Locations for lovers in London

Recipe for love: unusual date destinations

Recipe for love: unusual date destinations

At One Aldwych Hotel, near the Strand, WC2, they’ve cleverly updated the dinner-and-a-movie formula. Pop along on any Friday or Saturday night for a meal in the hotel’s restaurant followed by a movie at their private cinema (campbellgrayhotels.com). At Soseki restaurant, EC3, reserve a shoji-screened pagoda platform and you’ll see no one other than the waitress serving you the seven-course haiku menu (soseki.co.uk). If a drink is in order to calm those first-date nerves, head for old-fashioned boozer The Prince of Wales in Kennington, SE11, to pick up a pint and a pétanque set, then play for kisses on sandy Cleaver Square (shepherd-neame.co.uk).

Sanctuaries for sweethearts: alternative hotel suggestions

Sanctuaries for sweethearts: alternative hotel suggestions

Book into Miller’s Residence in Notting Hill, W2, where the rooms are styled in homage to poets and writers, with the four-poster Tennyson and the red-hued Coleridge being particular favourites for romantics (millersuk.com). Enjoy a night away in one of the two bedrooms at 40 Winks in Stepney Green, E1. Behind the door of this Queen Anne townhouse is a fairy-tale world for grown-ups. Book a bed at High Road House in Chiswick, W4, meanwhile, and you’ll gain automatic access to its cool and exclusive private members’ club (house.highroadhouse.co.uk). But for the ultimate in novelty, charter Dutch barge the Baglady, and motor along at a snail’s pace watching the world go by (hotelboatbaglady.co.uk).

Playful pastimes: fun things to do on a date

Playful pastimes: fun things to do on a date

Sip some bubbly and serenade each other with love’s best ballads in a private karaoke booth at Lucky Voice in Islington, N1 (bars.luckyvoice.com). If you’re looking for the path of true love, meander from Finsbury Park via Highgate to Alexandra Palace along the Parkland walk (parkland-walk.org.uk), a nature reserve that runs along a disused railway line. Alternatively, hop in the saddle and escape the crowds on a bike ride along London’s parkways, canals and rivers – find romantic routes at londonbicycle.com. And if you’re really in tune, do it all on a bicycle built for two (hiremytandem.co.uk).

Acts of love
Acts of love: romantic adventures in London

Acts of love: romantic adventures in London

Be it steamy South American dance moves or saucy cabaret, there’s a clandestine corner in which to titillate the senses. The dance that started in the brothels of 19th-century Argentina is sure to add spice to your life. Learn to tango by candlelight at the opulent No 5 Cavendish Square, W1, a boutique hotel near Oxford Circus (no5ltd.com). At boudoir-glam Bordello in Shoreditch, EC2 (bordello-london.com), a tempting programme of in-store events could see stimulating evening debates, risqué life drawing or wine tasting among the lascivious lingerie. Or enjoy a little role-play at risqué nightclub Aphrodisiacs (aphrodisiacslondon.com). The venue varies, but expect burlesque beauties and kitsch cabaret.

Love...remembering ‘my first kiss with my partner, which was perfectly cheesy under Eros at Piccadilly Circus.’ Kitty Finstad (W9)

Completely London, completely free

Find out why we’re hopelessly devoted to London and discover more of the Capital’s bewitching ways in the full edition of the Love issue of Completely London magazine. For your free copy pop in to a KFH estate agent branch.

Coming soon… PLAY

We’re itching to know how you spend your playtime in London for the next issue of Completely London. Share the fun with us and let us know how you let the good times roll by emailing the editor.

Photography: Adrian Briscoe