Londoners weekends

[RufflesPlus]

Inspired by a thread (or a few threads!) in which Londoners tell us how great London is....

What do you actually do in a regular month? How many times do you go to the theatre? Art gallery? Obviously not everyone spends their time in the same way, but give me a feel for living in London! Is it literally daily culture? Don't you get tired?

For context I live in a large town (not city) and go to the theatre, gallery, shops, museums and dinner approx once a month but have always thought the limiting factors to be cost and babysitters rather than availability of activities.

I'm a teacher in an inner city school so my working week looks pretty much like every other teacher's - ie in work by 7.30, head home about 6. Drive because it's quicker than the tube. Do fuck all little after work other than more work.
However, as is the same if you live in a city,there are more options. Friends who don't teach, work in town and commute on the tube often do drinks/dinner after work. I go into town most weekends (20 mins on tube) - i go to gigs at least monthly, this summer they are booked in weekly. Galleries/museums are free so easy to pop into, I go every couple of weeks. Off into town with dd tomorrow - meeting friends for a drink in Camden then different friends in Soho later. I don't do the theatre that often, it's v expensive and I don't fancy lots of shows.

As an ex Londoner - born and bred, lived there 42 years as a normal NHS worker, in my wee terraced house in the suburbs, I never saw much of the London thats projected to the world

Too darn busy working and commuting :)

However I would say thats the same of any working class person living in an expensive city. My Son is in Sydney, he only did the Opera House as a tourist, hes working every hour to pay the mortgage :)

I live very rural now and at first I did find it to be a bit of a culture shock. So OK I wasnt in the west end every week, but I did see all the shows I wanted to, now if they are touring, still cant get tickets and have to travel 50 miles and usually need an over night stay so real life theatre happens rarely now, unless its amateur and WOW what an eye opener that has been

Yes I miss the galleries and museums of London but Im now turning into what we have here and in a way its more ... not sure of the term ....because its such a small place, everyone you know will have seen or done or been to the same things. The snob value has gone??? I can go to a concert here and see at least a dozen people I know , we all see the latest upcoming artist/actor/comedian, but we see them in local theatres which dont break the bank and are more accessible

And for the big shows, I go to the cinema showings . The NTL are fantastic

I was asked a lot this week do I miss London , and I dont. I did for a while, mourning what I thought I was missing out on. Im finding where I live now is fantastic and a lot cheaper

I live in South London and work fairly centrally.
I meet friends usually twice a week for something to eat/ drinks and we rarely try the same place twice. Go all over London trying new bars and restaurants. My husband and I will usually eat out over the weekend a couple of times.
I'm a member of The British Museum, The Tate and The Royal Academy so weekends usually involve something arty, a film, a walk, one of the 'Magnificent Seven' cemeteries, or a visit to something like a church, or a historical part of the city.
I'm moving out of London soon, and will really miss these aspects. I suspect I 'use' the city more than a lot of people, though...

I'll see a show 2/3 times a month

I do a hobby once or twice a week that is not available in the same way outside of London (theatre related).

I go out for dinner, probably once a week (but tbh not anywhere that is London-specific so could do this anywhere with a handful of good restaurants).

Museums, maybe once a month, but I'm not massively into museums. Art galleries, almost never.

I have a very diverse group of friends that would also not be widely/easily available outside of London. For me London is great for this reason more than the art galleries and museums.

The other thing I love about London is the public transport, which is also not widely available outside of London.

I also just love having the option of other things, even if I never do them. The city attracts people who are cultured enough to spend hours at gigs/in museums/galleries etc. and I love soaking it up vicariously through them.

I have 2 dc under 6 and don't use babysitters, so don't really do nights out. But I've embraced family theatre so DCs go out to a show a few times a month - rarely West End, usually smaller venues which put on excellent stage shows for children. Over Nov/Dec/Jan during Christmas theatre season we've been to about 15 shows in total (inc concerts, ballet, opera). Music education is important to me so we go to family orchestral concerts at Southbank, Barbican, LSO, Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall.

