We bring you our guide to living well in the world’s capitals, from exhibitions to cinema, food, drink, fashion, music and beyond. Just call it culture and take it, it’s yours.

LONDON, SATURDAY 25th – SUNDAY 26TH JULY 2014

Park life
If you’re going to do anything remotely cultural this weekend head down to Hyde Park’s Serpentine Gallery for Park Nights, their annual series of live art, poetry, music, film, literature and performance.

This summer, eight events have been conceived to take place on selected Friday evenings in the unique environment of the Serpentine Pavilion 2014, designed by Chilean architect Smiljan Radić. This week’s focus stays mainly on Chilean film-maker Raúl Ruiz (1941-2011), considered one of the most exciting and innovative figures to emerge from 1960s cinema. Also catch John Malkovich in Ruiz’s acclaimed Klimt, 2006 on Sunday afternoon at 4pm. A visual delight to be favoured over a fight with a disposable BBQ anyday.

Serpentine Gallery Park Nights: Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA

A moving 12 year epic
Filmed over 12 years with the exact same cast throughout, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is a groundbreakingly beautiful story of growing up, as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Any film that takes twelve years to shoot should be applauded for its stamina alone and this coming of age epic is as magical and heartwarming as it was ambitious to film.

Boyhood, 2014, 166 mins. See listings for details.

We wanted a cottagey, stately-home kind of feel…
When you hear of an exhibition with works titled We keep buying things thinking ‘that’ll look better’ and it just doesn’t, and When I looked at the wallpaper and the wallpaper looked at me we instantly fell in love you know it’s either going to be a heap of you-know-what or an absolute triumph. Thankfully Martin Parr’s new exhibition is most certainly the latter. Entirely brilliant in fact.

The collection of images showing at Beetles & Huxley really do warrant such evocative titles, based upon the somewhat hilarious nuances of the great British public in the early 1990s. Brace yourself for pink carpets, gold voile knickerbocker curtains in the bathroom and “Bistro-style” hybrid farmhouse-inspired kitchens, floored in checkered Linoleum.

Martin Parr: Signs Of The Times, Beetles & Huxley, 3-5, Swallow Street, London, W1B 4DE

If you’re in the mood for further photographic fulfillment don’t miss VIVAT! VIVAT! MY ENGLAND!, a series of photographs by the legendary John Hedgecoe. Iconic, ironic and a little bit magic.

John Hedgecoe: VIVAT! VIVAT! MY ENGLAND!, Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU

Ultimate gatecrashing
It’s a lesser known fact that The State Rooms of Buckingham Palace open annually while the Royal family are on their summer hols. You can actually stroll through the palace, escorted of course, and its jaw-droppingly ornate state, ceremonial and official occasional rooms which the general public are never usually allowed to see.

Walking under Nash ceilings, gawping at Vermeers, Rubens and Rembrandts on a Saturday afternoon is as non-casual as it gets but who wouldn’t want to be sitting in Her Maj’s garden after nosing around her gaff? Posh.

Buckingham Palace Summer Opening, Buckingham Palace Rd, London, SW1A 1AA

I know this great little place…
Soho’s Barrafina is the sort of restaurant that every Londoner can’t help but adore. A modern Spanish tapas bar owned and operated by restaurateurs Sam & Eddie Hart, Barrafina is a firm foodie favourite prized for its selection of fresh fish and traditional specialities including some of the best octopus, tortillas and razor clams in London.

Well guess what? They’ve opened up an identical restaurant on Covent Garden’s Adelaide Street. Less time standing waiting for a table? Maybe. A great new spot to pack it away latin style? Absolutely.

Barrafina, 10 Adelaide Street, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4HZ