Travel

Hidden reading spaces around London: the most peaceful spots for you and your volume

Posted past
Anna Brech
Published
background Layer 1

Add together this commodity to your list of favourites

  • Share
  • Tweet
Reading spots in London

Grab a book and a map: you're about to find a peaceful slice of sky in one of the busiest cities on earth.

There's no greater indulgence in life than an hour or two of solace with 1 of your favourite books. It's a run a risk to escape the hustle and bustle, accept time for yourself and allow the rest of the world cook away.

Nosotros dearest the company of a proficient book then much that we're forever swotting up on a plethora of titles to read adjacent: like the best non-fiction books to come out this twelvemonth, incredible scientific discipline fiction books (peculiarly those written by women), powerful memoirs by black women and, for instance, moving poetry perfect for when we demand a skilful weep.

Nosotros like to call up affectionate a cute book is a holistic feel, and usually needs a warm, soothing potable and a cosy spot to hide away in.

Y'all may likewise like

x must-read books by black female authors for 2019

City-dwellers will know, though, that finding head space in London is easier said than done. Between the crammed streets and hectic roads, information technology tin feel impossible to go a moments peace.

Withal, we're willing to allow you lot into a piddling secret. If you lot dig beneath the surface, you lot'll find the capital is dotted with quiet corners of paradise. From canal-side coffee shops to cavernous book stores and sleepy inner city squares, these lilliputian-known havens are your passport away from the maddening crowds.

And so, throw your worries to the current of air, leave demanding flatmates, work stresses and commuter woe behind, and grab a well-thumbed read to settle down in 1 of these fabulous hidden reading spots.

  • Ray'southward Jazz Buffet At Foyles, Charing Cross Route

    Immerse yourself in the artsy ambiance of Ray'due south Jazz Buffet on the beginning floor of Foyles' flagship store. Mellow melodies from jazz and blues greats aid to create a wonderfully laid-back space, just it's as well small and so make it there early on to detect a seat.

  • Bunhill Fields Burying Ground, Old Street

    This haven of green infinite is surprisingly repose given its location just below the hubbub of Erstwhile Street. The burying place of John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim's Progress, Daniel Defoe, who wrote Robinson Crusoe, and the poet William Blake, there'due south plenty of literary inspiration to fuel your creativity.

  • Daunt Books, Marylebone High Street

    Daunt Books is rewarding no thing what branch you visit, simply the travel section on the basement level of the Marylebone High Street shop is an particularly tranquil spot. Grab ane of the unusual and evocative travel tomes on display and settle in for an afternoon of escapist please.

  • The Kenwood Ladies' Pond, Hampstead Heath

    The lawn overlooking this wonderfully secluded pond is a great spot for you and your novel. The ladies' pool feels cutting off from the rest of the heath in the best fashion possible, wreathed by big sometime copse that will keep y'all visitor in your reading. Revel in the solitude before processing the story - and perhaps dreaming up a few of your ain - every bit you join other swimmers with a few gentle laps in nature.

  • Dalston Roof Park, Hackney

    A patch of "urban utopia" overlooking the skyline of Hackney, Dalston Roof Park is a lovely place to hang out in come summer, as it's closed in the winter months. Deckchairs and comfy-looking sofas litter the rooftop, then order some blueberry pancakes from the on-site cafe and bag your favourite spot.

  • The British Museum reading room, Bloomsbury

    Built in 1857, this cute centrepiece of The British Museum has inspired many - including Alfred Hitchcock, who used information technology as one of his sets for 1929 thriller Bribery. Now used every bit an exhibition space, you're still likely to find a repose corner to read in amongst very regal surroundings.

  • Burgess Park, Elephant and Castle

    Stretching from Camberwell and Walworth in the west to Peckham and the One-time Kent Road in the east, Burgess Park offers up 56 hectares of greenery and thinking space. Expert reading spots tin can be found at Chumleigh Gardens, the Park Life Buffet and the lake most One-time Kent Road.

  • The canal path opposite Regent's Park Zoo

    Permit the exotic birds and animals of London Zoo be your reading muse - entirely for free - with a pew on the culvert path that runs at the back of the Regent'due south Park enclosure. Not but are the gentle put-put of barges and canal-side activity a lovely backdrop for reading, you'll besides become to glance up now and once more at the archaeologically stunning Snowdon Aviary.

  • The Solarium at the Barbican, Moorgate

    In that location are few more creative places to pass fourth dimension at than the Barbican. This stronghold of cut edge art and pic is filled with potential reading spaces simply one of the all-time areas is The Conservatory, where you lot can savour your book surrounded by a tropical haven of finches, quails, exotic fish and over 2,000 species of plants and copse.

