ENTERTAINMENT IN LONDON
The entertainment in London is a major draw for those people who are considering moving to London; it's also a reason why some people never leave!
Sightseeing
London Pass
Museums
London Theatres
Comedy in London
Tickets for events in London
Cinemas in London
Going out in London
London Restaurants
Staying In
Shopping in London
Sightseeing
You've just moved to London, so of course you're going to want to visit London's most famous landmarks if you haven't had the opportunity to do so before. Also, if you have friends and family visiting you in a couple of months time, you'll want to be able to wow them with your London knowledge and give them your own personalised London tour!
Amongst London's must-sees are:
- London Eye
- Tower of London
- Westminster Abbey
- Buckingham Palace
- Shakespeare's Globe
Many of London's fantastic museums are now free to visit. These include the:
- British Library
- British Museum,
- National Gallery
- Natural History Museum
- National Portrait Gallery
- Science Museum
- Tate Modern
- The Tate Britain
- The Victoria and Albert Museum
- Bank of London Museum
- Imperial War Museum
- Museum of London
- National Maritime Museum
- Sir John Soane's Museum.
For more sightseeing ideas, read Time Out's brilliant Shortlist London 2010 which is pocket-sized and selects the very best that London has to offer. Alternatively, have a look at our London Guidebooks page for more London titles.
London Theatre
With the exception of possibly Broadway, London showcases the very best theatre productions that the world has to offer. Whether you're into musicals, Shakespeare or fringe theatre, you'll always be able to find something that is to your taste. The position of many of London's finest theatres, also allows for a fantastic selection of pre-theatre dining packages in restaurants scattered all over the West End. For discount tickets offers, excellent meal deals and gift vouchers, click here for more info and great deals.
Comedy in London
With the likes of Michael McIntyre, Ricky Gervais and Peter Kay currently performing sellout tours, there is no doubt that some of the world's best comedians are British. To book tickets for a specific tour, you'll need to get in there quickly, as soon as dates are announced, although sometimes extra dates are added due to popular demand, so it's a good idea to keep checking Viagogo for the latest news and ticket prices.
If you're looking for a more spontaneous and less expensive evening in giggles, then head to one of London's top comedy clubs. We've reviewed the best of the best in our article on Comedy in London
Tickets for events in London
Much like any other entertainment type listed in this section, when it comes to events and concerts, London will always attract the best performers. The 02 arena in London is now the UK's number 1 venue for music, since it was converted from the Millennium Dome in 2007.Past concerts of note have included the likes of Beyonce, Led Zeppelin, Bon Jovi, Prince, Britney Spears and the Spice Girls. Sporting events such as NBA Basketball, NHL Ice Hockey and Heavyweight Boxing have also been held here. However, the 02 isn't the only venue in London. Wembley Arena and the Royal Albert Hall also both hold events that command huge audiences.
Sporting fixtures in London attract passionate sports fans from all over the world. Whether it be football (soccer), rugby, cricket, tennis or countless other sports, London has sporting grounds dotted all over it and thousands of fans snap up tickets left, right and centre, to see their favourite sportsman/woman or team in action! The best advice we can give you is to look for tickets early - don't leave it till the last minute or you'll be dearly disappointed. To be in with a shot of seeing your sporting heroes, visit Viagogo now!
Cinemas in London
London's cinema district is located in Leicester Square. This is where big screen giants such as Empire, Odeon and Vue all congregate and the latest film premieres take place. If you want to catch a glimpse of a Hollywood star on the red carpet, then this is where you need to be. Unfortunately the prices of tickets for the cinemas in Leicester Square are quite expensive. You should expect to pay between GBP14-16 for an adult, although student discounts are available if eligible. Leicester Square isn't the only place to see films though. There are chain branches of cinemas scattered all over London, as well as independent cinemas showing less mainstream films.
Going out in London
You could live in London for 80 years and never get chance to visit all the different pubs, bars and clubs that the capital has to offer. Which is a shame, but it does mean that you won't get bored of visiting the same haunts all the time. There are sports bars, gastro pubs, champagne bars, Irish pubs, pubs with beers from all over the world, gay bars, wine bars..... the list goes on and on and on. It would be impossible for us to list all the great places that you could visit here, but an absolutely essential guide for anyone moving to London is the Time Out Eating and Drinking Guide - buy it now, you won't be disappointed!
London Restaurants
Another reason you'll have for using your TimeOut Eating and Drinking guide is for choosing which one of London's delicious restaurants to eat at. London is such a multi-cultural society and this is reflected in the amazing plethora of different cuisines that we have on offer in our London restaurants. Whether you're interested in Chinese or Czech, Indian or Indonesian, Vietnamese or Vegetarian, you'd be hard-pressed to find a national cuisine that isn't catered for in our capital. Not all restaurants are off-the-charts expensive (although we do have those as well). There are plenty of intimate, affordable eateries that are far from being greasy spoons (although again, we do have those as well!). TimeOut publishes an excellent guide, divided into areas of London and complete with maps, it picks out the cheap, yet amazingly tasty options that are available to all of us. For further information, take a look at Cheap Eats in London
Staying in
Staying in is the new going out! - Whether you're staying at home because of the credit crunch, because you can't be bothered with nightbuses or hailing taxis at 3am or because your living-room is the only place you know where the bar has never heard of last orders, you can still be greatly entertained in the comfort of your own home. If you're a take-away and movie kind of a person, then you'll need Lovefilm for endless dvds and Just Eat bringing you the best local takeaways straight to your front door.
If you're thinking of an evening at home that doesn't involve you looking like Jabba the Hut on the sofa, then how about getting together a group of friends and throwing a Come Dine With Me-style of dinner party, where you host a lovely evening's entertainment and then your guests mark you out of 10 and film their responses on someone's mobile or video-cam. If you're worried about money, then you could set a budget that each host has to stick to.
Alternatively you could 'have a night in' but in someone else's home, at a secret supper club . They're very popular in London at the moment.
Finally, if you're brave enough, throw a house party. It can be as large or small a you like and can be a great way to extend your social circle, if you let your guests know that they can 'bring a friend'. You should probably stock up on some cheap bottles of booze from somewhere affordable like Majestics or Oddbins and make sure your guests know to also 'bring a bottle'. If you happen to run out of booze (horror of horrors), contact Just Eat who should be able to arrange a late-night alcohol run for you.
Shopping
London is a shopper's paradise. People travel from all over the country and overseas to visit London's department stores and shopping districts. So for those of us who actually live here, our wallets are in real trouble. However, London is vast and unless you know what you're doing and where you're going, you might find the experience to be a little overwhelming, so read our article on Shopping in London so you know where you need to go.
