London at a Glance

Leisure Activities in London

Take a break and relax in one of the city's numerous parks!

Living in London is the dream of many an expat. The city’s flair and its multicultural society attract millions of visitors every year. On InterNations, you’ll learn more about living in London, about getting around the city and about London’s exciting nightlife and ample leisure opportunities.

Arts and Entertainment

London has a rich and varied cultural life, based on a large, publicly funded arts scene and the rise of the commercial creative industries. It occupies the leading position among the world´s greatest cities on many league tables comparing various indicators of cultural life.

Around 200 cultural festivals take place across the city over the year, a lot of which are free to attend and encourage visitor participation. While London’s West End is most famous for its many commercial theaters, countless smaller, independent venues spread all across town are also worth exploring for their staging of innovative fringe productions.

London´s two major public arts centers, the Barbican and the South Bank Center, both incorporate great concert halls, cinemas, theatre stages, and exhibition space.

For music fans, both classical and popular, there is much on offer: With more music venues and performances per year than any other city analysed in the Cultural Audit of 2009, with several world-class classical orchestras and ensembles, and countless new bands, DJs, urban music styles appearing every year, you will almost certainly never be bored during your time in London.

Nightlife Hotspots

London is renowned for its exciting nightlife. If you fancy a bit of everything and don´t mind throngs of tourists and youngsters, pick one of the big night clubs or music bars around Covent Garden and Leicester Square.

Soho offers a more eclectic mix of stylish bars, normal pubs and strip clubs. It is also very popular with London´s gay scene. Executive business people, some VIPs and members of the upper classes tend to prefer London´s many private-member clubs, a lot of which are based in and around the West End.

Angel Islington is another nightlife hotspot with plenty of bars, pubs, music and theater venues around Upper Street. Those of you keen to experience London’s nightlife from its most excessive and exciting side should venture into the East End, notably Shoreditch and Dalston.

The Cultural Sector

The enormous cultural sector doesn´t only make London an attractive place to live but is of course also a major employer; also London´s commercial creative industries contribute considerably to the UK economy. With well-established links between culture and commerce, London attracts artists and people with ideas at the same time as entrepreneurs and investors looking for creativity and innovation. The city´s 12 official specialist Arts Higher Education Institutions undoubtedly play a part in creating this hub of cultural activity.

To cut a long story short, London´s cultural offerings are vast and impossible to list comprehensively. Check the daily newspapers or Time Out Magazine for a comprehensive guide to what´s going on in London on a weekly basis.

Recreation

With 31% of London´s area covered in green space, chances are that you won´t be living or working very far from one of the many public parks. Some are beautifully designed by landscape architects, some captivate by their sheer vastness and natural beauty, and others offer large outdoor sports facilities which are either free or can be used for a small fee.

Ideally, they combine all three elements, like Regent´s Park in central London, Hampstead Heath in the north and Richmond Park in the west. Despite the high entrance fee, London´s famous Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew near Richmond are definitely worth a visit.

Sports

Alternatively, you could join a rowing club on one of London´s many canals, or, if you´re not the outdoor type, there´s always the gym. Most big companies offer corporate gym memberships to their employees, giving them access to private gyms and health clubs at a reduced rate.

If you don´t mind working out in slightly less luxurious surroundings and want to support your local community, you can also join a council gym. Council gyms are local government charities and have the advantage of no minimum contract periods – very convenient for those who will only be in London for a limited time.

At little extra cost, they offer membership of the UK Fitness Network, which will allow you to use any one of London´s 90 not-for-profit leisure centers and swimming pools.