London: 2012 Is High Time To Visit

The Summer Olympics taking place in London July 27 through August 12, 2012 is of course the big story coming out of jolly old England.

And that will definitely be the ticket to get .

Start planning as early as possible. Airfare may climb sky high, so to speak, and hotel room mates will soar.

However, the folks at Visit London want to be sure we know about the many other cool events going on in ’12 from the Queen’s Jubilee (yep, she’s been on the throne for nearly 60 years!) to a stellar exhibit of rare surviving paintings by Leonardo da Vinci.

These events and more, hotel recommendations and other information after the break. (Click the link beneath the image to the left.)

Activities

• The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations (June)
  • Marking 60 years of the Queen’s reign, the Diamond Jubilee will take place in 2012. Buckingham Palace will be coordinating the Queen’s program for the Diamond Jubilee, featuring fantastic events such as the Epsom Derby, BBC Concert in Buckingham Palace, Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral and the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. This is a gem of an occasion not to miss! For more information visit:  Diamond Jubilee

Attractions

• Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter (Spring)
  • This amazing new tour will offer visitors a unique behind-the-scenes tour of the most successful film series of all time. For the first time, guests will be able to see first-hand the sheer scale and detail of the actual sets, costumes, animatronics, special effects and props used in all eight of the magical Harry Potter films. For more information visit: Warner Bros. Studio Tour

Exhibitions

• Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the court of Milan (now through February)
  • ‘Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan’ is the most complete display of Leonardo’s rare surviving paintings ever held. This unprecedented exhibition brings together sensational international loans never before seen in the UK. For more information visit: Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the court of Milan
• The Queen: Sixty Photographs for Sixty Years (February)
  • Sixty photographs of The Queen, including the work of leading press photographers of the past six decades, will go on display at Windsor Castle to celebrate Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee. The exhibition presents a portrait of The Queen’s reign as captured in fleeting moments on both official occasions and at relaxed family gatherings. For more information visit: Royal Collection

Events

• Chinese New Year (January)
  • Chinese New Year falls on January 23 in 2012 and the celebrations in London take place on January 29 in Trafalgar Square Leicester Square, Chinatown and Shaftesbury Avenue. The 2012 celebrations promise to be the biggest yet for Chinese New Year in London, which is the largest celebration of the event outside of China. For more information visit: Chinese New Year
• London 2012 Festival: Globe to Globe at Shakespeare’s Globe (April – June)
  • Shakespeare’s Globe theatre hosts performances of all of Shakespeare’s plays, as part of the World Shakespeare Festival, and the London 2012 Festival. Each play will be performed in a different language, including Afrikaans, British Sign Language, Hip-Hop and Maori. For more information visit: Globe to Globe

Entertainment

• Sundance London 2012 (April)
  • Robert Redford, The Sundance Institute and AEG Europe present film screenings, live music performances, master classes and more at the inaugural Sundance London.  This new four-day multidisciplinary arts festival will be held at The O2, The World’s most popular music and entertainment venue. For more information visit: Sundance
• BBC Proms (July – September)
  • Widely regarded as the world’s largest music festival, the BBC Proms will be a major part of Festival 2012. As ever, it will feature new music, international orchestras and many of the world’s leading soloists and conductors. Reflecting the London Olympics there will be a particular focus on young performers and a celebration of music associated with London. For more information visit: BBC Proms

Hotels

• A Room for London (January – December)
  • There can be few places to stay a night in London quite as unusual, poetic and life-enhancing as Living Architecture’s newest project. For a truly Limited Edition London experience, check out the ‘boat’ perched, as if by retreating floodwaters, on the very edge of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. A Room for London will be available to rent by the night (with a booking date in January for the second half of the year) and allows up to two guests at a time a chance to spend a unique night in an exemplary work of architecture/art overlooking London. For more information visit: A Room for London
• The Wellesley (November)
  • Set to open in London’s most prestigious Knightsbridge neighborhood, the hotel aims to be the first six star hotel for the Capital. The hotel will take on both a contemporary and classic style with interiors managed by the award winning Fox Linton and utilising the building’s 1920’s art deco history. For more information visit: The Wellesley

There are so many unique and one-off events that will be happening around London from now until the start of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. To find out more visit www.visitlondon.com/limited-edition-london