City Breaks

London Guide

London is a yearly trip for me, however this year I saw a different side of the city which made me fall madly in love with it. Whilst I am definitely no expert I thought I’d mention a few of the places which I think are worth sharing. So if London is on the cards for you anytime soon put on Notting Hill, swoon over Hugh Grant and read this little guide – and hopefully you’ll be feeling inspired to discover the English capital.

BREAKFAST

xxxxxxxxxx

Whilst I had just jumped off the plane from Paris, I can still never resist the temptation of French delights, I don’t feel quite so guilty about this telling myself that France is celebrated for its gastronomic talent for a reason. Aubaine is the perfect little French spot in central London offering something delicious at every time of day. I stopped in for a superb smoked salmon and duck egg omelette and a few macarons to follow.

Aubaine Marelybone
Aubaine cafe London

FAVOURITE AREAS

London is a large sprawling city which means that it can be more difficult to find the beautiful spots as they’re not all condensed into one walk-able area – nonetheless when you do find them it is all the more rewarding. Below I’ve listed some of the areas which are not to be missed.

xxxxxxxxxx

COVENT GARDEN

Covent garden is an area which I normally tend to head straight to upon my arrival in the city. Working my way through the chic boutiques nestled within beautiful buildings provides no short of amusement for me. The market is made up by a mix of cute quirky stalls and high end boutiques all under the roof a of turquoise metal structure. This area is also home to the wonderful Somerset house where I’ve been fortunate enough to see some of the best exhibitions of my life including Tim Walker’s storyteller, I am confident that there will always be something worth seeing. For some of the best cupcakes in town, don’t miss Primrose bakery and their saccharine treats.

SOMERSET HOUSE Strand, WC2R 1LA// PRIMROSE BAKERY 42 Tavistock St, WC2E 7PB//

Covent garden
Primrose bakery
Covent garden

NOTTING HILL

The pastel-hued apartments of Notting Hill feel a long distance away from the madness of central London. Everyone is heading to Portobello road for the market on the weekend which is worth seeing but I actually prefer meandering the quiet more residential parts to take in the breathtaking architecture. Westbourne grove provides the perfect mix of high-end shops and organic bakeries and is also where you’ll find the extravagant Gaudi inspired restaurant Beach Blanket Babylon which is the ideal place for a tea break.

Notting hill
Beach Blanket Babylon
Beach Blanket Babylon tea

MARYLEBONE HIGH STREET

A wonderful street, not far from Bond Street for a bit of quiet shopping. I would be tempted to name this road little Paris due to the sheer amount of Parisian spots I passed on the way, I thought I had a deja-vu moment when I saw the most Parisian of all pastry shops – la pâtisserie des rêves. For the most phenomenal book shop make sure to enter Daunt books for its vast  travel section with row after row of curated city guides.

DAUNT BOOKS 83 Marylebone High St, W1U 4QW //

Marelybone high street
Daunt books

SHOPS

xxxxxxxxxx

FORTNUM AND MASON

There are a few stores which are punishable if missed, whilst everyone knows of the extravagance of Harrods, I personally cannot talk highly enough of Fortnum and Mason. A British symbol of high quality goods offering everything from hard-boiled sweets to guimauve marshmallows. World famous for its tea selection, their tea infusers in pastel blue boxes are perhaps the most adorable kitchen accessories I’ve seen. For hours of shopping fun also make sure not to miss the two department stores Liberty and Selfridges both of which I could spend days inside.

FORTNUM & MASON 181 Piccadilly, W1A 1ER // LIBERTY Regent Street, W1B 5AH // SELFRIDGES 400 Oxford St, W1A 1AB

Fortnum and Mason
Fortnum and Mason

CAFES

xxxxxxxxxx

WORKSHOP COFFEE

I stumbled across the little stop-in cafe completely by coincidence only to later learn of it as a staple London coffee house. A couple of other flawless cups which I tried due to invaluable recommendations from London friends were from Flat white and Monmouth coffee.

