# Things to do in London **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333 "2011-07-26T00:44:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![krunen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@krunen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krunen)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/42 "2011-07-26T18:38:00Z")
A favorite of mine is [Highgate Cemetery](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highgate_Cemetery). The eastern part is a normal cemetery, where you can see the graves of famous people like Karl Marx and Douglas Adams, but the real attraction is the western part. It is essentially untouched since Victorian times, and is full of extravagant gothic tombs and mausoleums overgrown with jungle [(pics)](http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source=hp&q=highgate+cemetery). The western part is only open for [daily guided tours](http://www.highgate-cemetery.org/index.php/tours), book in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/43 "2011-07-26T18:46:08Z")
> [@glaeken](#): > > If you want to try some real English cuisine the below would be worth trying. It’s the oldest resturant in London (open since 1798). A little pricy though. > > [http://www.rules.co.uk/](http://www.rules.co.uk/) > > Going there is like going back in time. oooo!ooooo! my slight claim to fame is that the batter used for the fish and chips there is my dad’s recipe. He used to own a fish and chip shop in the area where the Rules owners source their game. They ate there and he was asked to divulge his secret and got a free meal out of it. And as for pret a manger, no one is claiming is is anything special but merely that it is fresh, predictable and reasonable. A good back up if you can’t find anything more exciting. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/44 "2011-07-26T19:31:15Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > That…sounds…AWESOME. Oh, it is, it is. Though my wife refused to go with me, or let me take the kid. 😉 Oddly, it has a “discovery room” for the kids - complete with deformed child and dwarf skeletons. There were no actual kids in it, though, when I went. At least, aside from the ones on display. 😃 Interestingly, there is an allegation that the Hunter brothers were in fact serial killers, having “collected” live pregnant women and then dissected them in order to advance their science: > **[Founders of British obstetrics 'were callous murderers'](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/feb/07/british-obstetrics-founders-murders-claim)** > > William Hunter and William Smellie commissioned a regular supply of corpses so they could study the physical effects of pregnancy, argues a respected historian Though the evidence is somewhat thin. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/45 "2011-07-26T19:54:53Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > And as for pret a manger, no one is claiming is is anything special but merely that it is fresh, predictable and reasonable. A good back up if you can’t find anything more exciting. Oh. Carry on then. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/46 "2011-07-26T19:58:14Z")
We took a Jack the Ripper tour from this group: [http://rippingyarns.8m.com/](http://rippingyarns.8m.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/47 "2011-07-26T20:10:56Z")
> [@krunen](#): > > A favorite of mine is [Highgate Cemetery](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highgate_Cemetery). The eastern part is a normal cemetery, where you can see the graves of famous people like Karl Marx and Douglas Adams, but the real attraction is the western part. It is essentially untouched since Victorian times, and is full of extravagant gothic tombs and mausoleums overgrown with jungle [(pics)](http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source=hp&q=highgate+cemetery). > > The western part is only open for [daily guided tours](http://www.highgate-cemetery.org/index.php/tours), book in advance. …and, whatever you do, don’t blink. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/48 "2011-07-27T00:18:00Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Take in afew pubs. Most have the same menu so I guess they all are catered for centrally. There are a lot of plastic like chain pubs with very ordinary pre-made meals. If you want to experience an English pub, do not go to one of these pubs. Look at the good pub guide (last I checked it was on line these days) and choose something from there. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/49 "2011-07-27T00:22:34Z")
Got to Dover and take the hover craft to France. England looks best from the rear view mirror. ps-Look to your right when crossing the street. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/50 "2011-07-27T09:13:04Z")
> [@lukeinva](#): > > ps-Look to your right when crossing the street. There are instructions painted on the ground at almost every crossing. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/51 "2011-07-27T09:18:40Z")
