In review: London – The Extraordinary Guide: An Insider Tour of Art, Food, and Culture

Rizzoli's new 'Extraordinary Guide to London' and 'Extraordinary Guide to New York' are the latest additions to what is proving to be an outstanding new range of travel books. The guides to Tokyo and Mexico City, published early last year gave us an exotic foretaste of what Rizzoli have been cooking up, but these latest releases on London and New York are real gems.

The Extraordinary Guide to London by Benoît and Jalbert is a book that delights in the city’s margins rather than its monuments. Instead of rehearsing the familiar grandeur of Buckingham Palace or the Tower, the authors lead the reader through London’s overlooked, eccentric and quietly magical details: a seven-nosed portrait, a gas lamp that survived the Blitz, a grave wedged into a wall, a sculpture you might pass daily without ever noticing. The result is a portrait of London that feels intimate, playful and human.

The book’s great strength lies in its curiosity. Benoît and Jalbert write with the enthusiasm of urban explorers who want to share discoveries rather than instruct tourists. Each entry is short, digestible and often surprising, making the guide ideal for dipping into rather than reading straight through. The tone is accessible and lightly humorous, never weighed down by academic excess, yet grounded in careful observation and historical context.

Visually, the guide is equally engaging. Clear illustrations, maps and photographs complement the text and encourage wandering—both on the page and on foot. You can imagine slipping the book into a bag and letting it dictate an afternoon’s walk, transforming familiar streets into sites of renewed wonder.

What makes these guides “extraordinary” is their attention to the overlooked and the whimsical: tucked-away shops, eccentric traditions, visual jokes hidden in the urban fabric. These magnificent cities emerge not just as a destination but as a mindset—curious, restless, and generous in their strangeness. The tone balances childlike delight with sophisticated cultural awareness, making the books accessible without ever feeling simplistic. The Extraordinary Guide to London is not about exhaustive history; it is about attentiveness. It reminds us that London’s true character often resides in what we walk past every day without seeing—and teaches us how to look again.        

These are not guides that tell you where to go so much as how to see. In doing so, they remind travellers - real, prospective and armchair travellers alike - that the magic lies in paying attention.