Stuck for ideas over the Christmas break? Those who remain in London over the festive week are fortunate in that there is much to do.
From a spectacular new exhibition detailing the mysterious and marvellous world of maps, to an excellent new Italian restaurant, here are 10 entertaining things to do in that strange, mystic time between Christmas Day and the New Year.
Head to a panto
Few nights out are more festive than a raucous pantomime, all fairies and dames and adventure. As well as a regular, family-friendly version of Jack and the Beanstalk, the King’s Head Theatre in Islington is putting on adults-only shows, each with a little extra razzle-dazzle. If you’re in the market for scandalous jokes, heavy innuendo, and a whole load of audience participation, this is for you. The story centres around Jack, newly imagined as a dashing milkman, and he is thrust into the limelight when his mother’s dairy farm, Angel Delight on Udder Street, is threatened by an angry giant. “Heroes don't always wear capes... but ours occasionally wears latex,” say producers. You understand.
115 Upper Street, N1, tickets from £10, kingsheadtheatre.com
Tour the gingerbread city
An entire miniature city has been constructed out of gingerbread houses again this year. The annual exhibition, from a wily team of architects, engineers and designers, is back for a playful, insightful look at how people live in sugar. This year’s theme is "how can we design cities that spark fun, curiosity and connection?". The building work includes slides between school classrooms, rooftop gardens, and candy-coloured climbing walls. All made out of ginger biscuits, icing and sweets. Look, don’t touch. And don’t eat, obviously.
Coal Drops Yard, N1, tickets from £8.50, thegingerbreadcity.com
Enjoy Winter Wonderland without the crowds
Hyde Park’s infamous Winter Wonderland continues up until New Year’s Day, running throughout the festive season and only pausing on December 25. Those still unaware should know the place is full of fairground rides, markets, food and drink stalls, circus shows and an ice rink. It gets busy, though the gap between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day is often the quietest period. You’ll still need to book entry.
Hyde Park, W1, tickets from £5, hydeparkwinterwonderland.com
Take to the rinks
Ice skating at Somerset House remains a London festive staple. This year, there’s outdoor skating, apres lodges for food and drink, and a line-up of live music, including big DJs in the evening. Those who work up an appetite on the ice might consider heading to Somerset House’s latest restaurant, Poon’s, a reimagining of a famed, Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant from the Eighties and which opened last month thanks to Amy Poon, the daughter of the original owner.
Strand, WC2, tickets from £15, somersethouse.org.uk
Treat yourself to a pint at the Mayflower
There are a great many pubs within which to ensconce oneself over the Christmas week. In fact, there are few activities more festive than finding one with a certain kind of cosiness, keenly made scotch eggs and crisp pints on draught. We could choose any one of hundreds here, but we’ll go for the Mayflower, Rotherhithe, which is one of the capital’s best and which is happily positioned along the river so that an appetite by way of a walk may be curried. It is old, crooked and Dickensian, full of festive cheer and serves 1kg of chilli and garlic mussels for £20.
117 Rotherhithe Street, SE16, mayflowerpub.co.uk
Investigate the secret maps at the British Library
Secret Maps is a major new exhibition at the British Library revealing some of history’s most mysterious and beguiling cartographical tales. Maps have long been about more than simple navigation — many tell stories of power, coercion, and the control of knowledge, hiding places and artefacts long forgotten. This display uncovers some of the invisible forces that draw and distort the world around us. And it delves into landscapes otherwise uncharted, places long forgotten, and things erased from history in order to protect, deceive, and reshape. The venue is closed until Boxing Day and then open to all.
96 Euston Road, NW1, tickets from £10, events.bl.uk
See Saatchi at 40
After four decades of ground-breaking contemporary art, The Long Now is an expansive group show presenting new works by artists who have worked closely with Saatchi Gallery over the years together with fresh voices from the new generation. Across nine exhibition spaces and spanning two floors, this varied, storied showcase is made up of a host of special commissions, from installations to paintings, sculpture to digital art. Curators said they want to “foster long-term thinking” and provide artists with the space to realise ambitious projects. The gallery remains open throughout the festive period, closing only on Christmas Day.
Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, SW3, free, saatchigallery.com
Catch a Christmas cabaret on screen
This is a sparkling, cabaret-style musical perfectly suited to any Christmas evening, good for families or date nights. Set against the Parisian landscape at night, Christina Aguilera drifts between holiday classics and career-defining hits, with songs peppered with “dreamlike vignettes” as the star contemplates love, motherhood, reinvention and the artistry that made her famous. Christmas in Paris has been called as moving as it is glamorous, an unconventional piece of concert film in which Aguilera gives one of the performances of her life.
In cinemas, odeon.co.uk
Dine in high style at Mezzogiorno
After a hiatus, the Italian chef Francesco Mazzei is back cooking in London with the launch of Mezzogiorno at the Corinthia. The Standard went along last week and found food far better than some might expect of a hotel restaurant — perhaps no surprise given the chef in charge, but hotels often dampen proceedings. Here the Italian restaurant is classic but playful, with traditional, regional dishes spanning the country, though focusing on the south of the country from which Mazzei hails. Roman cacio e pepe to Neapolitan meatballs are on offer in an impressive dining room. And given the restaurant is in a hotel, it will stay open throughout the Christmas week.
Corinthia Hotel, 10a Northumberland Avenue, WC2, corinthia.com
Treasure The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
It’s a grave oddity that no work by the spymaster general, John le Carré, had ever been brought to the stage before now. Long heralded as one of the foremost authors of the genre, his towering work The Spy Who Came In From The Cold has finally been adapted for the theatre and brought to Soho Place theatre by the playwright David Eldridge and director Jeremy Herrin. The story is a thrilling one of espionage and deception as British intelligence officer Alec Leamas, weary and hardened by life on the edge, is ready to “come in from the cold”. There is a break in performances up until Boxing Day and then players are back at it.
4 Soho Place, Charing Cross Road, W1, tickets from £49.50, ticketing.sohoplace.org
