London Lounge: EC2
London is an exciting and vibrant city, but can be very expensive. In each issue of my newsletter I’m planning to share my tips on where to go more or less for free (you will have to pay for your cappuccino though!). I’m going to start with:
Sunday afternoon in EC2
A great place to start is The Bridge Coffee House at 15 Kingsland Road, Hoxton (EC2 8AA). This Turkish cafe has to be seen to be believed – my pictures show the cluttered ground floor bar with old-fashioned coffee machines and the upstairs lounge which has the feel of a faded boudoir (yes, I like that type of thing!).
After fuelling with caffeine, you should be ready for a short stroll to Columbia Road flower market (EC2 7RG). Here, your senses will be assaulted with vibrant colours and wonderful perfumes. If you get there at about 3pm, you can pick up some wonderful bargains, like half a dozen huge bouquets for a fiver. There are funky shops here too, good for stocking up on birthday cards and gifts.
Just down the road from here, back at 136 Kingsland Road is the Geffrye museum (EC2 8EA). This free museum shows the changing style of the English domestic interior in a series of period rooms from 1600 to the present day, and you can happily while away an hour here. There is also a very nice cafe (there seems to be a theme going on here…).
If you fancy something more substantial, just south of here are a number of canteen-style Vietnamese restaurants, which are very reasonable.
Do you have any London Lounge secrets to share? I’d love to hear from you.
