A week can be a long time in any profession, and Friday is – for most of us – the time to log off, loosen up, and maybe start to let our hair down a little.
There are a million-and-one ways to enjoy a Friday night in London – the world’s most exciting city – and these 10 suggestions are just the start of making the most of the best day of the week.
Out for dinner
Get some Friday night spice at one of the most exciting international restaurants in London. Club Mexicana started out as a Friday night dining club, and continues to pop up as a guest kitchen in some great venues. At the moment, your Friday night destination should be London’s first vegan pub, the Spread Eagle in Camden Lock Market, where your tacos, nachos, empanadas and burritos won’t just be authentic and zingy but also highly ethical.
Night in
Don’t fancy the fuss of a Friday night restaurant queue? Too tired to cook? Don’t order a takeaway, order a chef. A private dinner party is never going to be cheap, but Chef’s Compliments offer some great menus cooked by top-class chefs. If you love the food then call back to book a private lesson so you can wow your friends with your own efforts next time around.
Cultural adventures
Museum curators must simultaneously praise and curse the success of the Night at the Museum movies. While they’re a great promotional tool, they also bring the idea of round-the-clock opening hours to light. London has perhaps the world’s greatest museums, and many of them have risen to the challenge of the 24-hour city with imagination and verve. Amongst the best are gigs at the British Library, talks and interactive explorations in the Science Museum, and Night Safaris around the spooky galleries of the Natural History Museum. Check listings for the latest way to shed some light on the capital’s cultural heritage.
Out for drinks
An elegant and safe way to go out for drinks on one of London’s canals is with the gin cruises from Artisan Drinks. They stock up a canal boat with top quality craft spirits, invite expert mixologists on board for master classes and mixing, and lay on some lovely tapas for a short hop down the Regent Canal from Camden to Little Venice. With London Zoo off the starboard bow and a goody bag to take home, this elegant little excursion (currently on one Friday a month) is a great way to launch your weekend.
Early doors
When the National Theatre hits its stride it can be tough to get a ticket, particularly on a Friday night. But if you fancy getting in early you’ll find a great selection of talks, tours and other events running in the early evening. Usually themed around current productions – but often stretching their cultural and social wings – there’s plenty of substance to these events that are both great value and a great way to feed your mind or complement a theatre trip later in the evening.
Dance the night away
You’ll feel you’re further north than Camden at The Ceilidh Club, a regular Friday night special at Cecil Sharp House in NW1. These nights claim to be among the best three hours of fun you can have on a Friday night in London, and you’re advised to book to get in. What you won’t need is any advanced knowledge of Scottish music or dancing as you’ll be “called” through your steps by experts. Tartan clothing is appreciated but not required say the organisers.
Into the wee small hours
Late night drinking and eating needn’t be all about hurling down shots and wolfing down a kebab, and Café Boheme in Soho might bring some Parisian insouciance to your late Friday night in London. Open until 3am every Friday, the recently revamped Old Compton Street café has a cracking drinks list served with French bistro classics and live jazz, and lets you stretch out a night that you don’t want to end.
Go wild by looking at the stars
Light pollution means that many Londoners struggle to see above the streetlights, but there are a select few spots where you can get some (often free) stargazing in on a Friday night. Blackheath Common offers a little respite from the sodium city glow, and Flamsteed Astronomy Society are on hand for irregular events to give you some context. Is it glamorous? Maybe not by many standards. Is it romantic? There’s nothing more romantic! Check other London parks for similar scheduled events.
Movies by night
If you love nothing more than getting home and switching on a screen, then stay out, make it a big screen and enjoy fantastically curated late-night movie marathons at the Rio Cinema in Dalston. Taking in a wide range of themes, these nights will take you from Friday night well into Saturday morning at one of East London’s best movie houses.
A quiet night out
The Museum of Happiness is a not-for-profit organisation with roots in – as you might have guessed – Silicon Valley and an outpost in – as you also might have guessed – Shoreditch. Put your assumptions to one side though if you fancy some friendly, soul-nourishing time at regular Friday night events based around sharing, mindfulness, and often silence – perhaps the modern world’s most valuable commodity – in an attempt to promote a “kinder, happier and more playful” world.
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