Variety and other London, United Kingdom Things to Do Tips

Many shops in the main parts of london have exactly the same fashions and exactly the same people walking around. For me when i was a wee nipper knee high to a grasshopper I started going to camden.

Head to camden for something a little different in the way of everything. The market and the lock are great places to shop for things and people that you will probably never have seen anywhere else before.

In the lock you can buy food from almost any culture... from fresh doughnuts and (not with) halal curries, to arepa's from venezuela and chocolate covered strawberries on belgian waffles.

Clothing you can buy from funny t-shirts to full on bondage wear to vintage and millitary clothing.

you can get some original 60's to african furniture here.

a lot of artists sell their own work here and it's worth looking at some of the creations on offer.

During the day it's unlikely to see trouble in camden, just a culmination of a thousand different cultures enjoying the atmosphere playing music loudly and basically anything goes here... from goths to rasta's, old school punks to retro 60's mods...

At night Camden is transformed into a party place. Go to places like the underworld or the dublin castle to get the latest from alternative live bands, hit koko for xfm's special nights and alternative music, the jazz cafe for the best in live jazz, blues, fusion, hip and RnB, or one of the many pubs just to chill out and maybe meet a few famous people along the way.

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Directions: Camden Town tube station and head to the right where you'll see 1000's of people
Website: http://www.camdenlock.net/markets.html

I don't know if this has always happened or if it's just because Mayor Ken Livingstone didn't want to be remembered for bringing in congestion charging (which has cut traffic by 30% then by adding bus lanes increased traffic in other areas by 50% and to get people to ditch their cars and use public transport increased the prices of buses trains and the tube), but going to Trafalgar square on the weekend is like visiting times square in new york at new years. Throughout the year it's host to many festivals such as St paddy's day (where they made the fountains spew out green water), chinese new year, divali (hindu festival) and many more. The general emphasis of these festivals is to promote their cultures and i've been to a few and they're usually a good laugh, although if it's cold it doesn't seem to be as good...

I would check first though because sometimes it's reserved for protests and not festivals.

It's easily accessible from leicester square, covent garden and charing cross, and just look out for a large old school building with pillars and everything (The National Gallery) and a huge open space with two fountains and nelsons column (large column with a little man on top of admiral nelson to remind the French of the battle of waterloo)

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Address: Trafalgar Square, WC2
Directions: Charing Cross or Leicester Square tubes
Website: http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/trafalgar_square/index.jsp

The Thames River runs through the city and splits london into north and south. Along the south bank you can almost walk alongside the whole river and you'll see many sights. I suggest doing this at night time as you'll see all the lights of the city reflecting against the water. Some of the highlights of the river are Tower Bridge (the one the American's thought they were buying when they bought london bridge (which the original now resides in arizona), the tower of london, the millenium bridge leading to st pauls and the city; westminster bridge from which you can see the london eye, big ben and houses of parliament. plus many restaurants and bars along the riverside, the tate modern and a spectactular view from any of the bridges.

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Directions: most of the stations on the bottom of the circle line are near the river.

The london eye gives you a sky high view of the whole of london from one of it's pods. The wheel is the 6th tallest structure in London, you can see it towering over big ben from westminster square.

The only structures that are taller are the canary wharf triplet towers, the 42 tower and the BT tower.

However the view from this tower is more spctacular than any of those giving you a complete 360 degree view of london. On a clear day you can see Windsor castle which is 40 miles away! the most spectacular views though are at sun set and night time when you can see the lights of london.

the wheel takes 30 minutes to do a complete turn and the amount of power it uses to complete a turn is about the same as powering 6 light bulbs.

Order online at least 2 hours in advance and you'll get a 10% discount.

Champagne "flights" are available for corporate hospitality, or if you want a private pod to make that all important proposal... just a thought guys :)

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Address: Waterloo, SE1
Directions: Waterloo tube, westminster tube
Website: http://www.londoneye.com

When in London, one of the major landmarks is Tower Bridge. It is the second bridge over the thames (with the queen elizabeth suspension bridge being the first). It is what is known as a Bascule bridge which is a draw bridge operated by a counterweight.

This is the only drawbridge over the thames and it gets its name from the tower of london which sits next to it on the north side of the river. The drawbridge is raised every now and again to allow boats to pass through and this causes major traffic tailbacks...

the bridge has two towers and is connected near the top end by two corridor type rooms with lots of glass to view out over the thames.

at night time the bridge is lit up beautifully and it's worth taking a visit when the sun goes down.

If driving on the bridge please be aware of the new 20mph speed limit that is enforced by average speed cameras. The camera reads your numberplate before crossing (looks like a cctv camera with two boxes sticking out from the sides) and then records it again after crossing, it then works out the average, and if it's over the limit you'll get a ticket. Hundreds of people have been caught out by this system so far because the speed limit used to be 30 and the signs aren't very clear.

But i digress... the funny thing about Tower bridge is that many people confuse it with london bridge, which is a little further down the river. The Americans bought london bridge in 1962 for 2.5 million and each stone was shipped to Arizona funny thing was, they thought it was tower bridge they were buying.

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Phone: 0 20 7626 3065
Address: Tower Bridge Road, EC3/SE1
Directions: Tower Hill or London Bridge tubes
Website: http://www.towerbridge.org.uk

Situated almost right next to the millenium (wobbly) bridge and the tate modern the globe theatre is where William Shakespeare put on most of his plays.

