The insider guide to Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury has a reputation as London’s most learned quarter, dominated by the dual institutions of the British Museum (established in 1753) and the University of London (founded nearly 100 years later in 1836). It is perhaps best-known internationally for the long list of former literary inhabitants, among them Virginia Woolf, TS Eliot and Charles Dickens. Though the pretty Georgian squares and streets sit well within the boundaries of central London, Bloomsbury has all the perks of village life. Encompassing the wonderfully Victorian Lamb’s Conduit Street and the legendary, albeit slightly kitsch, Brunswick and Marchmont shopping strips, to this day Bloomsbury remains a gathering place for young creatives. Home to folk who champion the art of liberal self-expression through art, literature and fashion, it is one of the most exciting and underrated neighbourhoods in London.
The best restaurants in Bloomsbury
Ciao Bella
If you want no-nonsense trattoria-style dishes served by generations of buzzing – and camp – Italians, go here. Plates aren’t Instagrammable, but generously sized pasta dishes and pizzas are bursting with flavour. The endless party begins on the terrace, a staple in the area since the 1980s, where giddy diners chug wine into the early hours. This place is always packed, so reservations are advised, even in the depths of winter. Our dish to order – as we would in Amalfi – is spaghetti piled with seafood.
Address: Ciao Bella, 86-90 Lamb's Conduit Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3LZ
Telephone: +44 20 7242 4119
Website: ciaobellarestaurant.co.uk
Noble Rot
The members'-club atmosphere makes Noble Rot one of Bloomsbury’s smartest spots – but you can eat here on the cheap or splash the cash. Menus are designed to suit all budgets and tastes, and plates include seasonal light bites and colourful salads as well as heartier lamb, fish and guinea fowl classics. The braised Cornish monkfish with vin jaune velouté is a must-order – and check out the caricatures in the loos before you leave.
**Address:**Noble Rot, 51 Lamb's Conduit Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3NB
Telephone: +44 20 7242 8963
Website: noblerot.co.uk
Holborn Dining Room
It’s on the border of Bloomsbury, but locals still claim this gorgeous restaurant hidden inside the cavernous Rosewood London hotel. Interiors channel Mad Men, with a hint of eclectic British brasserie. The grand space packs in a smart crowd who order chicken and mutton pies (arguably the best dishes on the menu) from chef Calum Franklin’s small and stylish gourmet pie room, as well as hearty steaks and decadent crab salads.
**Address:**Holborn Dining Room, 252 High Holborn, Holborn, London WC1V 7EN
Telephone:+44 20 3747 8633
Website: holborndiningroom.comPizza Sophia
This small, family-run pizzeria prides itself on its indie status. The team handwrites the menu each day and all the pizzas, salads, bruschetta and plates of pasta are made with ingredients sourced from local suppliers. It’s decked out with cosy booths, banquette seating, bottle-green tiling and chalkboard menus. The antipasti are great, but a simple Margherita does the job. And Italians eat here, which is always a good sign.
Address: Pizza Sophia, 50 Tavistock Place, Saint Pancras, London WC1H 9RG
Telephone: +44 20 7833 8556
Website: pizzasophia.comThe best bars in Bloomsbury
The Coral Room
The Bloomsbury Hotel’s premier drinking spot is a masterclass of an Art Deco throwback. Walls gleam candyfloss pink, as do the lush bar stools often occupied by a glam-dram crowd. Though the bar looks glitzy, the menu is fairly priced – cocktails start at £9 – and there’s a superb wine list dedicated solely to English sparkling wines. The sliders and sashimi are non-negotiable – as are pictures of the beautiful Luke Edward Hall prints throughout the room.
Address: The Coral Room 16-22 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3NN
Telephone: +44 20 7347 1221
Website: thecoralroom.co.uk
Luke AbrahamsThe Lamb
Grand Victoriana shines at this beautifully preserved Grade II-listed drinking den once loved by Bloomsbury local Charles Dickens. There are no sports screenings or loud music here, leaving space that encourages the art of conversation. Frosted-glass snob screens still sit in place above the bar – popular at the end of the 19th century to separate customers from the bartenders, so as not to disturb their privacy. Cask and craft beers are the must-try tipples, to drink outside in the hidden-away flag-flanked beer garden.
Address: The Lamb, 94 Lamb's Conduit Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3LZ
Telephone: +44 20 7405 0713
Website: thelamblondon.comCurzon Bloomsbury
Artsy, brutalist picturehouse Curzon Bloomsbury is home to one of the best documentary and world cinema screens in the country, the 56-seater Bertha DocHouse. Intimate and relaxed, this is a great spot to unwind before a screening, with a specialist cocktail and views overlooking leafy Brunswick Square.