WORKSHOP COFFEE 75 Wigmore Street, W1U 1QD // FLAT WHITE 17 Berwick St, W1F 0PT // MONMOUTH COFFEE Arch 3 Spa North, Dockley Rd, SE16 4RP

Worshop cafe London
Workshop coffee
Meringue girls kiss

MARKETS

xxxxxxxxxx

BROADWAY MARKET

I couldn’t imagine a more pleasant way to spend a Saturday morning other than perusing the stalls at this farmers marketand being greeted with a smile and a bit of chatter about the local produce. Head to the bottom of the road to start your morning off in the best possible way with a sourdough tartine topped with Norwegian smoked salmon which melts in your mouth accompanied by a Climpson and Sons coffee. Other delights include Coco and Me home-made tarts and Violet’s red velvet cupcakes, a recipe handed down through generations of an all American family, so I’m told. One of the things I was most excited about was meeting the Meringue girls in person, they’re multi-coloured meringues are stirring up quite a storm with all sweet tooth’s like myself.

Broadway market
Broadway market
Broadway market

COLUMBIA FLOWER MARKET

You won’t find a more cheerful place in London on a Sunday morning than the happenings along Columbia road. The incredible smell of the fresh flowers together with the banter of the Cockney hagglers will surely have you smiling to yourself when choosing your bunch of flowers. Afterwards head to the Lili Vanilli bakery for mountains of layered home-made cake and the homeliest atmosphere.

Columbia flower market
Columbia road flower market
Lily Vanilli
London
London

SWEET TREATS

xxxxxxxxxx

CHARBONNEL AND WALKER

The pink champagne truffles sold at this darling chocolatier are to die for, as if the packaging isn’t reason enough to buy a box they’re also the queen’s favourites. The generous staff will often offer you a chocolate or two when deciding which box to buy.

One, The Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond St, London W1S 4BT

Charbonnel and walker

RED VELVET CUPCAKE

Hummingbird bakery is famous for its red velvet cupcake and whilst I cannot refute its deliciousness, I found a couple of other bakeries who are producing even yummier versions. Primrose bakery which I mentioned above does an equally as delicious one yet in a much more pleasant tea room with feminine touches where you can enjoy your treats at ease. My favourite of them all would have to Violet, the same baker who sells her treats at Broadway market also has a charming little cafe in London fields making the best Red Velvet in London in miniature or classic sizes.

PRIMROSE BAKERY 69 Gloucester Ave, NW1 8LD// VIOLET 47 Wilton Way, E8 3ED

Hummingbird red velvet
Red velvet cake at Lili Vanilli

MERINGUE GIRLS

Multi-coloured meringue kisses are the stuff of any girls dreams. The Meringue Girls know where it’s at, now stocked in Selfridges, Fortnum’s and at Broadway market as featured above. I thought they deserved a little feature of their own seeing as no trip to London would be complete without one of their sweet meringue kisses.

Meringue girls
Meringue girls

And there you have it a little guide to London, I hope this helps you discover the best of this beautiful city.

Comments

Leave a Reply to Gloria Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Grey | lovewishfully.com says:

March 4, 2014 at 1:24 am

Such lovely places! And those sweets sure look amazing! Thank you for taking the time to write this guide. I’m going to bookmark it because I’m planning to visit London after grad school!

fayebullock@live.co.uk says:

March 4, 2014 at 12:25 pm

Ah it was my pleasure I absolutely loved putting this together and rediscovering all of my favourite place in my home country! Ah wow you are going to love it there I’m so glad that this guide will help you

Olivia MacRae says:

March 4, 2014 at 3:55 am

I love how your photos bring out the character of these European cities. Fantastic job! :-)

fayebullock@live.co.uk says:

March 4, 2014 at 12:23 pm

Oh wow thank you yes I’d love to do a little guide for all of my favourite European cities

Joanne Elaine says:

March 4, 2014 at 6:07 am

love your shots! can’t wait to be in that part of the world. x

fayebullock@live.co.uk says:

March 4, 2014 at 12:22 pm

Thank you! I hope it’ll be soon I guarantee you’ll love it

Kizzy @ The Dainty Dolls House says:

March 4, 2014 at 1:32 pm

These are gorgeous places & your photos are wonderful xx

Aslı says:

March 4, 2014 at 6:01 pm

I can’t wait to visit London someday! Everybody asks me about London since they know I’m studying at LSE but it all gets confusing when I tell them it’s only distant studies and I’ve never been to London before! They go like, “never?!” Which I totally understand hahah :D

If I can bring it all together, I want to spend a month or two in London while studying at summer school of LSE for an early graduation. When it happens I’ll follow all your recommendations and munch on some of these meringues. I may even hop on a train and come down to Paris here and there as well. Dreaming is such a sweet activity, thanks to your beautiful photos!

