Dickens' world in London.

Charles Dickens created some of the best-known and most loved figures in English literature, from Oliver Twist and David Copperfield to Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch.

But of all the characters he wrote about, none played as important a role in his work as that of London itself: its hustle and bustle, its glittering promise and grimy streets and the extremes of poverty and wealth experienced by those who lived here.

London was Dickens' muse, helping to spark his creativity and provide ideas for some of the most memorable characters, settings and plot twists in English literature.

So here is another way to spend some quality time with your kids with a little bit of education and lots of fun both for you and your little ones. Explore the city Dickens knew and loved best!

A century and a half of modernisation has meant that many of the locations in Dickens' novels no longer exist -- but eagle-eyed visitors can still catch a glimpse of the city as Pip or Oliver would have recognized them.

"There is very little left," says Clare Pettitt, Dickens specialist at King's College London. "You can track Dickens' London, and see where things were, but they aren't necessarily still there."

One site that Dickens returned to again and again, both in real life and in his novels (it features in "Oliver Twist" and "The Pickwick Papers"), is Covent Garden -- though in his day, it was a proper working market, rather than the touristy shopping area it is today.

Just around the corner, Bow Street Magistrates' Court -- now a police station -- is mentioned in both "Oliver Twist" and "Barnaby Rudge."

As a young man, Dickens worked as a solicitor's clerk, and the Inns of Court, which in his day were home to many of the city's legal professionals, feature heavily in his works.

Lincoln's Inn and Chancery Lane both feature heavily in "Bleak House", and nearby is The Old Curiosity Shop, one of the oldest shops in London. Gray's Inn is used as a location in both "David Copperfield" and "The Pickwick Papers".

The tranquil square at historic Staple Inn, Holborn, is mentioned in Dickens' final, unfinished novel, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," where he reports that it "imparts on the relieved pedestrian the sensation of having put cotton in his ears and velvet soles on his feet."

The bells of the clock tower in St Dunstan-in-the-West Church, Fleet Street, are the ones which wake Scrooge to his new life at the end of "A Christmas Carol."

While you are exploring the city with your children you can have some adult fun.

Pubs and taverns featured heavily in both Dickens life and his work, and several of those mentioned in his stories and letters are still serving today.

Pettitt says one of his favourites was Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, just off Fleet Street. The pub features in "A Tale of Two Cities," and has a wider literary pedigree, having also been a haunt of Samuel Johnson, W.B. Yeats and Mark Twain.

Pettitt also recommends The Grapes pub in Limehouse, east London. "It features in 'Our Mutual Friend,' and feels very 'Dickensian', overlooking the river, which was so important in his works, though of course these days it's not as full of boats as it was in his day."

And across the river in Greenwich, Alex Werner suggests the Trafalgar Tavern, which was famed, in Dickens' day, for its whitebait suppers.

"Dickens' letters are full of suggestions for various excursions along the river," explains Pettitt. "He was always writing to people saying 'Let's go down to X and stop for dinner at Y' -- there was always a culinary target to his expeditions."

City walks

An insomniac, Dickens spent many hours walking London's streets in the dead of night.

"He knew its alleys and streets better than anyone," said Werner, explaining that some of Dickens' greatest works came about as a result of these lengthy strolls.

In the spirit of the man himself, several Dickens walking tours take place around the city.

London Walks runs a Charles Dickens' London tour every Friday afternoon at 2.30pm, departing from Temple tube station. The company also runs special Dickensian Christmas walks in late November and December.

To mark Dickens' bicentenary, the Dickens Museum is running a weekly Dickensian London walk each Wednesday evening, from February 8 to April 4, departing from the museum, in Doughty Street, at 5pm.

Have you got a favorite Dickens location in London? Feel free to share in the comments below.