Wealth courses through The King's Road, Chelsea's upmarket artery of West London life packed with shops, eateries and glitzy nightspots. For people-watching at its best and luxury retail therapy that's largely unrivalled, this area cannot be missed. But if this showy street starts to overwhelm or a moment of price tag shock sends you reeling, a quick detour down pretty much any of many King's Road veins will reveal a quieter side of Chelsea. Here the stately Royal Hospital hosts its world-famous flower show, and the Thames rolls along at a lazy pace, with leafy Battersea Park and its Peace Pagoda beckoning from across the river.