Travel Guide – How to Have the Best Night Out in London
With the London Olympics being such a big recent talking pint and with the Queen’s Jubilee and Will and Kate’s marriage, London has been the center of a lot of positive attention lately and has been very much a presence on the international stage. As such you might have thought it would be interesting to visit the country yourself, and there will no doubt be an influx of tourism as a result of all this attention. And if you’re in the big smoke, then you should definitely consider doing a night out to sample the local nightlife. Here we will look at some tips on how to do this and how to get the most from a London night out.
Pierre Vivant’s sculpture, Traffic Light Tree in the Docklands, London by
Travel and Timing
London being a big city is highly busy and crowded and can also be a little costly to get around. Getting a taxi then is not a smart move if you want to keep prices down and avoid a lot of stress (though of course you might like the idea of travelling in a London black cab), which means you need to take the tube.
And this is why I highly recommend going on your London night out earlier than you might do a night out at home. Head into central London for 5 or even 4, and you can this way start drinking early and get a good seat before the bankers and other business men and women start to arrive.
This has several other advantages too – firstly it means you will be there for the happy hor drinks and this way you can save huge amounts of money that you would otherwise spend on even a single drink so you can ensure you’re in good spirits early on. Then you will head to the club for around 9.30 or 10 – missing the expensive entry prices that tend to come into effect around 11, and you’ll be able to head back around 12.30am/1am after a good night of dancing and still get the tube home to where you’re staying very cheaply and with no hassle.
London evening panorama, UK by Alexander Kachkaev
Where to Go
The best place to go for your full London experience is Covent Garden. Covent Garden is a fantastically scenic area that’s within walking distance of some of the other central areas too like Leicester Square. It has plenty of great places to eat, but also a lot of brilliant clubs and bars. A few exciting and different places to visit are Adventure Bar – a bar/club set underground where the staff set fire to things and get half undressed creating a very crazy atmosphere, Roadhouse – a club with lots of great rock music and cheese, and Foundation Bar – where you can drink cocktails out of teapots and test tubes and enjoy a dance floor with its own live Saxophonist. Alternatively if you want to try something a bit different you might want to sign up for the Medieval Banquet where you can watch a brilliant show while drinking out of chalices and eating with your hands.
Of course there are plenty of other great areas to visit in London too, such as Camden which has a brilliantly artistic and alternative vibe, or Kingston for a huge Oceana with multiple floors and different themed rooms. If you just want some quiet drinks meanwhile with some atmosphere, then the O2 can offer a lot of brilliant cocktail bars, while you can also get a lot of nice drinks at the Westfield Center in Shepherd’s Bush.
Jeff is an avid blogger. He has keen interest in writing about travelling. He is part of the team www.lanzarotevillas.ie, which is a volcanic island having spectacular scenery and stark beauty.