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.

We live in zone 3 and both work in central London. We go out a lot both locally and all over London.

In the last month or so we have been to the theatre twice, three exhibitions, the pub/eat out at least once or twice a week, a lot of walks in and around London.

We are lucky that we know a lot of people in the arts so one of the theatre shows and one exhibition was free.

I don’t do as much as I used to but I still like the convenience of everything being there if I want it. The public transport is great (I have relatives living rurally and it’s shocking there). Airports and Eurostar, I’ve done day trips to Europe which is doable from here. So many entertainment options. A couple of gigs I went to last year were foreign performers who were only doing 1gig in the UK, which was in London. I have lived outside and travelled in for stuff. But it’s so much nicer being able to get a quick (and cheap) bus or tube home. Plus if necessary, Uber isn’t too expensive.

You can also buy almost anything. I wanted some Japanese ingredients for something I’m making tomorrow. No problem, just popped to the Japan centre and got them this morning. I mean yes there is the internet now but if you want something in a hurry you can get it.

I also think it will be good in retirement. You get a free oyster card at 60. Loads of stuff for free or concessions for pensioners. I have a good hospital 10 minutes away! (I’m in my 50s so these things are a consideration!).

So for me theatre, galleries etc is just a small part of living here. Number one factor is convenience. While a cute cottage in the country always looks appealing. I know I couldn’t handle the reality of it.

People moan about our public transport, but my GOD, you just have to leave London to see how spoilt for choice we are. I am very grateful for it.

I know lots of people who live outside of London can fairly easily commute in on a train, but for me it’s the plethora of choices that are (mostly) reliable. I’ve got two different tube lines near me, and a multitude of buses going all over London.
It’s so easy to get around. I’d be lost without that.

What we do has changed a lot since having DS, we don't go out much in the evenings anymore. And eating out is generally cafes or places like Itsu or Gail's instead of actual restaurants as DS gets easily bored. I tend to do breakfast or brunch with friends when DS is at school as it's soo much easier. I live near Greenwich and DS is 5 so we spend A LOT of time in Greenwich park and the Maritime museum. We also do the Tate Modern at least once a month as DS loves the turbine hall and kids programmes and we love the art. We spend a lot of time in other kids friendly museums like the Horniman, Young V&A, Science Museum etc.

Slightly cheating using our loose household of five adults but this November we did the following:
Poetry reading x2
Dog walking in park x2
Bottomless brunch x2
West end musical x1
Outdoor swimming x5
Section of capital walk (ring around London)
Church x4
Premier league football match x6
Once in a lifetime meal x1
Shakespeare x1
Ritzy political fundraising x2
Political March x3
And others including Friends birthday parties, parkrun, comedy nights, political meet ups book clubs etc.
2 of us can walk to walk, the other three wfh when they wish and spend £1.60 going to work when they’re in the office.

With grown up dcs I now live London life fully. I go to the theatre at least once a month, plus gigs, trips to museums and galleries. I also love the bookshops and restaurants in central London. It's a rare week if I don't partake in something. I'm a city girl and I love London!

I 'did' Fortnum and Mason in November and it was fine but fairly busy. My ds tried to go week before Christmas and he couldn't even get in, so he went back next day at 9am and it was ok. Yikes.

I live in zone 3 and work in the city in zone 1. Really enjoy my commute to work (cycle or train) and popping out for walks in the area.

We spend loads of time in parks and museums with the kids (5 and 3) and take them to concerts and plays both locally and at the big central London venues (Southbank, Barbican, Wigmore).

DH and I don’t eat out as often as we did pre kids but we try to have a nice meal in the west end every couple of months.

Zone 3 Londoner. I go to the West End theatre and cinema 1/2 a month. Dinner once a month. I also take advantage of free London and go to classical concerts, the Opera House (they do a free lunchtime rehearsal on a Friday) and any popup exhibitions - I went to the Dior one in Harrods, Tiffany in the Saatchi gallery and a David Hockney one somewhere off Oxford Street.

I'm also a big fan of walking around London and taking in the historical sights or going to one of the Royal Parks.

I don't work full time so that helps as I do my exploring in the daytime mostly. I love London and find there's always something going on. My teens love it too - public transport makes it so easy to get around.

I do find that eating out is very poor value these days. Except in a few independent restaurants. But we have a lot of Asian and Caribbean grocers nearby, so we cook more at home.

I think in London I have been to a museum or art gallery at least ten times this year. Theatre only twice, just because of my taste not any other reason. Cinema much more often as a particular film may not be at my local ones but somewhere else in London.

@BrimfulOfMash please tell me how you get cheap theater and cinema tickets? We always pay a fortune

We brought our DC up in zone 2. We now live just outside.

When the DC were young, we did a lot of museum dipping- it was close enough to just go and see the bits they really wanted to see. Also the galleries.

DH is an opera buff so we do go to the RoH every six to eight weeks. When he worked commercially it often was combined with clients and a good restaurant or a good restaurant on its own. We used to go to more concerts, but do this less now. DD and bf are the family prommers but both very musical.

My hairdresser is in SW London and every seven weeks I either go shopping, usually Peter Jones, sometimes Marylebone, or to an exhibition that interests me. I make a day of it.

We occasionally socialise in Central London, usually at a Club.

