Mary

We are from around the world - US, Canada, Australia, Columbia, NZ, lots of Europe, Africa and Asia (but their English skills are limited so its hard to get them to join us). The ladies tour & shop all day while the gents meet. In the evening we like to socialize but none of us know where we could get together for drinks and dinner other than the same old restaurant scene. Looking for interesting ideas....river cruise? Rowing club? Buckingham Palace? Tower of London? We have 4 nights to fill and clever ideas would be welcome. Is any great theatre on that would appeal to an international audience?

nona1

Buckingham Palace and Tower of London are not places you can go to for dinner (unless you are a personal friend of royalty?) or in the evening.

The river cruise is probably a good option but pick one carefully. Some are for stag/hen parties to get outrageously drunk, dance to 70s disco, and puke over the side of the boat.

How about a trip to the IMAX cinema at Waterloo - I've taken a few first-timers there and it takes their breath away.

I would suggest something like dinner at a comedy club, but perhaps their English will not be up to it.

A musical might go down well, as you can usually follow these reasonably well (or at least just enjoy the music and singing) even if your English is not great, and there are loads to choose from in London.

There is a medieval banquet place in St Katherines Dock, with food and entertainment, which is extremely cheesy, but kinda good fun if you can enter into the spirit of it. After the 'show' they continue with a disco.

sashh

there are loads of theatres and for 40 people you should be able to negotiate a discount. If you pick something where the story is well known people who's english is poor could familiarise themselves with the story before hand.

An opera might be good for this - the stories are usually very simple, but this could be expensive.

If you are here at the end of november you might just be in time for a pantomime.

There is a company called Bateaux London Restaurant Cruises - I have no personal recommendation but look like it might by good for your group.

The Levantine in Paddington I can recommend the food and I believe some evenings they have belly dancing.

audere_est_facere

What about an evening historical pub walk? You get to see some interesting bits of london and vist three or four nice pubs on the way.

flanneruk

Practically anywhere in and around London (including the Houses of Lords and Commons, excluding Buckingham Palace, but under some circumstances bits of most other royal palaces,and under all circumstances involving enough money Blenheim Palace) is available for hire. Options include the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, most City livery companies and the crypts of many of the great churches. But 40 people is a bit too small for some venues.

Both HMS Belfast and the Cabinet War Rooms seem to offer the option of bespoke dinners for 30-50 people (see their pages at www.prestigemeetings.co.uk)

Alternatively, surf through the venues at http://tinyurl.com/2uc2sn and the couple of dozen pages after that.

Mary

Thanks for these recommendations. I will share them with the others. I didn't really expect the palace or tower to host us but we did have an event at Parliament House last time we met in London in 2000 which was unique.

The historical pub walk would be great for a night when we break into smaller groups. I will google it to see what pops up.

The 2 web sites Flanneruk mentioned have excellent suggestions and I will pass these along to the others for their perusal.

Thank you all for your time and input.
Mary

Theatre is one of my favorite ideas which most of you agree would be good.