Things to do in London
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Guanabara
Brazil comes to London with live music and DJs nightly.
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London Coliseum
The Coliseum is home to the English National Opera (ENO), celebrated for making opera modern and relevant; all operas here are sung in English. After several years in the wasteland, the ENO has been receiving better reviews and welcoming much bigger audiences since the arrival of music director Edward Gardner.
The building, built in 1904 and lovingly restored 100 years later, is very impressive. The English National Ballet also does regular performances at the Coliseum.
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City Jogging Tours
Combine sightseeing with keeping fit on a 6km route, graded for 'gentle joggers' or 'recreational runners'.
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City Cruises
Ferry service between Westminster, Waterloo, Tower and Greenwich piers.
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Citisights
Focuses on the academic and the literary.
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BFI Southbank
Tucked almost out of sight under the arches of Waterloo Bridge is the British Film Institute, containing four cinemas that screen thousands of films each year, a gallery devoted to the moving image and the Mediatheque, where you watch film and TV highlights from the BFI National Archive. There’s also a gallery space with shows relating to film, a film store for books and DVDs, a restaurant and a gorgeous cafe. Largely a repertory or art-house theatre, the BFI runs regular retrospectives and is the major venue for the Times BFI London Film Festival, which screens 300 films from 60 countries in the second half of October.
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BFI IMAX
Watch 3-D movies and cinema releases on the UK's biggest screen: 20m high (nearly five double-decker buses) and 26m wide.
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Barfly
This typically grungy, indie-rock Camden venue is well known for hosting small-time artists looking for their big break. The focus is on rock from the US and UK, with alternative-music radio station Xfm hosting regular nights. The venue is small, so you’ll feel like the band is just playing for you and your mates.
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Barbican
Urging Londoners to ‘do something different’, the extensive program of events on offer at the Barbican always provides something new and adventurous. It’s home to the wonderful London Symphony Orchestra, and the centre’s associate orchestra, the lesser-known BBC Symphony Orchestra, also plays regularly, as do scores of leading international musicians. On the contemporary scene, it hosts all manner of high-quality musicians, focusing in particular on jazz, folk, world and soul artists. Dance is another strong point and its multidisciplinary festival, Barbican International Theatre Events, showcases some great performances, as well as the work of exciting overseas…
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99 Club
Not quite the famous 100 Club, this virtual venue takes over various bars around town nightly, with three rival clones on Saturdays.
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Brick Lane
Full of noise, colour and life, Brick Lane is a vibrant mix of history and modernity, and a palimpsest of cultures. Today it is the centrepiece of a thriving Bengali community in an area nicknamed Banglatown. The southern part of the lane is one long procession of curry and balti houses intermingled with fabric shops and Indian supermarkets. Sadly the once-high standard of cooking in the curry houses is a distant memory, so you’re probably better off trying subcontinental cuisine in Whitechapel.
Just past Hanbury St is the converted Old Truman Brewery, a series of buildings on both sides of the lane that was once London’s largest brewery. The Director’s House on the left…
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Ann Summers
This is one of Britain's most successful stores - so who says the Brits are a reserved lot? Just look at the racy lingerie (usually in flaming reds and fluffy lace), accompanied with furry handcuffs, breast enhancers, G-strings, leather whips, nurse uniforms and other playful accessories.
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London Dungeon
Older kids tend to love the London Dungeon, as the terrifying queues during school holidays and weekends testify. It's all spooky music, ghostly boat rides, macabre hangman's drop-rides, fake blood and actors dressed up as torturers and gory criminals (including Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd). Beware the interactive bits.
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Leicester Square
At the time of research, Leicester Square was undergoing an extensive – and much-needed – makeover to turn it into a lively plaza and glamorous premiere venue. The revamp is much overdue; although the square was very fashionable in the 19th century, in the last few decades it had become synonymous with antisocial behaviour, rampant pickpocketing and outrageous cinema ticket prices (a whopping £18!).
The square will retain its many cinemas and nightclubs, and city planners hope it will attract high-profile film premieres, with all the associated celeb-spotting and publicity.
Works on the square started in December 2010 and were scheduled to be complete in April 2012,…
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St John
This London classic is wonderfully simple – its light bar and cafe area giving way to a surprisingly small dining room where ‘nose to tail eating’ is served up courtesy of celebrity chef Fergus Henderson. This was one of the places that launched Londoners on the quest to rediscover their culinary past, and it’s a place for anyone who wants an off-piste eating experience. Don’t miss the signature roast bone-marrow salad with parsley and follow it with one of the tasty daily specials – middlewhite, chard and mustard, for example, or pigeon, peas and bacon. The traditional British puddings are similarly superb.
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Brunswick Centre
This now-wonderful 1960s complex consists of apartments, restaurants, shops and a cinema. A £24-million project transformed it from a dreary, stern space to a lovely, cream-coloured airy square in 2006, and the centre is now packed with people seven days a week. The original architect, Patrick Hodgkinson, worked on the renovations and claimed that the centre now looks like what he’d orginally planned in the ‘60s (but at the time the design was stunted by the local council). For more information and a complete listing of shops and restaurants, check the website.
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Luminaire
The Luminaire is one of London’s best small music venues. Compact but not crowded, it has a big emphasis on friendly service and silence while music is playing – but what’s really impressive is the list of people who’ve played here: Babyshambles, Bat For Lashes, Colleen, Editors, Dirty Pretty Things, Hanne Hukkelberg and Mark Eitzel of American Music Club are just a few.
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Mangal Ocakbasi
Mangal is the quintessential Turkish ocakbasi (open-hooded grill, the mother of all BBQs) restaurant: cramped and smoky and serving superb meze, grilled lamb chops, quail and a lip-smacking assortment of kebabs. There’s no menu as such: you choose from the meat counter and then go and sit down. It’s been here for almost 20 years and is always busy. Takeaway is also available if you can’t get a table.
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Mango Room
With delightful pastel decor and genteel service, Mango Room is a kind of decaf Caribbean experience, although there’s no holding back with the food: grilled sea bass with coconut milk and sweet pepper sauce, salt fish with ackee (a yellow-skinned Jamaican fruit that has an uncanny resemblance to scrambled eggs), and curried goat with hot pepper and spices. The restaurant plays great ska music from the ‘50s and old reggae tunes.
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Market Porter
This pub opens early on weekdays for the traders at Borough's wholesale market. It's good during normal opening hours, too, for its convivial atmosphere and excellent selection of real ales and bitters. This is the stuff of great pubs, and it's well worth making a detour for or stopping by for a quick 'un while perusing the stalls of Borough Market at the weekend.
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La Trouvaille
Just what its name suggests it is, the ‘Find’ is perfect for a romantic dinner. Here you’ll find a gorgeous, warm space perfect for candlelit canoodling and an excellent menu of rich traditional French cuisine – quail and foie gras terrine, guinea fowl hotpot – on a quiet backstreet.
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Carhartt Outlet Store
You’ll find hoodies, sweats and jeans at this outlet of the street-wear label, as well as a small selection of similar brands. It’s tucked away on a residential street, under the railway arches just north of London Fields station. Ring the bell to get in.
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Murder One
Crime fiction from the likes of Harlan Coben, Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard and Alexander McCall Smith join true crime, Sherlock Holmes and romances (including Mills & Boons), with a (freaky) Sherlock mannequin greeting you from the shop window.
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