Also when the DC were younger much activity focused on Sports clubs: The Hurlingham and Rosslyn Park in particular.

One of the plusses is that both DC can navigate London on the backs of their hands and I think a London child grows up a little more streetwise.

I loved living in London and miss it greatly. DH wanted the big house and garden. I would go back in a heartbeat.

Even on a wet day London is about yellow signs on cabs reflecting in puddles, bright lights, bustle and good shops. There is also beautiful architecture and you can never get lost if you follow the river. The lights on the river as you look over to South Bank and across the bridges are a tonic for the soul. And the parks, don't forget the parks - the bandstand in St James's, a pretty walk and gentle snog with a lover in one's youth 😉.

During my twenties, thirties and early forties it was lived music and art galleries and museums visits. Lived in Mayfair so very close to the park to cycle everyday and enjoyed the international food offered. Now I spend quite a lot of time in my much bigger house and is lovely to have the best of both worlds. Traffic and road rage keep me unmotivated to go out as well as the crowds of people in shopping centres and high streets. Definitely missed my old London. However, I make the most of the convenience of deliveries and online shopping.

My job is in London so I'd find it difficult to live anywhere else (and having tried it once, do not want to commute in). So I live in Zone 2 with 3 teens/pre-teens (lone parent).

I don't manage the theatre that often due to price - maybe I've been 3 times this year. I will sign up to those seat filler sites though and see what that brings. Often go to galleries and museums - at least twice a month. Meet friends in the West End or King's Cross frequently (eating or drinking out). Go to the parks regularly and often cycle around parts of London just for pleasure. I'd like to go to more gigs and shows and will try to make that a reality for 2024.

We live fairly centrally although not in Westminster or anything (zone 2). We do something most weeks, a museum, gallery, theatre, opera. Cinema is especially good as there's so many options from art-house to mainstream. We eat out a couple of times a week. The parks are wonderful and there's so much free stuff.

I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, and the compromise for me is a largish flat rather than a house I guess. But we are quite old and things were easier then.

Set up a separate email address and sign up for the tkts mailing list https://officiallondontheatre.com/tkts/, The Bridge, the National Theatre, the Old Vic, and every other non-commercial and fringe theatre you can think of. Loads of them have cheap deals, pre sales, day tickets, raffles etc.

There's a big new year theatre sale on as well.

For cinema, MSE has some good tips.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cinema-tips-and-tricks/

Do you get ok seats with the cheap theatre site?

It depends. There used to be a seat filler one where they’d leave cards/flyers with shows available at offices. There’s Show Film First where you either buy at a reduced rate or get free tickets.

I’ve always got good seats at theatre shows, musicals and concerts.

Sign up to Central Tickets and ShowFilmFirst

Tickets come and go, there are regular sale weeks etc. Also check TodayTix . Sometimes you can get lucky for the NT in the Friday Rush . Operation Mincemeat has a lottery for cut price circle tix each month if you join the mailing list.

Look out for when booking opens and check for cheap preview tix. Another good time is if a show has been in for ages and attendance is starting to fall.

Monday nights are often cheaper.

We're zone 3/4 borders and both work hybrid, bur centrally.

We do a lot of cultural stuff with the DCs, most weekends we're at a museum or gallery. Theatre a bit less as it's expensive but pre DC we used to go to a lot of theatre (not musicals!). DC1 is just old enough we've started to take to e.g the cheap seats at The Globe. School holidays are also good for hitting up museums and in the summer there are heaps of free festivals. One of the DC also has a sport hobby which is distinctly 'urban' and there are more opportunities to do it.

Solo with friends we do music stuff- live gigs and shows and very occasionally going dancing. We used to see a lot of stand up but that's by the wayside at the moment.

There's so much free stuff to do as well, even if you're skint you're never bored. What I like is that it's no hassle to try stuff- e.g. we can just do one bit of a gallery and not feel it's a wasted day if we leave. Compared to friends out of London DC hobbies are also a lot cheaper, partly again because a lot is subsidised or otherwise provided for, e.g. Brit school on Saturdays rather than ££££ stagecoach or whatever.

Zone 2, two primary aged kids.

We do one weekend day in and one weekend day out. Sometimes boring things like getting school shoes of course, but often going to galleries, down to the river, to a lovely park.

We don't eat out super often but I always appreciate being able to book restaurants with amazing food that aren't too formal. Live the global food scene here, including cheap local places.

Compared to friends out of London DC hobbies are also a lot cheaper, partly again because a lot is subsidised or otherwise provided for, e.g. Brit school on Saturdays rather than ££££ stagecoach or whatever.

that’s location specific though. There’s lots of stage coach near me in SW London, my friends who use it aren’t going to travel to Selhurst for a saving.

@dingledells well yes that's just one example. I am sure there are other similar things in SW London. But e.g. all the sports our kids do are really cheap compared to out of London costs (the sport DC 2 does costs 2x where my brother lives, similar club). And travel costs are nil. Museums are free rather than paid for out of London. I've just been looking at the Imagine Children's festival in Feb half term and about half of the output is free. DC1's swim coaching is super super cheap etc.

(Obviously housing costs make up for this! But a lot of cultural stuff, including classes and events, is free or very cheap if you know where to look)