Hi, we finally booked tickets for London, the 28th to the 4th. We’re in our mid-twenties, pretty active, and into history. We’re visiting friends in Oxford for one day, and plan on lots of museum time. Money is a bit of an issue, I can’t follow all of MK’s suggestions, but we can splurge a little.

-What show should we see (preferably with tickets from TKTS or under $60 US pp). I don’t want to do the typical tourist le’mis. I think we might enjoy a play more than a musical, but are up for something a little more modern. There was a thread about this a few months ago, but I can’t find it now.

-We’re staying at the Hilton Metropole (sp?) on Edgewater. Will I be able to go running from the hotel, or will I need to take the tube to Hyde park? I’m guessing London is like NYC as far as traffic goes, so I’m guessing I’ll have to take the tube.

-clothes, yes I know, but we seem to like beating dead horses around here! Is a sports-coat appropriate for most theaters and restaurants? Is a tie necessary?

-where can I buy Christmas decorations on clearance? This is our first Christmas decorating at home, and I hardly have anything! I’d love to stock up at after season sales for next year.

Thanks!

Check the TKTS website to see what is typically offered at the 1/2 price ticket stand. <b>www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts/today</b> Then you will have a better idea of whether you can buy tickets there or if you should purchase them from the box office.

We were in London last Christmas and we found the nicest ornaments at Harrods. I'm sure they'd be on sale after Christmas, but I'm not sure when their big sale starts. I brought a glass beefeater ornament back (carefully packed, of course!)

Regarding theatre tickets, I have had good luck several times at the Half Price Ticket Booth at Leicester Square on the day of a performance. There are many ticket booths in the area but the one that was recommended to me is the square stone structure right at the Square. It doesn't appear from the people I saw at the theatres that tie and jacket are necessary.

Your spelling of Metropole was okay, but your spelling of Edgware Road was a bit off. I would walk to Hyde Park; it's about 1km (10 -12 min) to Hyde Park at Marble Arch.

At the risk of soubding like a broken record:

What's &quot;appropriate&quot; to wear to eat or to be entertained is up to you, and is no business of anyone else's.

There are a couple of eateries that cater for the socialy insecure by telling them what to wear. You're unlikely to encounter them if you think money's going to be an issue.

We'd no more wear jacket and tie to go to a theatre (except for the most expensive seats at Covent Garden) than we would to watch TV at home. We don't point fingers of scorn at people who overdress, assuming they're on the way home from work. But, unless you were very insensitive, you would certainly be aware you were the oddballs, and not the rest of us.

It's difficult to predict what merchandise retailers will put into Sales, and others might have more experience on this. I've seen Christmas decorations in the John Lewis sale occasionally (Oxford Street), but Oxford Street can be hellish at Sale time. Looking for discounted deccies might not be successful, and would certainly absorb a great deal of your limited time.

You might try ttt'ing this post in late December, in case anyone has spotted a cache of cheap deccies anywhere in the centre.

Hypermarkets do often mark deccies down aggressively. They're mostly inaccessible to visitors in Central London, but if you're driving to Oxford there's a useful Asda (and a second chance to look for them in a John Lewis Clearance) at the M40/A404 intersection (High Wycombe exit).

for the theatre - you say you don't want anything touristy, if so, do not limit yourself to the west end shows who sell through TKTS. check out the national theatre or barbican. hardly any tourists attend these shows because they are aimed mostly at locals. tickets are inexpensive (many &pound;10 seats available through a special offer and regular priced tix are not that expensive either) and the quality is (speaking very generally) far superior to the commercial west end shows. the reason is that the west end shows must make a profit and therefore appeal to a mass audience. these shows are funded and therefore the producers have much more freedom to experiment. west end is having a difficult time with ticket sales while the national is thriving. i very rarely spend more than &pound;25 ($45) for a show. musicals are generally not done in these venues.

with some exceptions, the west end's bread and butter has been musicals and more recently poor quality, short run productions with american stars looking for some &quot;cred&quot; by doing british theatre. i have seen many of these and they are rubbish...i have sworn off of them. it might be nice to go home and tell your friends that you saw gillian anderson or luke perry in a london show but hardly worth sitting through rubbish when you could be seeing something good.

www.nt-online.org
www.barbican.org.uk

for clothing, you will not feel out of place in casual. when i go out for dinner and a show i usually wear a sport coat, jeans and a sweater or dress shirt (no tie).

