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London | Things To Do

THINGS TO DO:

THINGS TO BUY:
One of the world's great metropolises, anything and everything you could possibly want to buy is available in London, if you know where to look, and if you can afford it (London is not particularly noted for bargain shopping, owing to high prices and high exchange rates - though it can be done with some determination!). Central London, and especially the West End, has a number of world-famous shopping areas and streets:

Oxford Street: London's main shopping street home to flagship branches of all the major UK high street retailers in one go - including Selfridges and other department stores
Bond Street One of the intersections with Oxford Street and is home to some of the world's most luxurious designer labels such as D&G, Versace, Cartier, Louis Vuitton & Jimmy Choo
Camden Town - alternative clothing and retail, popular with teenagers and young adults. Camden Lock market is always worth a visit.
Soho - for alternative music, clothes
Covent Garden - Fashionable district home to quaint outlets and relatively expensive designer retail. Neal Street in the heart of Covent Garden is considered a haven for shoe shopping. Chain stores around the Seven Dials area include G Star Raw, Adidas Originals, Fred Perry, All Saints, Stussy and Carhartt. The Market area is home to the London Transport Museum, whose gift shop has some of the best souvenirs in the city (vintage Tube posters, old maps, etc).
Knightsbridge: including Harrods the slightly more expensive retailer, and Harvey Nichols.
Chelsea - the King's Road is noted for fashion, homewares and kids
Regent Street: between Oxford and Piccadilly Circuses - includes such gems as Hamleys, considered to be London's flagship toy store, on seven levels, and the London Apple Store
Tottenham Court Road: specializing in interior decorations and electronics
Charing Cross Road - for book stores, new, specialized and antiquarian
Leicester Square - London is a famous place for musicals, but it is quite hard to get a ticket for it. However, if you go to Leicester Square, there is this district where you can get many half-price tickets for all of the musicals showing in London - in the center of the square you will find the "TKTS" booth which is operated in collaboration with all the major theaters, and is the best place to start when looking for cheap theater tickets. As this is one of the more touristy areas of the city, if you're looking for a real London experience, avoid Leicester Square.
Markets - London has plenty, whether you're looking for bric-a-brac, clothes or fresh food, try Portobello, Brick Lane, Greenwich, and Borough for starters. Borough Market (London Bridge tube stop) is a great (if expensive) food market, offering fruit, veg, cheese, bread, meat, fish, and so on, much of it organic. It's open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and it's best to go in the morning, since it gets unpleasantly crowded by around 11am. Spitalfields is an excellent market for clothes from up-and-coming designers, records, housewares, food, and all things trendy.

Central London shops are usually open late at least one night a week, until 7PM-8PM. West End shops (Oxford Street to Covent Garden) stay open until late on Thursdays, while Wednesday evening is late opening for Chelsea and Knightsbridge. Tax-free shops in airports are not strong in variety, prices are equal to London, and they close rather early as well. Shop listings at airport web sites can help to plan your tax-free (vs traditional) shopping. In the evening allow extra half an hour as closing hours are not always strictly respected.

EATING OUT:
A rough pricing guide to eating out in London:

£3 - a good English Pub or Cafeteria breakfast with egg, sausage, a rack of bacon and beans in tomato sauce, coffee or tea and a glass of orange juice. Most pubs stop this offer at 11am.
£5 - a couple of sandwiches and a soft drink, or some fish and chips (takeaway only), or a fast food 'meal'. There are also a number of (mostly) chinese restaurants which serve an 'all you can eat buffet' for around this price. These are dotted about the West End, and it is well worth asking a member of public or a shopkeeper where the nearest one is. These restaurants make much of their revenue on drinks, although these are usually still moderately priced. The food, whilst not being of the finest standard, is usually very tasty, and the range of dishes available is excellent.
£6-8 - a decent meal and a drink of choice at an English pub. Be aware that many pubs have a 2 for one offer, and you can either order two main dishes for yourself or bring a friend. For £6 you can normally also get a good meal at Chinese or Italian restaurants offering a buffet.
£10 - plenty of Chinese/Indian/Thai/Vietnamese restaurants will give you a meal and bottle of beer for this much. Some more expensive restaurants serving French, Mediterranean or International cuisine have cheaper "lunch offers" that include two or three courses.
£20 - a lot more choice: you can have a good meal, half a bottle of wine and change for the bus home. There are plenty of modest restaurants that cater for this bracket.
£40 - you are generally paying for nicer interior, or a better view. But if you are trying to impress a special someone it'll be worth it.
£50 +: with more money to spend you can pick some of London's finer restaurants. It may be a famous chef (like Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver) or simply a place that prides itself on using the finest ingredients. There is no maximum limit on what you can spend, as some restaurants seem intent on pushing this higher and higher....

