48 Hours In: Wartime London

The capital is full of the history of conflict. Marcus Waring and Simon Calder investigate

Why go now?

"We don't seem to be winning, do we?" – so wrote Charles Sorley in 1915, one of "Twelve Soldier Poets of the First World War" who are commemorated in a poignant new exhibition, Anthem for Doomed Youth, at the Imperial War Museum. Tomorrow, the annual Remembrance Sunday service commemorating the dead of two World Wars takes place across the river at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. The capital is full of reminders of the horrors of war, and a visit can help you understand the conflicts of the 20th century.

Beam down

The ideal way to arrive is by air to Biggin Hill, a historic RAF airfield in south-east London. Unfortunately, the local authority has banned scheduled flights. Instead, fly to George Washington airfield in Essex – which is now known as Stansted airport. It was built by the US Army in 1942 to house American airforce bombers. Now it is a strategic base for two airlines: Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com) from Newquay, Derry or Prestwick; and Go (book through easyJet on 0870 600 0000 or www.easyJet.com) from Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow or Newcastle. You can fly in from Manchester on British Airways (0845 77 333 77, www.ba.com). Alternatively, take a train – from anywhere in an arc from Ramsgate to Carmarthen, to Waterloo – the station commemorating Britain's most celebrated 19th-century victory.

Get your bearings

The Cenotaph in Whitehall is at the heart of wartime London. It is close to the Foreign Office, Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet War Rooms, from which Churchill masterminded the Second World War. This site is administered by the Imperial War Museum, located across the river on Lambeth Road. On the South Bank of the Thames itself is HMS Belfast, also under the museum's command.

Check in

Churchill chose to sleep on many nights during the Second World War at The Savoy in the Strand (020-7836 4343, www.the-savoy.com), even though it was repeatedly targeted by the Luftwaffe. This grand hotel served as unofficial HQ for US journalists, and was also the venue for one of WW2's more unusual public uprisings. The people of the East End, whose homes were being routinely pulverised during the Blitz, were desperate for shelters more sturdy than those provided by the government. (At the time, people were forbidden from seeking refuge at Tube stations.) Around 100 East Enders arrived on the doorstep of the Savoy, and demanded shelter. Soon afterwards, the government opened the Underground for civilians. In the 21st century, taking refuge in a basic double room will cost you £442, without breakfast. The Stafford Hotel at 16 St James's Place (020-7493 0111, www.thestaffordhotel.co.uk) has a cellar which was used during the war by servicemen as both a social club and an air-raid shelter. It has been left largely intact, and has a collection of memorabilia such as gas masks and photographs. The weekend rate for a double room starts at £300 including breakfast and a bottle of champagne. The Days Inn Hotel is diagonally opposite the Imperial War Museum at 54 Kennington Road, SE1 (020-7922 1331, www.daysinn.com). A room sleeping up to two adults and two children costs from £69.

Take a view

Enter the majestic interior of St Paul's Cathedral and head to the Whispering Gallery, seeing the famous photograph of the dome wreathed in smoke en route in the south choir aisle. Ascend via steps and ladders to the very top of the dome and step outside to stunning views. At ground level, you can visit the American Chapel, dedicated to US servicemen based in Britain who died during the Second World War. St Paul's is open to tourists daily except Sunday from 8.30am, with last entry at 4.30pm, admission £6. In a garden adjacent to the north transept is a monument to London's suffering during the war.

Lunch on the run

Methodist Central Hall, on Storey's Gate in Westminster, is 90 this year, and has several notable wartime connections: it was where, in 1940, General Charles de Gaulle founded the Free French movement, and was the venue for the first United Nations General Assembly at the end of the Second World War. The café is open 10am-4.30pm daily. For something a little stronger, the Westminster Arms is a few doors north.

Take a ride

For many Londoners, a large part of the war from September 1940 to May 1945 was spent sheltering in the Underground. At the height of the Blitz in 1940-41, around 177,000 people were sleeping in 79 stations. At Earls Court, aircraft parts were manufactured in a makeshift underground factory. Knightsbridge Tube station was the site of government offices built on platforms. Say goodbye to the Piccadilly Line at Piccadilly Circus and take the Bakerloo Line to Elephant and Castle, one of several locations where shelters were dug with the idea that they would be converted into Tube stations after the war. Then backtrack to Lambeth North. In November 1940, 22,000 triple bunk-beds were installed in the deep sections of this station. Emerge from the station, turn left, and you are confronted by the end of the Cold War: that apparently new apartment block is Century House – former HQ for MI6.

