Theatre Breaks in London

Theatre Breaks in London: "

Theatre Breaks in London with a top class night out in one of London's classic theatres. This hubpage is not about any particular London theatre nor does it review one of the many West End musicals or plays...

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It's a brief introduction to the idea behind bundling several things together and calling it a London Theatre break.

Weekend Theatre Breaks in London

Weekend Theatre Breaks in London

Posted by on 1/06/10 • Categorized as theatrebreaksinlondon

Weekend theatre breaks in London are becoming a very popular way of visiting the UK capital. A weekend theatre break usually consists of two nights in a London hotel and tickets to see a West End show.

Usually you arrive in London on Friday evening. You either choose to see your show straight away on the Friday evening or book your show for Saturday night. If you choose to see your show on Friday you might worry about getting a pre-theatre meal. However most of the restaurants in the West End offer pre-theatre menus which are served from 5:30 giving you lots of time to get to your show.

I prefer to book the show for Saturday evening if at all possible. It gives you Friday night to relax, explore a little and have an unrushed evening meal. Then a little gentle sight-seeing and maybe shopping on the Saturday. I like to have a really English treat, afternoon tea, somewhere like Fortnum and Masons. This needs to be booked in advanced. Some of theatre break agencies will let you book when you book this when your break and even offer a discount. Afternoon tea is really a small meal not just a snack so it should see you through everything but the longest shows. After the show, most end between 10pm and 10:30pm, you can easily find somewhere to have a spot of supper. I am very fond of La Tasca which does fresh, tasty Spanish tapas until quite late on Saturdays. It is great for sharing and you can order as much or as little as you want. The it is back to your hotel for a nightcap and to relax. This is when you will be really glad you chose a central London hotel, somewhere within walking distance of the theatre is ideal. This is so much pleasanter than dealing with the tube, black cabs or rickshaws.

After theatre tapas?

If you are an early riser and you’ve travelled fairly light Sunday morning can be a great time for sight-seeing in London. The city is amazingly quiet on Sunday mornings and you can see busy areas like Westminster without having to deal with the crowds.

Tagged as: Afternoon Tea, Black Cabs, Central London Hotel, Crowds, Early Riser, Fortnum And Masons, Fortum, Friday Evening, Great Time, La Tasca, London Weekend, Masons, Menues, Nightcap, Saturday Evening, Saturdays, Sight Seeing In London, Snack, Spanish Tapas, Sunday Morning, Sunday Mornings, Theatre Breaks In London, Walking Distance, Weekend Theatre Breaks In London, West End Show

Theatre breaks in London blog talking about weekends.
Mine start on Thursdays and end on Friday.

Posted via web from London Theatre Breaks

Theatre Breaks in London | Theatre Breaks Magazine

Why Theatre breaks in London

Theatre breaks in London are an excellent way of having a short holiday in the capital. You can combine a show with sight-seeing and a little shopping and turn a couple of days into a real mini-break.

When you are choosing your main show you need to decide whether you want to see a musical, a play or even an opera or ballet. There is lots of choice in the West End and you can be sure of finding something just right for you.

Choose Your Show

Many people have no clear idea of which show they want to see and are more fixed on what is available for their chosen dates. That’s a perfectly good starting point and most of the theatre breaks companies will let you search their site by date not just by show. If you are still not sure what you fancy then this is a brief guide:

If you like the classics then go for Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Oliver! or Love Never Dies, which is the sequel to Phantom.

If you prefer something lighter then try Mamma Mia, Hairspray or the unexpected hit of the moment Legally Blonde.

Those of you who like a bit more rock in your musicals might enjoy We Will Rock You, Jersey Boys or maybe Grease.

Finally if you want something a little more steamy there are Dirty Dancing and Chicago.

There are usually at least twenty big shows on offer in the West End so there should be something for everyone.

One Night or Two

Once you have chosen your show and hotel you will often see that it is easy and very reasonably priced to add an extra night. This is a great idea if your budget can run to it as it lifts your theatre break from a quick trip into a mini-holiday . It opens lots of opportunities for other things to do in London.

I’ve included a few ideas for what to do with the extra time:

See more shows

theatre breaks in London

If you have only got a limited time in London and you are a big theatre fan you might even want to see more than one show. The best way to do this is to book your main show as part of your theatre break package, see the show on your first night and then the following morning pop down to Leicester Square and look for the official discount ticket booth. You want the official one in the middle of the square.

