Calling Londoners

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Hi. Planning some time in London over the summer and hoping to find new places/things. We've done all the obvious stuff.

If I tell you what we like, I'm hoping people might be able to come up with some lovely ideas for us! No kids.

Museums - favourites are the Wellcome, the Hunterian (sadly still closed, iirc), John Soanes, Maritime. Would visit Tate/National/V&A etc but only for special exhibitions. Will probably do the Royal Academy summer exhibition with maybe afternoon tea at The Wolseley or F&M on one afternoon. Or maybe Sketch???

Walks - love Highgate cemetery. Really enjoyed a walk from St Katherine's Docks, along through Wapping, Limehouse Basin etc as far as the cable cars. Greenwich park and river also a favourite, as is Richmond Park and river (the latter we've done as far as Ham House previously). Enjoyed a Fleet Street/Lincolns Inn etc walk previously, and also the canal walks from Kings Cross to Camden and to Islington. Love Primrose Hill. Wondering about a Rotherhithe walk maybe? I'm a big fan of old brick/warehouses etc!

Maybe somewhere like Leighton House, or Strawberry Hill or Hampton Court?

Beaches - we often go to Brighton on the train if we're staying in London. Is there anywhere else we might consider?

Theatre - the summer doesn't tend to be the best time for theatre, I know. Any gems we should be looking out for?

Food - thinking of trying The Gate on this trip. Anybody been? Also maybe either the Cinnamon Club, Trishna or Quilon. We'll probably go to Zedel because it's fun and the prices are relatively sensible. Any recs for great restaurants with really good set menus or lunch deals, maybe? Or low-key, small nice restaurants for casual dinners?

Chilled bars and old pubs - we usually go to Spiritland because we tend to stay in Kings Cross. Love a historical old pub though, especially if relatively quiet.

Thanks in advance to anybody who can help! :)

The Garden Museum has an interesting view from the top of the church tower: tickets just to go up the church tower and not do the museum are 4 quid. The restaurant is very good.

Thanks for these.

A shame about Bubala - it sounds so nice on paper.

We had a really terrible meal at Cinnamon Bazaar so if Cinnamon Club isn't total wow, we won't bother.

I'm a bit over Dishoom tbh - definitely don't want to go there. May try Trishna - or perhaps Darjeeling Express?

Will have a look at the others now.

Kensal Green Cemetery is absolutely my vibe btw - is there anything else nearby?

The Wallace Collection - gorgeous.

Haven’t found Cinnamon Club great recently.

Barge East is a great shout - have had two delicious meals there!

For Barge East go on the deck / upstairs

Thanks for these. Probably won't both with KG then.

Done the Wallace Collection several times. The art there doesn't do much for me, sadly.

So many potential places now. I need somebody to put a schedule together for me!

Have booked F&M and the Summer Exhibition

Booked the Tiffany exhibition by promising DP Battersea Park, Power Station and Roti King 😂 Anything else around there? Nice cakes? Art galleries? Thought we could maybe Clipper back into town.

Don’t forget to factor in a couple of hours some time in Fortnums perfume department tent which is a thing of beauty in itself and best of all has enough room to move , unlike most of the other really good perfume departments I know. And do pop into the pharmacy Santa Maria Novella down the road, which certainly doesn’t have any room but is a delight.

Love the perfume room but bought a big bottle of Penhaligon’s Halfeti earlier this year so definitely can’t justify a splurge!

Update if anybody is interested:

We had a lovely time! Main things were:

Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy - horribly busy and some of the art placed so high it was almost impossible to see, but some interesting stuff

Afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason - amazing service, good seats, beautiful room but I thought the food was a bit average

Dinner in Brasserie Zedel - the worst service we've ever had there, unfortunately. The food was decent, but there are shockingly few choices for vegetarians and they don't offer a vegetarian set menu which is really annoying. I ended up just eating starters and a dessert.

The Tiffany exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery - really enjoyed this and even OH found some things to interest him.

Battersea park - never been before and thought it was lovely, and so much quieter than the main London parks

Battersea Power Station - disappointed that you can't actually go inside yet, but it was fun to walk along the river and admire the power station from the outside. Lots of restaurants/bars plus Battersea Brewery - a real holiday vibe. Enjoyed lunch at Roti King, a new, more glam branch for the people with the famous very basic place in Euston.

Rotherhithe walk - not as interesting as the other side of the river but we enjoyed lunch in the Mayflower.

Kings Cross - such a brilliant area now. We went to the nature reserve, saw the Hardy tree, and had various drinks/meals. Useful to discover that Waitrose has a bar - a good find when all the others were so busy!

Whitechapel Gallery - some interesting stuff, but a lot of crap too, as always with modern art!

Richmond park/river - very lovely! The Roebuck pub is lovely - great staff and decent, proper pub food.

Keeping this thread to help plan the next trip - this one will include Hackney and Dennis Severs - just couldn't make it work with our timings on this trip.