Last minute trip to London and the West end next week, I need help planning and navigating, if any locals can offer any advice 🙏

[Monr0e]

It's DD's 16th next week. As a birthday treat my DM booked them a couple of nights in London and tickets to see Hadestown on Wednesday evening.

Unfortunately she can no longer, she's had emergency surgery and not able to make the trip. She has asked that I take her instead, which I have agreed to do, as she is so excited about going to the theatre. But I'm feeling really stressed about it. I'm not a confident traveller and my anxiety has increased (thank you menopause) I'm worried about getting around and being everywhere we need to be.

We are travelling by coach and arriving at London Victoria coach station. We need to make our way to Travelodge kings cross royal scot. Then on Wednesday, from the hotel to the Lyric theater.

Can anyone offer advice on the best way to get around, and also any ideas for Wednesday day for a bit of sightseeing before the show?

I hate feeling like this and would love to just relax and enjoy a couple of days away, but instead I'm just stressing about the logistics of it all 🙁

Make sure you go to the right Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue (Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square on the tube, Piccadilly line from KX). SoHo is nearby and good for a drink or walkabout. Waterstones Piccadilly has a cocktail bar on the top floor with a 2 for 1 Happy Hour until 8 midweek I think. The National Gallery is also close by.

Ooh, you’re a very very short downhill walk from Exmouth Market. Go there via Amwell St which has lots of charming shops.

Also not too far from your hotel is Word on the Water near the Waitrose at Coal Drops Yard aka a floating barge on the water that sells second hand books

Sorry to hear about your DM. And hope you have a wonderful trip.

If your DD likes books, and you're staying near Kings Cross, I can recommend Skoob books at the back of the Brunswick centre - a great secondhand bookshop in the old style, and about 15 minutes walk from your Travelodge.

You could take her to Waterstones on Piccadilly. It’s the largest bookshop in Europe. Tube stop is Green Park also on the Victoria Line so very straightforward.

We will most definitely go

She practically lives in our local one

Or Foyles on Charing Cross Road, where there are Lso numerous second hand booksellers

This! Don’t go to the lyric Hammersmith - wrong theater!

The second hand bookstore front where the series Black Books was filmed is close to king cross in Bloomsbury. It is called Collinge & Clark. The British museum is also near nearby for something Wednesday morning.

Understood, we will definitely not go to Hammersmith!

There are 2 lyric theatres , one in Hammersmith but hadestown is on at the other one near Shaftesbury avenue

https://www.hatchards.co.uk/shop/piccadilly

Just down from Waterstones and next to Fortnum and Mason.

Word on the water is a bookshop in King’s Cross on a canal barge

Go to seven dials which is near Covent Garden

bar kick is a fun French table football bar (serves food too) in exmouth market.

Go upstairs to the restaurant area, think there’s a roof terrace bit, whilst you’re there there’s Fortnum and Mason and Royal Academy of Arts plus green park for green space.

Wellcome Institute can be interesting too, just up from British library on opp side.

Brunswick centre also has Renoir cinema and Hare and tortoise, Chinese/Japanese restaurant.

Are you a good walker OP, if we're only going about 3 or 4 miles I prefer to walk it, obviously a bit slower but then you're not having to get on and off tubes

Also buses are nicer I think as you can see all the shops and buildings as you're travelling past, I find that interesting

Agree re walking. Put the route into google maps or similar and you can go and avoid main roads.

The market stalls at King’s Cross do food for on the move, plus on high street is Greggs, plus Costa Starbucks etc.

Cocktail bar is great if OP wants cocktails, her DD can’t have them as will be 16, but can have wine beer and whatever else (no spirits) with a meal accompanied by an adult. But you can eat at Waterstones restaurant.

If you do Shaftesbury Avenue Chinatown might be nice to pop into, the Dutch pub forget its name and don’t know if it does food is nice, some cute Chinese shops, plus of course restaurants, Wong Kai is a famous big one.

I'd pick Foyles in Charing Cross Road over Waterstones on Piccadilly - it's closer to Covent Garden and Shaftesbury Avenue.

Charing Cross Road used to be known for bookshops but I think there are only 2 small ones left, on the other side from Foyles, south of Cambridge Circus. I think they both stock secondhand books, so good for an eclectic browse.

There's a good Oxfam secondhand bookshop on Bloomsbury Street, near the British Museum.

If you're coming from the direction of Kings Cross, PPs have mentioned the British Library and Skoob Books. The British Library has a Treasures of the British Library gallery which is free to visit:

https://events.bl.uk/exhibitions/treasures-of-the-british-library

Skoob Books is in a basement location at the back of the Brunswick Centre. It's big but not cheap. I prefer Judd Books on nearby Marchmont Street, which stocks remainders as well as secondhand books.

Walk south a couple hundred metres from your hotel and the 19 and 38 will get you to Tottenham Court Rd stop (for Charing Cross Rd) and then Chinatown and Piccadilly for bits and bobs the others have mentioned

Amazing suggestions, thank you.

We'll need another day at this rate to fit everything in.

get the Tube map app. Makes travel so easy. You will have a blast x

Central London is quite small so you can walk between many sites. Don’t assume going on the tube us quicker.

Also, avoid Covent Garden tube station. You either have to come it by lift, which gets busy, or the stairs. They warn you to,avoid the stairs if you have heart problems.