Xx
Aslı

http://www.zeparisienne.com

Faye says:

March 5, 2014 at 6:39 pm

Ahhh Asli sounds as though you definitely need to visit London more than anyone if you’re studying at LSE. That sounds like such a wonderful plan you’ve got sorted- I don’t doubt that you’ll love every second spent there. Yes dreaming is such a wonderful thing to do, it always keeps me optimistic

Laura says:

March 4, 2014 at 7:45 pm

I totally agree about Fortnum & Mason and Charbonnel & Walker – such delicious (and beautiful) treats! I definitely need to visit the flower market the next time I’m in London!

Faye says:

March 5, 2014 at 6:35 pm

Glad you agree – yes it was pretty difficult getting up in time for the markets but totally and utterly worth it – definitely one of the highlights

Millie says:

March 4, 2014 at 10:52 pm

Love it Faye Faye, this is actually so useful I find London so confusing I never know where to start! We’ll have to go together sometime!! xxxxx

Faye says:

March 5, 2014 at 6:33 pm

Ahh Mils so happy to see you on here you cutie! Yes we absolutely must!

Gloria says:

March 5, 2014 at 12:06 pm

J’adore Aubaine aussi, la déco est superbe! Bisous et très très belles photos!!!!!

Faye says:

March 5, 2014 at 6:30 pm

Je suis contente que tu connaisse aussi ce petit resto! J’en veux un a Paris!

Hana says:

March 5, 2014 at 6:00 pm

Wonderful writeup!

It’s harder to swallow while looking at the pictures though… London! xx

http://www.journeyintolavillelumiere.com

Faye says:

March 5, 2014 at 6:15 pm

Haha glad to hear I do always find the layout of a city guide rather difficult on a blog format

Jessica M says:

March 5, 2014 at 7:27 pm

GORGEOUS photos!!! Looks like so much fun! I hope I can make it back to London someday to follow in your footsteps. So many tarts and cupcakes!!! How’s a girl to chose???
=)

Faye says:

March 9, 2014 at 3:07 pm

Haha I know right Jessica I was having to eat cake for breakfast in an attempt to try everything sweet I passed!

Tricia says:

March 5, 2014 at 10:47 pm

I adore this London guide! Can’t wait to visit a few of these places on my next visit! x

Faye says:

March 9, 2014 at 3:02 pm

Thanks Tricia! I’m sure you know the city pretty well by now you’ll have to share your top places with me

Alessia says:

March 7, 2014 at 8:03 pm

your photos looks so soft and charming <3

Faye says:

March 9, 2014 at 3:01 pm

Thank you that’s lovely to hear I try my best to make them as dreamy as possible

Lisa says:

March 8, 2014 at 11:20 pm

Great blog! We were in London in April and can’t wait to go back. We used the National Geographic Walking London book and took a different walking tour each day, as a result we saw so many things and could just pop into little shops that we would have missed if we hadn’t been on foot. The food, the people, the city were all wonderful. We missed the above places though. I guess this means we have to go back!

Tiffany says:

March 14, 2014 at 4:26 am

I love/miss London a lot..can’t wait to go back again. Those meringue kisses look so good..I’ve never had them before.
Great guide!

Chloe says:

April 27, 2014 at 3:58 am

Your blog is so beautiful! My wanderlust has only increased

http://www.thestylebandit.com

Faye says:

May 9, 2014 at 9:03 pm

Oh thank you so much for your kind words! That means so much and yes London is a gem of a city!

Christina says:

November 19, 2016 at 12:36 pm

Will be there in two weeks and i am already sooo excited to see London at Christmas time :)

http://fashion-myonelove.blogspot.de/