Private Function at The George, Borough High Street, south London

A coaching inn and tourist trap dating from the seventeenth century, the labyrinth George Inn has a couple of elegant old function rooms upstairs you can book for a sit down meal or a business meeting. The three hundred-year-old building has been immaculately preserved by the National Trust and its tenant Greene King, so the function rooms are reached via an atmospheric and ancient wood-panelled staircase, which works its way round a small atrium. If you have at least a dozen diners, you can rent one of the spacious private rooms, which are also steeped in history, for free, assuming you buy a three-course meal for between £20 and £30 a head, depending on your choice of main course. The traditional pub menu lists nine main courses, five starters and five deserts, but your group can only choose two selections per course between them. In keeping with the prices, the food is reasonable and is served with little decorum by the mildy-stressed waiting staff.

Passable pate
One of the starters is a modest serving of passable chicken liver pate with salad, some slivers of bread and chutney, while the mains include a quarter roast chicken with stuffing. The meat, which can be a little dry, is served with mediocre roast potatoes and vegetables doused in gravy. To finish, the woodland fruit cheesecake is also okay, but far from memorable. Up in the top function room, you can't order beers from the waiting staff, so if you want a pint of lager or one of the Greene King ales, you will have to queue at the bar, two flights down. But they will serve you wine (starting at £13 a bottle) from the limited list. Even on a Saturday night, The George closes at 11pm, so if you are celebrating, start early. 7/10

i due amici, Kennington Road South, south London

An appealing, spacious neighbourhood cafe, with a striking dark pink facade, i due amici is a good place to get some work done while sipping cheap coffee. It has plenty of solid wooden tables, surrounded by comfortable white chairs, big windows, free WiFi and a handful of electric sockets for charging your laptop. Out back is a peaceful, sunny courtyard, which due amici shares with the local Pizza Express. There is a solid group of regulars, but mercifully few noisy kids, meaning it can be  quiet, if Capital isn't cranked up too loud on the radio. The waiting staff are a mixture of reserved, but efficient, east European women and swarthy men, who are friendly, but more prone to mistakes. A decent Americano, served piping hot with a small almond biscuit, is just £1.20, while a large bottle of passable fruit juice is only £1.60. The food is also keenly-priced, but is highly erratic. Sometimes, the English breakfasts are okay, but the scrambled egg can be watery or the budget sausages too tough. The jacket potatoes or the chicken and mushroom risotto are a safer bet, but they aren't going to have your mouth watering. 7/10

Walk from Ashford in the Water to Monsal Head, Derbyshire

Even if you don't want to go on this five mile hike up to the beauty spot of Monsal Head and back, it would be worth visiting Ashford in the Water. It is a handsome stone village with fine old houses, appealing pubs and a picturesque bridge over the fast flowing River Wye. Signposts in the village point you towards the footpath to Monsal Head, which begins with a steep flight of steps through the houses and trees before crossing wide open fields. As you climb gently up into the hills there are sweeping views over the dry stone walls that follow the contours of the dales. After a couple of miles you crest the top of the hill for a spectacular view over Monsal Dale. At the bottom of a steep drop, far below you, a venerable stone bridge crosses high above the winding river on the valley floor. The footpath narrows and swings eastwards towards Monsal Head, clinging to the hillside. It isn't long before you reach the Monsal Head hotel where you might be tempted to stop for a pint of golden Pearl ale (just 3.3% alcohol) beside a roaring fire in the wood-clad Staples Bar. From here, a footpath leads back to Ashford via the hamlet of Little Longstone or you can take the more direct, but more hazardous, route along the B road. 8/10

