Things we love: "Paris by Mouth"

During the past decade, London's bustling nightlife scene has moved out of the center to the little neighborhood of Hoxton. Bars began to move to Hoxton after the City of London—which lies less than a mile away—found new prosperity in the 1980s and 1990s. And art galleries and fashionable boutiques soon followed. It's a far cry from the 19th century, when the East End was a "no go" industrial area ridden with crime and dotted with spooky, crumbling churches. Jack the Ripper wandered its dark and danky streets, and Charles Dickens profiled its poverty in novels like Oliver Twist. Here's what to see and where to hang out in this now safe and prosperous neighborhood. Museums and Galleries Hoxton Square is home to one of London's most modish galleries, the White Cube, run by art impresario Jay Jopling and principally showcasing the work of new British artists. The best of the bunch show here, including Damien Hirst (famous for his sharks and sheep in aspic), Turner-prize nominee Tracey Emin and satirical conceptual artists Jake and Dinos Chapman. Other fashionable galleries include Rivington Place, which specializes in art installations. For a slice of an altogether older London visit the Geffrye Museum a block north of Hoxton Square. Each room offers a different glimpse of middle-class London life through the centuries, complete with original furniture, paintings, and period pieces, beginning with the 17th-century and running up to the present. The museum itself is housed in some stately brick alms-houses behind a pretty walled garden. Eating Out Hoxton and adjacent Shoreditch bristle with restaurants, with a focus on modern British, Vietnamese, and Indian. Vietnamese restaurants proliferate around the Geffrye Museum and include the ever-popular Vietnamese Kitchen. For curry, head to nearby Brick Lane, a street with scores of restaurants. Bengal Village is a tasty one, with sumptuous, spicy Chicken Madras. Your kids may be amused by All Star Lanes, a Brit take on an American midwest diner, serving great burgers and Budweiser and offering private bowling alleys pre or post meal. Nightlife People come to Hoxton for the nightlife. There are dozens of bars and clubs on and around Hoxton Square. They include the Zigfrid, which has an indoor boutique designer bar, an outdoor drinking area, and a club space in the basement and Lounge Lover, decked out like a rococo bordello, with cherry-red drapes, ornate mirrors, and flaming torches. Clubs are equally numerous and include Cargo for live music, the three-floor indie-dance club 333, and faux-New York techno and house-music club East Village. Getting to Hoxton It's easy. Take the Northern Line of the subway (Tube). Hoxton lies 400 yards east of the Old Street stop. The entire route can be planned down to the minute on the Transport for London Journey planner website. Hotel pick Our fave is The Hoxton. Near London's financial district, this 205-room hotel offers you cheap phone calls, pre-packaged healthy breakfasts delivered to your room, and a fridge filled with free mineral water and milk. EARLIER London neighborhood watch: Greenwich London: Street art beyond Banksy London: Real Deals right now

While the British capital is at fever pitch over World Cup soccer, there are plenty of options for affordable things to do in the capital. Here's a selection. Wimbledon The World's greatest lawn tennis tournament begins on June 21, with the finals played on July 4. Tickets are pricey for Centre Courts—starting at $60—and the lines can be enormous. But around 500 tickets for these courts are reserved at the turnstiles each day (except for the last four days). Another tip: It's possible to visit Wimbledon for $16 after 5pm on weekdays—to watch games on the outer courts, soak up the atmosphere, and throng around the big screen showing the center court action on 'Henman Hill'. Details on wimbledon.org. (See Budget Travel's Wimbledon Made Easy story for more details.) The World Cup Wimbledon is overshadowed this year by the world's biggest and most lavish sporting event: soccer's World Cup, being broadcast from South Africa. London is covered in English flags as the English (not the Brits—who include the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish) hope earnestly for victory. You can watch England and the other teams progress on big screens all over London. The Fever Pitch pub (Fever Pitch, 474-476 Fulham Broadway SW6) on Fulham Broadway has 13 screens, covering every wall of the pub. Cargo (83 Rivington Street EC2, cargo-london.com) is a club in Hoxton showing every game on a 40-foot screen, with seating for 800, DJs and drinks are on tap at the Hammersmith Apollo (venues.meanfiddler.com), which has a screen as large as four London buses and free movie showings. Festival Brazil One if the biggest Latin American arts and festivals to have been hosted in London kicks off on June 19, continuing through until September. It takes place at the South Bank center on the Thames and features live music from the likes of Brazilian superstars Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethânia, and Tom Zé, poetry and literature and art from the likes of Ernesto Neto, whose womb-like lycra installations fill the Hayward Gallery; following his successful show at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. southbankcentre.co.uk. West End Live 2010 This summer event gives visitors the chance to see highlights of London's musicals and theater shows for free. You'll be able to catch edited and trimmed versions of Tony Award winning Billy Elliot, Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies, Mamma Mia!, Oliver, and Hair amongst numerous others. And there are small exhibits from the Science Museum, the V&A;, and the Royal Banqueting House, as well as kids games and activities. On the weekend of June 19–20, westendlive.co.uk. Pride London Festival Fortnight Britain's major gay and lesbian festival kicks off with a festive fortnight on June 18. A full program features music, theatre, dance, comedy, visual arts, sport, debate, film, fashion, and literature events all across the capital. The gigantic march happens July 3. For info, see pridelondon.org, free.

