Surely on your visit you will want to stop into one of London's many pubs for a traditonal pub lunch. But which one? The city is full of good (and some not so good) pubs, and making a choice can be daunting. My pick would be The Clarence, in Whitehall.

The Clarence has sat for years between Parliament and Trafalgar Square and near Scotland Yard. It always has an interesting mix of clientele, you will be rubbing elbows with fellow tourists, local office workers and government workers, maybe even a member of Parliament or two!

This is a typical English pub, and in 2004, it won the Pub of Year award for all of London. It's a large building with a some wonderful graphics on the outside. In the summer large pots of fresh flowers adorn the building. There are a few table on the street outside and there are those marvelous chalk board signs that boast the house's fish and chips with mushy peas or a Ploughman's lunch. Inside it's dark and full of dark wood. It looks exactly how you imagine your pub should look. The pub is complete with dart board and a variety of ales and beers on tap. On the wall is a large board telling the guests which sausages and meat pies are featured this day.

You find a table, then head up to the bar and order. I find the staff here to be very friendly and helpful. I had fish and chips with garden peas (no mushy peas for this cowboy). They came quickly and the waitress who brought them was full of charm and personality. The fish and chips were outstanding, some of the best I have ever had. I washed the fish down with a proper pint and I felt like I was truly in the U.K..

One thing that I did see here that I thought was brilliant was a table in the pub for a free book exchange. When you are finished with your latest novel, you leave it on the table for the next customer. You can pick up another book and leave it here or another pub when you finish that one. It seems like a great idea and I understand many of the London pubs are in on this book exchange. I would love to see the idea spread to the U.S..

So if you are confused as to which London pub to pick, don't even think about it, head straight for The Clarence. The Clarence never disappoints. It's the real thing, and it's one of the very best London has to offer.

Don't be confused. In doing my research, I learned there are several pubs called The Clarence around London and one called the Duke of Clarence. This Clarence is the one in Whitehall near Trafalgar Square.