Galleries are a bit less often, maybe 1-2 times a month (pre-dc I'd go at least once a week). Museums 3-4 times a month - in the winter we use them as free play spaces/lunch rooms. We don't often do the paid exhibitions as the dcs get restless and run off before I get to have a proper look, though they will often get really absorbed looking at video art and they like the new style of immersive art exhibitions. We also work our way through the historic places like Tower of London, just so the dcs can see it once.
We do also do less cultural stuff, days out in the parks, soft plays, swimming and theme park type places - lots of rotating around venues and trying out new places to stop us getting bored. We have zoo membership and go a few times a month.

We don't eat out that often and I don't go out for drinks since having dcs. Babysitting costs aren't so much a factor as the dc being reliant on us for bedtime routines and not needing early bedtimes.

Saturdays we chill in our Pjs, cook a roast, sometimes go out but often not. Sundays we go to church and then prep for the week….
To be honest we are usually too knackered to take advantage of London highlights! But we do in school holidays- almost always do something in town like a gallery, show or museum.

Thanks for all your replies! So interesting.

It sounds like our lives are fairly similar except for .... Public transport! That is a big one and something London does so well. I generally cycle as I hate driving around town but good public transport would be a dream.

Live in central London with small DC. I meet friends for a drink in the evening or a lunch about once a week, I visit an arts gallery once a month on average, sometimes more, and theatre about the same.

Oh and gigs! Live music is DH passion so we go every couple of months to see music. That one is a bit more tricky as we go together and need babysitting. It's not the cost or the hassle but DC prefer one of us there so we don't overdo it.

Life long londoner here.
And the answer is never. I can't afford it.

I live in London, but zone 4 so more suburbia than central. I don't go into central London more than a few times a year, theatre once a year, galleries may be twice a year. We meet friends for food and drinks at least once a week. We go to different places , mostly in our immediate area. On paper that may not feel much different to what you do. However, what I like about London is the choice of places to go. I can find places I've never been to within a 10 minute drive. I can catch a train, bus or tube without planning and 10 mins later I'll be somewhere totally different to here. And dare I say it, the vibe or attitude in London which I have never found else where. It's difficult to quantify, but being open to others and ideas is sort of it.

Most Londoners aren’t travelling into central London to go to the theatre & eat dinner unless they live in zone 1 &/or have lots of time & money. Lots of Londoners don’t even work in central London.

I no longer work in the city, DH still does. We also have dc do weekends are usually full of dcs sports & activities. We go out to eat locally & generally chose local theatre/shows just for ease & it’s generally cheaper.

During the week I see friends for a drink/dinner. At the weekend we are always out doing something. We have a toddler so it’s great to be able to do so many free things. We have memberships to the Barbican, the zoo, etc. Music is very important to us and the afternoon concerts were great on maternity leave.

We tend to eat out for lunch at the weekend which makes things easier and we love going out to eat. Public transport is amazing and can be an adventure in itself for toddlers (just yesterday we were out and about and took busses, tubes, and a boat!).

I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

When Dc were little we did cultural stuff with them every weekend.

Tate modern, all the free museums (incl Childhood, Horniman, Docklands, Maritime, Astronomy) often linked to a park walk. Or the small theatres that did Saturday morning kids shows rather than the big expensive productions. Or festivals / events / light shows etc.

Now the Uni aged Dc go to galleries on their own. I go to the theatre about twice a month on cheap ticket networks. Cinema 3 times a month on cheap Monday tix. Galleries (free) once or twice a month. Pay once every 3 months, maybe. Meet friends in town and enjoy the buzz about twice a month.

I really enjoy being able to pick from a wide choice of free / cheap stuff at short notice.

Have lived in Zone 2/3 throughout.

I left out the word “weekly” from my post!

