Walking out of the manic noise of Trafalgar Square up into the newly restored Portico entrance of the National Gallery is a delight in itself. Gold gleams off elegant white stone, as Rembrandt and da Vinci welcome you in from portraits above the doors. Alternatively, avoid the bustle by using the Getty entrance, a veritable cliff of modern stone. The National Gallery is a chocolate box of artistic treats. Grab a free floor plan on the way in, walk to the farthest point of interest, and wend your way back. You’ll get lost, but you’ll love every minute of it. Often famous paintings are disappointingly small, so for BIG art, head for the bruiser that is Holbein’s The Ambassadors. Go on a Wednesday evening when the gallery is open until 9 p.m., and you’ll have elbow room to view the picture from the right hand side. From here, the famous skull leaps out from the floor at you. For the most perfect perspective, seek out Vermeer’s A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, and for sheer rugged energy, Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers. There is an airy café in the basement and a posh restaurant in the Sainsbury Wing (next door, housing current exhibitions), but it’s cheaper and funkier at the Prét a Manger opposite the National Portrait Gallery.