Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room

The acoustically superior neighbour of Southbank Centre matriarch the Royal Festival Hall (1951), this two-hall 1967 venue — opened in 1967 with a concert conducted by gay English composer Benjamin Britten — includes the Queen Elizabeth Hall (full-on orchestral concerts, recitals, dance, opera and occasional jazz, rock and beyond) and the much smaller Purcell Room (chamber music, poetry, talks and occasional popular music). Difficult to grasp the actual shape of the exterior, while the interior guarantees clean musical definition. Tube stations: Waterloo (south of the river) or Embankment (north of the river), the latter of which affords a splendid walk over either of the two Golden Jubilee Bridges (linked with Hungerford Bridge). And adjacent Waterloo Bridge provides possibly the most glorious views from a London bridge.