Teens here in Outer London. One teen does a sport that requires public transport or car shares (not everyone has a car in London). One other has a PT job locally so walks there.
Apart from that, they go shopping and other seasonal things around London (summer: parks, river bank, free concerts, etc.; winter: Xmas fairs, skating) - all on public transport which is free (buses) or low cost (tube). The adults only go to theatre or museums once a quarter and are more likely to meet friends at home or in restaurants.
Compared to cousins in villages, my kids had more freedom earlier due to public transport. But they went to parties later and pubs later again as homes are smaller and 18+ heavily enforced.
Compared to cousins in other cities or big towns, there was little difference as most of these have decent transport too.

Zone 2. A museum or cultural thing with the kids, 1-2 per month. But as they get older we do more and more, and things like trying new foods or going to unusual festivals we do quite a lot. Friends are a real diverse bunch. I’m not sure it quite justifies the ridiculous mortgage but we try!

I do take advantage of central London this week though as many parts are empty so it’s lovely. We drove into & around the city on Thursday - dc always love driving over Tower Bridge (as do I). Parked at DHs work, walked about & had a lovely meal.

As a family we travel in for the museums more often in the spring & summer.

I lived in London and the only regular activities most of my friends did were eating and drinking with the occasional gig, something you can do anywhere. I was unusual as I'm keen on art and music (classical) and did take advantage but I have found that there's a thriving classical music scene where I live now and I travel to London to see occasional exhibitions. The gig scene is if anything better down here as we can usually walk!

The teens love living here. Easy and cheap public transport has given them a lot more freedom than their cousins who live rurally and rely on my sister and BIL for lifts.

Dinner in town with friends- once or twice a month
Opera or theatre- maybe every other month. Would like to do this more.
Free or very cheap concerts and services- once a fortnight
Galleries- once a fortnight maybe. I sometimes just pop in for 20 mins to see something specific if I’m in the area
Museums- not that often

When my kids were smaller and I was at home, I did lots more, Tate Modern in particular is a great place for babies and toddlers.

There's lots of free stuff to do but it's true you do need the tube/train fare in order to if you're not too far out, you could cycle. Cycling provision (dedicated lanes etc) is much better now.

I live in the outskirts of London and go in person to work (st James’s Park/westminster) 2 days a week.

I don’t think you call when I go in daily culture. There’s an art gallery on Victoria Street called The Shake Gallery and if you want to go to eg Tate Britain or other galleries you can do this in lunch break or after work. I tend to do evening gallery visits or museum late nights.

For me theatre rarely maybe 3 times a year depending what’s on. Art galleries and museums again depending what’s on more maybe every 3 months. I tend to meet friends and family at museums and art galleries.

What does put me off is crowds. So if I go somewhere and it’s crowded (eg outside Fortnum and Mason) then it puts me off, transport is good even though I whinge about it sometimes.

From a family perspective. DB and SIL have a baby and a 5 year old, they’ve just got Hampton court set of museums etc pass for a year and they usually get an art gallery one or British Museum. They went to Tate Modern recently (they used to go a lot) and weren’t impressed. Greenwich museum, the aircraft one in Hendon and others suit them. Plus a park or open spaces nearby. They tend to go to places at least once a week on weekends mostly.

I also like to go to places near good street food markets. I get tired of pubs and gastro pubs and their food.

I think it depends on work/where abouts in London you live/finances.

i moved to London 18yrs ago for uni and have been in the NHS ever since. I’ve since had children, 9, 6 and number 3 arriving anytime now, got married, and live in south London.

i don’t rave about London, yes there’s lots to do but it’s also expensive and I can’t be arsed to spend an hour each way getting to London and back. I often work weekends, and life just gets in the way a bit.

once this baby is born and we settle down again we will try to get into London a bit more and do the free museums etc. we are lucky to live somewhere so diverse, with a multitude of things going on but it’s not the be all and end all

What does put me off is crowds. So if I go somewhere and it’s crowded (eg outside Fortnum and Mason) then it puts me off, transport is good even though I whinge about it sometimes.

I fucking hate the crowds. Went past F&M recently & it was insane. I don’t remember crowds like that & I used to work on Bond St.