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.

Not really but they're not usually restricted view, just up in the gods.

If you are a civil servant, local government worker then you can join CSSC and buy cheap cinema tickets £4.99 for our local cinemas £9 for Picturehouses.

SW zone 2

DH and I both work centrally but rarely go out there unless it’s a special occasion..!

But within walking distance/short bus we have several fringe and small theatres
We go to a lot of live comedy - there are 3 comedy clubs nearby
Before the Brixton academy closed, we went to a few gigs a year
DH will still trek to Ally Pally or the O2 a few times a year but I can’t be arsed with the 1hr+ journey (but am making an exception for Girls Aloud next year)
We aren’t really art people but there are plenty of small galleries or public exhibitions which aren’t tourist things but would be of interest if that’s your thing

Our main thing is trying new restaurants and we never run out of options for that. Not so much the big names chefs but smaller pop ups, chefs first solo restaurants etc

Entirely show dependant. Most seat filling services tell you not to complain about where you're sat as a condition of membership.

Some lotteries are front row for theatre which are great, most are through todaytix now.

I've had some great seats and some way at the back, but it's always a big saving.

Audience club, show film first both have a good variety of things to see.

Also a lot of shows have dynamic pricing so checking on the day of a show or the day before can get a cheaper seat than in advance, especially if it's not selling well.

We eat out infrequently but go to the theatre 2-3 times a month (I never pay more than £25 per ticket though). I go to galleries often, love museums, visit different parts of London eg Southall for great Indian food and supplies etc.
My DCs love galleries too, and museums.
I’m from NZ but I LOVE London and how accessible everything is. I’ve been here 38 years and am still discovering places.

Disagree. I lived in Z3 and it took 25mins door to door to get to the west end. I could cycle to work in the city (flat along a canal). Also could get a cab home for £20 and in less than 30mins from where all our friends went out. If any form of transport stops, I had multiple routes to get home (vital when picking up a child). I felt like London was on my doorstep, would never bother doing all your commute for a few hours in town.

Ive lived Z1, Z2, Z3, and all were excellent if you have good transport links and busses nearby. I only lived south of the river for a bit, and despite being Z1/2, it was a pain. Z1 was my favourite when young and child free, Z2/3 are my favourite with children. Can pop to London Zoo in under 20mins for an hour or two, walk on the Heath in the same time. See all the sights on the river go to all the museums and can do it on a whim. No planning, can see how the day goes. I currently have a 15min commute to the city (25min cycle), if I need to pop into work.

I’d never move to the suburbs or Home Counties, if I wanted to get out of London (which I can never see!), I’d prefer to be properly rural. Z2/3 rules for me!!

When we had children we did less and different. And they were toddlers when for a short while you had to pay to go the nhm and sm 😭
But kids theatre including theatre week for £10, free local london eye tickets. Local cinema was £5, now £6. Free cricket club at the oval etc. my dc hope to stay in london when they have dc but it’ll be hard.

And it is also absurd to say the vibe of places like Balham, Walthamstow or Highgate would be comparable to commuter belt Kent in any way shape or form

Balham vibe is very Tunbridge Wells tbf!

Well exactly - I always think these sorts of comments are totally ignorant of how much stuff goes on in London suburbs, London isn't just about the West End.

Also - even if your train to Charing Cross "only" takes an hour, if it's not running for strikes or engineering work, typically you don't have loads of alternatives whereas in zone 3 or even zone 4, you'll usually have a lot of different ways to get places.

Live fairly centrally - I can walk to the Tate in 25 minutes. With small children we were always out and about to the museums etc as they're free as is transport for little ones. Now they are at uni they do their own thing. DH and I do a lot of concerts - we can drive and park at the Albert Hall so any Prom we fancy is easy. The conservatoires put on lots of excellent concerts that are usually pay what you can/want. Not huge theatre fans so tend to only go to 6 plays a year depending on what is on.

I usually visit galleries etc with friends as it is a nice day out with lunch. Probably do that once every 6 weeks or so and usually mid week when its quieter/not heaving with small children. Also means I can get tickets to very popular exhibitions because I can take the anti social hours slots.

I often run in the centre of town - there's something amazing about coming round a bend and seeing a famous landmark be it Buckingham Palace or Big Ben. I never grow tired of it.

Also - even if your train to Charing Cross "only" takes an hour, if it's not running for strikes or engineering work, typically you don't have loads of alternatives whereas in zone 3 or even zone 4, you'll usually have a lot of different ways to get places.

This is absolutely true. DSis and I both bought our respective properties on the basis of the different travel links available to each of us - we're both in easy distance of more than one train line into town. I've got two stations within a 5 minute walk of each other, and they're different lines, one goes to London Bridge and the other Victoria (and also Thameslink Brighton - Bedford during rush hours). It means we do have options if needed but neither takes more than 25 mins to the terminus.

We live in SE, Zone 5, trains only. We once had an invitation for dinner with one of DH's colleagues who lives in Highgate.

It was a lovely evening but each way was around 1 1/2 hours with train and tube and walking.

So we normally do a lot more in Central London than ever venturing up further north. I love Kenwood House but it's just not worth the treck when there are other lovely stately homes in a lot easier distance.

I do a lot of those things, but I'm not married and don't have children, and I also work in theatre so get to go to most things for free/cheap.

I go to the theatre probably once a week (it used to be three times a week but I'm more of a homebody now, plus there's less theatre that interests me), go to the opera or ballet maybe half a dozen times a year, and often pop into the Tate or National Gallery when I have time between meetings to kill just for a quite browse. I go see some art and museum exhibitions, but just the ones that interest me or that I can blag my way in for free. I really like to explore new restaurants with my friends.

I'm around the South Bank for work or meetings about three days a week so I do eat out a lot, mainly street food stalls or coffee shops or bakeries. My favourite is the arepa stall at the RFH weekend food market.

I live in Greenwich so I go to Greenwich Park quite a lot. Though I also like taking the train or bus a short distance to go to the woodland in SE London, I love visiting the ruins at Lesnes Abbey (wonderful ancient woodland there) or the tiny 18th century castle in Shooters Hill woods (which has a wonderful tea shop inside). On a weekend I like to take the train out then buy a coffee and a baked product somewhere and do a very long walk back home via the Thames Path. The landscape gets very wild once you're past about Woolwich with lots of open land and horses, then the river on the other side.

It's a perfect place to live, I can be in central London in 25 mins door to door, or I can be in what feels like the depths of the countryside in the same time.