London Gamers: Places to see in London?

So, I'm going to London for a short time period and I've been hitting the internet hard for information on places to go and stuff to see but there's so much stuff out there that it's kinda hard to land on something in particular.

So basically, is there any game-stores that carries retro games? Where would I go to find albums on vinyl? Anything I need to see in general? Etc etc :P

So, I'm going to London for a short time period and I've been hitting the internet hard for information on places to go and stuff to see but there's so much stuff out there that it's kinda hard to land on something in particular.

So basically, is there any game-stores that carries retro games? Where would I go to find albums on vinyl? Anything I need to see in general? Etc etc :P

The British Museum and British Library, because the treasures of civilization are better than old cartridges or vinyl.

Top London tip is avoid Maddam Tussads. What a fucking horrible rip-off that place is. I quite enjoyed the London Dungeon when I last went but I guess I was nearer to 10 than 20. If you are into museums & galleries then London has a lot worth visiting & they are almost all free entry. Natural History Museum has a fantastic collection of dinosaurs as well a complete skeleton of a blue whale which is kinda mind-blowingly huge, so big compared to the dinosaurs. British Museum holds the Rosetta Stone & other fascinating items from throughout human history, where ever the British empire went we pillaged valuable historical artifacts & stuck them in the British Museum! As a Scot I was particularly impressed by the collection of 1000 year old Viking chess pieces from the Isle of Lewis. Then art-wise you can head to the Tate Modern if you're into prtentious modern art, or the National Gallery by Trafalgar Square if you prefer classics by Van Gogh, Constable & Renoir.

There's also things that you just have to see, House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace I guess if you are into that sort of thing, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Hyde Park is nice for a wander around on sunny afternoon, I'd quite like to do a tour around the British Library the next time I'm down in London as they have an awful lot of interesting books & such there, hand-written lyrics by Lennon & McCartney, Magna Carta, it's meant to be very interesting.

As for record stores, a lot of it depends on what you like music-wise. http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/1004/londons-best-music-shops is worth a look. Rough Trade is well worth a look.

Marauder Shields is hanging out around Big Ben. You should go try to find him and get an interview for us.

The various strip clubs and pubs.

Edit: I'm not from London.

The Natural History Museum is incredible, if you're into that sorta stuff.

I live in London, and I love it.

That said, the best place in London for me is fucking Nando's, and I imagine that's where you are as well. Unless you've never been to Nando's. In which case go to Nando's.

Scratch that, regardless of what answers you're looking for, go to Nando's.

But seriously, I dunno. I don't get value from going to places and seeing shit, it's all about who, not what. Cool stuff with friends is cool regardless of where it is.

Especially in Nando's.

@planetary said:

The British Museum and British Library, because the treasures of civilization are better than old cartridges or vinyl.

.. No :)

@forkboy said:

Top London tip is avoid Maddam Tussads. What a fucking horrible rip-off that place is. I quite enjoyed the London Dungeon when I last went but I guess I was nearer to 10 than 20. If you are into museums & galleries then London has a lot worth visiting & they are almost all free entry. Natural History Museum has a fantastic collection of dinosaurs as well a complete skeleton of a blue whale which is kinda mind-blowingly huge, so big compared to the dinosaurs. British Museum holds the Rosetta Stone & other fascinating items from throughout human history, where ever the British empire went we pillaged valuable historical artifacts & stuck them in the British Museum! As a Scot I was particularly impressed by the collection of 1000 year old Viking chess pieces from the Isle of Lewis. Then art-wise you can head to the Tate Modern if you're into prtentious modern art, or the National Gallery by Trafalgar Square if you prefer classics by Van Gogh, Constable & Renoir.

There's also things that you just have to see, House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace I guess if you are into that sort of thing, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Hyde Park is nice for a wander around on sunny afternoon, I'd quite like to do a tour around the British Library the next time I'm down in London as they have an awful lot of interesting books & such there, hand-written lyrics by Lennon & McCartney, Magna Carta, it's meant to be very interesting.

As for record stores, a lot of it depends on what you like music-wise. http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/1004/londons-best-music-shops is worth a look. Rough Trade is well worth a look.

Can I claim the viking chess pieces since I'm off viking kind? :P Thanks for the descriptions of the different places. I'll try to sink in as much as I can while I'm there.

I'm generally into Metal and Prog Rock\Metal. If there's anywhere I can get original Rush Vinyls, I'll be extremely happy ;) Thanks for the link. I'll try Rough Trade out.

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

The various strip clubs and pubs.

Edit: I'm not from London.

I hear English strip clubs has a "no-touchy" policy.. I'm not a big fan of that ;)

The Eiffel Tower, the Parthenon, and the Empire State Building.

@Tylea002 said:

I live in London, and I love it.

That said, the best place in London for me is fucking Nando's, and I imagine that's where you are as well. Unless you've never been to Nando's. In which case go to Nando's.

Scratch that, regardless of what answers you're looking for, go to Nando's.

But seriously, I dunno. I don't get value from going to places and seeing shit, it's all about who, not what. Cool stuff with friends is cool regardless of where it is.

Especially in Nando's.

Never heard of Nando's. We don't have that here in Norway ;) I like the look of the menus so I think I will give it a shot while being over there

@destruktive: My God, you are missing out.

Gaming Wise, there was a large arcade with all the good machines.

It 'temporarily' shut down a year ago, and hasn't opened since. No one knows why. But there are definitely places that will help you with your Rush Vinyls quest. I don't know where, but there are plenty record shops around.

