London- warm, dry place to go

[ColdNovemberDay]

Posting here for traffic. I have a valid reason to travel to central London tomorrow and am looking for somewhere warm, nice with coffee preferably to go to pass the time between my two appointments I have at opposite ends of the day.

Any ideas what might be still open and fit the bill?

Difficult. All I can think of is a train station where you can probably buy a coffee to takeaway. May not be that warm.

That's difficult - my first instinct was to say rent a co-working space for a few hours in the middle of the day.

Or - cheaper - can you spend a few hours on a bus?? I love sitting on the top deck of a bus and looking out the window at the city going by. You can buy a coffee and sit far away from everyone else. I think the river buses are also still running, that would eat up a few hours!

Yes I’d also say train station .
Provided they haven’t blocked off all the benches

Westfield Shepherd’s Bush is open for click and collect stores and essential retail. Waitrose, chocolate shops etc. Are open, some of the restaurants are doing take away and the toilets are open with lots of Christmas lights and decorations, I imagine it would be quite easy to spend some time there if required. That would be my best bet if travelling to/from there isn’t too difficult. I imagine Westfield Stratford is similar, if that’s a better end of London for you.

Another idea is that if you're going in for business reasons you could ask the company you're meeting if you can borrow a conference room to work from for a few hours as you have some calls to make. We always used to allow clients to do this when they were travelling in from out of town.

@Fluffybutter

Yes I’d also say train station . Provided they haven’t blocked off all the benches

I work near Kings Cross and walked through the station last week - near deserted at around 4.30pm, not especially warm, but plenty of benches, a few coffee shops and supermarkets open.

I'd look at hiring a co-working space or asking the companies your visiting whether they can make space available.

Some nice ideas- thanks. I really like the river bus idea but it looks like they aren't running unfortunately (the Uber/ Thames Clippers ones anyway).
I'll investigate Westfield and the normal red buses.

Any other ideas gratefully received!

Thames clipper was running yesterday - I saw lots go down the river

My visit is for medical rather than business reasons (in two different locations) so no options to borrow an office unfortunately.

Ooh- I'll look again LaBod- I was looking at the 'uber boat by Thames Clippers' website. I'm not familiar with it so thought it was the same as the Thames Clippers themselves- thanks.

Really odd - I’ve just been on their website and it says the service is suspended but there were boats running yesterday. They may, of course, have been testing them in advance of next week.

This is the one I was looking at- it says services are suspended?

www.thamesclippers.com/

Is there a different one?

Try a hospital? Thomas's is by Westminster and Guy's by London Bridge, UCL by King's Cross. Also private hospitals and clinics often have little cafes which probably won't be busy eg the London Clinic on Devonshire Pl.

Hays galleria and borough market are both open. I’d buy lunch from the latter then walk down to the former and sit down by the fountain to eat it

Get a tea / coffee and do this :
www.tripsavvy.com/number-11-london-bus-route-1582169

@ColdNovemberDay

This is the one I was looking at- it says services are suspended?

www.thamesclippers.com/

Is there a different one?

@ColdNovemberDay - yep, that’s the one. The website says the service is suspended, but there were boats running yesterday. However, I wonder if they were testing them for next week when lockdown lifts.

@ShirleyPhallus

Hays galleria and borough market are both open. I’d buy lunch from the latter then walk down to the former and sit down by the fountain to eat it

Yes I thought of hays galleria too but isn’t it quite open ?

@Fluffybutter it’s open on either end but totally under cover so as long as you’ve got a coat on then it’s fine and sheltered from the elements

Posh hotel lobbys are good for this.

@ghislaine

Try a hospital? Thomas's is by Westminster and Guy's by London Bridge, UCL by King's Cross. Also private hospitals and clinics often have little cafes which probably won't be busy eg the London Clinic on Devonshire Pl.

I think hospitals are not allowing visitors - only those with appointments/needing treatments. Ditto hotel lobbies, I do not think you'll be allowed to sit.

Sitting on the bus or a train is pretty much all I can think of, but I doubt a bus will be warm (all the ones in my bit of London have all the windows open). Even stations generally have the seats blocked/waiting rooms closed at the moment.

You could also look at booking a hotel room. I'm pretty sure medical reasons are legitimate reasons to travel so that could be a (pricey!) option.

Any covered market might be the best bet. So Borough or Greenwich or similar (Greenwich has a river boat stop so might be worth checking out) as at least you’ll be able to get hot lunch, coffee and be under cover.

Borough market has lots of takeaway stalls open, and a covered set of steps, and tables, for sitting at.
Sheltered but outdoors.

Split your time between walking and seeing the sights (if you are well enough - Borough Market, South Bank, over the bridge to St Pauls, etc) , having lunch and a takeaway coffee at Borough Market, browse the stalls and maybe do a little Christmas Shopping - lovely gifts of natural flavoured syrups etc, chocolates, olive oils - get a coffee from Monmouth Coffee House - and spend some time on a good bus route. A number 3 goes past Westminster, Downing St, Trafalgar Sq, Regents St to Oxford Circus.

Or take the DLR down to Greenwich, look at the Cutty Sark, enjoy the hourney through docklands etc.

@TweeBree

Posh hotel lobbys are good for this.

Unfortunately all the hotels are closed or I would have said the same!

I'd be surprised if the seating section of borough was open at the moment. All the tables were removed last lockdown and the stepped seating area was shut off.

I'd probably do the Thames Clipper idea to be honest - can you stay on when you get to each end?