Prices inevitably become inflated at venues closest to major tourist attractions - beware the so-called "tourist traps". Notorious areas for inflated menu prices trading on travellers' gullibility and lack of knowledge are the streets around Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, the British Museum and the Palace of Westminster. The worst "tourist trap" food is, in the opinion of many Londoners, that served at the various "Steak Houses". Real Londoners wouldn't dream of eating here - you shouldn't either!

London has many fast food outlets. Sandwich shops are London's most popular places to buy lunch, and there are a lot of places to choose from. More upmarket chains such as Eat and Pret a Manger offer ready-made sandwiches made with quality ingredients--the latter of these, especially, is recommended. Other independent shops will make sandwiches to order, but depending on where you go the product may not be as large as you expect. Some Italian sandwich shops have a very good reputation and you can identify them easily by looking at the long queues at lunchtime. And if all else fails, there's likely to be a Subway nearby (often connected to an easyInternetCafe in case you need to check your email). Another good (and cheap) lunch option is a chicken or lamb doner (you might call it a gyro) at many outlets throughout the city. If all else fails, the central area has lots of mini-supermarkets operated by the big British supermarket chains (e.g. Tesco Metro, Sainsbury's Central etc.) where you can pick up a pre-packed sandwich.

It is worth bearing in mind that if for any reason you are visiting the suburbs of London, the cost of eating out is reduced drastically. Particularly in large ethnic communities, there is a competitive market which stands to benefit the consumer. In East London for example, the vast number of KFC-style chicken shops means that a deal for 2 pieces of chicken, chips (fries) and a drink shouldn't cost you more than £2, and will satisfy even the largest of appetites.

Tipping may also be different than what you're used to. Some places include a service fee (usually 10-12%), and all meals include the 17.5% VAT tax. The general rule is to leave a tip for table service, unless there's already a service charge added or unless the service has been notably poor. The amount tipped is generally in the region of 10%, but if there's a figure between 10 and 15% which would leave the bill at a conveniently round total, many would consider it polite to tip this amount. Tipping for counter service, or any other form of service, is unusual - but some choose to do so if a tips container is provided.

RESTAURANTS:
If you are looking for particular nationalities these tend to be clustered in certain areas: Brick Lane is famously known for curries, but for a better quality meal (and cheaper) Tooting has a far better reputation. For a collection of good value Indian Vegetarian restaurants, go to Drummond Street (just behind Euston railway station). There's Chinatown (Soho) for Chinese, Kingsland Road (Shoreditch) for good cheap Vietnamese, Brixton for African/Caribbean, Golders Green for Jewish and Edgware Road (Marylebone) for Middle Eastern cuisine. Other nationalities are equally represented, but are randomly dotted all over London.

VEGETARIAN:
London has plenty of vegetarian-only restaurants, and a quick search in Google will produce plenty of ideas, so you never have to see a piece of cooked meat all week. If you are dining with carnivorous friends, then most restaurants will cater for vegetarians, and will have at least a couple of dishes on the menu. Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants are generally more fruitful, as they have plenty of traditional dishes that only use vegetables.

SHOP DINING:
London caters for most global tastes by hosting at least one - and sometimes - many food stores that specialize in one or more cuisines. Numerous examples exist, for example, of food stores dedicated to Chinese, Japanese, Italian and African foods.

