HotelChatter

On the return journey, it stops at London Bridge as well. Which means you could stay at the Bermondsey Square Hotel, near London Bridge, or, the Park Plaza County Hall – right behind the London Eye on the South Bank. Doubles there for 22 December cost from £115, while the Bermondsey Square is showing up as £109.

By the way, Thames Clippers also run a regular stopping service down the Thames from the O2. Yes, there are big queues, but a friend who goes regularly says that if you wait around for 20 minutes after the gig, rather than rushing straight out, the queues are fine. Also, he says, if you book your ticket ahead, you get to queue-jump. Awesome!

Otherwise, you can get the Tube - the Jubilee Line goes from North Greenwich (a 10 minute walk from the O2) and will drop you on the doorstop of hundreds of hotels in central London. Again, it passes through Bermondsey, London Bridge and Waterloo, but then it goes north of the river and up through Green Park and Bond Street, so you could make a night of it and stay at nearby Claridges. The journey from North Greenwich to Bond Street takes a ridiculously short 20 minutes, and Claridges have rooms on Macca night from £289.

And although it may sound a bit dicey to rely on public transport in a city that shuts down the Tube when midnight strikes, trust us – the O2 is a completely sanitised venue, they know most people need to train/boat it home, so most gigs are over by 11pm. And what with his impending old age, Macca’s hardly likely to rock out much overtime. Go on - Claridges at Christmas would be lovely. Especially if they festoon the sign with Christmas trees... "

[Photo: Ktylerkonk]