If you’re looking for a great place to meet up with friends for an afternoon/evening drink/picnic, I can warmly recommend the fifth floor balcony at the Royal Festival Hall, located on the Southbank near Hungerford bridge.
We met up on the terrace for a friend’s birthday, tucked into the snacks we’d brought along while I happily downed a delicious Welsh ale or three.
No one seemed bothered that we’d brought along our own food and drink, so it turned out to be a very pleasant and very affordable way to spend a few hours in the centre of town.
Free and open to all, you can feel like you’re looking out of your own milllionaire’s penthouse suite, as you gaze across the Thames and watch the world go by.
One thing: the balcony is sometimes hired out for corporate shindigs, so it might be worth checking wha’g’wan before you set off for an evening’s imbibing on the terrace.
Related posts:
Southbank at dusk: Royal Festival Hall, Hayward Gallery and QE Hall
Club Duckie’s 15th Birthday Party at the Southbank Centre
Mayor’s Thames Festival celebrates London and its river
Art in dingy places: The joy of the Southbank floor mosaics
Southbank London – beach huts, boats and ice cream
The big farewell drink, east London, Sat 9th July 2011
Music, art and machinery, Klanghaus: 800 Breaths at Southbank Centre, London
Long Live Southbank campaign fights to keep Southbank Undercroft skate park
A bit trendy for me Ed – though the views are excellent as can be seen. I take my thermos to the RAH arena bar and get shocked looks from wealthy pensioners £4 for a 12 oz American size Old Speckled Hen or £4 for sandwiches! No wonder they need a winter fuel allowance!