Cultural afternoon

You are now very close to Bedlam – one of the most imposing buildings in south London when it was built on Lambeth Road as the Bethlem Royal Hospital. It now houses the Imperial War Museum (020-7416 5320, www.iwm.org.uk), full of military hardware, and the venue for some superb exhibitions. You can sample trench life, witness the horrors of the Holocaust and read the haunting words of First World War poets. It opens 10am-6pm daily; admission is free, but the Anthem for Doomed Youth exhibition costs £5.

A walk in the park

The grounds of the Imperial War Museum are strewn with interest, including a slab of the Berlin Wall – and a Tibetan Peace Garden, opened three years ago by the Dalai Lama: "It is in the interests of all of us on this planet that we make a joint effort to turn the next century into an era of peace & harmony". As Charles Sorley wrote in 1915, "We don't seem to be winning, do we?"

Window shopping

The Imperial War Museum's store is excellent, but as an antidote to conflict you could visit Pathfinder Books in The Cut (020-7401 2409) – a radical shop that opens 10am-5pm on Saturdays.

An aperitif

A busy little pub tucked away down a secretive mews is the Grenadier on Wilton Row, off Wilton Crescent. The red, white and blue decor reflects its former role as the mess for the Officers of the Duke of Wellington regiment.

Dinner with the locals

Established by Oliver Peyton, founder of the Atlantic Bar and Grill, the Admiralty(020-7845 4646), is a French inspired restaurant in the enchanting surroundings of Somerset House, between the Strand and the Thames. There are good views from the riverside terrace.Lunche cost from £21.50 for two courses or dinner starts from £28.

Sunday morning: go to church

It was from the steps of St Martin-in-the-Fields that the veteran radio journalist Ed Morrow used to broadcast news of the Blitz back to America, describing scenes of both chaos and eerie quiet when the lights went out across Europe. "It's a beautiful and lonesome city where men and women and children are trying to snatch a few hours sleep underground." Within the peaceful interior of the church (020-7766 1100) there is a memorial to the POWs of the Far East, along with two teak blocks – sleepers from the Burma-Siam railway, on which so many of them died. Holy Communion is at 8am, the Eucharist at 10am and a "Visitors to London" service takes place at noon. Just north of the church is a monument to Edith Cavell, the nurse from Norfolk who was working in Brussels during the First World War and was shot by the Germans for helping Allied soldiers to escape. Along the Strand, outside the Central Church of the RAF, St Clement Danes, is a statue to Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, commander-in-chief of RAF Bomber Command, who authorised the firestorm raids on German cities in 1945. Inside the church, there is a Latin inscription that translates as, "Built by Christopher Wren 1682. Destroyed by thunderbolts of air warfare 1941. Restored by the RAF 1958."

Take a hike

From Nelson's Column, facing St Martin's, cross Trafalgar Square and walk through Admiralty Arch to the Old Admiralty Offices, still shrouded in camouflage. Bear left and walk down to the Guards Memorial, one of many military monuments in London built originally after the First World War and amended after the second. Cut through Horse Guards Parade to Whitehall, the spine of wartime London, emerging opposite the Old War Office and Ministry of Defence. Turn right to the Cenotaph, designed by Lutyens to commemorate the Glorious Dead of the First World War. Continue south to Parliament Square where Ivor Robert-Jones' famous statue of Churchill gazes bullishly at the Palace of Westminster, which suffered a direct hit from a Luftwaffe bomb. Walk east along Great George Street and Birdcage Walk to Buckingham Palace, where crowds gathered on 8 May 1945 for VE Day to cheer Churchill and the Royal family. From the militant monument to Queen Victoria, cross to the thoughtful Canada Memorial and walk up Constitution Hill to the ceremonial gates opened this week by the Queen to commemorate Commonwealth war heroes. Marooned in the swirl of traffic around Hyde Park Corner stands Wellington Arch, with a dramatic memorial nearby to the Royal Artillery. On the north side there is another, dedicated to First World War machine gunners.

Out to brunch

The café in the Crypt under St Martin-in-the-Fields is a highly atmospheric and popular meeting place serving generous wartime rations such as soup and bread pudding (£4.50 for both). On Sundays it opens at noon, until 8pm.

Write a postcard

Drift downstream to HMSBelfast, a Second World War cruiser that is now part of the Imperial War Museum; 020-7940 6300, www.hmsbelfast.org.uk. The six-inch guns were used to shell Normandy and support the troops on D-Day. The maze of rooms, corridors and decks should fire your imagination. It opens 10am-5pm, admission £5.80.

The icing on the cake

The Cabinet War Rooms(020-7930 6961 or www.iwm.org.uk) are hidden beneath the Clive Steps, just along from the Foreign Office (and a brief stroll from 10 Downing Street) on King Charles Street. Beneath three metres of concrete – pathetic by the standards of Hitler's hideouts – you can visit the Map Room and the Cabinet Room, where Churchill conducted the war to a successful conclusion. It opens 10am-6pm daily, admission £5.80.