There are showings almost every day at 3pm and 7:30pm and there are a few hundred standing tickets available for £5 for each of the shows.

Personally i have always found shakespeare, apart from two of his plays boring, mainly because i'd been forced to read them at school and also because i'd seen badly done productions of them. At the globe though shakespeare's work comes to life... the jokes are laugh out loud funny, the actors very skilled in their delivery...

The globe was finished in 2000 but was officially opened 4 years earlier... It is built to the almost same specifications as the original but has a few changes to enhance fire safety (good idea considering that the original was burned to the ground in 1613, because they used a real cannon for a special effect)

the globe was then rebuilt in 1614 and unlike many beliefs this one did not burn in the great fire of london in 1666 but was demolished by the puritans in 1644 as they banned all theatrical perfomances.

The new globe theatre does not sit on exactly the same spot as the original it has moved east about 300 yards. but this theatre is the first building in london since 1666 to have been build with a thatch roof (there was a law banning them after the great fire until 1994 when the globe was reconstructed)

if not for a performance then at least go and see the beauty of this place it's amazing...

if going to watch it, you can come and go as you please during the performance, if seated please please please... hire a cushion for £1 it really does help! it's not them trying to make money, it's actually tradition as the orginal globe charged 1 penny extra to hire a cushion.

basically if you do or don't like shakespeare please go to this theatre you won't have a better night out.

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Directions: cross the milenium bridge and it's on the left hand side of the tate modern.
Website: http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/

When looking at the london skyline in pictures or when you're here, you will usually always see one thing... BIG BEN...

or shall i say what people refer to as Big Ben. People refer to the huge Gothic clock tower attached to the houses of parliament as Big Ben but in fact it's the bell inside it that has this name. The bell is around 9 feet in diameter 7ft 6inches in height and weights almost 14000 kg.

The bell was cast in whitechapel foundry which can be visited today as a museum, they still have the original bell cast on view.

For those of you that are Canadian and American the Liberty Bell was cast here in 1752 and the great bell of montreal was also cast here.

The original specification for the clock was to be accurate to within one second and checked every day against the caesium clock in grenwich where a record was kept. This was deemed impossible by clockmakers at the time but through perseverence it was created, and remains a symbol of GMT in london.

For new year this is the clock we go by.

The houses of parliament, are supposedly owned by the people, as we have the power to put people in this building and therefore any citizen of the UK may apply for a tour, or to be allowed to watch the proceedings of parliament when it's in session.

Unfortunately non-residents can no longer take a tour of this building unless it's during the Summer opening period, which is august 1st to september 30th, the ticket office is open from mid July, and they sell out fast!

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Address: westminter square
Directions: Westminter tube station and it's right in front of you
Website: www.parliament.gov

This was the first one of these walking tours I went on. Being English I never wanted to look like a tourist before but I realised that I didn't know much about the most infamous villan london has ever had as a resident.

The walk starts off at aldgate tube station and takes you through the East end of london, through whitechapel, brick Lane etc.

I can't express how good this walking tour was even if you know all the details of Jack the Ripper it's great to see the places where things happened.

The guide sets the scene by describing where you're standing would have looked like at the time, then tells the story. There is lots of details and photographs of the victims.

I don't want to give too much away but for a small price and a couple of hours entertainment in the evening, this is great value for money.

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Directions: Aldgate Tube station
Website: www.londonwalks.co.uk

The guide for this walk is also an actor, which is great because when telling the story he gets into the role of some of the characters, and does so very loudly.

Starting at monument he takes you through the city of london and explains various historical stories about the great fire and various other things. I wouldn't really say the walk was exactly haunted but the stories are very interesting and the actually places you are taken are things that I know many people that live in london will never have seen, like the old roman marketplace and the lloyds building.

This tour is worth the money, it takes around about an hour and a half and you get to know about things which not many people will have heard of... some people call it useless information, i call it pub quiz training :)

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Address: monument station (joined to bank)
Website: www.londonwalks.co.uk

Pubs (or public houses) have played a very important role in English culture... besides the infamous antics of many a drunk historic patron they have been the main socialising place for centuries. They have also played a big part in the creation of road maps here. Roads, roundabouts and juctions all being named after pubs and are used as reference points to create the maps. In fact if you ask someone English for directions you're likely to hear the name of a pub in their description.

The walk comprises of visiting 3 main pubs around the Temple and Holborn areas. Not just concentrating on the pubs you get a lot of information about the history of the area you're standing in. Again as with all the walking tours I've been on from this company there was some information I already knew but the majority of it I didn't. In fact the walk took me to areas I have never even been before and i've lived here for 26 years.

The walk begins at temple tube station at 7pm on Tuesdays, and finishes between Chancery Lane and Farringdon. I was suprised to find that the three pubs we went into were not your normal tourist "traditional english pubs" but they really were traditional english pubs hidden away in alleys and streets you'll probably never find again.

Worth it? Definately, in fact I'm starting to think if i only had a week here I'd take every walking tour this company has to offer. The best £6 you can spend on a night out.

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Address: temple tube station
Directions: take the tube to temple, or walk along the thames (north side) until you're between blackfriars bridge and the jubilee bridges of embankment
Website: www.walks.com