Am in London (Laandaaarn!) for my Birthday at the weekend - Friday and Saturday night. Any recommendations for things to do / see? Any good deals on? Theatre and food especially.
Cheers,
thebunk
national gallery
enjoy assorted totty
eat lebanese food
enjoy assorted totty
Am with the wife, iDave, but I'm sure she'll understand...
The map exhibition at the British Library is really good. Just over the road the Wellcome Trust has a nice exhibition on biology (mixture of modern art, history and science with some really unusual stuff). Both are free.
Nice, keep em coming. A few people in the real world have suggested V&A - any good? Busy on Saturdays?
Get the taxi boat from Westminster pier to the Tait Modern. Cheap cruise past all the main sites and then do the Tait, walk back over the bridge and over to St pauls, then dunno 🙂
The British Museum is always unbeatable. They have an exhibition of Rennaisance drawings (listen to him) on the moment.
Walk down the South Bank, loads always going on.
Weather going to be lovely so the whole place will be mega full. Me I'd give the theatre a miss unless there is something you really want to see. Soho is always good for a night out, Notting Hill, Hoxton all going to be heaving.
What floats your boat? The opportunities are very wide, however most galleries are rammed over the weekend - if you have an aversion to small boys running around making a great deal of noise do not even contemplate going to the Transport Museum.
Tate Britain will be a bit quieter than a lot of museums and has a great collection.
Regents Park is my favourite open space in town, though St James Park is quite nice too if you're central.
V&A is my least favourite of all the museums & galleries - stuffy and dark, the exhibits old and fusty.
The Imperial War Museum & Tate Britain are my two favourites.
You have to start with your interests - there are far too many options in London. Do you like history, art, architecture, food, music.. ?
http://www.londonducktours.co.uk/
http://www.londonribvoyages.com/
or just get the thames clipper on an oyster card - get to see a lot from the river
Sit in traffic for hours on end.
Sit in traffic for hours on end.
Dem Londoners down there have thought of these things
Mind the doors please
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a river cruise is a great way to see the place
camden market for authentic goth tourist fun
http://www.timeout.com/london/
Get yourself down the Vauxhall Tavern.
molgrips - Member
You have to start with your interests - there are far too many options in London. Do you like history, art, architecture, food, music.. ?
I like bikes 😛
Alright, I also like walking around big cities, modern art+culture, any new music, classical stuff, theatre. I spend actual money on bike stuff, and eating and drinking. If anyone knows of any really nice restaurants that do lunch deals then that would be cool.
Not so big on old paintings or fusty musty history. Or shopping for non bike stuff. Or stuff that's really touristy, as I've done all that before.
Been to Natural History and Science Museums, Tate Modern, London Eye, British Library before (and like them all).
Give me the secret niche stuff. The Darkside Singlespeed Tandem of London.
Go to Lincoln's Inn Fields and visit both the Sir John Soane's Museum and the Hunterian Museum.
oh i see well torrturegarden was last weekend but i think its www.clubantichrist.com (not safe for work really) on friday, which would be an eyeopener for sure
, though the dress code is strict 😉
or how about this
http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/whats-on.php?event=43381
or this
http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/whats-on.php?event=52997
Get yourself down the Vauxhall Tavern.
Might want to leave the missus back at the hotel for that one though.
Might want to leave the missus back at the hotel for that one though.
Just loan her a beard... you'll be fine
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Highgate Cemetery, Museum in Docklands, Try Korean food at Ran in Soho, Horniman Museum, go for beers at the White Horse pub in Parsons green, great beer and you never know you might spot some celebs. I saw Kelly Jones from the sterophonics there recently. Take in the view from Paliament hill then walk down Camden High street and Laugh at the Goths. Have a beer at Bree Lousie in Euston, its like a beer festival thats on all the time - brilliant
Do what I do, get the lates time out guide, its by far the best guide. I live here and still get it
I like the V&A, it's not dark and stuff at all! Prefer it to the British, tbh. Though the Imperial War Museum is better than either.
Start at Embankment, cross over the river and walk down the south bank to the Tate, then back over the ped bridge to St. Pauls.
Eating in Soho is usually pretty good.
Something I really enjoyed was walking around the back streets of Kensington. They have some of the most magnificent private houses I have ever seen.. 🙂
The Wallace Collection is an utter delight.
Oh, and wear black Iridium. There are many nice things to see in this weather.... 8)
Visit some nice bike shops, perhaps? Cycle Surgery in Victoria (my LBS nowadays in town) has some mental road bling in store, perhaps pay a visit to Brixton Cycles or Moose for some SW London MTB-bling.
+1 for the V&A. Truly sums up what a museum should be! After all the word does mean, "Let us think", and there are few more thought provoking museums in the world than the V&A!
Go up the Monument to the Great Fire - Monument tube. Better views than the Eye and much cheaper.
Adults £3.00
Gordon's wine bar on Villiers Street - underground, "old school" wine bar with a brilliant atmosphere and very central.
The BP 2010 Portrait Awards opens this week at the National Portrait Gallery. Free entrance. Normally worth a visit if you are near Leicester Sq / Nelsons Column. I wouldn't go out of your way but if nearby pop in.