> [@lukeinva](#): > > Got to Dover and take the hover craft to France. England looks best from the rear view mirror. > > ps-Look to your right when crossing the street. Are you always this charming? BTW the Dover hovercraft went the way of the Dodo in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/52 "2011-07-27T09:40:14Z")
> [@lukeinva](#): > > Got to Dover and take the hover craft to France. England looks best from the rear view mirror. > > ps-Look to your right when crossing the street. Might I ask which cultural Mecca you hail from that makes the entirety of England so sneer-worthy? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/53 "2011-07-27T09:50:24Z")
> [@Jennyrosity](#): > > Might I ask which cultural Mecca you hail from that makes the entirety of England so sneer-worthy? Must be one on those “left-looking” countries I hear so much about. Pft! left!..what sort of a direction is that? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/54 "2011-07-27T09:52:53Z")
> [@Jennyrosity](#): > > Might I ask which cultural Mecca you hail from that makes the entirety of England so sneer-worthy? I think I’ve worked out \*\*lukeinva’s \*\*animosity towards [this sceptred isle](http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/25255.html). Seems, from another thread, he met a shithead who happened to be English, so clearly dismissing a nation of 50 million people is fair enough: > [@Lets start another tipping thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-start-another-tipping-thread/590122/42): > > While traveling in Spain I met an Englishman who, upon learning I was American, began a tirade about his horrible trip to America caused by him having to leave tips. > > He said he would never return to the US because of the expected tips. Happily I assured him the entire wait-staff population of America thanks him. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/55 "2011-07-27T11:07:41Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Are you always this charming? BTW the Dover hovercraft went the way of the Dodo in 2000. YHGTBSM!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/56 "2011-07-27T11:18:06Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > There are a lot of plastic like chain pubs with very ordinary pre-made meals. If you want to experience an English pub, do not go to one of these pubs. Look at the good pub guide (last I checked it was on line these days) and choose something from there. The last trip (just last year) I didn’t get to any pubs that weren’t pretty central, but the ones I did get to (there were a few) all had the same menu - I mean not even on different paper. It was exactly the same menu. I have no idea why Scrouges or whatever his name is was looking suspicious about but that is waht happened. (Most of these were around the Kensington area). However, even with the mass produced menu they did have different beers- including the dreaded Spitfire. I am still trying to get the taste out of my mouth. (No jokes about how I settled with the bar tender for the beer 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/57 "2011-07-27T11:20:31Z")
You are probably thinking of [Wetherspoons chain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_D_Wetherspoon); which seems to own all the bloody pubs in Central London and yes they do have the same menus everywhere. Curry hour on Tuesdays (?) is pretty good from what I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/58 "2011-07-27T11:26:05Z")
Those Wetherspoon’s I’ve been to weren’t all that bad. Decent food (except for the half-cooked fish and chips I had in York once) and a quite good selection of ales at a bargain price. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/59 "2011-07-27T11:38:41Z")
I spent one year eating out perhaps thrice a week from a [Wetherspoons](http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-sir-john-oldcastle) near my flat and can confirm that the food is edible. But the really good pub grub is not the wetherspoons chains or even in London pubs but in many of the country pubs. There is one really good pub outside of Tunbridge Wells\*; the Hatton something or the other. Their lamb is to die for. \*Yes I know not London ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/60 "2011-07-27T11:41:14Z")
I had a look at Wetherspoons and I don’t think it is the chain. The ones that spring to mind were the Goat Tavern, The Prince of Wales (both at Kensington) and one not far from Harrods in Knightsbridge. There were others but their names escape me. The meals weren’t bad- steak and guiness pie, cottage pie- that sort of thing. And even if they were a chain, the atmosphere was something that I have never seen replicated in the would be Irish and British pubs out here. ---
**Author:** ![scruffycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scruffycat/32/200_2.png) [@scruffycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scruffycat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333/61 "2011-07-27T12:08:48Z")
Sir John Soane’s Museum [http://www.soane.org/](http://www.soane.org/) in Holburn is well worth a visit. It’s jam packed full of interesting stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-to-do-in-london/590333.md?page=4)