Address: Curzon Bloomsbury, The Brunswick Centre, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AW
Telephone: +44 333 321 0104
Website: curzoncinemas.com/bloomsburyThe best shops in Bloomsbury
Luke AbrahamsGay’s the Word
Established in 1979, Gay’s the Word is the UK’s oldest LGBTQ+ bookstore, and has a devoted and loyal fan base that includes the likes of Sir Ian McKellen. Read queer fiction, essays on gender politics and biographies, as well as specialist titles on sex and relationships. The shop hosts regular author readings and book signings, along with weekly lesbian and monthly trans discussion groups.
**Address:**Gay’s the Word, 66 Marchmont Street, Saint Pancras, London WC1N 1AB
Telephone: +44 20 7278 7654
Website: gaystheword.co.ukAn insider's LGBTQ+ guide to London: the best bars, clubs, shops and neighbourhoods
40 Colori
The Italians know a thing or two about style, and 40 Colori, which specialises in elegant men’s tailoring, is no exception. It started as a little family workshop in Como, and its team of skilled artigiani crafts trousers, overcoats, knitwear, blazers and waistcoats for fashion-conscious men the world over. The collection can be intimidatingly creative, so it’s worth booking yourself in for a made-to-order session to build a look that will make you stand out on London’s streets.
**Address:**40 Colori, 30 Lamb's Conduit Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3LE
Telephone: +44 20 7879 9505
Website: 40colori.comPersephone Books
This Lamb’s Conduit Street favourite has shelves piled high with beautifully restored, reprinted (and often overlooked) women’s literature from the mid-20th century. All works are in identical eggshell blue, with spines cloaked in lush wallpapers and fabrics. Though many of the novelists are lesser-known, local greats including Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield also stalk the shop’s bookcases. There’s a wonderful selection of literary-themed gifts to stock up on too.
**Address:**Persephone Books, 59 Lamb's Conduit Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3NB
Telephone: +44 20 7242 9292
Website: persephonebooks.co.uk
Pentreath & Hall
Indie tableware, designer stationery and plush cushions fill the shelves in this petite boutique just off Lamb’s Conduit Street. Fish out designer buys from Marianna Kennedy, Peter Hone, Wayne Pate, Pascale Mestre and owners Bridie Hall and Ben Pentreath. Whatever you take home from here, it’s always going to be on-trend.
Address: Pentreath & Hall, 17 Rugby Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3QT
Telephone: +44 20 7430 2526
Website: pentreath-hall.comSkoob Books
Personable Chris Edwards oversees Skoob Books, a Bloomsbury institution with a devoted team of budding scholars ruling a literary basement powerhouse that's home to more than 55,000 titles spanning centuries. This vast selection packs in countless genres, from high philosophy to fiction via crime, science, language, art and politics. The shop is a favourite of Bloomsbury’s large student population, and its shelves are regularly refreshed from an Oxford-based book stash that holds over half a million books.
Address: Skoob Books, 66 The Brunswick, off Marchmont Street, Holborn, London WC1N 1AE
Telephone:+44 20 7278 8760
Website:skoob.com
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Dawson Flowers
A one-stop-shop whose wares grace countless coffee tables across WC1. Mixes range from hand-tied bouquets of roses, wildflowers and tulips to a selection of pink and white orchids in simple ceramic pots. They can all be paired with Charbonnel et Walker truffles and bottles of Moët, Haton or Ayala Champagne.
Address: Dawson Flowers, 43 Lamb's Conduit Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3NG
Telephone: +44 20 7404 6893
Website: dawsonflowers.comThe best florists in London: 14 flower shops
L Cornelissen and Son
This legendary shop has been the place to find the area’s professional artists and printmakers since 1855. It’s a specialist art store, but still worth taking a peek at, if just to eye up the period digs and talk fine art with the smiley staff. Art-lovers can stock up on L Cornelissen and Son’s luxe products, as well as pigments, paints, brushes and even high-end gilding equipment from top brands.
Address: L Cornelissen and Son, 105 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3RY
Telephone: +44 20 7636 1045
Website: cornelissen.com
The School of Life
The School of Life is part shop, part philosophy course, and its team of boho life coaches preach ‘wisdom for resilience’. The classes and products here are geared towards the art of bettering yourself – no matter how daunting the prospect. It’s best described as mass counselling, just without the dreary clinical backdrop. Lovely neon-lit interiors, too.
**Address:**The School of Life, 70 Marchmont Street, Saint Pancras, London WC1N 1AB
Telephone: +44 20 7833 1010
Website: theschooloflife.com
Luke AbrahamsFork
It’s best to grab a coffee at this small café early, before Bloomsbury’s students descend for their post-lecture caffeine fix. The Marchmont Street independent sits underneath a flat once owned by Percy and Mary Shelley and churns out artisanal espresso shots, seasonal lunches and a pretty mean all-day brunch. Cakes and pastries are also great here but the upcoming supperclub nights, with visiting chefs, are what make this hangout stand out from the rest.
