London culture most expensive in the world

(12 June 2009)

London is the world's most expensive city for cultural activities, reveals a Post Office survey.

While many leading museums and galleries in the UK capital are free of charge, performance-based attractions, such as opera and ballet, dramatically raise the average cost of London's cultural excursions, as do entry fees for royal palaces. 

The Post Office compared the cost of the 10 leading attractions in 13 European cities, as well as New York, Boston and Washington DC in the USA. 

London emerged the priciest, ranking twice as expensive as Washington DC and Amsterdam.

Visit London, the city's official tourism-promoting organisation, was quick to defend the popular tourist destination, saying there are plenty of affordable activities available to visitors.

A spokesperson said: "If you are an opera or a classical-music fan, you can enjoy some world-beating performances for free. St Martin's in the Fields runs free concerts at lunchtime and the National Theatre has a wonderful £10-ticket series."

While the UK capital might be taking some flack for its prices, the pretty British town of Stratford-upon-Avon is basking in the glory of being voted the world's most charming town.

In a poll run by tourist website Tripadvisor, Stratford-upon-Avon, famous for being the birth place of 16th-century British playwright William Shakespeare, beat San Pedro de Atacama in Chile, and New Zealand's South Island town Nelson to the top spot.

"This is a great accolade for Stratford-upon-Avon to be voted the most charming town in the world," said Phil Hackett, chief executive of Shakespeare Country tourism. "As the reviews are written by real travellers, the accolade is completely impartial."