8 Best Performing Arts Venues in London, England

Opened in 1982, The Barbican is an enormous brutalist concrete maze that Londoners either love or hate—but its importance to the cultural life of the capital is beyond dispute. At the largest performing arts center in Europe, you could listen to Elgar, see 1960s photography, and catch German animation with live accompaniment, all in one day. The main concert hall, known for its acoustics, is most famous as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra. The Barbican is also a frequent host to the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Architecture tours take place several times a week.

A landmark on the Notting Hill skyline since 1898, the Coronet has undergone many transformations over the years: from theater to cinema to Pentecostal church to the place where Hugh Grant took Julia Roberts on a date in the rom-com Notting Hill. Today, it's a performing arts venue with a decidedly international and eclectic program of theater, dance, poetry, and music (it's also a host venue for the London Jazz Festival). Be sure to visit the theater bar, the most sumptuous and atmospheric of its kind in the city.

An architectural extravaganza of Edwardian style, this baroque-style theater has a magnificent 2,350-seat auditorium and a rooftop glass dome with a bar and great views. As one of the city's most venerable venues, the Coliseum functions mainly as the home of the English National Opera, which produces innovative opera, sung in English, for lower prices than the nearby Royal Opera House. In recent years the company also has presented musicals, sometimes featuring star opera singers. During opera's off-season (including summertime and during winter holidays), the house hosts the English National Ballet and other troupes. Guided tours offering fascinating insights into the architecture and history of the building take place on selected dates at 11 am.

The general public has never really warmed to the Southbank Centre's hulking concrete buildings (beloved by architecture aficionados), products of the brutalist style popular when the center was built in the 1950s and '60s—but all the same, the masses flock to the world-class concerts, recitals, festivals, and exhibitions held here, the largest arts center in Europe. The Royal Festival Hall is truly a People's Palace, with seats for 2,900 and a schedule that ranges from major symphony orchestras to pop stars. The smaller Queen Elizabeth Hall is more classically oriented. It contains the Purcell Room, which hosts lectures and chamber performances. For art, head to the Hayward Gallery, which hosts shows on top contemporary artists such as Antony Gormley and Cy Twombly. The center's riverside street level has a terrific assortment of restaurants and bars, though many are branches of upscale chains. Friday through Sunday, a street food market with food trucks serves cuisines from around the world.

Arguably London's most atmospheric cultural space, Wilton's has been entertaining the crowds since 1743, first as an alehouse, then as a music hall. It now hosts gigs, talks, theater performances, movie screenings (often with live scores), and swing-dance evenings. The cozy Mahogany Bar, the oldest part of the building, serves a good range of quality local ales, along with snacks and meals that change according to what's playing in the theater. Hourlong historical guided tours take place about once a month (£10).

This arts center, in operation since 1974, has a reputation for producing innovative new theater and dance works as well as hosting top alternative stand-up comics and classical concerts. It also hosts a number of community arts initiatives to develop local talent. Performances take place in quirky spaces all over this atmospheric former town hall. The bar, which serves snacks and shared plates, is open all day.

The French Institute, a cultural center devoted to all things French, is also the home of Ciné Lumière, an Art Deco cinema that shows a thoughtfully curated selection of current arthouse releases, repertory classics, documentaries, and French films, all either in English or with English subtitles. The Institute also hosts lectures and panels on a wide range of contemporary issues and concerts by French artists. There's a brasserie, and, for Francophones (and if you're not one, the Institute offers French courses), the U.K.'s largest multimedia French language library that includes periodicals, books, and DVDs.

You would never suspect that behind the stately white John Nash--designed stucco facade in the heart of Establishment London, you'll find a champion of the avant-garde. Since 1947, the ICA has been pushing boundaries in visual arts, performance, theater, dance, and music. There are two movie theaters, a performance theater, three galleries, a highbrow bookstore, a reading room, and a café-bar.