Tell Me Something............Anything!

[tapid]

Went to Tate Modern ( Bankside one ) during school holiday s few years back and not too crowded at all, quite an enjoyable day out in fact.
My brain unable to understand everything there of course but if your into that sort of thing well worth going to I would have thought.
Best bit for me was the panoramic views across London showing famous landmarks and river Thames from the restaurant area.
You would need a good few days though Marco to see much of London, and a week would be more like it I would say. Happy ( 2 days ago birthday ) btw.

[Marco]

Marco.

[Pigmy Pony]

Ha - respect for finding a wet patch under that lot!

Marco.

Didn't bother looking for one. Provided my own lube and hoped for the best. Tbh, I came and went pretty much unnoticed.

[Pigmy Pony]

Cool. I suppose it'd depend on the time of year you went, too

I just have (bad) memories of standing in long queues abroad, in the heat, waiting to get into the likes of Versailles, or the Colosseum in Rome, often giving up and telling Del I'll wait for her in the pub!!

And you hear all sorts of horror stories of folk waiting for HOURS to get into Disneyland... Feck that pish. That's a penance, not a holiday!!

Marco.

I went to Alton Towers a few years ago, and in the queues for the rides there were signs which helpfully told you how long you were going to wait at a given point (20mins. from here, 50 mins. from here and so on). I managed to fit in about six rides, with about 90% of my time spent queuing. It was quite expensive to get in, and having seen what it's like there I wouldn't go back even if it was free.

[Barry]

How busy are these galleries and museums, generally, Barry?

Del and I rather enjoy that sort of thing, but not if you have to stand waiting in long queues to pay (and then get in), which has been my experience in the past in big cities. mostly abroad though, not London.

I'm a 'walk right up and pay, then go straight in' kinda guy, with these things, or as near to that as possible. If I can't do that, and have to wait in queues, for any significant amount of time, then forget it!

Also, if it's too crowded inside, and you're bumping into folk all the time, whilst trying to see the exhibits, that's not for me either.

Marco [doesn't 'do' crowds or queues].

It's worse during the holiday periods and over bank holidays. Weekend are also busy, for obvious reasons.

For 'landmark' exhibitions galleries will sell out weeks in advance, but since the duration of the exhibition is several months, you can usually find a time to visit at some point midway between the opening and closing dates; at the start and coming up to the closing dates, exhibitions are almost certain to be fully booked.

The exhibition at the Tate Modern we went to see was "Picasso 1932", which has proved to be especially popular. I booked on-line, but had to delay my visit by a week to find an 'available' day.

With popular exhibitions, in order to shepherd the number of visitors the tickets are timed, so the exhibition rooms don't become overcrowded. Understandable - but I don't like it. Like you I want to walk up, buy my ticket and walk in. On this occasion, because the on-line booking system didn't work (as I often find happens), I phoned up and spoke to someone who assured me that because I was booking a week in advance, I could choose the entry time I liked. You are not limited to this time; you can arrive later as we did, and there is no limit on how long you can stay, though the organisers usually assume about an hour is all one will take.


But I have had to queue for several hours to get into a popular exhibition (or in the example I'm about to cite, an exposition). In 1989 I remember queuing for about two to three hours to get in to see the Gaugin exhibition at the Grande Palais in Paris. I was with a friend, had a good book with me to read, it was a fine sunny day and there was an ice cream van parked nearby selling glaces and cold drinks. And yes, it was well worth the wait.

[Marco]

Interesting stuff, Barry. However, even with a good book and a supply of ice-cream, I doubt I would've had the patience to have waited for several hours. It's just not my idea of fun, as I'd get bored and fed up pretty quickly, just hanging around.

How did you manage to retain your place in the queue (whilst I presume seated) reading a book and eating ice-cream?

Marco.

[rdpx]

Like you I want to walk up, buy my ticket and walk in.

You probably know this already but if you become a member at Tate you can just rock up and walk in whenever you like.

For £120 a year you get a "member plus guest" - it's not cheap, but the Picasso is £22 a ticket, so if you go to see three exhibitions a year it's worth it. Plus you get access to nice members rooms and it's not at all policed so you can lend the cards to friends very easily.



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[Marco]

If I lived in or around London, and was a regular exhibition goer, that's what I'd be doing! Much more convenient, relaxing, and keeps one away from the riff-raff!

Marco.

[spendorman]

I remember going to the Science Museum, would have been about 1964.

[Zoidburg]

We went to see the Terracotta Army exhibition in Liverpool a few weeks ago. Even though it was "school holidays" it was actually a very nice experience. On your ticket you have an entry time which means no queuing to get in and no over crowding when in there.