Wear jeans and a t-shirt to the theatre, it's naff to get dressed up unless it's opera, and even then...

Wear a jacket with a t-shirt rather than a shirt, it's a sharper look, but make sure the t-shirt is long sleeved and of fine quality cotton.

Thank you for the responses. HAs anyone seen &quot;The History Boys&quot; at the national theater? I can't find a review online, just that it's been extended and is usually fairly full-which I assume are good signs.

&gt;... make sure the t-shirt is long sleeved and of fine quality cotton.&lt;

A long-sleeved Tee shirt????????

Gor blimey.

See if there is a restaurant still on Edgeware Road called Mandalay. The BEST Thai food and atmosphere and so Inexpensive!
Go to Alfies, right off Edgeware, great fun antiquing..there are other shops all along the road and in the Antiques mall, you might be able to find some fun Christmas ornaments.
There is a store along Sloan St ( or in the area of) called General Trading Co..I bought some lovely things for our house, ornaments will be plentiful.
Jacket is good, ties are rarely needed for a play or dinners. ( husband wears a black turtleneck with his jacket most times to a play in the winter)
Have a wonderful time, I wish I were going to

The reviews of The History Boys ranged from ecstatic to mild admiration, but primarily favorable. Be aware than like many of his plays, The HIstory Boys is quite wordy, but there is lots of great subtle humor if you listen well. Generally speaking the comments about the performances in the play have been very favorable.

While I respect what walkinaround says, don't assume that everything you see at the National is automatically wonderful and everything in the west end is &quot;rubbish&quot; -- that is far too general an observation. First of all several big hits in the West End actually came from the National, so how come they were great when there, but apparently turned to rubbish once they appeared in the West End. Jerry Springer the Opera is just one such production.

And while no trip of mine to London is complete without seeing at least one play at The National (shows are in reportory so at any given time there are several to choose from), I've also seen some real &quot;rubbish&quot; there too. I anxiously awaited a production of Cyrano there last summer and found it to be one of the most uneven, miscast, and poorly interpreted versions of the play ever done (and the critics pretty well agreed with me).

Walkinaround also failed to mention The Donmar, where I've seen several of the most &quot;brilliant&quot; bits of theatre in the last few years that I've seen anywhere. But good luck getting tickets to there during that holiday weekend -- and I suspect the same will be true for the National and others.

If I were in London, one West End show I'd hurry to see, and fortunately it is usuallly available at TKTS is Festen. It suits the description you mention.

I saw History Boys at a sold-out Saturday matinee in late October. I thought it well worth seeing. But I am somewhat familiar with Bennett's work, having read his collected writings book and seen the hilariously funny play, Kafka's Dick. History Boys is not nearly as funny, but still enjoyable.

hmmm...

I am a historian of sorts and work with academics a lot, so I thought I might find it interesting because of that, but I'm not sure how hard I can concentrate for three hours if it's really &quot;dense.&quot;

I can still purchase tickets online at the national for that weekend. Should I buy the tickets now just in case it sells out?

Thanks for all the help.

Is there an equivellent of JC Penny's/Macy's/Bloomingdales for christmas decorations?

Also, are there any baby products unique to the US? I'm guessing not, but I thought I'd ask.

looks like you've gotten good advice regarding theatre. I'll only post on the running..

Hyde park is a short run down the edgeware road into the Park. Use the pedestrian underpass/subway to gt into the park. You'll enter the Park at Speakers Corner. Head south (left/ straight ahead). You go arounff Kensington Gardens as well. Watch out for the cyclists (their lane is marked). I usually stay on the outer rim of the Park. It's quite safe ( I've never run through in the dark but many people do). If you want a longer run go counter clockwise and use the underpass and you can run along green park to St James Park as well.

Also check out serpentine.org.uk It's running club with route maps and weekly runs in London.

Thanks so much for that link! There's a 10k on new years day I think I'll run-my first overseas race!

How many miles can I do in the park without re-tracing my steps? I'm guessing it's safer than running in Central park, or no? Thanks!