Address: Fork, 85 Marchmont Street, Saint Pancras, London WC1N 1AL
Telephone: +44 20 7387 2860
Website: forkdeli.co.uk
Volte Face
This place curates fancy design-led stationery, made to smarten up your already bulging stationery cupboard. The emphasis is on interesting objects for everyday use, infused with creative thought and good fun. Find it on the corner of Lamb’s Conduit Street and Great Ormond Street.
**Address:**Volte Face, 21 Great Ormond Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3JB
Telephone: +44 20 7430 0021
Website: volteface.co.uk
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Luke AbrahamsFolk
Established in 2001, this menswear store (there’s now a women’s shop too, a couple of doors down) is luxe-grunge: wavy hygge numbers, baggy knits and out-there coats splattered in a kaleidoscope of shades. The interiors are equally cool, with brilliant white walls and photogenic showy rails.
Address: Folk, 49 Lamb's Conduit Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3NG
Telephone: +44 20 7404 6458
Website: folkclothing.comThe best coffee in Bloomsbury
Luke AbrahamsMoreish Café Deli
At first, you might mistake this deli for a plant shop, but beyond the snake plants and lavender is a sweet, light-filled coffee stop. Everything here, from light breakfasts to bakes, is made daily by owner Jennifer Stern, a former TV guru who now spends her days fuelling city slickers’ flat-white cravings. The best tables in the house are on the terrace out front.
Address: Moreish Café Deli, 76 Marchmont Street, Saint Pancras, London WC1N 1AG
Telephone: +44 20 7388 0084
Website: moreishcafedeli.co.ukThe London Review Bookshop
The prim and proper stacked bookshelves of this store draw people in – but the vibrant flavours and seasonal dishes served in the in-house café deserve more than an honourable mention. Indulgent cakes are baked daily by Australian whizz Terry Glover, and there’s a range of fresh tea leaves – we recommend the jasmine and whole rosebud.
Address: The London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, Holborn, London WC1A 2JL
Telephone: +44 20 7269 9030
Website: londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/cake-shopThe best things to do in Bloomsbury
Getty ImagesWalking tour
Perhaps the best way to explore Bloomsbury is on foot. Look Up London, a tour company run by blue badge guide and art history graduate Katie Wignall, offers a Quirky Bloomsbury tour that goes beyond the neighbourhood’s literary links, institutions and famous residents. With its theme of all things quirky, the tour explores abandoned railways, London's narrowest alley, street art, unusual sculptures, sneaky plaques and hidden treasures. Bespoke tours can be arranged on request.
Website: lookup.london
Bloomsbury’s squares
This pocket of London is exceptionally green. Gordon Square, once the nesting ground of the Bloomsbury set, is a great place for an afternoon snooze by the rose bushes; nearby Tavistock Square is where locals go for coffee catch-ups (don’t miss the regal Virginia Woolf bust) and Brunswick Square has summer garden party written all over it. Bedford Square, perhaps Bloomsbury’s most regal rectangle, is also worth a loop and is one of the best examples of a Georgian square in the capital. For something lesser-known, hit up St George’s Gardens. Hidden behind a residential redstone block, the gardens paint a pretty picture of Victorian life with all its statues and garden benches. Fact: it was also one of the first London graveyards to be built away from its church.
Siobhan Doran Photography Copyright, Charles Dickens MuseumCharles Dickens Museum
Get a glimpse of what life was like in Victorian London at this quirky museum that was Charles Dickens’ home in the 1830s. The building is full of a mish-mash of relics, period furniture and paintings, and is scattered throughout with many of the author’s personal belongings, including his paintings and writing samples. Try one of the museum’s costumed tours or candlelit late openings – both are impressively immersive.
Address: Charles Dickens Museum, 48-49 Doughty Street, Holborn, London WC1N 2LX
Telephone: +44 20 7405 2127
Website: dickensmuseum.comPetrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
While the British Museum’s Egyptology collection is unrivalled when it comes to the big stuff, the Petri has an extraordinary collection of mind-boggling minutiae. It was created by the wonderfully eccentric traveller and diarist Amelia Edwards and is an ode to Egypt excavator Flinders Petrie. Highlights include mystical amulets, pottery, tools, weapons and jewellery, along with colourful tiles, carvings and frescoes. The museum also houses the world’s largest collection of mummy portraits from the Roman period.
Address: Petrie Museum of Egyptology, University College London, Malet Place, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 6BT
Telephone: +44 20 3108 9000
Website: ucl.ac.uk/culture/petrie-museumThe Foundling Museum
Founded by Thomas Coram in 1739, The Foundling Museum was England’s first hospital for abandoned children. Though it might sound like a somewhat sobering affair, the fine collection of paintings – from names such as Gainsborough, Hogarth and Reynolds – 18th-century interiors, and the first published score of songs for Handel’s Messiah (the composer was a benefactor and the museum has an impressive collection of memorabilia) make it a must-visit.
Address: The Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AZ
Telephone: +44 20 7841 3600
Website: foundlingmuseum.org.ukLike this? Now read:
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