  • Towpath cafe, Hoxton

    With a front end row seat to the Hoxton stretch of Regents Canal, the Towpath cafe is a friendly, fun pit-terminate for a good read over a Macchiato and grilled cheese sandwich. The abstraction of Lori De Mori, an American Italian food author, the cafe serves up summit notch Italian coffee, every bit well as nutrient at pretty much all times of the day.

  • Horniman Museum and Gardens, Wood Hill

    London folk have been enjoying the Horniman Museum's 16-acre garden since Victorian times. And trivial wonder, since information technology'due south filled with curiosities, from the 1903 bandstand to the Dutch befouled and the Pavilion. Good reading times are guaranteed here.

  • The food market by the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank

    The Southbank Centre is an accented jewel as far equally street nutrient is concerned, with fare from all over the world to continue you steaming through your favourite books. Observe a demote overlooking the Thames on Southbank, or on cute Hungerford Bridge, and soak in London at its about evocative.

  • Camden Arts Centre, Finchley Route

    The moment you cantankerous the threshold of Camden Arts Centre off Finchley Road, you're filled with a curious sense of calm. Home to art exhibitions, classes and a great little shop, this is a small-scale and creative heart has a swell footling garden round the back where you can escape with the book of your pick.

  • Canada H2o Library, Southwark

    This inverted pyramid building on the old Surrey Commercial Docks in Canada Water is a feat in both architectural and literary terms. Within, the infinite is dynamic with a spiral staircase leading upwardly to a bright, airy elevation flooring filled with books (and a cafe below). "Libraries nonetheless concur these magic realms of invention, realms of ideas," says architect Piers Gough. They're also places where you tin stay and stop and spend as long equally y'all like."

  • London Review Bookshop, Holborn

    1 of London's all-time-loved book shops doubles up equally social space, with plenty of literary events and debates. Located within a stone'southward throw of the British Museum, it is crammed with books, thoughts and inspiration without seeming overly intellectual. And the cake shop - touted as "the modern answer to London'due south long-lost literary coffee-houses" - is worth the trip alone.

  • Keats House garden, Hampstead

    Near people accept heard of Keats House in Hampstead but few know well-nigh its well-kept garden, which is open to the public betwixt 11am - 5pm, Wednesday to Dominicus. Have a olfactory organ around earlier settling on a patch in the sun, as you soak in the poetic ambiance of the place John Keats once chosen abode.

  • Geffrye Museum Gardens, Hackney

    The Geffrye Museum'southward award-winning walled herb garden boasts over 170 unlike plants, including roses, honeysuckles and aromatic and medicinal herbs. Then in that location's the historical flow gardens, including the Tudor knot garden, planted in santolina and wall germander. We couldn't inquire for a more fragrant place to hang out.

  • Lavish Habit coffee shop, Balham

    This cheery Balham-based java store is run by ii sisters and is filled with interesting knick-knacks, from unusual lamps to jewellery, candles, teapots and scarves (all available to buy). Settle in for a coffee with a boot or any of the summer "superheroes" (such as the Mighty Monmouth Iced Latte, The Tantalising Iced Tea or The Lavishly Long Traditional Pink Lemonade).

  • Grays Inn Gardens, Chancery Lane

    Just off the frenetic Greyness'due south Inn Route, the Grayness's Inn Gardens provide a restorative escape from the crowds, with manicured lawns and a blossom tree here and at that place. Thanks to the surrounding law courts, the place has a distinct scholarly air but brand certain you don't overstay the strict 2.30pm curfew.

  • Monmouth java store, Civic Market

    Serving up some of the all-time java in London, the Borough Market branch of Monmouth coffee shop is manic on weekends - but otherwise, it'southward a joy to read in. Soak in the irresistible smell of roasting beans as you sample one of their many great, ethical sourced brands - we recommend the fruity Kochere Yirgacheffe from Federal democratic republic of ethiopia, with hints of raspberry jam and cocoa.

  • Waterstones, Gower Street

    What'south and so special about Waterstones? we hear you weep - but the cavernous co-operative on Gower Street actually is a unique place and it's ideal for book-lovers. Europe's largest academic bookstore can be found in a Form I edifice in the centre of Bloomsbury (with Academy of London students all effectually). Make yourself at home with its five floors of over 160,000 titles. At that place are then many nooks and crannies here; it's perfect for getting lost.

  • Loma Garden and Pergola, Hampstead Heath

    The Loma Garden and the Pergula are one of Hampstead Heath's hidden treasures, subconscious abroad off the main tourist trail in the midst of Eastward Heath. The Pergula is an unusual Georgian structure with cool, shaded archways, climber plants and blooms of jasmine, honeysuckle, clematis and wisteria during summer. The Loma Garden has a scenic ornamental fish swimming and 1 of the Heath'southward oldest copse - a sweet chestnut - but the best spot is a lilliputian alcove with a bench and sweeping views of London and the Heath.

Images: Priscilla du Preez / Instagram / Additional words past Megan Murray