I keep a sort of D list on file, and this looks like a good time for an airing. It is long< I fear.
ben>haines@btinternet>com
Music. Fusion in Brixton. Recitals of classical music at lunchtime in many churches for a small donation - I did a search once and found a link for about 100. Leaders include
City churches as St Anne and St Agnes and St James Piccadilly. Jazz for Sunday lunchtime in north London pubs. All these are in the listings magazine "Time Out", which you can buy at a kiosk in your arrival airport and read on the boring train to the West End.
Theatre. The Fringe. Especially the Almeida, the Hampstead, and the Tricycle, but it's well worth looking at notes on all the Fringe. When you book over the phone by credit card you can ask about nearby meals: fringe theatres are next to good pubs or have good meals of their own. A trial at the Old Bailey.
Pubs. I have on disc notes of pubs where I like the weekday lunches, and pubs that forum readers like: I can copy them by e-mail [emailprotected]. A reader adds: any of the up or down river pubs - great views and they almost all have outside seating.
There was a useful web site: http://www.city.ac.uk/martin/ukfaq.html, then
follow the link to suggestions for things to look at in London beyond the standard tourist itinerary, but the site seems down now. The site http://www.hiddenlondon.com has good detailed sections on Wandering Wheels, for wheelchair users, Shakespeare's London, The American Connection, Churches with Character, Dickens's London, and Museums & Historic Houses.
For English Heritage sites see http://accessibility.english-heritag...sp?SessionID=/ For National Trust sites see http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main...it/london.html
Then I have added comment from Fodors forum readers over the last four years, and the result is this. I have listed from west to east.
WEST LONDON AND WEST END
Kensington.
Portobello Road market. Notting Hill Gate tube
R Garcia and Sons, W11. Spanish delicatessen. 248-250 Portobello Road, W11 (020-7221 6119) Notting Hill Gate tube. Tue-Sat 10am-6pm. Chorizo Iberico £1.55 per lb, Nuñez prado organic olive oil £7.50 per half litre.
Ray Harris. Designer clothes. Tue-Fri 1pm-6pm, Sat 11am-6pm 73 Westbourne Park Road W2 (020-7221 8052) Westbourne Park or Royal Oak tubes. Bags, for example, cost from around £85.
Celia Birtwell. Printed cloth. 71 Westbourne Park Road, W2 (020-7221 0877) Royal Oak tube. Mon-Fri 10am-1pm, 2pm-5pm.
We enjoyed the Linley Sambourne House. Sambourne was a political cartoonist for Punch and lived in this house in the 1870's. It is Victorian in decorating style. It was filmed for Merchant-Ivory's A Room With a View. Small museum with knowledgeable and friendly volunteers. I recommend it to have an insight into how people lived in the late 1800's. 18 Stafford Terrace, W8 (020-8742 3438) High Street Kensington tube. Mar-Oct Wed 10am-4pm, Sun 2-5pm. £3, children £1.50.
The Royal College of Music Museum, The Royal College of Music Prince Consort Road, SW7. A clavichord owned by Haydn, a spinet that probably belonged to Handel and trombones that belonged to Elgar and Holst, and almost every type of instrument, from harps to hurdy-gurdies, from flagelots to pocket fiddles, many with exquisite handwork. The most comprehensive collection of portraits of musicians in the country can also be found at the Royal College of Music in the Department of Portraits and Performance History. Open: Wednesdays in term time (except January) 2 p.m. - 4.40 p.m. Entrance fee: Adults: £1.20 , children and senior citizens: £1.00. The Royal College of Music's Department of Portraits and Performance History is open Monday to Friday from 10.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. except for 10 days over Easter & Christmas. Admission is free. South Kensington tube. http://www.hiddenlondon.com/roycollm.htm
The Roof Gardens, a 1.5-acre garden atop a building just off Kensington High Street (High Street Kensington Tube). Mature trees, ponds with fish and pink flamingos, manicured lawns and overgrown paths. Amazing place. You *can"t* tell you're in the middle of a large city. Phone ahead to be sure it is not closed for a private party. Leave the Tube and turn right on Kensington High Street. Walk a block to Derry Street and turn right. Go to No. 99, enter, and sign in with the security guard. Take the last lift on the right to the top and you're there. Amazing place.
Leighton House in Holland Park. It was the home of Lord Leighton, 19th century Art Nouveau collector and painter, and the house reflects his eccentric style.
Kyoto Garden, Holland Park
Chelsea
Physic Garden: ancient garden of medicinal herbs and rare plants, especially in late spring or early autumn.
