London Accommodation: Apartments

* Trendy Loft*

This hip loft located on London’s Hackney, can accommodate 4 people. This is a great apartment for rent!
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Hampstead Apartment

Located on the fifth floor of a beautiful building, this entire apartment can accommodation up to four people.
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* Cozy and Quiet Apartment*

This charming apartment is fit for a couple. Enjoy big windows, modern furniture and a great location in London.
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London Flat Atop An Art Gallery

This funky flat is located ontop of a hip London art gallery. Close to shops and restaurants, you’ll be close to everything!
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London 2012 Olympic Accommodation: Apartments

Renting an apartment with iStopOver during the London 2012 Summer Olympics is a great way to save money while traveling. Renting a London apartment saves money on food, transportation and allows you to live in the heart of the city and feel like a local. Cook dinner in your very own kitchen, visit the markets and buy fresh produce. Ask your Host where to shop and sightsee when you’re not at the events! Find an apartment that suits your style and budget.
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Free Music in London

Cultural life in London isn’t cheap – theatre tickets can easily set you back £50, and even the cheapest seats at English National Opera cost £15. Fortunately, there are still a large number of free musical events in the capital.

St James’s Piccadilly, one of my favourite music venues For instance there’s a series of lunchtime classical chamber music concerts at St James’s Piccadilly – a chance to listen to a wide ranging repertoire in an elegant Wren church (though traffic noise from Piccadilly does sometimes intrude). Recent concerts have included the intriguing mix of cello and guitar, Mozart and Schumann piano trios, and a saxophone quartet.

St Martin in the Fields, on Trafalgar Square, also has free lunchtime concerts. Again the main focus is on chamber music, though some of the concerts feature the church organ and choral music.

In the City, St Anne and St Agnes hosts lunchtime concerts on Mondays and Fridays. It’s a Lutheran church, so it’s not a surprise to find JS Bach frequently on the agenda, but the repertory is adventurous – recorders playing medieval music, saxophone blues, or music of the French baroque have all featured.

All these churches ask for a donation and do suggest a minimum (around £3-3.50), but if you can’t afford it, don’t worry – the principle is that you pay what you can.

Organ recitals in churches are often free – St Matthew’s Westminster, tucked away in the side streets behind Westminster Abbey, has a monthly recital (details on the church website), and even St Paul’s Cathedral has free organ recitals on Sundays, at 1645. (Westminster Abbey’s recitals are a little later, at 1745, but you still couldn’t quite fit both of them into a Sunday afternoon. However, you might fit in Westminster Cathedral at 1645 before the Westminster Abbey recital). Londonorgan.co.uk has a list of recitals across the city which is well worth taking a look – for real enthusiasts it also tells you about the organ at each venue.

Foyer events at some of the major art venues are also worth checking out. The National Theatre runs the Djanogly Concert Pitch, with a mix of classical, folk, jazz and world music at 1745 before performances Monday to Saturday (and occasional weekend spots). There’s a list on the website, but it’s worth taking pot luck if you happen to be in the area – some of the acts are quite memorable. The National Portrait Gallery runs concerts on Friday nights when it has late opening, so you can look at pictures and listen to music at the same time; again the list is on the gallery website. The Barbican too has free foyer events – it’s a dismal place if you ask me, but I’ve heard some great gigs there including a set by The Men They Couldn’t Hang, and November will see a freestage for the London Jazz Festival, too.

You don’t have to pay to hear good music in London. And for me, one of the great things about free gigs is that I can take a taster – go to something that I don’t necessarily know that I’m going to enjoy, but I’m willing to take a chance on. Sometimes, I don’t enjoy it much – but there you are, other than the effort of getting to the venue, I didn’t have to contribute anything. But sometimes, I discover a new composer or performer, or a whole new area of music I didn’t know about before.
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