Here's a book that should keep you busy for a while. 1000TTDILFUTP builds on an already teetering stockpile of ideas from Time Out Guides, which previously showed us how to score a millennium 'in London', 'in Britain' and 'for kids'. With its focus on cheaper activities, the new volume neatly fits the current editorial imperative of refracting content through a credit-crunched lens. In truth, though, this book would work even in the most extravagant of times thanks to sheer breadth and depth.
The newcomer to town will find all the usual 'beginner's London' suggestions here (except, thankfully, for the 'Watts Memorial' in Postman's Park, which is now the yardstick for alt.London cliché). More seasoned citizens might consider endorsements for the National Gallery and Borough Market as simple padding, but they'll also revel in the number of fresh ideas on offer here. We're struggling to find another book on the shelf with info on where to go apple bobbing, following a city ley line, learning to belly dance or joining a fight club. As far as we can tell, the material is all new and not repurposed from the weekly mag.
The numerous short entries are broken up with feature-length pieces on topics as diverse as performance poetry and tracking down the buildings associated with espionage. In addition, several London notables (Dirty Den, Scroobius Pip, Johnny Vaughan...) give their own top tips for exploring London. At 320 pages for £9.99, we'd recommend that you add 'buying this book' to the thousand other things to do in London for less than a tenner.