Fortnum & Mason, "the Queen's grocery store", selling the finest quality (and most expensive) foods and drink
Harrods, a seven floor department store which is world famous.
Harvey Nichols, noted for fashion, jewelry and music.
Selfridges, the Oxford Street emporium, has high style in all categories (like Bloomingdale's in New York)

DRINKING/PUBS:
You are reminded that London is an expensive place and that your drink is likely to cost you more than its equivalent elsewhere in the UK. Expect to pay close on £3 for a pint of beer in an 'average' pub. However, the cost of alcohol drops significantly the farther away you go from the central area (though be aware that West London tends to be an exception, with prices pretty much the same as central London). 'Classier' bars and pubs can be much more expensive. However many local pubs, especially those run by chains like Wetherspoons and Scream tend to be more reasonably priced, the latter catering for a student audience. In the Euston area, check out The Court (near the top end of Tottenham Court Road) and The Rocket (on Euston Road, a short walk from the British Library); both are part of the Scream chain and are fairly cheap to drink in, given that they cater for students of the adjacent University College London. Directly opposite the British Library is The Euston Flyer, popular with locals and commuters alike given its close proximity to Euston, St. Pancras and King's Cross railway stations.

The Knights Templar on Chancery Lane is an atypical but very pleasant, if large, pub. As it is part of the JD Wetherspoon chain, it is cheap but, unlike most of the rest of the chain, is a nice place to drink.

The general rule about tourist traps applies to pubs as much as anything else - you will find plenty of "traditional English pubs" near major attractions (usually the type with mock Tudor style cladding and lots of hanging baskets decorating the outside), with inflated prices to match - avoid them all. For a cheap pint near Piccadilly Circus, check out The Midas Touch (Golden Square, just off Beak Street in Soho), is another popular pub with locals and usually has some good happy hour deals.

However, these are the more trendier bars/clubs. Some classy and somewhat expensive hip and trendy bars include the Light Bar, Long Bar and Purple Bar. One of the most interesting pubs in London can be found off Old Street: The Foundry. It's got a unique atmosphere, and serves excellent organic ales and stouts from Pitfield's, a local brewery. It's closed on Mondays. Make sure to go downstairs to the bathrooms, as there is usually an art exhibit in the halls. If you're looking for something a little more rock/metal oriented then you may want to try the Intrepid Fox in the west end or the Devonshire Arms in Camden, but be prepared to look the part.

NIGHTCLUBS:
Nightlife seems to be an integral feature of London life and there are countless nightclubs in and around the Central London area with music to suit even the most eclectic of tastes. Districts in London tend to specialize to different types of music.

The Shoreditch/Farringdon/Hoxton area mainly consists of Nightclubs playing Drum & Bass, House & Trance Music and is home to two superclubs, Fabric (arguably the best nightclub in London) and Turnmills. The clubs in this area are often home to the world's top DJ's and attracts a lively crowd.

The area around the West End (Leicester Square, Piccadilly, Mayfair) is home to the more upmarket and exclusive clubs in London. Music played here is often of the Chart R&B, Hip Hop and Funky House genre. Notable clubs include China White, Funky Buddha, Mahiki, Cafe De Paris, Number One Leicester Square and Paper. This area attracts a rather pretentious crowd who love to flaunt what they have and is a must go to celebrity spot. Beware that drinks are ridiculously expensive and many clubs operate a guestlist only policy. The Camden area is made of clubs which play Rock, Metal and Indie Music. Notable clubs include Electric Ballroom, Underworld and the world famous Koko.

Open top bus tours offer a good, albeit somewhat expensive, introduction to the sights of London. Two principal operators tend to dominate the market for this kind of tour: (The Original Tour and The Big Bus Company). Both provide hop-on/hop-off services where you can get off at any attraction and catch the next bus; both provide live commentaries in English and recorded commentaries in other languages (not necessarily on the same buses).
London Theatre - go and see a musical, play or comedy in London's Theatreland. The weekly Time Out magazine has listings for most plays, concerts, etc. London Theatre has a large variety of shows from fringe to Broadway-like musicals and productions. The West End district is where you'll find the last type, with famous imported Broadway shows and some very good local productions. You can find discounted tickets to these shows at the Half Price Ticket Booth (aka: TKTS) in the area, where reduced tickets are sold on a free seats basis.
Take in a home match of one of London's 20+ professional Football clubs for a true experience of a lifetime as you see the passion of the "World's Game" in its mother country. The biggest clubs clubs include Chelsea, Fulham, Brentford, Queen's Park Rangers (West London); Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur (North London); West Ham United, Leyton Orient (East London); Charlton Athletic, Millwall, Crystal Palace (South London).
Explore many of London's most interesting buildings during the London Open House Weekend every . During this weekend several hundred buildings which are not normally open to the public are opened up. See website for details of buildings opening in any given year - book early for the popular ones!

