Everyone goes to Harrods, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben – and if you want to go, you should go. You’ll have high tea, or maybe just a cream tea if you are in a hurry. You’ll ride the London Eye and sip champagne at the top of The Shard. You’ll see The Tower of London, and maybe something more, if you have a sense for that. The darkly inclined might retrace Jack the Ripper’s footsteps. Those who never left that “phase” (it was never just a phase) or if you’re a foodie who lets their camera eat first, you will head out to Camden Town. Blink, and you might miss some of the most unique experiences London has to offer.

You cannot visit the East End of London without stopping by Dennis Severs’ House at 18 Folgate Street for a serene and surreal step back in time. The silent walkthrough guided only by candlelight through the 1724 home follows the story of a fictional family of French Huguenot silk weavers. Each floor is modeled after a different era, from the early 18th to the late 19th century, furnished and decorated with unique pieces from Dennis Severs’ personal collection. Although Dennis Severs sadly left our physical realm in 1999, his spirit and his vision live on. His house is sure to leave a lasting impression on everyone who visits, so long as they keep an open heart and mind. Sorry, that sounded ominous – fear not, it’s a good impression. I’ve found it quite difficult to sum up the magical feeling from the experience as a whole, and photography inside is strictly forbidden, so you’ll simply have to see it for yourself.

The Viktor Wynd Museum is a lot of things – but it isn’t like any other museum you’ve visited in London, or anywhere else for that matter. It’s tucked away in a Hackney shopfront – not exactly the Victoria & Albert or the Natural History Museum, nor does it try to be. It is not trying to be anything other than itself. Viktor likes to call it an UN-Natural History Museum. Also, the Natural History Museum does not offer a traditional absinthe pour, so if you must choose, choose wisely. The Viktor Wynd Museum displays an eclectic array of objects, erotic and exotic. I saw this couple there, presumably on a first date – and I don’t think they knew what they were getting themselves into. But if everything works out for them, and I genuinely hope it does, they will have a great story to tell their wedding party about the time they saw Pablo Escobar’s gold-plated hippo skull, a Fiji mermaid, and some other images that they are probably still struggling to mentally process.

If you have any aversions to taxidermy, or the occult, or dead things in jars, or anything macabre or graphic, this isn’t for you. But if the idea of sipping absinthe in an intimate parlor full of oddities and curiosities excites you, if you like all things eccentric, and esoteric, this is your place – and we should probably be friends. If you’re into all that but not into absinthe, there are many other libations to choose from if should you require a little bit of liquid courage before you descend into Viktor’s “Wunderkabinett”.

As you can probably tell, I love old buildings just bursting with a meticulously curated collection of old things. I will always opt for a historic home tour over all other attractions. There is a lot to see and do in Central London. Sir John Soane’s Museum holds a huge collection of art and antiquities that rivals some of the larger museums in the area. The history of the museum itself is just as fascinating as the collection. Architect Sir John Soane established the museum in a private act of Parliament to keep his son from inheriting the property upon his passing. They’d had a bitter rivalry, due to his son’s debts and defamatory articles in the paper. When Sir John Soane died in 1837, this effectively passed the home down to a board of trustees who were required to keep the home as well preserved as possible, and they did. It has undergone several restorations since then but still stays true to the original plans. Sir John Soane always had a flair for dramatic design, and that is very apparent anywhere you look. After purchasing the Sarcophagus of Seti I, he held a 3-day long party for all of London high society, to view the sarcophagus under some very specific mood lighting. It still serves as a centerpiece to his collection to this day, and no, this is not his final resting place, but his marble bust watches over from above.

One of the most fascinating sights to see in the City of London is free of charge, and a must-see – real Roman ruins at the London Mithraeum. The ruins were unearthed during construction in Walbrook in 1954. Excavators first believed it to be an early church, until discovering buried statues of several Roman deities and syncretic gods, Mithras and Serapis. They deduced that the site was once a temple of the god, Mithras, worshipped by a mystery cult of initiates, the Mithraeum their sacred meeting site for rites and rituals. Not much is known about the cult of Mithras, other than he was a heroic bull-slayer born from a rock, as depicted on various bull-slaying scene carvings found in numerous archaeological sites. This site was moved to Victoria Court and reconstructed above ground, for public viewing in the 1960s, but drew criticism for its inaccuracies. It was not restored until 2010, when the buildings of its original location were demolished. The exhibition now sits below the Bloomburg building, fully reconstructed as the temple once appeared. At street level, you can see several other Roman artifacts on display. Underground, through the illuminated image of Mithras slaying the bull, and other lights and sounds that surround it, visitors are immersed into the inner circle of Roman Britain’s biggest mysteries.

After you’ve had your fill of chocolate-covered strawberries at Borough Market, pay a visit to the Old Operating Theater – in the old church attic of St. Thomas Hospital. Back in the day, surgeries were performed in front of medical students, to learn all the tricks of the trade, and where we may now learn how far we’ve come with strides in modern medicine – all made possible by the pioneers in the field, like the surgeons at St. Thomas. The oldest surviving surgical theater (no longer in use, I should add!) was also home to an herbal medicine apothecary. Through this interactive exhibit, visitors can learn about everything from holistic health remedies for everyday ailments, and how some truly frightening amputations were performed pre-anesthesia. Perhaps you’re better off buying snacks at Borough Market afterward.

So when you go to London, go to Savile Row. Dine at the Savoy. Eat a sausage roll and spend all day at the V&A – but save some space for the strange and unusual – it just might be the highlight of your trip, or at the very least, something you will never forget.