Wicked which is on at victoria, it's very good, food, Zuma, the Ledbury, the square, pied a terre and bentley oyster bar, but don't know what's your budget for food. Oh better mention the bluebird on the kings road as my mates the chef.
The War Cabinet Rooms are excellent and a unique "museum" - http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.00f
Wander round Borough Market (which has some nice places to eat) on the South Bank and go on a wine-tasting round Vinopolis - http://www.vinopolis.co.uk/
Once you have finished at the Vauxhall Tavern head for Duckies.
Camden market - have some of the occasionally $hit but cheap and funky ethnic food at the bit right by the Canal (I recommend the Polish sausages) - walk along Regent's canal to Regent's park, past the zoo enclosures by the water - say hello to the Pumba warthogs - hang out in Regent's park - job done. There's an Evans and a Cycle Surgery next to one another, right next to the Lock Tavern which has a great beer garden and roof terrace. This corridor is my favourite part of London by far. Best place to be in the UK when it's sunny, that doesn't involve riding.
Camden....Best place to be in the UK when it's sunny, that doesn't involve riding
FAIL!
Sorry, but much as I love London, there are so many better places to be in the sunshine than to be swathed in tourists and wannabe goths around Camden Market.
For example (and these are just my London suggestions;
The Serpentine on a boat
The Rose Garden just off Hyde Park Corner
St Pauls
The garden at the White Horse, SW6
The open air cafe in the middle of the V&A
Lunch on the Georgian Terrace at Harrods
Lunch at Inn The Park, in St James's Park
Anywhere in Richmond Park or Wimbledon Common
Hampstead Heath, a nice picnic and a glass or two of something chilled
A boat trip to Kew to the gardens
Etc, etc, etc.
Trashy tat at Camden? Not for me, thanks.
It's a matter of personal taste.
I genuinely love Camden, and anyone with the slightest interest in music/art will appreciate it in the same way that they would Greenwich Village in NYC or Haight Ashbury in San Francisco as a place with a cultural heritage going back decades. It's a unique place but it's more comparable to bits of New York/SF than London. It's got a robust artistic heritage and some absolutely legendary and time-honoured bars and venues that you can't just talk away, and is right by the best park in London.
EDIT: you've also got to hit the Dublin Castle, ideally on a weekend. The Edinburgh Castle also looks good. Koko's fun if you're into live music - they pitch the balance just right between a really nice venue where you can always find somewhere to sit if you don't want to watch the band, yet still having a bit of life in it
Get some shades on and go walking, there's some great sights to be seen with the current hot weather 🙂
I like the V&A, it's not dark and stuff at all!
I think my memory of the V&A is tarnished by waiting for my sister while she spent about a million years in the clothing bit.
If ogling's your thing, I can't recommend the Kings Road in Chelsea highly enough. Get the tube to Sloane Square, telll your missus to go shopping and say, "I'll meet you at the Chelsea Potter two hours."
The Chelsea Potter is about halfway down the Kings Road from Sloane Square Tube.
Bag an outside table there and just watch the world and his wife go by. Give it an hour or two and you will clock the very finest burdz, motors, bikes, poseurs and completely minted eccentrics the world has to offer. Probably a few celebs into the bargain.
Then when she shows up, tap your nose and say to the missus, "I know this little place..." 😉
Henry J Beans, just a bit further down the Kings Road, is a bit cheesy in a Yank sort of way but has a fantastic beer garden and tremendous gantry with loads of luvverly whiskies. It also does great cocktails on happy hour.
To eat, try the Chelsea Farmers market on Sydney Street, just opposite Heal's. A few places in there where you can eat outside in hot weather, including an Argentinian steakhouse. If it's not weather-permitting, there's always [url= http://www.thepigsear.info/ ]The Pig's Ear[/url] which is on one of the back streets between the Kings Road and the Chelsea embankment. Think it's the street where the cinema is.
It might be a bit pricey round there, but where in London isn't? It's not what I would call touristy. Just somewhere that you can go and observe that curious species, the rich, grazing in their natural habitat.
The Chelsea Potter is about halfway down the Kings Road from Sloane Square Tube.Bag an outside table there and just watch the world and his wife go by. Give it an hour or two and you will clock the very finest burdz, motors, bikes, poseurs and completely minted eccentrics the world has to offer. Probably a few celebs into the bargain.
And me, if you're REALLY lucky! 8)
Taking the Mrs to HJB's? Oh dear....very poor form! The Coopers on Flood street would be my pick in that part of town, nice wine list for the ladies and a bit more quiet than HJB's, but as you say, the Pig's Ear is a fine spot!
I did say HJBs was a bit cheesy, old boy, what-what? But the beer garden is still a nice spot and they have some whiskies in their IMAX-sized gantry I've never seen anywhere else.
Aye, it's a fine beer garden and often full of lovely things to look at...!
For whisky in the finer parts of town, try Boisdales, not too far from Victoria. Sublime steak too. Oh, and one of the best humidors in London.
Only thing I can remember from the V&A (I was about 7) was the giant double bass in the music bit.
pigs ear off kings road is ace
the trafalgar is excellent for totty
anyone said museum of london at the barbican yet