ICE SKATING:
London has a number of outdoor ice rinks that open in the winter months. Considered by some to be somewhat overpriced and overcrowded, they nonetheless have multiplied in recent years, easing congestion and increasing competition. Most charge from £10-12 (adults) for an hour on the ice, including skate hire.

Take part in one of the free organized Street Skates (Wednesday/Friday/Sunday). Experienced marshals stop traffic while you roll along past the sights and sounds of London.
Somerset House, Strand, Tube: Temple, Charing Cross, Holborn, Covent Garden, Waterloo and Blackfriars - set in the courtyard of Somerset House, this has become a Londoner's favorite, although how it will compete with the newcomers remains to be seen. It's preferable to visit at night, when the Christmas tree is lit up. From 24 November 2005 - 29 January 2006.
Kew Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Tube: Kew Gardens - a relative newcomer to the scene, this draws in skaters despite the distance from central London. The ice rink is situated in front of the Temperate House (the large greenhouse containing the exotic plants), a combined entry ticket is available, allowing you to wander round the fascinating gardens as well. 26 November 2005 - 15 January 2006.
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road - this museum has decided to join in the rinks this year, and looks to be an interesting venue for a festive skate. If you've visited the museum before, you will appreciate the beautiful building that the museum occupies. There is also a Christmas fair (which is free), selling various gift ideas. From 16 November 2005 – 22 January 2006. Nearest tube: South Kensington (Circle, District and Piccadilly Lines).
Tower of London - another debut this year, set in the tourist-hotspot of the famous Tower. The ice rink itself will be hosted in the dry moat beneath the North wall of the Tower of London. From 19th November 2005 for 7 weeks. Nearest tube: Tower Hill (Circle and District Lines)
Canary Wharf - opened for the first time in 2005, the Canary Wharf ice rink offers a café and bar, and the only genuine Central Park style skating in London, in the smart Canada Square park surrounding by glittering office tower blocks. Nearest tube: Canary Wharf (Jubilee line and Docklands Light Railway)

In summer (and also in winter, for the more dedicated) there is also a thriving roller skating (on inline and traditional "quad" skates) scene in London, catering to many disciplines including street hockey, freestyle slalom, dance, general recreational skating (including three weekly marshalled group street skates) and speed skating. This mostly centers around Hyde Park (on the Serpentine Road) and Kensington Gardens (by the Albert Memorial).

Skate Patrol runs free stopping and turning classes, and can advise you if you have the skills to join one of the street skates. They can also refer you to an ICP qualified instructor if you want to take things further. Serpentine Road near the lake, Hyde Park, Sundays 1pm-5pm. Look for the red t-shirts.
Group street skates are the LondonSkate on Wednesdays (8pm, Serpentine Road, April-September), the London Friday Night Skate (8pm, Hyde Park Corner) and the Sunday Stroll (2pm, Serpentine Road)
The Easy Peasy Skate for absolute beginners runs in Battersea Park: 10:30am Saturdays
The SerpentineRoad.com discussion forum is the best place to ask about any other kind of wheeled skating and to find like-minded people
Easyskate provides qualified instructors (most of them teach in Hyde Park check out easyskate.co.uk

THEATRE:
London Theatre - go and see a musical, play or comedy in London's Theatreland. The weekly Time Out magazine has listings for most plays, concerts, etc. London Theatre has a large variety of shows from fringe to Broadway-like musicals and productions. The West End district is where you'll find the last type, with famous imported Broadway shows and some very good local productions. You can find discounted tickets to these shows at the Half Price Ticket Booth (aka: TKTS) in the area, where reduced tickets are sold on a free seats basis.