Around Town

Go stargazing in Primrose Hill
You don’t have to be minted to hob-nob with the residents of NW1. A simple pub crawl around the area will give you a fair chance of spotting a minor, or indeed utterly pointless, celebrity (and if not, you can always peer into the windows of the houses you pass). In no particular order, we recommend the walled beer garden at Pembroke Castle (150 Gloucester Avenue), bar snacks at the Queens (49 Regent’s Park Road), Breton Cider at the Lansdowne (90 Gloucester Avenue) and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord bitter at the Princess of Wales (22 Chalcot Road). End the night by grabbing a curry from the row of shops at the bottom of the hill, and eating it at the top while you look out over London. Feature continues

Go to the dogs
Evening races are held at Walthamstow Stadium every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and entry to the art deco delights of the main enclosure will only set you back £6. Better still, you can book the six-pack deal for £14.50 in advance, which includes admission, two £1 Tote bets, two drinks, and chicken or scampi and chips. If you’re feeling brave (or flush from a win), venture into Charlie Chan’s nightclub on the same site; expect to rub shoulders with bottle-blondes and Essex geezers. Sweet.
Walthamstow Stadium, Chingford Rd, E4 (020 8498 3333/ www.wsgreyhound.co.uk).

Life in the fast lane
Hidden beneath the Tavistock Hotel, Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes is tenpin fun at its retro finest. With eight lanes, karaoke rooms and burgers aplenty for the peckish, you could effortlessly spend a whole evening here.
Bloomsbury Bowling, basement, Tavistock Hotel, Bedford Way, WC1 (020 7691 2610/ www.bloomsburybowling.com). Cost £4.50-£5.50 per person per game.

Salsify your soul
Salsa classes may no longer be de rigueur for young Londoners but they’re still good fun. We recommend heading down to the Corrib Rest in Queen’s Park for one of the weekly classes. Learn some steps then head into the club afterwards.
For info visit www.salsaclass.co.uk/classes.htm. The Corrib Rest, 76-80 Salusbury Rd, NW6.

Bonkers book night
Run by Robin Ince (winner of the TO Comedy Award in the Outstanding Achievement category), The Book Club is on monthly (sometimes fortnightly) at the Albany, and each night boasts a huge bill of established comics doing unusual things. Between acts, Ince reads excerpts from abstruse books. Fantastically weird.
The Albany, 240 Great Portland St, W1 (020 7387 0221). Check listings for next event.