(CNN) -- Charles Dickens, who was born 200 years ago this week, 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 there. 

Alex Werner, the curator of the Museum of London's "Dickens and London" exhibition, says the city was "absolutely central" to Dickens' work. 

"It triggered his imagination," he told CNN. "He called it his 'magic lantern', and would spend hours pacing the streets, drawing inspiration from what he saw around him." 

Read more: Dickens admirers mark bicentenary 

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. 

As Britain -- and literature lovers the world over -- celebrates Dickens' bicentenary in 2012, what better time to explore the city he knew and loved best? 

Dickens in London 

Dickens moved to London as a child, but the family soon ran into financial trouble: His father was sent to debtors' prison, and at the age of just 12, Dickens was forced to work in a shoe polish factory -- Warren's Blacking Warehouse, at Hungerford Stairs -- to support his mother and siblings. 

"It was a crazy, tumbledown old house, abutting of course on the river, and literally overrun with rats... the dirt and decay of the place rise up visibly before me, as if I were there again," he later told his biographer, John Forster. Both the warehouse and the stairs, near what is now Embankment tube station, are long gone. 
Who was he supporting with his efforts?
to support his mother and siblings. 