London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [9]
ART
Many of London’s biggest and best cultural attractions are free to enter, and the number of museums offering free entry is staggering. Donations are often more than welcome, and special exhibits usually cost extra.
MAJOR MUSEUMS
British Museum
Imperial War Museum
Museum of London
National Gallery
National Maritime Museum, Queen’s House, and Royal Observatory
National Portrait Gallery
Natural History Museum
Science Museum
Tate Britain
Tate Modern
Victoria & Albert Museum
SMALLER MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
Courtauld Institute Gallery (Permanent Exhibition free on Monday only)
Geffrye Museum
Hogarth’s House
Horniman Museum
Houses of Parliament
Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Gallery
Museum of London Docklands
V&A Museum of Childhood
Saatchi Gallery
Serpentine Gallery
Sir John Soane’s Museum
Wallace Collection
WHITECHAPEL ART GALLERY CONCERTS
St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. Stephen Walbrook, and St. James’s Church have regular lunchtime concerts, as does St. George Bloomsbury on Sunday, Hyde Park Chapel on Thursday, and St. Giles in the Fields on Friday. There are regular organ recitals at Westminster Abbey.
Of the music colleges, the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, the Guildhall, the Trinity College of Music, and the Royal Opera House have regular free recitals.
For contemporary ears, the area outside the National Theatre on the South Bank (known as the Djanogly Concert Pitch) reverberates to an eclectic range of music weekdays at 5:45 pm, and on Saturday at 1 pm and 5:45 pm and Sunday at 1:45 pm. St. Olave’s Church (Hart Street, EC3) has lunchtime recitals on Wednesday and Thursday at 1 pm.
Free jazz and classical evenings (sometimes there’s a charge) are held on Thursday and Sunday at the excellent Dysart Arms (0208/940–8005 | www.thedysartarms.co.uk) in Richmond. Live Jazz also comes to the central and ancient Lamb and Flag (33 Rose St., WC2 | 0207/497–9504) on Sunday from 7 pm. For regular doses of free blues, down a drink at the Ain’t Nothing But Blues Bar (20 Kingly St. | , W1B 5PZ | 020/7287–0514). The Notting Hill Arts Club (21 Notting Hill Gate | , W11 3JQ | 0207/460–4459) has live bands on Saturday 4 to 8.
FILM, THEATER, AND OPERA
If all seats have been sold, the English National Opera sells standing tickets for the back of the Dress and Upper circles from £10 each. Check at the box office.
Standing-only tickets with obstructed views at the Royal Opera House are between £4 and £14.
“Groundling” standing-only tickets are a traditional way to experience the Globe Theatre from £5.
Sloane Square’s Royal Court Theatre, one of the United Kingdom’s best venues for new playwriting, has restricted-view, standing-room-only tickets at the downstairs Jerwood Theatre for 10 pence (yes, £0.10), available one hour before the performance.
Prince Charles Cinema in the West End shows weekday movie matinees for £4.
OFFBEAT EXPERIENCES
Take a walk down the Greenwich Foot Tunnel. Claustrophobics steer clear, but for those looking for a quirky journey, take the old lift or the spiral stairs down and stroll under the Thames from the Isle of Dogs to the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
There are free spectacles throughout the year, but one of the most warmly enjoyed is Guy Fawkes’ Night (November 5), when parks throughout the country hold spectacular fireworks displays.
On New Year’s Eve thousands of revelers descend on Trafalgar Square and the South Bank to watch more free fireworks. The Underground usually runs for free well into the small hours.
Finally, set aside some time for random wandering. London is a great walking city because so many of its real treasures are untouted: tiny alleyways barely visible on the map, garden squares, churchyards, shop windows, sudden vistas of skyline or park. With comfortable, weatherproof shoes and an umbrella, walking might well become your favorite activity here.
However, Barclays Cycle Hire (0845/026–3630 | www.tfl.gov.uk/barclayscyclehire)