Where to go to be warm in London for a few hours

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Weird title but I’ll explain! Going to London to meet family members for lunch. One is elderly and feels the cold. We don’t want to have lunch and then just go home, but strolling about outside isn’t ideal as it will be cold. Where would you go to spend an extra couple of hours? Art gallery? Museum (I fear the latter will be heaving on a Saturday)? Family members are aged 18, 20, 80 and then a couple of middle agers.

I would work backwards from where the 80 year old needs to get to/from. Are you able to tell us and we can think of some more targetted ideas?

The National Theatre has a huge ground floor space with seating. Probably meant for people using the cafe or bars but no one checks that you are doing anything other than sitting. There are quite often interesting exhibitions , theatre related of course which are free, can’t remember which floor but the NT floor numbering system is a total mystery anyway.

If you are feeling cheeky then Peter Jones/ John Lewis seating department has plenty of comfy chairs and sofas to try out! And actually Peter Jones cafe on the top floor has a great panoramic view of London rooftops and iconic landmarks if you have sharp elbows and can grab a window table. Good toilets too.

If you are in the area the Army Museum is usually fairly quiet, and has excellent toilets, and some of the seating in the cafe is cosy sofa rather than table and chair. Ditto the Design museum.

Agree with this. I would make it easiest for the 80 year old.

Another vote for the Wallace Collection. I suspect National Theatre will have a matinee today and it's "Ballet Shoes", so there will be lots of children about.

There is a nice cafe on the ground floor of the Royal Opera House, but again I guess it will be v busy.

I’ll be travelling there and back with the 80 year old! Arriving in Paddington.

Oh yes. The art deco cafe is gorgeous

The Wallace Collection is perfectly located. What type of lunch are you looking for? I'm sure we can come up with some recommendations in that area

And how mobile is the 80 year old? My mum's that age and practically sprints up stairs, so I know mobility can vary.

Oh yes re the 80 year old - one disadvantage of the Festival Hall (and the National Theatre) is although the ground floors are flat access the access to the overground and underground is all on different levels and although there are lifts and escalators it can be challenging if you don't know the area.

Of course they might be like my 83 year old mum who is the Energiser bunny with slightly dodgy knees!

V and A can be extremely busy though. Even getting seated in that cafe is challenging at peak times.

I think you need to decide on the lunch first, and then people can suggest warm places an easy journey away.

If it was me I'd go to one of the big bookshops.

OK, Paddington.

I'd take a family pic by the Brunel statue on platform 8 and/or the Paddington statue.

Then I'd have lunch at Bondi Green and then take a taxi from Paddington to the Wallace Collection (or Liberty's if I preferred shopping or Daunt if I preferred books).

In fact I'm going to propose that to my mum in the spring!

Barbican was my first thought too. They have plenty of seating without having to be in a cafe per se if that’s not what you want to do. One of the best places in London to go and not feel like you have to spend money to justify being there imo, although they do have several restaurants/cafes as well.

My other suggestion is the design museum which, like the Wellcome collection, is rarely busy. It’s not so central but might be good for nice lunch spots in Kensington.

P.S. Paddington is a gigantic confusing station. To find the canal, follow the taxi signs which will bring you out past the left luggage. A short flight of steps on your right brings you out by the cheese barge. Bondi Green is on the opposite bank of the canal.

I'd go to Harrods or Liberty

I’d head for one of the places on the South Bank as there are several of them
all of which fulfil the brief and then, if one does happen to be busy, you can go to another. My thought is that you want to be somewhere where you can sit & chat, getting an occasional drink if you fancy one rather than feeling you’re using up someone else’s space and continually ordering more food or drink.
We went to the Ivy in Victoria for lunch last year and they left us alone for ages. We were there until about 5.30. The previous year, we’d gone to the one in Marylebone and they were wanting the table back by 3pm.

The Standard Hotel is our go to. Has a library tea room you can relax in and a couple of open fires. Nice bars too.

It’s at Kings Cross.

Yes, probably!

What about the British Library, think there is a exhibition about maps at the moment.
I've never been but it looks nice.

National Portrait gallery? Very central and small galleries and a nice cafe/bar at the top with great views of the London skyline?

Wouldn't the best option be a nice hotel bar or a cosy pub?

So not a fashionable one, but just a normal one near wherever your lunch venue is.

I'd also recommend the Wellcome Trust Collection. It's about a 5 minute walk from Euston Station (most of that 5 minutes is spent waiting for traffic lights, as there's 3 to cross in quick succession).
There's a lovely cafe on the ground floor as you come in. I've seen it in all states of "busy-ness" but have never failed to get a table. The attached book/gift shop is well worth a browse and the exhibits themselves are often fairly decent. Well... I've seen some great exhibitions there, and some really pants ones! But they are all free!
It would certainly be easy to kill 2-3 hours there with no bother.

If you've got any Sherlock fans from a few years back, Speedys Cafe where they filmed a lot of scenes, is a 10 minute stroll from Euston.

Some brilliant exhibitions on at the moment - Cecil Beaton at the National Portrait Gallery is lovely, and there’s Lee Miller at Tate Britain and then Gilbert and George at the Hayward on South Bank. I also really like the foyer of National Theatre - nice shop, lots of cafe tables and plenty of space.

BPS is a grim and souless place. I second the Wallace Collection, which is fairly central, has a lovely cafe and shops nearby for the younger ones.

Barbican is a PITA to get to. I get lost every time I go there and I’ve been there a lot. It isn’t cosy or warm either.