@destruktive said:

@planetary said:

The British Museum and British Library, because the treasures of civilization are better than old cartridges or vinyl.

.. No :)

No, seriously. The British Museum is incredible.

Berwick St in Soho has a few record shops in it that are worth visiting( both new & 2nd Hand), & I would agree with the people suggesting the museums ( & depending on your taste in art, the Tate & Tate Modern are worth visiting).

My faves are definitely the British Museum http://www.britishmuseum.org/ and the Tate Modern gallery http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern

If you're into Shakespeare you could try and catch a show at the Globe Theatre http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/

If you like your metal you might enjoy a night at this place http://www.electricballroom.co.uk/whatson/whatson.html

I thought the National Maritime Museum was pretty neat. They got boats n stuff.

Oh, and if you're in the area, you might as well also visit the Royal observatory, which I personally have not been in to. So I can't really tell you if it's any good or not. Standing outside looking at the prime median is all kinds of underwhelming.

Ripleys Believe it or Not Museum is pretty amazing.

I don't know when you're going but, the fucking Olympics (if you're into that stuff)

You should go to the theatre that has The Lion King. It's good.

Also, YES GOOD GOD GO TO NANDOS AND BE SAVED!

@Winternet said:

I don't know when you're going but, the fucking Olympics (if you're into that stuff)

Good luck getting a ticket a this short notice for anything worth watching.

I remember one time going to London as a kid they had a Sega World. IT WAS AWESOME TO TEN YEAR OLD ME

@forkboy said:

@Winternet said:

I don't know when you're going but, the fucking Olympics (if you're into that stuff)

Good luck getting a ticket a this short notice for anything worth watching.

I remember one time going to London as a kid they had a Sega World. IT WAS AWESOME TO TEN YEAR OLD ME

Don't worry. I'm going there on Friday, as far from the Olympics as possible :)

Also, sega world? That would be awesome for twenty-five year old me :(

@destruktive: I remember the science museum being a blast when I was there. Spent an entire afternoon in there.

I thought all strip clubs had a strict 'no-touchy' policy.

@destruktive: It was in the Trocadero shopping centre. Just read that it was bought by another arcade company & closed for good in 2011. Damn :(

If only Sega World were still around. London isn't much of a place for gaming on a day to day with no real arcades to real speak of although we do have fairly large E3 type events but those are usually held later on in the year. You're more likely to seeing better arcades near beach-type places such as Brighton (which is only an hour away). London museums are free so you may as well check them out. The Science Museum is pretty dope but I haven't been there for awhile. The V&A is amazing so you should def check that out. We also have a ton of plays and musicals if you're into anything like that. As you're coming you may as well do the really touristy stuff as it's kind of what makes London. Carnaby Street used to be the hotness back in the 60s/70s and although it's no longer what it used to be it's still worth checking out. I'd also say to check out Notting Hill as they have a market there on Saturdays.

I've only been to London once but I can recommend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Lane

http://wikitravel.org/en/East_End

which felt pretty unique to me otherwise London can be a little boring and seem a bit like other European cities. Get some proper shoes as you'll probably be walking for hours and the "tube" is pretty confusing.

I'm also kind of pissed I didn't know about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_Street

when I was there (search for Tin Pan Alley on Google Maps) which is kind of ironic since I'm from Denmark heh.

Palace of Westminster/Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Hyde Park are probably places you want to get all tourist on. If you want to wander around go to Soho or check out the East End. The East End can get a little dicey, but it's just fun to go into a pub and talk to people. Some can be a little rowdy and tell you to fuck off, others welcome you with open arms. But it can still get kind of nuts though. When I last went three different fights broke out in the same night in the same pub. Broken glass and everything.

I don't live in London, but I have been 5 times with 3 different times spanning a whole summer living there.

Also if you get the chance go to a game of football. Probably Arsenal or Chelsea since you're going to be in London. Although both teams can fuck off.

Brick Lane has some tremendous Indian resteraunts.

As for the tube being confusing? I'm from a fairly small town in Scotland & I think the tube is about as easy a way to get about town as you can find. The map is a piece of piss to read.

@ShadowConqueror: Duder the PANTHEON is in London. The Parthenon is in Cairo.

It might be more that London is a confusing city more than the tube being confusing. I'm just saying don't expect to find a train station where you can get to anywhere with one train. It is pretty cheap though if you get some kind of 24/7 ticket. It might be boring but it's a good idea to study the maps and connect it with the places you want to see/where you live.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.gif

I also thought it was practically impossible to find a cheap convenience/grocery store so carry a lot of snacks.

You know how when people from suburban Pensylvania go to NYC for the weekend and plan an awesome time? Well what do people from suburban spots in England plan on their trips to London?

@beckley205: I am fully aware of the fact that none of the places I listed are in London.

...Big Ben? That's in London right?

@Winternet said:

@destruktive: I remember the science museum being a blast when I was there. Spent an entire afternoon in there.

I'll give it a go :)

@Dallas_Raines said:

I thought all strip clubs had a strict 'no-touchy' policy.

Oh, there's a bunch of awesome clubs that allows you all sorts of stuff.

@TheSquarePear said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_Street

when I was there (search for Tin Pan Alley on Google Maps) which is kind of ironic since I'm from Denmark heh.

Now that's somewhere I'd like to go. Would be cool to check out for me as I'm a musician. Also, comics :P

@JasonR86 said:

...Big Ben? That's in London right?

I'd be pretty stupid if I wasn't planing to see Big Ben :P