The Olympics in Paris will bring millions to European countries in July and August, so competition for hotel rooms, restaurants, and transportation will itself become an Olympic event. London this June, with the possibility of cooperative weather plus an extraordinary range of activities for visitors, becomes a solid option.
As Jews, however, one must consider that London has long been a hotbed of antisemitism due to its large Muslim population, as well as its colonialist history. Ongoing protests related to the war in Gaza have complicated lives for the city’s Jewish residents.
The better news is that in the tourist areas, visitors are seldom confronted with anything concerning. While London, like the rest of the world outside Israel, is not always comfortable for Jews, predominantly Jewish neighborhoods like Golders Green and Hendon exist in a bit of a bubble where one can shut out the media. So, safety should not be a problem for the moment – but take it seriously.
NOW, ACTIVITIES – let’s start with sports. Tennis. All eyes turn to Wimbledon in late June and early July for a fortnight of outstanding tennis at one of the sports’ four major or Grand Slam events. But you can enjoy an infinitely more intimate (and affordable) tennis experience at the Queen’s Club Championships from June 17 to 23, a tune-up for the same greats who will be playing at Wimbledon a week or so later. All of the action, most of the cachet, and much more reasonably priced tickets. www.queensclub.co.uk/cinch-championships/
Not into tennis? Major League Baseball continues to export itself to the motherland, with two games set for London between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. The games will take place at London Stadium (home of Premier League team West Ham, in real life and on the sitcom Ted Lasso) on June 8 and 9. These will likely be the biggest crowds the hapless Mets draw all year. www.mlb.com/international/events/london-series
IF YOU prefer perfection in a museum and not on a pitch, field, or court, may I propose the blockbuster Michelangelo exhibition at the British Museum? As with any major show, reserve your tickets in advance. The show focuses on the last three decades of the great artist’s life when he went to Rome to paint the Sistine Chapel and grew in status and acclaim.
The exhibition is small, but it offers the extraordinary experience of coming face to face with Michelangelo’s actual drawings for figures in the famous chapel and his architectural achievements. You have to wonder how these delicate works of art could have been preserved for almost 500 years.
While there, say hello to the Elgin Marbles, purloined from Athens, and the Rosetta Stone, which Napoleon lifted from Egypt. Who knows how much longer those iconic items will remain in London. www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/michelangelo-last-decades.
If you love London’s underground, better known as the Tube, then you simply must take a tour of the hidden, closed, or disused sections of various Tube stations around the system. These include Piccadilly Circus, Baker Street (home of Sherlock Holmes), and a small station in mid-London where World War II was planned and conducted. This is separate from Churchill’s War Rooms, which everybody visits. At the Down Street station, you can walk where the war leaders worked, ate, and slept, while unknowing commuters rattled by. www.ltmuseum.co.uk/hidden-london
The arts
Turning to the performing arts, London is renowned for its extraordinarily robust theater and its lovely and centuries-old West End playhouses. The hottest playwright this spring? This new guy they call Shakespeare. You can see Ian McKellan as John Falstaff in Player Kings, a combination of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2. The 84-year-old McKellan is one of our era’s foremost Shakespearean performers. www.noelcowardtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/player-kings.
Or you can see the wildly talented Eddie Izzard play all 23 parts in Hamlet. www.eddieizzardhamlet.com/.
Or you can go for Kiss Me, Kate, the musical version of The Taming of the Shrew, featuring musical comedy standout Charlie Stemp. www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/event/kiss-me-kate.
Harry Potter, Wicked, and Mamma Mia! will just have to wait.
ONE OF the world’s best jazz clubs is Ronnie Scott’s, a Soho establishment at the center of the British jazz world since 1959. Performers who left their mark on the club include greats like Zoot Sims, Lee Konitz, and Sonny Rollins. The club has its own big band, as well as visiting musicians. Shows sell out well in advance, so the minute you book your flight, book your evening at Ronnie Scott’s. It is a part of London that most visitors never experience. They’ll never know what they missed. www.ronniescotts.co.uk/
Last entertainment suggestion: There is a singer/songwriter performing at Wembley on June 21-23. Americans know her as Travis Kelce’s girlfriend. You may know her as Taylor Swift. Why not take a second mortgage on your home and see the latest incarnation of the Eras Tour? Better still, save a few thousand dollars and see her the previous weekend at Anfield stadium in Liverpool, home of the Liverpool football team, where tickets are radically cheaper.
While in Liverpool, you can visit the Cavern Club, home of a rock group that many people consider the Taylor Swift of the 1960s. They were known as, um, let me check my files. That’s it. The Beatles. www.wembleystadium.com/events/2024/Taylor-Swift-The-Eras-Tour
If you’re exhausted from doing some, most, or all of the above, here’s where you’ll recover. Enjoy all manner of massages, a plunge pool, aromatherapy, a breathtaking fitness studio, an ice fountain, private spas with fireplaces, and a wide variety of wellness specialists and trainers on the four floors of the extraordinary and beloved Espa Life at the Corinthia Hotel in London. Calling it a spa is like calling the Crown Jewels a display of costume jewelry. Make this the last thing you do on your trip because once you enter, you’ll never want to leave – not even for Shakespeare, the Phillies, or Taylor Swift. espalifeatcorinthia.com/
So there you have it... lots and lots of reasons to give London a go this June. Just bring an umbrella. You never know.
New York Times bestselling author Michael Levin runs www.MeaningBooks, a book ghostwriting firm.