8.2. Art Galleries and Museums

Many galleries and museums don’t charge for admission (except for some special exhibitions) and you can wander in and out as you please. Opening hours vary so please check beforehand.

Below is just a selection of the many places you can visit, for a more comprehensive list please contact Outpost London:

National Art Gallery, Tel: 020 7747 2885, www.nationalgallery.org.uk

The National Portrait Gallery, Tel: 020 7306 0055, www.npg.org.uk

The Tate Britain and The Tate Modern, Tel: 020 7887 8000, www.tate.org.uk

The Hayward Gallery, Tel: 0207960 5226, www.hayward.org.uk

The British Museum, Tel: 020 7636 1555, www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

National History Museum, Tel: 020 7942 5000, www.nhm.ac.uk

The Science Museum, Tel: 020 7942 4454, www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

The Victoria & Albert Museum, Tel: 020 7942 2000, www.vam.ac.uk

The Imperial War Museum, Tel: 020 7416 5000, www.iwm.org.uk

The National Maritime Museum, Tel: 020 8858 4422, www.nmm.ac.uk

8.3. Sport

Sport facilities are excellent and complexes include golf clubs, tennis clubs, health & fitness

Clubs and dry slope ski centres.

For information about sport facilities contact Sports England, Tel: 020 7273 1500, www.sportengland.org Click on ‘Get Active’ to find the sport that is right for you. Alternatively, contact Outpost London for practical assistance.

In summer, there are a lot of sporting events in London like the Royal Ascot Horse Races www.royalascot.com, Henley Royal Regatta www.hrr.co.uk and the Open Championship www.britishopengolf.co.uk. Tickets to see the biggest sporting events are very difficult to obtain. E.g. to see the All-England Championships (Wimbledon) you need to put an application into the public ballot for a pair of show court tickets www.wimbledon.org Some tickets go on sale on the day of play.

Lensbury Club

The Lensbury Club is a private club offering extensive leisure, dining and relaxation facilities. It is set in 25 acres of beautiful grounds and gardens on the banks of the River Thames at Teddington Lock, Broom Road.

The Lensbury Club was first formed in 1920 as the sports and social club for the staff of The Royal Dutch Shell Group. In the 1990’s a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell was formed to manage the site on a commercial basis. The conference facilities and club membership are open to the wider community.

Shell employees and retirees benefit from unique membership offers. For more information and membership prices visit www.lensbury.com.

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8.4. Social Clubs and Organisations

Social clubs and organisations are a terrific place to meet new people. You can register quite easily with any of the below mentioned clubs. If a club of your interest is not mentioned, please contact Outpost London for a more extensive list or practical assistance.

Outpost London is very keen to get you into contact with interesting people who share your experiences. Please keep an eye out on our programmes published in our E-Newsletter, the News and Event page on our website and notices/reminders send to your home email address for opportunities to meet other people.

All Pakistan Women’s Association www.un.org.pk/unic/main3.php?id=apwa

American Women of Berkshire & Surrey www.awbs.org.uk

American Women of Surrey www.awsurrey.org

American Women’s Club of London  www.awclondon.org

Anglo Argentine Society www.angloarg.dircon.co.uk

Anglo Brazilian Society email – info@anglobraziliansociety.org or call 0207 493 8493

Anglo Portuguese Society www.gla.ac.uk/external/portembassy/info/angloinfo.html

Anglo Netherlands Society  www.anglo-netherlands.org/

Australian & New Zealand Women’s Club of Surrey gail@fromnz.net

Brazilian Women of Surrey (Portuguese speakers from Brazil/Portugal) call - 01932219002

British German Assoc. http://britishgermanassociation.org

British Italian Society www.british-italian.org/

Canadian Women’s Club www.canadianwomenlondon.org/

Network Canada www.network.canada.org  

Dutch Women of Surrey www.dutchwomenofsurrey.com

Federation of Swiss Societies in the UK www.swiss-societies.co.uk

Franco-British Society www.francobritishsociety.org.uk/

Hungarian Cultural Centre www.hungary.org.uk

International MOMS Club of Surrey email internationalmomsclubofsurrey@yahoo.co.uk or call 01932865952

International Wine & Food and Society www.iwfslondon.co.uk/

Italian Cultural Institute www.iic.org.sg/

Kensington Chelsea Women’s Club www.kcwc.org.uk/

Ladies Circle of Great Britain & Ireland  - email mary@ladies-circle.org.uk

Lions Club International www.lionsclubs.org/

London Ladies Club www.londonladies.co.uk

Londres-Accueil www.londresaccueil.org.uk/

National Assoc. of Ladies Circle www.ladies-circle.org.uk

National Assoc. of Women’s Clubs www.nawc.org.uk/

New Zealand Women’s Association www.nzwa.co.uk/

There are a number of clubs and networks available for staff in Shell Centre, please visit

sww.shell.com/uk/locations/Shell_centre and click on Employee Networks (Shell internal internet only).

8.5. Going Out

8.5.1. Cinemas and Theatres

The best places to see the new movies are the Odeon Leicester Square and the Empire that face each other across Leicester Square. These huge cinemas house premieres on enormous screens with pristine sound systems.

Most suburban high streets have a local cinema either owned by ABC, Odeon, Virgin or Warner chains. You can find reviews and details about films that are currently showing in Time Out and What’s on in London magazines or your local newspaper.

London is known for its variety of theatres with 50 in the West End alone. Theatre programmes includes classical plays, modern drama, comedy, pantomime, opera and the traditional musicals.

