London's time to shine

If there was ever a year to visit Britain, and London in particular, this is it. Apart from the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the London 2012 Festival, this year also marks the opening of the Harry Potter studio tour and events surrounding the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. And you're sure to get a warm welcome with Mayor Boris Johnson's 8,000 London Ambassadors stationed at 43 information booths across the city who will be offering advice on what to do, where to stay and how to get around.

Let the games begin

The Olympic Games (July 27 to August 12) and Paralympic Games (August 29 to September 9) are, of course, the big-ticket events this summer, with 10.8 million ticketholders, nearly 15,000 athletes and 21,000 members of the media expected to descend on the UK.

UAE residents got a taste of the excitement building around the world in March, when the country's under-23 football team made history by qualifying for its first appearance at the Games, but the real buzz starts when the flame lands on the host's soil. This will happen on May 18 and from May 19 the flame will begin its 70-day journey to the Olympic stadium with 8,000 people passing the flame from torch to torch along a route that will come within about 16 kilometres of 95 per cent of people in the UK.

I took a tour of Olympic Park in Stratford, measuring 2.5 square kilometres - equivalent to 357 football pitches - which will be the venue for 17 of the 26 Olympic sports. It will also host the opening ceremony on July 27 devised by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle. The commitment to sustainability in the construction of the park is nothing short of impressive, and has transformed the Lower Lea Valley, an area formerly marked by heavy industry and landfill.

Visitors are greeted by the imposing, spiralling ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture, designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor and engineer Cecil Balmond. The design incorporates the five Olympic rings and offers panoramic views of the city, being 22 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty. After the Games, it is destined to be a huge tourist attraction with restaurants at the top of its 115-metre structure. In fact, plans are in place for all areas of the park post-Games to ensure a healthy thriving community is left long after 2012, with the Olympic Village providing 2,818 new homes and many of the sports facilities within the park being retained. You can take a virtual tour of the park and view the latest on webcams, at www.london2012.com.

Even if you don't manage to get tickets to the Games, there are free events including road cycling, the triathlon and the marathon taking place on the streets of London and many events will be screened live across the capital.

A feast of culture

The London 2012 Festival will be a UK-wide art and culture extravaganza from June 21 to September 9. It is the climax of the Cultural Olympiad, a four-year festival connected to the Olympics. Highlights include West End Live on June 23-24, when the cast of every single West End musical will perform for free in Trafalgar Square, and artist Paul Cummins' installation, The English Flower Garden, an enormous sculpture of ceramic blooms that will be on display outside the House of Commons from June 3 to August 30. Don't miss the largest Shakespeare festival ever staged, including almost 70 productions of his plays, which has already started ahead of the other events and runs until November (see www.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk). Alongside this, the British Museum will offer Shakespeare: Staging The World from July 19, showing off London as it is seen through the Bard's works. You can find the full programme of events at www.festival.london2012.com.

Glittering celebrations

While the Queen's Diamond Jubilee will be celebrated through various forums throughout the year, the focus will be on the Central Weekend - a long weekend from June 2 to June 5. It will kick off with the prestigious thoroughbred racing meet, the Epsom Derby, which although held annually, will adopt a Jubilee theme this year.

June 3 sees the Big Jubilee Lunch, marked by street parties and picnics nationwide to accompany the flagship event along Piccadilly (see www.thebiglunch.com). On the same day, you could head off to see the ambitious Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant , involving 1,000 boats including the Royal Barge on which the Queen will be travelling. To give you an idea of the span of the procession, it is estimated that if you were watching from the Tate Modern it would take one-and-a-quarter hours to pass you by. Handel's Water Music, which was first performed on the Thames, and other compositions will be amplified from the music barges and there will be 50 big screens along the pageant route.

June 4 sees the BBC concert hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, with the likes of Sir Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Stevie Wonder and Sir Cliff Richard performing. Unfortunately the 10,000 tickets that were available by public ballot have been claimed and visitors are advised to watch it on television as the Mall will be too crowded for a good view. If you do want to line the streets, however, you get the chance on the last day of the Central Weekend, with a royal procession from the Palace of Westminster to Buckingham Palace, where members of the royal family will appear on the balcony.

More royal treats

A magical tour

If you've had your fill of sport and royalty, The Making of Harry Potter Warner Brothers studio tour is a must-see for both the movie's fans and anyone interested in film-making. It is housed in the Leavesden studio on the outskirts of London, where the actors spent ten years of their lives filming. The walking tour takes you through real sets and displays of props and costumes, all authentic and used in the series of blockbuster films. Sets include the Great Hall, Dumbledore's office, the boys' dormitory and more, while you can also stroll down Diagon Alley, looking through the windows of shops like Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and Olivander's Wand Shop (where Harry's wand chose him in the film). The backlot exterior scenes include the purple Knight Bus and Privet Drive, where Harry's relatives lived.

The films' cast and creative team have been actively involved in setting up the tour and they are featured on video screens throughout, giving personal insights. Probably most fascinating for older visitors are the set drawings, explanations of the green-screen process and animatronics, CGI and special effects, while younger visitors can get a passport to take around to be stamped at various places on the tour and the chance to be photographed on a flying broomstick. The gift shop, with everything from chocolate wands to Hogwarts' school uniforms, should prove hugely popular, and since the items are mainly exclusive to the UK, they make brilliant gifts to take home.

I couldn't get enough of the incredibly detailed and built-to-scale model of Hogwarts, which was used to fill in the background in many scenes after the green-screen filming. Also fascinating is the Wand Room, which - having a wand box devoted to everyone who worked on all eight films, from JK Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe, to the runners on the set - brought home just how many people were involved in the series.

Be warned, although the tour is fairly expensive at £28 (Dh165) for adults and £21 for children, it is very popular and you will need to pre-book, and do so early (go to www.wbstudiotour.co.uk).

And there's more…

These are just the highlights of an event-packed summer. See www.visitbritain.com and www.londonandpartners.com for more on what to do and where to stay when visiting London.

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