London’s afternoon tea scene really gets going for the year in February, with Valentine’s treats, a rather retro sweet menu (served on the move, natch), and an afternoon tea themed on a beloved film. Now, where to start?
Afternoon tea at the Science Museum
You can now finish up a day at the Science Museum with a sciency afternoon tea. Served in the Gallery Cafe, different menus are available for adults and children. Younger guests get a cupcake complete with a syringe, and test tubes filled with colourful toppings which can be used to decorate the cakes, as well as a chance to mix their own fizzy drink in science beakers. They also receive a selection of sandwiches, a mini scone, a rocket ship cookie and a petri dish jelly.
Adults get a more sophisticated twist on the same menu: think Earl Grey scones, a solar system cupcake, and a galaxy brownie — as well as the rocket ship cookie and petri dish jelly, and a selection of sandwiches.
Bonus fact: the plates on which the afternoon tea is served were designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the studio founded by the late Hadid who designed Mathematics: The Winton Gallery at the museum.
Science Museum afternoon tea, £32 adult/£22 child. Available Wednesday-Sunday.
Orchids Festival Afternoon Tea at the Maids of Honour, Kew
While hundreds of colourful orchids bloom in a tropical conservatory in Kew Gardens, the legendary Maids of Honour tea room across the road serves its own Orchids Festival afternoon tea, ideal for a pick-me-up after you’ve perused the flowers. Enjoy your olde-worlde surroundings as you tuck into finger sandwiches, fruit and cheese scones (the latter served with garlic butter — yum), and a vanilla sponge cake with strawberry jam and buttercream, topped with a white chocolate orchid. You’ll also get a box of four chocolate truffles to take home with you.
Orchids Festival afternoon tea, £40 per person. Available 1 February-2 March.
Love Hearts Afternoon Tea bus tour
Love Hearts creator Swizzels teams up with Brigit’s Bakery for an afternoon tea themed on the retro sweets… served up on a roaming bus. Step on board the double decker at Victoria Coach Station and pass sites including Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and The Royal Albert Hall, on a 90-minute journey.
Tuck into a selection of sandwiches, cakes and pastries inspired by Love Heart sweets as you go. The menu includes a mini mushroom quiche, feta, tomato and red pepper savoury muffin, a LOVE Cherry and chocolate choux and a FAB Raspberry and lemon tart. A Love Hearts flavoured tea is available too.
Love Hearts Afternoon Tea bus tour, £45 adult/£40 child. Available selected dates 1 February-31 March 2025, 12pm, 2.30pm and 5pm.
Valentine’s Afternoon Tea at the Landmark London
Woo your significant other with a special Valentine’s afternoon tea in the Winter Garden at the swish Landmark London hotel in Marylebone. Sit beneath the restaurant’s palm trees to enjoy a pink-hued menu spanning finger sandwiches, fresh scones and desserts including choux with mascarpone, redcurrant and star anise; passionfruit and lime pavlova with white chocolate and coconut cream; and Valrhona chocolate opera cake with caramel and salted pistachio ganache.
On Valentine’s Day itself (14 February) a live ballet performance takes place alongside the afternoon tea.
Valentine’s Afternoon Tea at the Landmark London, £102. Available 8-14 February.
Valentine’s Afternoon Tea at London Marriott County Hall
The Library at London Marriott County Hall puts a Valentine’s twist on its afternoon tea, serving a menu of finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones, and hand-crafted heart-shaped chocolates. The setting lends itself to romance: a cosy library of book-lined shelves, offering views across the river to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and plenty of boat-watching to be done as vessels bob past the window.
Valentine’s Afternoon Tea at London Marriott County Hall, £90 per person. Available 10-16 February 2025.
Love is in the Air Afternoon Tea with Jo Loves at Shangri-La The Shard
As part of the Valentine’s celebrations at Shangri-La The Shard, TĪNG serves a Love is in the Air afternoon tea in collaboration with scent brand Jo Loves. The menu is inspired by a blossoming garden — think a rose pastry, sculpted to resemble a freshly-picked bloom, flavoured with sticky toffee, lemon, and rose.
Also on the menu is the restaurant’s signature Shard dessert, an edible replica of the skyscraper served on a bed of billowing clouds. It has flavours of carrot and orange and Valrhona Dulce chocolate, and is decorated with a romantic rose print.
Love is in the Air Afternoon Tea, from £78 per person. Available 11 February-31 May.
Live Art Afternoon Tea at The Kensington
The Kensington Hotel’s usual Art of Afternoon Tea gets a special twist on selected dates, when artist Niki Groom is present to capture a hand-drawn portrait of you and your friends and family as you dine.
The afternoon tea itself features pastries and drinks inspired by famous artworks, including a Girl with the Balloon cocktail, a dark chocolate mousse tart decorated to resemble Jackson Pollock’s ‘drip’ technique, and a polka-dot pumpkin made of mango mousse inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s creations, as well as finger sandwiches and plain and fruit scones.
Live Art Afternoon Tea at The Kensington, from £58 per person. 14-15 February (Valentine’s Day), 29-30 March (Mother’s Day), 18-19 April (Easter weekend) and 23-24 May.
Wizard of Oz afternoon tea at The Franklin
A new afternoon tea for you to munch(kin) your way through. Though it claims to have been inspired by the Wicked movie, there’s not a green cake in sight for the Franklin’s Wizard of Oz afternoon tea. It is, however, presented in a wicker basket, and there are dainty mixed berry mousse red slippers perched on a cocoa shortcrust, plus sweet treats representing the film’s other protagonists, including a tiramisu sitting beneath a cute tin hat (wouldn’t it be great if you could oil it with extra coffee/liquor). The Yellow Brick Road itself is represented by a pan-brioche, eggs and fresh winter black truffles. But let’s be honest, there’s no place like scone.
Wizard of Oz afternoon tea at The Franklin, from £49 per person, ongoing.
Book ahead for afternoon tea with Anton Du Beke
For one day only, tuck into afternoon tea while ballroom dancer and Strictly judge Anton Du Beke performs in front of your very eyes. The event, at the InterContinental London Park Lane, is a fundraiser for the Sick Children’s Trust. Various ticket types are available, all including a traditional afternoon tea with sandwiches, scones, cake and tea, accompanied by live music and dance performances by Du Beke and special guests.
Afternoon tea with Anton Du Beke, from £75 per person. 11 March 2025.