The cost of tickets range from £10 to over £50, which you can purchase directly from the venue. Discounted tickets for the same day’s show can be bought from theatre box offices at Leicester Square and Canary Wharf. Go to www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk for more details and information about shows. Another website is www.whatsonstage.com

8.5.2. Music

To enjoy classical music you can listen to the London Symphony Orchestra www.lso.co.uk

or the Royal Philharmonic www.rpo.co.uk amongst others.

The main venues for big rock and pop concerts are Earl’s Court exhibition hall www.eco.co.uk the O₂ Arena www.theo2.co.uk  and the indoor Wembley Arena www.wembleyticket.com. Other places to see live performances are the concert hall venues. Ask Outpost London for more details and to find places to enjoy jazz music.

8.5.3. Nightlife

Most clubs open between 10.00pm and midnight and don’t close until after dawn. The majority of clubs are open every night, some only at the weekend. You will find a weekly listing of places to visit in Time Out magazine (www.timeout.com). Please check the venue’s website for opening times, door policy and more information.

8.5.4. Pubs and Bars

There are hundreds of atmospheric pubs scattered around London with the best traditional pubs serving good basic food as well as a range of ‘ales’ (brewed from fresh barley, hops and oats). Many pubs welcome everyone and some have special areas for families with children and beer gardens with play equipment.

Beer is served in pints and half pints, wine by the glass and spirits are sold in measures of 24ml (or ask for a ‘double’). London pubs can be open from 11.00am until 11.00pm Mondays to Saturdays and from noon until 10.30pm on Sundays. The drinking age is 18 and drink-driving laws are strict and enforced by London’s police.

If you enjoy walking and visiting pubs you can combine the two with the help of the ‘Pub Walks’ book series (all country side locations). These books describe a walk, usually between 4 and 7 miles and start and finish at a featured pub. Visit your local bookstore for a copy of your area, e.g. Pub Walks in North Surrey.

8.5.5. Restaurants and Cafes

London has a huge variety of ethnic restaurant with many of the good restaurants concentrated near the centre around Soho. Convent Garden is another hotspot but be careful for the overpriced tourist spots. St James’s and Mayfair are home to haute cuisine restaurants with strictly formal dress code; where as Kensington and Chelsea have stylish European restaurants aplenty. To check out any restaurant before visiting them either purchase a good restaurant guide such as the Time Out Eating and Drinking Guide or the Evening Standard London Restaurant Guide or go online www.thisislondon.com or www.londontown.com

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8.6. Visitors

If your continental visitors are arriving either by air, rail or sea, the following information might be useful to assist them getting to central London.

By Air

London Heathrow – 24 km west of city centre

London Gatwick    - 45 km south of city centre

London Luton        - 51 km north-west of city centre

London Stansted   - 48 km north-east of city centre

Contact www.baa.com for bookings and other airport related matters, Tel: 0870 000 0123 for flight information.

By Rail

The Eurostar service from Paris (Gare du Nord) to London (Waterloo) takes 2 hours and 50 minutes.

Brussels to London takes 2 hours and 30 minutes.

www.eurostar.com Tel: booking 08705 186186 (₤5 booking fee applies)

By Sea

Regular ferry services connect the UK with Belgium, France, Denmark, Germany, Irish Republic, Spain, Norway and Sweden.

P&O European Ferries www.poportsmouth.com

Steno Line www.stenaline.com

Taxis and buses run between Gatwick and Heathrow and central London.

The train service Gatwick Express terminates at London (Victoria). A single fare costs ₤14.90 and takes 30 minutes and departs every 15 minutes. For e-tickets www.gatwickexpress.co.uk or

Tel: 0845 850 1530.

The Heathrow Express terminates at London (Paddington). A single fare costs ₤14.50 takes 15 minutes and departs every 15 minutes. For e-tickets www.heathrowexpress.co.uk or

Tel: 0845 600 1515.

A tube service between Heathrow and central London costs ₤4.

The Stinted Express terminates at London (Liverpool Street). A single fare costs ₤14.50 takes 45 minutes and departs every 15 minutes.  For e-tickets www.stanstedexpress.com

The Eurotunnel crosses the Channel from Folkestone to Calais. The trip in your car will be 35 minutes. For prices and times please visit www.eurotunnel.co.uk

No doubt your visitors would want to do some shopping in London. To plan your day better you can visit www.streetsensation.co.uk first to view entire streetscapes of the best know places like Oxford Street, Regent Street, King’s Road and Convent Garden.

To browse the outdoor markets, you can visit www.wikipedia.org (search for London Markets) to see where they sell your favourite goods.

If you want to take your visitors to any of the popular or perhaps less known sites, we recommend you have a look at the following websites:

www.londontown.com

www.timeout.co.uk

www.thisislondon.com

www.londontourist.org

London Pass

When you plan to do a lot of sightseeing in a few days, you might want to consider buying a London Pass. It gives you free entry to 56 attractions and is available for 1,2,3 and 6 days at different cost levels. You have the option to purchase it with public transport (to save you even more) and comes with a guidebook which includes maps, commission-free currency exchange and the ability to jump the queues. For prices and more information visit www.londonpass.com The Pass is also for sale at the Britain & London Visitor Centre, 1 Regent Street,

Tel: 0870 2429988.

To have a change from the big city, there are many worthwile places and attractions to visit within a few hours of London. Consider Oxford or Cambridge, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, Brighton or slightly further Stratford-upon-Avon; Shakespeare’s birthplace. Visit www.enjoyengland.com to plan your excursion.