Night Activities in London
 

I am going to London for 4 nights (Thurs-Sun) with my mother. I lived in London for 6 months, but I am not sure what to plan for the two of us (53 and 25) to do in the city for so many nights. I guess we will try to get discounted tickets to a musical or play, but there is nothing that either of us particularly care to see. And I guess we could always go to a movie...any other ideas? I don't think she would enjoy the same bars and clubs that I did when I lived there, three years ago.

&quot;<i>there is nothing that either of us particularly care to see</i>&quot;

There are sooooo many plays/musicals, I can't imagine anyone who enjoys theater even the tiniest bit not being able to find <b>something</b> of interest.

That being said - there are some great London Walks in the evenings, concerts of every variety, some museums have one late night a week.

Buy Time Out the day you arrive and take your pick . . . . .

Take an &quot;Original London Walk&quot; (or two or three).

Ride &quot;The Eye&quot; at dusk/dark.

Walk from Westminster, up through Trafalgar, to Covent Garden and/or Piccadilly.

Ride the open top bus around the city at night. There's a night bus tour that was wonderful (but long - warning, it was several hours and didn't end until quite late). Admire the buildings and listen to the stories told by the guide.

Shop or sightsee until the stores close, then go to a late dinner.

Find a concert or other special event.

Get tickets for the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. (It doesn't take long, but becomes the focal point of the evening.)

I could fill hundreds of nights in London this way - hope the suggestions help!

Gayle

You could watch the sign rotate outside of Scotland Yard.

Why not visit a local boozer, for a good hot curry dinner, then knock down dozen or so pints of bitter, whilst at the quiz night.

I'll remember that, SeaUrchin. I'm always on the lookout for free entertainment in London. :-))

Ok, your mom is in my age group (I hate to admit this). She'll be fine in the same bars you went to three years ago. Plays are a good option, but also consider rock concerts. ticketmaster uk or ticketweb.co.uk will let you know what's on when. If you're going in August, the Stones are playing Wembley. John Fogerty (Creedence) is playing at the end of June, as is Foreigner. Take her to Lock 17 in Camden Town (formerly Dingwalls), or the jazz club, Ronnie Scotts, in Soho. Best to check Time Out when you get there to see what's on.

http://london.walks.com/ is a good idea - the evening walks are often pub crawls. I've done them alone, with my sons and with friends; the pub stops are a chance to chat with others on the walk or in the pub. I went out with a fellow I met on a pub walk for something like 10 years.

Get a copy of Time Out as soon as you get here. It lists just about everything and should give you some ideas.

ttt

Time Out isn't quite as good at answering your question as many people think. And your suspicion that a grownup might not like some of London's bars is probably well-founded, if you enjoyed the ghastlily cacophonous, standing-room-only, hells on earth many of our adolescents spend their evenings ruining their hearing in.

Don't limit your theatre etc selection to places that sell tickets at the TKTS kiosk: look at the other options in Time Out's Off West End and Fringe sections.

Use the Victoria Research site (http://victorianresearch.org/lectures.html), rather than TO, for the booming range of lectures available.

Check at the major museums etc for evening events, though this and the Victoria Research suggestion work best if you're here once London wakes up again after its summer break.

But if you regard 4 nights together as &quot;so many&quot;, the chances are you've got a problem we can't easily help you with. So why make it worse for yourselves?

Your mother's a grown woman. She's undoubtedly capable of finding ways of amusing herself here without your help. Whatever she enjoys doing at home, she can do here - and there's no law against sitting in your hotel room, reading or listening to literate radio (Anyone who comes here and doesn't spend a slug of time listening to Radio 4 has been wasting their time).

Just go your separate ways.

sylvie80 posted this back in Feb. I'm pretty sure they took the trip and returned home months ago. Not quite sure why March Madness topped the thing. . . . .

Sounds daft but I recently took a 50+ man to see a 3d movie at the Imax cinema. He was distinctly unimpressed with the idea in advance but it absolutely blew him away and he came out raving and wanting to bring his friends there. They also show one of the mainstream releases in the evenings so we followed up the novelty film with V for Vendetta. If you are film lovers it's a great experience.

How about going to a museum? I believe the V&amp;A is open until 10 pm on Wednesdays and other ones have late hours too

If you're going in summer, how about open-air theatre at Regent's Park. Walking tours are good ideas, too.
Have a late dinner, plus some drinks at a quiet bar. Museums have late-night openings, usually on Fri. Selfridges is open til 9pm on Thursday.
Why bother with a movie--I found UK film theatres rather expensive, esp those multiplex at Covent Garden, &pound;9 per adult.