London Theatre Breaks: Theatre Breaks by Coach

September 30, 2012 at 10:01 AM

Theatre breaks by coach to London give you a chance to do more than just see a show. I’ve been looking at some 3 day breaks and one of those turns a theatre break into a mini-holiday.

How Coach Breaks Work

Theatre Breaks by Coach

You get a coach from a nearby town down to London. There are lots to choose from so you should be able to find something handy for you. I looked at a three day theatre break by coach from Doncaster. The coach picks you up on Friday and takes you down to London but not straight to your hotel. We stopped off at ‘a place of interest’ along the way. I won’t spoil the surprise but it was lovely & much nicer than stopping at the motorway services! Chatting to other people on the coach I soon discovered that many of them had been on these trips before and book their next one as soon as they get home. I think they must be addictive!

Now these breaks are great for couples, romantic weekends, anniversaries, that sort of thing, but I fancied a weekend break with a couple of our oldest friends. All four of us have been friends forever, watched our families grow up together, been on lots of holidays together and generally get on like a house on fire! All four of us off to see a show and hit the London shops just seemed like a great idea. The coach trip down is fun with everyone chatty and excited. The London traffic, even on the outskirts, is bad enough to make me glad we didn’t opt for the self drive break.

Hotels in London

The hotel for these three day breaks is not in the centre of London so you can get much better value for money. It is a 4* hotel so it has everything you’d expect for that.

You have a nice evening meal in the hotel and settle in. Is it just me or are you a hotel bathroom fiend too? Once I’ve luxuriated in the en-suite bath and tried out the bubbles it’s time to dress up and off down for dinner. I love a night in a good hotel, don’t you? It’s partly the joy of knowing you can indulge in a nice meal and a glass (or 3!) of vino and not have to worry about getting home. No designated driver, no feeling left out because everyone else can have a drink. The meal was just as good as expected and the staff were lovely. They even made sure my friend got her special meal and she assured us it was lovely too,

Then on Saturday morning after breakfast you are off into London by coach. Now I like to have a good mooch round somewhere like Covent Garden on a Saturday morning. There’s always something to look at or listen too. If you like a bit of light opera don’t miss the busking opera singer at the cafe. The singers vary, sometimes male, sometimes female but always of a very high standard. It’s just inside the main building and has a great balcony where you can stand & listen if you are not ready for a coffee just yet. Then of course time for a little retail therapy before the show. Try to keep your purchases to a minimum as no one wants to lug lots of bags around, just little expensive trinkets maybe? There’s a lovely stall that does hand died silk scarves in the Apple market. Ooh and talking of bags, don’t miss the bag stalls but make sure you get real leather ;-)

A Cornish pub in London! The Cove, Covent Garden,

I have to mention there’s an unexpected pleasure for the blokes in Covent Garden. The upstairs of the Cornish Pasty shop is a Cornish bar called The Cove, complete with real ale! It’s the perfect place for them to hang about for a pint or two while we have a quick wander round the market. The pasties also make quite a nice lunch and not too expensive at all! They do a good coffee too if you are not into real ale :-)

Jersey Boys is at the Prince Edward Theatre

The Jersey Boys

The 3 day theatre breaks include tickets to the Saturday matinee of West End musical of your choice. The one I looked at was offering a choice of 9 shows and I picked Jersey Boys just because it has the most amazing selection of songs. The matinee show on a Saturday is great fun and the cast are in good voice. You don’t need to worry about them holding back! This lot are professionals and if you don’t come out 2 and a half hours later singing “Sh, er, ree, Sherry babe,eee!” I’d be amazed! I found a video on Youtube to get you in the right mood:

Jersey Boys runs 2 hours 40 minutes, with a 20 minute interval. As it started at 3pm this means when we come out it is only late Saturday afternoon with lots still to look forward to! Time to meet up with your coach and driver. One of the really nice things about this break is that you have the same driver and coach so it’s not at all impersonal. Our driver was a lovely chap, polite and friendly. He really knew London well and I was glad it was him not me weaving through the London traffic! Everyone has been to see different shows and the coach is soon buzzing with everyone’s stories. We find ourselves thinking about what we’d like to see next time. I fancy Les Miz but our blokes surprise us (not!) by opting for We Will Rock You. We’ll see :-)

Once back at the hotel there’s time to freshen up. I’m back in that bath again :-) Then there’s a Dinner Dance to look forward to. It’s more of a disco than an old fashioned, stuffy dance but they’ve got the sense to play quite a few classics from the 60s and 70s and a good time is had by all, dancing the night away. I’m still singing “Sherry Baby” as we waft off to bed in the wee, small hours.

Sunday morning has a slow start, with a little gentle packing before we wander down for breakfast. Some of us are delighted to see the full English. For some reason I opt for the continental 8-)

Tower Bridge from the river

After breakfast it’s back on the coach for a short hop into London. Sunday morning in London is a great time to do a little sightseeing. We’ve no bags with us so we can just relax and please ourselves where we go. We opt for a river cruise from Westminster. It’s a lovely way to see the city from the river and is surprisingly reasonable! It takes about an hour for the round trip, but you can get off and on again at various points. I am persuaded to get off at St Katherine Docks and we spend a happy hour or more drinking coffee, eating in the sunshine and wandering round eyeing up the gorgeous boats in the marina there. This sparks a discussion of cruises, but we decide they are a bit less of an affordable luxury than theatre breaks!

Back on the boat and off to meet our coach for the journey back to Doncaster. This does not take very long at all as traffic is quite gentle at this time on a Sunday. Even so, the drive out to the motorway does make me glad that we didn’t bring the car. It’s been lovely not to have to think about driving all weekend.

Great Value Theatre Breaks by Coach

On the way back I can’t help but think about what good value for money this break has been. We’ve had travel to & from London, 3 nights in a 4* hotel, tickets for a smashing show, 2 evening meals and 2 full breakfasts for well under £250 each. Even with a bit of spending money that is still great value and means that we could afford to come down for a We Will Rock You¹ theatre break, by coach again in a few months time and still start saving for that cruise :-)

** Book theatre breaks by coach here **