain's Crown jewels.

12 p.m. Cross over Tower Bridge, turn left and go for lunch at one of the many restaurants on the South Bank. For top dining try Le Pont de la Tour which overlooks the Thames, or slightly less formal dining at the Chop House and Blueprint Cafe.

1 p.m. Head back towards Tower Bridge and keep walking past it. Here are the Mayor's round and gleaming glass and steel offices. There is a broad walkway beside the Thames that is popular with both locals and tourists.

As you stroll along you'll pass the Clink museum, Vinopolis -- a wine-lovers emporium of all beverages related to the grape -- a replica of Francis Drake's globe-circumnavigating ship the Golden Hinde, and a lovely bankside pub called the Anchor Bankside before arriving at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

The thatch-roofed, oak-beamed Shakespeare's Globe is a faithful reconstruction of the open-air playhouse designed in 1599 and a unique international resource dedicated to the exploration of Shakespeare's work and the playhouse for which he wrote.

Book yourself in for a performance as a groundling (standing room only in front of the stage), bag a posh seat with a rented cushion or carry on further up Thameside.

Take in the last few hours at the nearby Tate Modern Museum, housed in an imposing converted power station. You can go for a ride on the giant London Eye ferris wheel or cross the Millennium footbridge for a visit to Christopher Wren's magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral.

Lastly, you can wander a bit further on and cross over Westminster Bridge for a visit to Westminster Abbey, where England's monarchs are crowned and many put to eternal rest alongside the graves of the unknown warrior, Geoffrey Chaucer, Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, George Frederic Handel and Laurence Olivier.