Travel The World On Your Oyster card

Why bother with Heathrow T5 when you can circumnavigate the globe without leaving Zone 2? London might just be the most multicultural city in the world – 275 languages are spoken in the capital every day, we hear everything from Polish hip-hop to Punjabi dance blaring from car stereos, and we can stuff our drunken faces with a curry followed by a falafel followed by a calzone on the way home from a night out. In the interest of low-carbon travel, Itchy investigates the best global adventures the city has to offer...

Venice is packed at this time of year, another thing Little Venice has in common with the famous Italian wet patch. Robert Browning coined the name to describe the junction of the Grand Union Canal and Regents Canal, but it now refers to the whole canalside area south of Maida Vale. For a bit of culture (in English now, none of that Italian drivel,) visit the Puppet Theatre Barge along Blomfield Road – there's a lot more to tugging strings than Punch and Judy, you know.

If a European break is a bit soft for your rugged adventurous tastes, recapture the panic and confusion of real travel with a trip to Brixton Market. Electric Avenue is lined with stalls stacked tall with exotic fruit and veg – yams, plantains, jackfruit, cassava, papayas – and Atlantic Road is your best bet for pigs trotters and chickens feet. Within the covered section of Brixton Village you'll find African and Caribbean food stores, fabric merchants and wig sellers. The whole place moves to a reggae beat, so don't expect to make fast progress.

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If you're thinking more along the lines of zen-like tranquility, transport your mind and soul to the gorgeous Kyoto Gardens in Holland Park. In 1991 a team of designers and engineers was flown over from Kyoto to transform part of what was once the grounds of bombed-out Holland House. Wander over the bridge and wonder how old the koi carp swimming near the waterfall are – some live for 100 years. Then nip to nearby Feng Sushi (24 Kensington Church Street) to take some other fish out of the running. Not turned Japanese yet? Down another sake and head for Lucky Voice Karaoke (52 Poland Street).

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