Places in London
2025-03-17
Tested list of places in London.
TOC:
Free work/study areas
Barbican Conservatory
Brutalist building with a beautiful garden and a tiny cafe among the leaves. Electric outlets only in the top terrace area. Only available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
British Library
Usually packed, many seats without an electric outlet.
Cable Cafe
See Bars/Pubs for description.
Food
Xi'an BiangBiang Noodles
Open all week till 10:30pm, except for Sundarys when it closes at 9:30pm.
Oily, long, thick and delicious noodles. Be sure to order pork noodles. ~13 GBP per portion. Don't recommend egg and tomato soup.
San Gennaro
Open Wednesday - Sunday till 10:30pm/11pm.
Very good, affordable sourdough pizza. Very kind staff. ~15 GBP per pizza.
Caminetto
Open till 11pm.
Italian place with pasta, pizza, wine and desserts. Very kind staff. Tasty, not so small portions of carbonara. ~15 GBP per portion.
Pizza Union King's Cross
Open 11am-11pm.
Very cheap but not horrible pizza. <10 GBP per portion. Nicely (for its price) decorated inside, lots of tables.
Bars/Pubs
Cable Cafe
Open till 11:30pm/12:00pm.
Usually not packed. Free live jazz music shows every Wednesday and Saturday 8pm-10pm. You can sit there with a laptop and work comfortably.
Wax O'Connor's London
Open till 12am.
Very cool underground pub with a hobbit house-like interior. They play live music. It's packed during the weekend.
The Clachan
Open till 11:30pm/12am.
Sometimes play live music. Might be packed.
The Lyric
Not too many seats.
Open till 11:30pm/12am.
Cafes/Breakfast places
My criteria for a good breakfast place are:
- Tasty
- Big portions
- ~15 GBP for breakfast + coffee
Half Cup
Open 8am-4pm.
Cafe near King's Cross. Usually there's a ~20 min line for a table of 1-2.
Al Grano Coffee House
Open 8am-4pm.
Cute little cafe. Doesn't serve breakfasts. Kind staff. Sometimes packed.
Sports
There won't be much in this section.
HarroWall Climbing Centre
Open till 11pm/10pm.
Big bouldering gym. A bit far from the city center (or centre). To get there, take the Metropolitan line to Harrow on the Hill. Follow Google Maps' instructions – yes, you need to go behind that building.
Parks
Abney Park
Open 8am till dawn (or 6pm I think).
An old cemetery with a little chapel in the center. Very cool atmosphere.
Queen Mary's Rose Gardens
Open 5am-9pm.
Beautiful, large park in the center of London with many flowers and plants. Haven't got to see it bloom yet but I know it'll look amazing. No skating or cycling!
Hyde Park
Open 5am-12pm(!).
Large park in the center of London. Not as stunning as Queen Mary's gardens but there are a lot of birds there – ducks, herons and even parakeets (!) among others.