The Crown & Garter, Inkpen Common, Berkshire

An understated country pub dating from the 17th century, the Crown & Garter's bars and restaurant are fairly plain with simple pine furniture. The period clutter and memorabilia you find in many other old pubs are noticeable by their absence. But the food is straight out of a traditional cookbook. On a Sunday lunchtime, the main courses include classic English staples, such as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding or fish, chips and mushy peas, priced around £10 or £11. Perhaps the most unusual option is the Dorset crab and spinach lasagne, which is a creamy, well-balanced and satisfying dish. Another winner is the steak and kidney pudding, which is packed with delicious chunks of slow-cooked meat wrapped in a coating of suet and doused in a fine stew. It goes well with a pint of Ramsbury Gold, a flavourful, hoppy real ale. In December, the main courses are accompanied by terrines of precisely-cooked broccoli, carrots and sprouts. Children can have a half-price, half-size roast, chicken nuggets and chips or sausage and chips. The pricey deserts (£6 each) are not quite so generous or tasty. You might find the average bread and butter pudding, swimming in custard, a disappointment after a top-notch main course. Still, with welcoming, polished service, the Crown & Garter is a fine pub-cum-restaurant. 8/10

Vintage Pretty, North Cross Road, East Dulwich, south London

A cramped and popular cafe owned by the green grocers next door, Vintage Pretty's food is ultra-fresh and generally excellent. If it is early enough, you might be tempted by one of the hot breakfasts, such as the salty, but succulent, kippers (£7.25), served with two professionally poached eggs on chunky slices of tasty toast with lemon, slices of cucumber and wild rocket. The lunch options, include a couple of specials, such as moussaka, deep-filled paninis and thick, flavoursome soups, such as roquefort and broccoli. There is also a children's menu with inexpensive comfort grub, such as beans on toast or fish finger sandwiches. To drink, you can get some exotic freshly-squeezed fruit juices for £3, a carton of Ribena for £1.25, coffees for about £2 and tap water for nothing. The country-cottage style decor features pine tables, benches and chairs, plus flowery cushions and framed adages. Service by the young, polite staff can be very slow during busy periods, such as a Saturday lunchtime, when your fellow punters will be mostly well-heeled locals taking a break from browsing the local boutiques and food-stalls. 7/10

Caltrain, Silicon Valley, California

Cruising through Silicon Valley between San Francisco and San Jose, the leisurely Caltrain runs just once an hour at weekends and stops at stations every few miles. A return ticket from Belmont to San Francisco costs a very reasonable $8.50, but the ride into the city through mostly unremarkable and ramshackle suburbs takes just under 50 minutes. On board the steel-plated train, the upper deck of some of the carriages has an open atrium running down the centre, meaning you can see the passengers below through the steel railings. From the last stop in San Franciso, it is about a mile walk up 4th Street to the main shopping drag around Market Street and Union Square. 6/10

Sofitel, Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City, California

Tucked away in a suburban district of Redwood City, a tranquil lagoon separates this Sofitel from the oil-drum-style towers of the headquarters of the software giant Oracle. Unfortunately, this French-owned hotel is a three mile walk from the open waters of San Francisco bay and about a mile from the nearest public transport - the Belmont Caltrain station. Right now, the keenly-priced rooms, which can be had for just $120 a night, are good value - you get a big bed, a big flat screen television, an iron and ironing board, a sofa and a quiet air conditioning system, all decorated in an innocuous white and cream colour scheme. The en-suite bathrooms, with pot plants, vertical strip lighting and speckled sink top, are a little more daring and are equipped with a respectable shower. The only things missing are a safe, a mini-bar and free WiFi - you can pay T-Mobile about eight bucks for a day online.

British Airways, London to San Francisco

If you take the 2pm flight from Heathrow, you'll be in San Francisco about 5pm local time, meaning you probably shouldn't try and sleep on board. If you are travelling in the cramped economy cabin, you probably won't sleep anyway. Make sure you check-in online as soon as possible to get a half-decent seat and you might want to bring your own sandwiches - the airline grub isn't particularly appetising and the chicken curry could leave you with a dodgy stomach. Still, you'll probably welcome a free Heineken, a Grolsh or a mini bottle of tolerable wine to help you ease into the eleven hour flight. Fortunately, the on-demand video system is pretty good with a broad selection of movies and television, including some quality sports documentaries, such as the absorbing Thriller in Manila in which Joe Frazier relives his titanic fight with Muhammad Ali. While you work your way through the videos, the crew will keep you hydrated with water or orange juice. When you finally get to San Francisco, it can take a while to answer all the questions and fingerprint checks involved in U.S. passport control, but there are plenty of taxis on-hand to whisk you to the city or to Silicon Valley.