Magazines > City & Party Guide

Advantages: listings, articles, features
Disadvantages: they don't give it to me for free

...I haven't been aware of Time Out Magazine, it's only in the last year and a half that I have come to love it as much as I do now. While I am at uni I buy it every week without fail; it is completely indispensable to me. When I started my second year one of my housemates was a student rep for Time Out, so she got every issue sent to her free. Therefore, we had countless issues lying all over our house, and this was when we all became completely dependent ...
...to buy it anyway. Time Out, ('London's Weekly Listings Bible'), is £2.50. For a weekly this errs on the side of expensive, however for the amount of priceless information you find inside this isn't asking too much at all. The magazine is split into listing sections so you can easily search for the kind of thing you're looking for. As well as covering each of these sections each week, the magazine also focuses on a particular feature. This week is ... Read review

Advantages: the essential what's on guide for the north-west
Disadvantages: a map might be useful for tourists

...or visiting it. Perhaps the only thing that it might be lacking is a map of the area, which may come in handy for people new to the city or just passing through. After all, how else are you going to find out how to higher your dimensions in Altrincham?! ... Read review

Advantages: comprehensive guide to what's going on in London
Disadvantages: some events not covered in listings...

...home with a copy of Time Out. Problems solved! Time Out guides have been published for countries and cities all over the world in book format, but London's Time Out magazine is a little different. Published weekly, it offers a week by week guide to a wide range of events and exhibitions, among other things, happening in and around the capital. The magazine, although mainly featuring listings, is not purely a listings magazine. Interviews with celebrities ...
...then we have the listings. Time Out magazine is not a tourists' guide to London...although I'm sure many tourists will find it useful! This magazine is primarily a London guide for Londoners, and, although published weekly, is full to bursting with events and so on throughout London and the surrounding area. The actual listings are divided into eleven sections, detailed below: 1. AROUND LONDON: This is basically a guide to events, museums and attractions ... Read review

Advantages: Thorough listings of everything that is going on in the 'Big Smoke'
Disadvantages: The occasional wrong listing (if it's a distance - check the details)

...a phone directory. Time Out has improved over the years, and is still primarily a listings mag, but has many interesting articles to supplement. Each edition leads with a particular aspect of London, for example one week it may be markets, or London Fashion Week, or a neglected part of London. The listings are thorough and diverse and cover music, nightlife, exhibitions, events, theatre, film, lonely hearts, and most sections have highlights pulled ...
...It costs £2.20 a week, but if you subscribe it's £69 for the year (which brings it down to £1.35). The years subscription includes annual members' offers - this year it's 50% off membership to V&A or the NFT, and each month there's more offers giving reductions on shows, restaurants, and events round London. Even if you're not a subscriber there are normally different vouchers in each issue, in the summer they had 2 for 1 vouchers for Kew Gardens, ... Read review