Comprehensive, all-purpose guidebooks are great for your first few visits to a new place, when you need advice on everything from where to grab breakfast to which hotel is worth a splurge. But when it comes to the old favorites you revisit again and again, a sharper take on familiar territory is in order. Three new books out this month from The Little Bookroom—each compact, colorful, and concentrated—allow you to take fresh looks at iconic destinations. Karen E. Seiger's Markets of New York City: A Guide to the Best Artisan, Farmer, Food, and Flea Markets ($17) is a shopper's dream. No other American city is more driven by market-style shopping (as opposed to the strip-mall and megamarket models), and Seiger's guide demystifies the process for all comers. In addition to reviewing dozens upon dozens of markets (including full-color photographs of items you're likely to find at each one and profiles of regular vendors), Seiger provides solid information about where to eat or get coffee near each market, and even includes a section of tips for navigating New York City in general. As if Paris needed anything more to recommend it, Kim Horton Levesque's new book Pampered In Paris: A Guide to the Best Spas, Salons, and Beauty Boutiques ($17) covers more than 50 places to get fussed over in the grand French tradition—or in the Thai, Chinese, or Indian traditions, if you choose. Spa etiquette, recommended treatments, useful terms (memorize this: plus douce means "softer") price ranges, and practical tips (don't save your spa day for Sunday, when most salons close) are all included. Spas are divided by arrondissement, and super-specialized spots for chromotherapy, thalassotherapy, and hammams get their own sections toward the back of the book. (Note to self: Pitching a Parisian spa-review book to a publishing house = a brilliant move. Just imagine the research!) The book also provides beauty-product shopping guides, from old-school recommendations (try the moisturizing Baume Automobile from century-old shop Detaille) to the best local-secret drugstore potions. Finally, handmade arts and crafts may not be the first things that come to mind when most folks think of Amsterdam, but thanks to Pia Jane Bijkerk's Amsterdam: Made By Hand ($19), they might at least make it onto the chart. This is Bijkerk's second Made By Hand book—the first, out last year, covered Paris—and details the Australian stylist's go-to sources for handcrafted props, accessories, and decorative objets in the city where she currently resides (in a houseboat, no less). Bijkerk even gives a foolproof tip for stepping right into the heart of Amsterdam's true local culture: Instead of heading straight out the doors of the Centraal Station and down tourist-clogged Damrak Street, just turn left right.* You'll find yourself in the lively, artsy Jordaan neighborhood—incidentally, the first destination in Bijkerk's book's shopping itinerary. One stop I'm definitely adding on my next Amsterdam trip: a visit to the atelier of mixed-media artist (and former Visual Director for Anthropologie) Leslie Oschmann, near the Rozengracht—conveniently located a stone's throw from many renowned design shops. *Due to an editing error, the wrong direction was inserted. Sorry! EARLIER More posts by Valerie Rains Our Affordable Paris blog series

From the beaches of Rio de Janeiro to the Trocadero near Paris's Eiffel Tower, football fans around the world will be gathering this month to watch the World Cup Tournament. San Francisco, with our large populations of Europeans, Asians, and South Americans (not to mention the growing number of American soccer—I mean football—fans), has its own set of screenings and parties. Since we're on the West Coast, die-hard fans will be rising early to catch the 7:30 a.m. games. But that doesn't mean they'll be less beer—just more brunch options. Here are five great places around town to watch the tournament. Free and outdoors Civic Center A giant truck mounted with a 13-by-18-foot screen will be set up outside City Hall at the Civic Center to screen as many games as possible for a crowd estimated in the tens of thousands. An area is set aside for kids to play soccer, and though there are food vendors, there's no alcohol allowed, making this the most kid-friendly spot to catch the games. Civic Center Plaza, Larkin and Grove Streets, free, 7:30 a.m. games will be followed by the 11:30 a.m. games. Valet bike parking available. AT&T; Park The ball park, one of the best ball stadiums in the country (if I do say so myself), will take a break from baseball to screen this Saturday's match between the USA and England.The game will be broadcast live on the HD centerfield scoreboard and in TVs throughout the ballpark. Afterwards, check out the unrelated but equally fun Giants county fair just next door, with 20 carnival rides, midway games, music, and food. 24 Willie Mays Plaza, 415/ 972-2000, free. Gates open at 10:00 a.m. Bars Public House Adjacent to AT&T; Park, the new Public House, an upscale sports bar, will be opening at 6 a.m. to show the World Cup on 22 giant television screens. Almost all of the 24 beers on tap are from local brewers, and the brunch menu by award-winning chef Traci Jardin begins service at 8 a.m. Wear a jersey from a team playing in the World Cup, and you get a free serving of hand-cut fries, onion rings, or chips when you order a famous Marin Sun Farms beef burger. 24 Willie Mays Plaza, 415/644-0240. The Mercury Lounge The self-proclaimed "only bar in San Francisco dedicated exclusively to the 2010 World Cup", the Mercury Lounge in SOMA promises to play every single game, every day. The drink specials can't be beat: Beers are only a dollar for people who get there before 7 a.m. Dollar beers also go to anyone wearing a team jersey—or simply show your taxi receipt proving you rushed over to grab a seat for the game. In other words, dollar beers for just about any hard-core fan. No cover. Full bar menu. Mercury Lounge, 1582 Folsom Street, 415/551-1582. Kezar Pub Upper Haight's favorite sports bar, The Kezar Pub, has a giant TV screen in the back of the bar—plus 20 plasma TVs—making it nearly impossible to miss a score, no matter where you're sitting. Voted as the city's best sport bar in 2009 by the SF Weekly, this pub draws a big European and Irish crowd and features a great menu of greasy pub food, including killer chicken wings and lots of cheap beer. Special hours for the tournament means the bar opens at bright-and-early 4:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. 770 Stanyan St., 415-386-9292. EARLIER World Cup: 9 Free Public Parties