Tea in London

Our family group of four had a beautiful tea at Fortnum and Mason. Two chose savory and two sweet for the food towers. Delicious, lovely experience.

Dear ptgilbert,

Last month, my daughter and I did afternoon tea at the Royal Albert Hall. We also did a tour of the building for the hour before tea. Despite having taken many earlier trips to London, this was our first afternoon tea. The setting and service were very nice, there were no overly fussy clothing requirements, the price was reasonable. You can download the menu and see what's on offer; you must reserve and pay in advance. My personal preference, however, is to go to the Cafe in the Crypt across from the National Gallery for a cream tea (scones/jam/clotted cream and a small slice of fruit cake). This is a much less expensive alternative and is still more sugary food than I need or want to eat. You can even order one "cream tea" and an additional cup of tea with a friend and share the baked goods between two people.

With only a few days to experience London the answer to your question, no.

Instead, visit Brick Lane.

OR

Take a street mural tour in Croydon

OR

Climb the O2

OR

Have cocktails in a converted WC under the Clapham Common Station

OR

Take a backstage tour of the National Theatre

OR

Go shoe shopping in Selfridges

OR

Stroll in the expanse of Richmond Park and have a pub lunch afterwards.

OR

Tour Highgate Cemetery

OR

Ride the Emigrates Gondolas over the Thames

Enjoy street markets over high tea any day.

Afternoon Tea (which is what I assume you mean by high tea) is not obligatory. The average Brit will do the full-on experience only for a very special occasion. If you want to spend two or three hours eating carbs and sugar in the middle of the afternoon and paying a lot of money for the privilege, then go ahead (I’m being slightly churlish but the one time I had a proper afternoon tea in a fancy hotel, I felt ill and sluggish and impoverished for the rest of the evening.)

However… every museum and many other places will serve you a yummy cream tea of a scone, jam and clotted cream plus a pot of tea for a fraction of the price, and I thoroughly recommend this as an option.

If you want a really traditional British meal experience, go for a curry!

I agree. No reason to think that this is a necessary experience……….

"High" tea is bacon and eggs, ham, or something else savoury.
"Afternoon" tea is what you are after I believe; which is little sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, little fancy cakes, nice china, etc.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/afternoon-vs-high-tea-difference-435327

Afternoon tea would be nice in the right surroundings of a lovely hotel.

Have you considered the ice cream parlor at either Fortnum and Mason's or Harrods? It's not the tea experience but it sure is yummy. We have also done tea at both and much prefer FM, but Wolseley is less expensive.

I adore sweets and don't need to be tempted by a full-blown afternoon tea. However, I have on a few occasions really enjoyed a scone with clotted cream and jam. That's a relatively quick, inexpensive experience available in many cafes. Perhaps that would be a good compromise on a short visit.

Since you'll only be in London, this won't be relevant for you, but we had a delicious and reasonably priced afternoon tea in the self-serve cafe at Glamis Castle in Scotland. It was called "traditional English" and included one of those multi-tiered serving platters full of little sandwiches and cakes, enough for two to share.

High tea can be a great experience, but we have better memories of strolling through markets and tasting a variety of local foods. Recent journeys have focused upon visiting tea shops and engaging their tea masters to experience their blending expertise. Harrods, which started as a tea shop, offers a great experience, but smaller tea shoppes can be as rewarding. If you have the time, money and desire then dress up a bit and check out the high tea experience.

We did a casual afternoon tea at The English Rose Cafe, which is located just behind Buckingham palace. It was just what we were looking for: no fancy attire needed, good food, great price at 36GBP for two and a very quaint atmosphere. We went back later in the trip for more scones with clotted cream and I can say it was very much worth doing.
We also did cream tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace on the outdoor porch area and that was fabulous too. Affordable at 13GBP per person (?) and the scones were some of the best of the trip (and we has become scones connoisseurs at that point!).

I agree a cream tea is a great alternative. I love tea and scones so much I often just drop by a nearby tea shop for lunch and have a cream tea when I am in Great Britain. That way my calories count as a meal (I am a wonderful rationalizer.) You don't need to go to a fancy place, often there is somewhere near your hotel or where your tourist schedule takes you, even a chain sometimes, turns out to have wonderful scones. Ask at your hotel for a recommendation.

I've done two different afternoon teas in London - Fortnum & Mason, and the Houses of Parliament. Both were excellent! It will probably take about two hours and if you don't mind an early dinner (usually around 4 pm), you'll get a great meal, and have your evening free for theatre or concerts.

The Fortnum & Mason one was a bit more upscale, a jacket is required for gentlemen, but it was beautifully served and quite tasty. It was a wonderful experience. The tea served at the Houses of Parliament is pretty awesome, too! Plus, you'll get to see the Great Hall, and parts of the Parliament building up-close. The tea is served in a room bordering the Thames, so you'll have lovely views of the river and another great meal.

I was impressed by both. I'm not British, but I took my favorite London B&B landlady to the Fortnum & Mason tea and she was tickled pink! She said she had not been to afternoon tea in years and loved the experience.

If you don't want a big meal, go for the cream tea, which is quite nice, but it's fun to do a real afternoon tea, just for the experience. It's a treat! Hope you enjoy your time in London!

We enjoyed a casual afternoon tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace. The garden pavilion at Kensington Garden is a lovely place for tea. When we were there years ago we could pick and choose certain items without having a full tea service. It could be worth checking out.