Coming to London with your family or friends to see one of the west end theatre productions is a great way to enjoy a London city break. Imagine all of the splendour of the West End, a delicious mail, comfortable accommodation and an enjoyable overall theatre experience. Is there a better way to get away from it all?
To ensure your trip to London is enjoyable as possible, here are a few pointers on how to get the very best from your outing to your London West End show.
Travelling to London.
Initially you are going to want to make sure you can arrive in London on the exact dates you want as well as making 100% sure that there are available tickets to the theatre production of your choice. Can you imagine your disappointment having booked your flight, train or other travel arrangements to find that the show was sold out.
The UK has a terrific transport system which means there are many ways to get to London’s ten mainline railway stations which include, Euston, Waterloo, Paddington, King’s Cross, St Pancras, Charing Cross, Victoria, London Bridge, Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street. London has six international airports too which have terrific connections with the city, these are Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City and Southend. It also has many coach and bus stations as well, with Victoria Bus Station being by far the most popular.
So, as you can see there are many direct modes of transport, and as there is so much choice this also reflects on the pricing as it is a very competitive market you are sure to get a cheap price if you do your homework and shop around. Those who book early, weeks or even months in advance will always secure the best deal.
Theatre Tickets
The best way of securing the theatre tickets for your chosen West End show is either online or by calling the theatre box office direct well in advance of the performance. You will find there are many websites out these that offer this service but make sure you know exactly where you’ll be sitting, as many ticket providers who offer cheap London West End theatre tickets can sell you tickets with very limited views from the seats your purchase or even tickets at the back of the stalls. This will indeed spoil the performance as well as your London theatre experience. It is probably a good idea that you have a full map of the seating within the theatre before booking you tickets so you know exactly where you’ll be seated.
London Accommodation
There are thousands of London guest houses, hotels, bed and breakfasts and self catering apartments in and around London; it is advisable that you know exactly where you will be staying. Don’t simply reply on images from the internet, seek out as much information as possible including the venues own website. It goes without saying that large chain hotels such as Hilton or Ramada will offer you luxurious accommodation but this will come at a price.
We high recommend self catering apartments as these will give you a great level of comfort with the freedom to move around London at the same time. If you are travelling with friends or family a holiday apartment will also be so much cheaper than any other type of accommodation.
It will always be advisable to book via recognised agencies such as Holiday Lettings. Holiday Lettings are part of Trip Advisor which is a name held in high regard in the industry.
Eating Out In London
Apparently, London (within the M25) has more places to eat than the whole of the United Kingdom, so it is very safe to say you won’t go hungry while visiting this great city. London restaurants are very keen for your business as there is so much competitor you will always be guaranteed a great deal if you do your homework and shop around.
With so many different dishes including Chinese, Indian, Lebanese, Thai and of course good old British food you real can’t go wrong. One thing to remember, many restaurants in the Theatre district offer pre-theatre menus. This allows you to dine before you go and see your performance, there is of course many restaurants open once the show ends as you know London never sleeps.
Traveling Around in London
Travelling in and around London is so easy, as one of the busiest cities in the World the London transport system is superb and believe it or not, the only people who tend to complain about it are the commuters who have to travel through the rush hour on a day to day basis.
Believe it or not there is well over 20,000 black taxis in London, for short trips around the capital this can be an inexpensive way of getting to a to b when you take into consideration parking and congestion charges.
The easiest method of transport in London is the Tube and the good old fashioned red London bus. They are both very cheap and are very frequent to all parts of the city. There are many tube stations throughout the theatre district too which makes travel by tube to your West End show effortless.
These five top tips will no doubt help you have a great time on your London theatre city break and I’m sure you will visit our great capital city time and time again.