tourlondon.com
with Mike Keene
MUSIC
For serious music there are five major venues including two opera houses: The English National Opera where performances are sung in English, and The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, also home to the Royal Ballet. The city has a vibrant club scene and ‘Time Out’ magazine is a good source of information for night entertainment.
The South Bank Centre includes the Royal Festival Hall for world-class orchestras, ballet and jazz.
The Barbican Centre is also a first-class venue and home to the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Shakespeare Company.
THEATRE
There are 46 major theatres in central London plus many smaller 'fringe' theatres in the neighbouring districts.
In order to secure tickets for popular productions book well in advance. You can do this online but it will incur a booking fee from the ticket agent which can’t be avoided.
You could take a chance and buy when you get here. In that case, it’s better to go directly to the
Box Office.
Alternatively, the ‘Society of London Theatres’ has a ticket booth on the south side of
Leicester Square, called ‘tcks’ where half-price tickets are available for the day of the performance. You can also purchase a limited number of full and discounted tickets. This is the only official one so beware of imitators! Opening times are Mon-Sat 10am-7pm; Sun 12 Noon-3pm (matinees only). Generally, London theatre is less expensive than New York.
Dress code
We tend to dress informally when going to the theatre. Well I do! It’s your choice. Many of our theatres are quite old, and although full of charm do not have air-conditioning. It would be uncomfortable to be ‘dressed to the nines’! The exception is the Royal Opera, which is very posh, now that the Opera House has been revamped.
Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
Natural History Museum
