Far flung travel being off the cards at the moment, I will head straight to the Cast Courts for a Grand Tour in two rooms. The Victoria and Albert Museum is always my favourite place to seek solace. Tuck into coffee, cake and culture at the Victoria and Albert Museum
If she’s not swimming in turquoise Greek waters or riding in a Vietnamese dragon boat, then you might find her roaming around London’s castles with her kids. Clare is one of the UK’s top family travel bloggers. Walking through the doors of the RA after lockdown will feel like coming home.Ĭlare Thomson, Suitcases and Sandcastles. It’s the place I go when I need to lift my spirits, to get a much-needed culture fix and to feel like myself again. I’ve seen David Hockney and Modigliani, Picasso and Lucian Freud, Reubens and Ai Weiwei. I get there as soon as the doors open and write for an hour on one of the velvet green sofas in the Friends’ Room before feasting my eyes (and mind) on the exhibition of the moment. It was a lifeline when we moved into the countryside and I had two small children – I’d sneak into London on the train and indulge in a couple of hours wandering around an exhibition and drinking a coffee in peace in the Friends’ Room.Įven now, the RA is the first place I go when I come into London. My teen boys have grown up going to exhibitions at the Royal Academy. I love going there alone but it’s a social space for me too – somewhere I meet up with friends or visit with my godchildren. I have been escaping to the Royal Academy of Arts for more than half my life, a place I like to think of as my London club. Sink into the green sofas at the Royal Academy of Arts
#LONDON LOCKDOWN PARKS SERIES#
You can read more about her latest series of virtual tours here. Usually sharing London’s history with locals and visitors, during lockdown, Katie has instead been running virtual tours and sharing London’s fun, hidden and surprising history. Katie Wignall, founder of Look Up London and Blue Badge Guide.
#LONDON LOCKDOWN PARKS FREE#
To cap it all off there’s now a lovely cafe, restaurant and free public toilets – a tour guide’s dream! I can’t wait to sit in the sunshine and watch London get back to its bustling, vibrant self. I’ve never seen a queue, there’s a lift and it’s free to visit. Since it opened in February 2019, it’s been a bit of a secret compared to the crowds at the Shard or Sky Garden. The Garden at 120 (Fenchurch Street) is a wonder. Scarlett Roitman, Diary of a Londoness Catch some of the best views in townĪlthough I’ve been lucky to be able to continue to explore London on foot and by bike during lockdown, something I really miss is looking down on the city from above. Finally, I will see J Sheekey’s bright red awnings, beckoning with the promise of a stiff Martini and some steamed mussels in wine and chili. Walking through a ghostly theatreland, I will say a little Londoness prayer for our playhouses in the hopes that the lights will soon be switched back on.
I won’t stop at Gordon’s for a gin and tonic, as tempting as it might be, but I will pop into the National Gallery for the long-awaited Titian exhibition. Then it’s Southbank for a Thameside wander before heading over the Golden Jubilee Bridge towards Embankment and into Trafalgar Square. This post-lockdown Londoness needs to get her walking shoes back on, but first things first, I’m heading over for a cuppa and a slice of something naughty at the Swan, nestled inside one of my favourite places: Shakespeare’s Globe. So, as London rises and shines into a new socially-distanced dawn, here is how these Londoners will be spending their first day in the post-lockdown capital. Picnic mania may have hit the capital, but many of us are yearning for our restaurants and pubs, and let’s not even start with how much we’ve missed our hairdressers. Parks, schools and offices are slowly reopening, and non-essential shops, cinemas and museums are poised to follow suit. As our capital eases out of slumber, it’s time to start planning what to do in London after lockdown.
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