What to do in London - WITHOUT Kids

[Helennn]

My dh and I are off to London on Thursday to go to Chelsea flower show, (work related). We haven't been to London for years and want to experience a bit of culture and shops!

We have Thursday pm and Saturday am to fill as well as the evenings! I can't wait as I love being in the thick of things and want to fit in as much as I can.

What do people recommend for half days and evenings? We are staying in Covent Garden.

What an odd question. All life is in London....

Do you like museums or something less high-brow? What kind of shops do you like, clothes or something more specialist? Are you looking for bars, nightclubs, restaurants (which cuisine?)

I always love to waste a few hrs in Liberty drooling at things I can't afford

I'd probably go to Tate Modern, as I've never been yet.

Walk along South Bank,
Walk along Shad Thames
Wander round Soho
Visit the Ice Bar
Tea at the Ritz (Northern In-laws like doing this!)
Carnaby Street...

If you want the amazing views of the London Eye, but in more comfortable (albeit more expensive!) surroundings, treat yourselves to a drink at Vertigo champagne bar at the top of Tower 42 here. Particularly spectacular if you have a good sunset - warning -you will probably be surrounded by bankers , but it's worth it.

Saturday morning at Borough Market (next to London Bridge) is great if you are into food/markets. Get there early to avoid crowds though and don't eat breakfast before you go, there are too many delicious things to try. Could follow that with a walk along the South Bank past The Globe to Tate Modern, over Millenium Bridge to St Pauls...(less than 1/2 hour walk from market to St Pauls).

Primrose Hill (nearest tube Chalk Farm on Northern Line) is also lovely for a chilled out Saturday morning, you can walk up the hill (only a short walk, 5 mins or so from bottom of the hill) for a fantastic view of all of London, then potter round the shops and cafes in the village afterwards. If you have time you could also pop back across Chalk Farm Bridge and look round Camden Market, there are some great interior shops and food stalls (go to Kim's Vietnamese if you like noodle soup, it is next to Gilgamesh restaurant and famous).

Have fun!

ps - you have to book Vertigo as there isn't a lot of space...

Go here for dinner on Thursday night - it is one of the yummiest restaurants I have ever been to in London and not mega pricey for what you get.

Is in Covent Garden so you can walk there and then to a bar after dinner and walk back to the hotel.

second borough market have lunch at brindisa, spanish tapas.
soho hotel is good for drinks, so is hakkasan, food in there is also fab.

Ask DH to take you up the Oxo Tower...

Thank you all, been out all afternoon and now have to go cook etc. Will be back later.

And yes, Someguy, where I live shops and culture are pretty hard to come by, (though beaches and moors aplenty)!

Go the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Sq to get theatre tickets.

I'd do Selfridges and then down Bond Street for shops.

Right, I'm back.

So many good ideas here. It is difficult to know what I want to be honest, as I want to do so much but in so little time! Think I will print this off and take with me, although the restaurant in Covent Garden looks ideal, so will probably book this.

Squeaver, I was going to ask which show you would recommend, but realise that it is probably another impossible question to answer. I've been to see Chess which was v. boring, and Les Miserables was just that. Don't fancy Mamma Mia. Anybody seen anything they would recommend?

Also, how does Bond Street compare to the Kings Road? I have been to the latter and loved it, so thought about going there, but could be persuaded otherwise.

Bond St is super posh and expensive but great for window shopping. Much closer to C Garden than Kings Road.

Shows (I'm presuming musicals):

Avenue Q - hilarious but filthy

Billy Elliot - better than the film

Carousel - apparently good

Chicago - great fun, very slick

Hairspray - fab

The best thing I've seen recently was A View from a Bridge (might be finished now).

Or you could always try to get tickets for Jude Law in Hamlet (opens this wk).

regent street is worth a look too if you are near there. uniqlo and banana republic.

great queen st lovely too.

warning - Avenue Q is not for everyone, DH and I went with close friends who absolutely raved about it, it was their 3rd time - we HATED it, so much so that we left in the interval - not unfunny because filthy, just childish and bizarre....

Borough Market is really horribly busy on Saturday any time other than early. Friday is much better.

Selfridges foodhall is very nice, and you can trawl Oxford Street on the way there for the flagships of most high street stores (H&M, M&S, John Lewis (which has a sort of super Waitrose in it), etc.). If you head to Knightsbridge you can do Harvey Nicholls and Harrods (more impressive food hall, but I find Selfridges more practical, and Harrods is owned by a wanker).

Near Covent Garden is Chinatown; Hakkasan and Yauatcha are the premier Chinese restaurants in London, neither actually in Chinatown. Not far away is Old Compton Street, gay capital of London, and also home to Patisserie Valerie, lots of posh cake: www.patisserie-valerie.co.uk/special (individual slices, tarte au citron, etc. are available).

If you don't like miserable shows, Mama Mia is quite good fun really...

Lots of lunchtime bargains available in posh restaurants. Try Le Gavroche for OTT French, or Maze Grill for posh steak on the cheap.

Thank you for all the ideas. If anybody is in London and spots a mad dark haired woman rushing about with an A4 piece of paper in her hand you'll know its me trying to do far too much in one day - with poor worn out husband following behind sighing!

Thanks again - will get much more out of my visit hopefully!