I am visiting London in February for 5 days but have no interest in seeing the typical London sights, since I have spent significant time there about eight years ago. Now I'm back visiting a friend who recently moved there and need daytime excursion advice. <BR> <BR>I am willing to go as far as an hour outside London. Any suggestions for me? Music, theatre, parks, cool historical sights, pubs and "off-the-beaten-track" placed all appeal to me. Thanks!!

Fodors <BR> <BR>Dear Ms Gruenberger, <BR> <BR>It's rather a wide range, but here goes. <BR> <BR>Music. Fusion in Brixton. Recitals of classical music at lunchtime in such City churches as St Anne and St Agnes and in St James Piccadilly. Jazz for Sunday lunchtime in north London pubs All these are in the listings magazine "Time Out", which you can buy at a kiosk in your arrival airport and read on the boring train to the West End. <BR> <BR>Theatre. The Fringe. Especially the Almeida, the Hampstead, and the Tricycle, but it's well worth looking at notes on all the Fringe. When you book over the phone by credit card you can ask about nearby meals: fringe theatres are next to good pubs or have good meals of their own. <BR> <BR>Parks. Richmond Park, combined with a fringe theatre show and a walk among the shops. Dulwich Park, cmbinjed with a visit to the Art Gallery and lunch in the Village. <BR> <BR>Cool historical sights. Please define cool, and I'll see what I can say. I have on disc a note on walks designed to lllustrate English history: shall I copy it to you? <BR> <BR>Pubs. I also have on disc a note of ubs where I like the weekday lunches: again, shall I copy it ? <BR> <BR>"Off-the-beaten-track". <BR>The Thames Barrage <BR>The Tudor Barn at Eltham, and if it's open Eltham Palace. By train from London Bridge <BR>The Ranger's House at the top of Greenwich Park. By train to Blackheath from Victora or Charing Cross <BR>Croydon for the old parish church, the market, the Clocktower art gallery, a pub supper, and a concert at Fairfield Halls. By train from London Bridge or Victoria <BR>Brixton market <BR>Deptford, for St Paul's church, St Nicholas' Church, and the oldest commuter railway in the world. Then bus ten minutes to Rotherhithe for the Mayflower pub for lunch and the Church of St Mary, from which the Pilgrim Fathers embarked for Holland and the New World. <BR>Borough Market, by London Bridge station, for lunch at the Market Porter pub, Neal's cheese shop, the Cook and Konditorei pastry shop, the real pork pie stall, Southwark Cathedral (older and better than St Paul's), and the replica of the Golden Hind. <BR> <BR>I'm told they have good things north of the river too. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, South London <BR> <BR>

A question for Ben: <BR>Years back I met with an MP at the Palace of Westminster and managed to get a drink in one of the (several) bars in the Houses of Parliament. Is this still possible or has it been discontinued because of security? If it were possible I think it would be a great off the beaten path visit in London (just like dribbling bean soup on yourself in the open-to-the-public Senate cafeteria in the US Capitol, while sitting next various electeds and wannabes.) <BR>Also, how about the pedestrian tunnel under the Thames at Greenwich? <BR>

The foot tunnel under the Thames at greenwich/Isle of Dogs is still there and now connects Greenwich with the Island Gardens station of the Dockland Light Railway. While in Greenwich go round the Cutty Sark which as well as being an old ship is also a museum of the trade and culture of Tea. They'll almost certainly still be some millenium related exhibit at the Observatory atop the hill in Greenwich Park. <BR> <BR>Take a walk along the Thames towpath starting at Kew Gardens and finishing at Hampton Court, it gives a different perspective on the river. Second thoughts, this stroll might be better in June than February.

I certainly can't compete with Ben Haines' list, but I would add a visit to the Old Bailey to see the British court system in action. It's absolutely fascinating!

Well, Brenda, here's one that not everybody's tried. Get a good travel book, I suggest the EYEWITNESS/LONDON, and look up Highgate cemetery, Archway tube stop I believe. This is a Victorian graveyard that is as unique as any site London has to offer. There is an east side (Karl Marx is buried there) and a west side which is much older and much more interesting. It is wild and unkempt with grave on top of grave and vegetation growing rampant. Monuments range from a lifesized carved mastiff to a full size, marble piano. It was THE place for rich Victorians to be burried in the 19th century. It is beautiful and very strange, at once. Bram Stoker used it as his model sitting for his classic novel, DRACULA, during the segment where the Count has moved to England. <BR> <BR>During the winter it is only open certain days and then only briefly. The old, west side is open only on weekends, I think, so do check first as not seeing that side would severly hamper your enjoyment. <BR> <BR>It is run by THE FRIENDS OF HIGHGATE, which is a non-profit, strictly volenteer group and their hours are erratic. Hopefully you'll get to meet Francis, a very knowledgable old gent who's office is in a crypt, along with a black cat or two. Take a camera, your going to be amazed.

If you are into antique markets, the Bermondsey market on Friday mornings from 5:00AM - Noon is great. You should get there by 7:30 or you will miss much.

The Silver Vaults are really fun and interesting...a very large area(inside) with "stalls" or large "cages" packed with all sorts of antique silver items, from home decorations, dining accessories to jewelry. Have been twice, but do not know the location.

For those with literary tastes, a visit to the house where Samuel Johnson compiled the first comprhensive dictionary of the English language is a treat. It' in the City down a small lane near St. Paul's. Few people visit but it gives a fine sense of life in 18th century London and an appreciation of the life of a great man.

These suggestions are marvelous; there is a small book that came out a couple of years ago devoted to lesser-known London museums (can't recall the title at the moment), and it's well worth a look. <BR> <BR>Let me add the house of Jane and Thomas Carlyle in Chelsea as a lovely off-the-beaten-track place to visit. It is a rare early Victorian interior, and the Carlyles' strong personalities seem to linger there. Another fun jaunt: the Old Operating Theatre in Southwark, where you get a chilling glimpse of premodern surgery. And if you like old ships (and especially if you like the late [alas] Patrick O'Brian's novels), a train ride down to Portsmouth for the day to visit the Victory is a must. <BR> <BR>--Cuttle

See the Redcuced Shakespeare Company's production of ALL of Shakespeare's plays in one night (just off the Picadilly Tube). It's hillariously funny to those who love or can't stand Shakespeare. Very silly--with three guys playing all the parts. Discount tickets were plentiful a while back.

old but good - bump