London Culture

London’s cultural life is unusually dense and unusually accessible.

Theatre

Around 240 professional stages, from the West End’s long-running musicals to the National Theatre, the Royal Court, the Almeida and a fringe that operates above pubs. The concentration is the highest anywhere, and the standard at the subsidised houses is the reason actors come here. Day seats, standing tickets at the Globe and same-day returns keep it affordable if you are willing to queue.

The free museums

Free admission to the national collections dates from a Labour policy of 2001 and before that from the founding principles of the British Museum in 1753. It changes how the city uses them — people drop into the National Gallery for twenty minutes.

Music

From the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall to a grime scene that came out of east London estates, and hundreds of small venues in between.

Food

Transformed by immigration: Bangladeshi in Whitechapel, Turkish in Dalston, West African in Peckham, Caribbean in Brixton, and a fine-dining scene that now holds its own internationally.

Pubs

The pub is the city’s social infrastructure and its most consistent piece of vernacular architecture — etched glass, tiled facades, separate bars for classes that no longer separate. You order and pay at the bar, nobody waits to be seated, rounds are bought in turn, and a great deal of London’s actual cultural life happens above or behind one, because the theatres, comedy clubs and music venues are mostly upstairs rooms.

Literature

Dickens, Woolf, Orwell and a continuing tradition; blue plaques mark where they lived.