Alternative Things To Do In London
Alternative Things To Do In London By Lisa Mills
London Bus Tours are an essential part of sightseeing in London.
They may be slightly tacky but there is no better, more cost
effective way of seeing London in all its glory than by a big
red bus. If London Bus Tours are too run of the mill for you,
why not take an executive ride in a London limo or a daring
helicopter ride for two, or experience the tube (London
Underground) in rush hour? There is so much more to London than
the norm. We are here to show you what else you can do. Here is
our alternative top ten of what to do in London.
1. Taunt a Buckingham palace guard. It's not like they get it
every day! Try something different from the usual pulling funny
faces. Why not see if they are ticklish? Or if you tickle their
nose, will they sneeze? Please refrain from groping them, all
though they may enjoy it you may end up in court.
2. Talk to a tramp. (Official definition - a foot traveller; a
tramper; often used in a bad sense for a vagrant or wandering
vagabond). If you can bypass the smell of urine and special brew
you may happen upon a wonderfully enlightening conversation. Or
you may get your pockets felt.
3. Visit London's secret gardens. Well they are not really
secret, everyone knows they are there, however for 364 days of
the year they are closed to the general public. For one weekend
in June we get to see what all the fuss is about. Visit the main
website here, www.opensquares.org
4. Visit a cemetery. A little morbid perhaps? Bear in mind there
are no queues, no fees to get in and people are dying to get in
there! Highgate cemetery down Swain's Lane, N6, nearest tube
Archway, is our favourite. Many a famous dead person is in here,
including, Faraday, Karl Marx, George Eliot, and Sir Ralph
Richardson.
5. Tramp/bum fighting. Ok this is bit extreme and may exploit
those involved but hey, you're on holiday! What you do is, find
a tramp, preferably one a little the worse for wear as this
makes it more exciting, then find another one. They generally
hang around in groups so it should be easy. Then you offer them
money to fight each other. Winner takes all! Be ready to run as
us Londoners are a bit protective of our tramps.
(Disclaimer: 24-7 London does not endorse tramp/bum fighting,
any persons indulging in this activity do so of their own free
will. We do not recommend it especially as a recent episode of
Casualty featured a tramp who died as a result of this
'sport')
6. Visit a concert for free. Our favourite is St
Martin's-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, WC2, nearest
tube is Leicester Square. They have free classical concerts on
Mondays, Tuesdays & Fridays at 1.05pm. You can combine this with
the tramp fighting as there are generally loads asleep in the
side doorways of this church.
7. Get on TV in London. Many of our most popular comedy shows
give tickets for free. However you do need to book well in
advance. Try www.hattrick.co.uk or www.sroaudiences.com and
www.tvrecordings.com. Americans beware; these shows will contain
English humour in all its glory.
8. Go on a 'Jack The Ripper London sightseeing tour'. Not for
those with a weak stomach and sore feet. This involves walking
around London, visiting the murder sites of this horrible mans'
victims and getting to view genuine Victorian photographs of the
streets and murder sites. You also get to take home a fact sheet
to help you remember every aspect of each murder. The stuff
nightmares are made of.
9. Go on a ghostly adventure. London has several underground
stations that have been the subject of some rather peculiar and
unnerving phenomenon. Aldgate Station on the Circle Line has had
a variety of strange sightings. At Aldgate the line crosses over
older sections of underground rail, and strange sightings are so
frequent that they are recorded in the station log.
10. Visit 'Speakers corner' in Hyde Park on a Sunday morning or
early afternoon. Basically people get up (sometimes on their
soap box) and whinge about anything and everything. This is
great fun as arguments are common and you do get to see the odd
student get slapped. Sunday morning or early afternoon is the
best time to catch them (drunk from Saturday night or Sunday
lunch time.)
Failing that, follow the crowd and check out hundreds of things
to do in London by going to our website
www.24-7london.co.uk.
24-7 London is an online entertainment guide to London. We try
to feature the run of the mill stuff to do in London as well as
the more unusual. Check out our website for further details of
things to do in London. www.24-7london.co.uk.