There are others but that is where you get the best deal. They have a large digital display of all the discount tickets available for that day and if you are early enough you can often get a real bargain, especially for weekday matinees. I usually like to book a blockbuster musical as my main show and see either a comedy or a serious play on the following afternoon. Try to choose something you would happily pay full price for and then you will really feel you have got a bargain. There are often tickets for Blood Brothers or 39 Steps matinees at good prices and these are both excellent shows.

Sightseeing

You might want to cram in a little sightseeing in London and that can be quite hard work. London is a busy working city and quite spread out to get around on foot. Luckily there are several other ways of seeing the sites. My favorite way of seeing London is a river cruise but open top bus trips are good fun too. If you are feeling adventurous you can even try the Duck which is an amphibious truck that combines both a road and river trip. You can book bus trips, river trips and even the Duck at the same time as you book your theatre breaks package and usually get quite a good discount.

Other Attractions

• The Southbank including the National Theatre
• London’s famous street  Markets
• Dennis Severs House
• 21 top attractions to add to theatre breaks in London

Tags: ballet, London, london theatre, London Theatre Breaks, musicals, theatre breaks, theatre breaks in london, things to do in london, west end

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 10:48 am and is filed under Theatre Breaks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

via theatrebreaksmag.co.uk

More great theatre breaks suggestions from the Theatre Breaks Magazine

Posted via web from London Theatre Breaks

Hairspray theatre breaks

Hairspray theatre breaks
Originally uploaded by Andyrob

Hairspray poster for Theatre breaks in London and show tickets.

Advertisements on railway stations and buses help to keep Londoners aware of which shows are on in the west end but Hairspray and other musicals particularly attract visitors on hairspray theatre breaks which is great because then you can see a bit more of London and really make the most of it.

Michael Ball is spectacular

Hairspray the musical with everything

now booking hairspray theatre breaks until April 2009

Theatre Breaks to London

Travel for theatre breaks to London?

I'll try and outline some pros and cons for the main options which are rail, coach and self drive.

Travel Options - rail coach and self drive to London for theatre breaks

Obviously it depends where you are starting from but there are some other factors which you may not have considered. The show itself is meant to be the highlight or main reason for your trip, so you don't want anything to spoil that which means that arriving in London on the day of the show is not a good idea if you live more than a couple of hours away. I mean, you could at a pinch travel early in the day, find your way to your hotel, check in, relax a bit then go out to the show but my bet is that you would still harbouring a certain amount of stress and anxiety from the journey. London can be a daunting place so you really want to minimise the effect the journey might have. My advice is to leave it until after you have properly rested, refreshed and are in the right kind of relaxed but alert mood. Then you'll be fully receptive to the live stage entertainment experience which you are going to enjoy and remember for months afterwards.

Coach

Whether or not a coach journey is an ordeal or a comfort is probably as much down to personal experience from the past as much as preference, so I would just point out that national coaches travel on motorways and motorways are subject to roadworks, accidents and jams cause by sheer volume of traffic. The advantage might be that there will be perhaps less changes, ie coach to coach, coach to tube, if you live in a town with a direct coach link to London, and the possibility of a quick transfer by taxi from the coach station to your hotel. The price of coach tickets is probably going to be the best value especially for the longest journeys but you will also be surprised at the generous discounts which are available on rail fares when you book the train tickets at the same time as the hotel and theatre show.

Self Drive theatre breaks

Self-drive is really only for those who feel they are going to need the car for some other purpose, such as combining the London theatre break with another trip, such as continuing across to the continent via Eurotunnel or visiting relatives in the south east of England. If you are tempted to bring a car into London's theatre land then do remember that there is a congestion charge which comes into force on weekdays up until 7 O'clock ( £10) and that car parking at your Hotel, if available, will be charged extra at about £25 per day depending on the hotel. That's as well as the worry of negotiating the slowly moving traffic, confusing one way systems and taxi drivers doing U-turns everywhere!

Train to London

Travel by train on the intercity railway lines is generally the fastest and most comfortable, but there can be times of day when carriages are overcrowded. If this is the case, you can often purchase a first class upgrade from the guard, and if you do so when you book the train tickets in the first place then you will usually be entitled to a properly cooked restaurant meal on the train, which is a perfect way to begin your weekend luxury theatre break in London.

Theatre breaks to London in style

In conclusion, to get the most out of London theatre breaks it is thoroughly recommended to do some preparation in the form of research into transport options for your requirements, as much as into the various plays and musicals on offer.