Kensington Palace - Where you can visit the state apartments, the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, plus a collection of the Queen's gowns and a collection of 14 of Princess Diana's evening dresses in the Palace that was Queen Victoria's childhood home.
Visit the Brompton Oratory on Brompton Road in South Kensington
Chelsea Green, just off Kings Road, does not have a tourist 'feel' at all.
The house of Jane and Thomas Carlyle in Chelsea is a lovely off-the-beaten-track place to visit. It is a rare early Victorian interior, and the Carlyles' strong personalities seem to linger there. National Trust
John Sandoe Books, SW3. Especially art books. 10 Blacklands Terrace,
SW3 (020-7589 9473) Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm, Wed 9.30am-7.30pm. Sloane Square tube.
Peter Jones, Sloane Square, SW1. Upmarket department store for bright young things
Conran store for great designs in furniture and household articles. 81 Fulham Road. Sloane Square tube
Tours of Buckingham Palace in August or September when the Queen is on holiday in Balmoral.
Royal Mews, beside Buckingham Palace. Entry 5 pounds 50. Open from March 26 to October 31. Daily hours 11-4 (10-5 in August-Sept). Last entry 3.30 (or Aug to Sept 4.30). http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page573.asp/. One of the finest working stables in existence. Moved to Buckingham Palace in 1760s and rebuilt by John Nash in the 1820 s. Open throughout the year for visitors to see the work of the Royal Household department as well as the State Carriages and cars used at State occasions.
Comments on the mews from various writers: I wouldn't say the Royal Mews is a must for a first time London visitor, but it is very enjoyable. The carriages are amazing -- lamps on the side of one with custom-designed Waterford crystal is one of the details that sticks in my mind! There are also usually a few horses in the stable, and the guides are more than willing to answer questions at length. It's worth just it for that gold state coach! Of course, there are other coaches as well, cars and horses. Entry was 5.00 GBP. Just in case you will have it, it's covered by the Great Britain Heritage Pass. Have fun! I really enjoyed seeing the coach that Princess Di and Charles (and other royals) used in the wedding procession. I wouldn't advise buying the guidebook. I never read it.
Harvey Nichols store, watching the people. Great for lunching alone in the fifth floor café. Knightsbridge
Mayfair
North West of Berkley Square
Grosvenor Square, with armed reinforcements of the U S Embassy and the Roosevelt Memorial
Handel House, 25 Brook Street, the house in which he wrote "The Messiah".
Gray's Antique Market, 58 Davies Street
South Molton Street
Mount Street Gardens
The Wallace Collection, north of Oxford Street
North East of Berkley Square
Hanover Square
Savile Row
Sotheby s auctioneers 34-35 New Bond Street
South East
Faraday Rooms in the Royal Institution, 20 Albemarle Street
Royal Arcade and Burlington Arcade. Two Victorian arcades for expendsive shopping.
Royal Academy, Burlington House. Changing exhibitions of paintings, and a small standing collection
South West
Shepherd Market. A dozen or a score of reasonably priced restaurants, many of them ethnic, with outdoor tables in summer
Grapes Pub 16 Shepherd Market
South of Piccadilly (St James)
Hatchard's Bookshop, 187 Piccadilly
St. James Church. By Christopher Wren. Good for lunchtime and evening concerts
Princess Arcade
Fortnum and Mason, grocers to Royalty, 181 Piccadilly
Lewins outfitters and Paxtons cheese dairy on Jermyn Street
Piccadilly Arcade
Ritz Hotel, 150 Piccadilly
Royal Overseas League off St James Street, two fine town houses run as a club
Spencer House, central London, overlooking Green Park, practically next door to the Ritz hotel. Open Sundays only, guided tours. Formerly the ancestral home of the Spencer family (Princess Di, et al) but the family hasn't lived there since the thirties. Completely restored, a gorgeous miniature palace.
Christie s Auctioneers, 8 King Street
Lock s hatters and Lobb s shoemakers on St James Street
St. James's Park. Bring nuts to feed the squirrels. This is best done before 10 a.m. or in late afternoon. They are so tame that they eat right out of your hand. We were near exiting the park last year and I had given all the nuts away [sometimes to children who had nothing to offer]. One little squirrel looked deeply into my face as though he couldn't believe I hadn't saved one for him. Then he practically climbed up my leg - a bit scary as I was wearing a skirt. We are the only people I know who fly nearly 7,000 miles each way just to see squirrels. The pelicans, ducks and other birds are also very entertaining as are 100's of other things in my favorite city.
Westminster
College Garden, Westminster Abbey
Westminster School guided tour
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