The London 100 | The Most Romantic Things To Do in London — The London 100 (2024)

10. Provisions picnic

London is one of the greenest cities in the world so take advantage of this fact with a delicious picnic in a park. We’d recommend going to Provisions who will put together a fantastic spread of cheeses, biscuits, hams, chocolates, spreads, smoked salmon, breads, and plenty of wine. And they know their wines, as we have found out from many a trip to their premises to get something a bit special.

So. Hamper in hand and a skip in your step, head over to a park of your choosing (lovely Haggerston Park is just around the corner from Provisions Hackney Road, but Regents Park is a personal fave of ours) and set up the perfect romantic surprise. Blankets, food, wine, flowers all around, maybe a little present for your beloved. You’ll go far.

9. Hidden Jazz Club

Popping up in random funky venues all across London pretty much every week you’ll find this wandering jazz series bringing you a mix of local and international musicians performing jaw-dropping music. Even if you don’t know anything about jazz this is still for you as of course music is in the eye of the beholder.

Cosy up with your significant other, get a drink in (or two or three), and let the tunes whisk you away to another world and another time. But shhhh don’t let anyone else in on this secret London gem, keep this one to yourself…

8. The Big Bake Off

If you’re in the 97% of people that are completely obsessed with The Great British Bake-Off then we’ve got a treat for you. The Big Bake Off (which is absotively posolutely nothing to do with GBBO 👀) puts you in the spotlight in the bakers’ tent against a crowd of competitors all vying for the crown of star baker. Get yourself set up at your counter and prepare to wow the judges.

You’ll need to come up with interesting flavour combinations for your cake - maybe sticky toffee pudding, or vanilla & candy floss, or even caramel & chocolate - just remember that you’re eating it at the end ;) But most importantly just enjoy yourselves, go a bit crazy, throw some weird colours together, use those creative juices to come up with something a bit out of the ordinary. And who knows, maybe you’ll get top spot this time round!

7. TT Cinema

London is blessed with plenty of jaw-droppingly great co*cktail bars and more are added every day. Yet TT Liquor continues to be the trendsetter in this scene as one of a few you can consistently mention at the top. Boasting one of our favourite cellar bars in town, they also have a really cool hidden away roof terrace. And live music. And co*cktail masterclasses. And one of the best stocked liquor shops. Aaaaaaand a cinema.

Which puts on cult classics and vintage masterpieces. Have a few co*cktails beforehand (in the sunshine if the weather’s working for you) and then head into the cinema room for an amazing movie. Current upcoming flicks include Moulin Rouge, Jackie Brown, Sin City, and The Crow - all absolute favourites of ours!

6. Enrica Rocca

A few years ago we were gifted a cookery class at Enrica Rocca's for Christmas and it turned out to be one of our very favourite experiences in London. You start the day walking through the food market, browsing through all the stalls and deciding on the menu for the day. Every day is different and the menu will change depending on what the group finds and prefers. You then head over to the kitchen and start cooking the feast.

This is an all day affair with amazing dishes at every turn - oh, also Charlotte and Claire have an awful habit of having a fridge full of bubbles ready for you so avoid turning up on a hangover but do come with a big ol' appetite, there'll be plenty of delicious food to go round. We cannot recommend this experience enough.

5. Royal Observatory

Is there anything more romantic than looking up into the night sky together, watching the stars and moon above you? Well in London that’s not very easy thanks to our friendly light pollution jacket. So the next best thing is to head to the Peter Harrison Planetarium in the Royal Observatory over in beautiful Greenwich and take in one of their spectacular shows.

We’d recommend The Sky Tonight which will take you through the basics of everything we can see in the night sky today, presented live by one of the Observatory’s own astronomers. This will take you through all you need to know about the stars, the moon, the planets, and all the constellations around us. If you haven’t been before then it’s really worth a trip.

4. Union Chapel

Union Chapel is probably the most beautiful music venue in the UK. This stunning church has been capturing the minds of audiences for the past 30 years and keeps getting better and better. And it’s not just the space itself that is so striking but because this is a church the acoustics are incredible, making it the perfect space for gigs, and has been home to artists such as Tom Jones, Beck, Youssou N’Dour, Amy Winehouse, Noel Gallagher, Elton John and Philip Glass.

Not only does the venue put on 100s of gigs a year but it also has plenty of other events to keep you entertained, from comedy nights to book readings and film screenings. The latter are definitely fan favourites with special evens at Halloween (Chills in the Chapel) and Christmas (Christmassy Winter Warmers).

3. Pitchblack Playback

This one’s going out to all the audiophiles in the audience. Imagine going to a mystery venue with an amazing sound system where you can sit in the dark and listen to some incredible albums in a quasi meditative state. We’re hard pushed to think of anything better to do. But when we were younger we would often got to listening parties for album launches. Don’t judge us.

This is definitely unusual and random enough to win you some serious brownie points for creativity. Just make sure to pick the album event carefully for the romantics out there, less Wu-Tang Clan, more D’Angelo, should do the trick.

2. Primrose Hill sunrise

Brace yourselves, if you’re a night owl this one is going to test your mettle, but trust us, it’s worth it. Set that alarm for godawful o’clock in the AM, prepare yourself for the cold weather (eg a flask of something hot’n’sweet), and make your way across London to Primrose Hill in Regent’s Park (or any other gorgeous viewpoint in London) in time for daytime to begin, the sun to rise, the rays to warm your skin.

Forget the chaos of the city for a few moments and remember how small your problems are against the sheer size of the world around us. This city is unbelievably beautiful and never more so than in the magical time when sunshine wakes.

1. Restaurant Story

Restaurant Story is quite possibly the best meal we have had in London. No question. When people speak about Michelin star cooking this is what they strive for. This isn’t just an exceptional meal but each dish is so innovative and special that the whole time you are eating all you can speak about is the food, the presentation, the flavours, the drinks pairings, the service, the atmosphere. Everything works.

For one dish we had a sake pairing and had a twenty minute conversation with the sommelier about how he discovered this particular sake in the foothills of the Japanese Alps in a tiny village. Love it. The staff have so much passion and it truly shows.

This isn’t a restaurant for any old day but for a truly special occasion with a truly special someone. Keep this in mind when you want to create a memory that you won’t forget.