Best place for High Tea in London

You can have tea at the Ritz for a small mortgage, and I don't really know of any cafes on the Thames. But Southwark is a revitalized area, perhaps someone else knows of some good places to drink tea here.

Hi Pamel,
It's not a view of the Thames, but after I researched for weeks, I found The Orangery at Kensington Palace to be the best shot all around for tea. They don't take reservations, just show up. It's where Princess Diana lived. The price is reasonable and the view of the gardens is as peaceful as the tea they serve. We'll be taking tea there in July.

Have a happy PG Tips tea.

Not a view of the thames but classic traditional tea at Fortnum and Mason dept store. delicious.
I also heard St Martin in the Fields basement restaurant has a tea service, certainly not a dress up event but very central and affordable.

Here are prior posts on this forum about afternoon tea in London click here. A dress code called "smart dress" is requested by some places serving High Tea in London. Exactly what constitutes smart dress in London has been discussed here recently; if you want more information about this, let us know and I'll find that topic thread.

The Marriott County Hall does afternoon tea with a view of The Thames. I've never had it myself, but I've not heard anything bad about it.

http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/lonch-london-marriott-hotel-county-hall/

If it's somewhere like the Ritz, make a reservation as far ahead as possible, they get booked up early.

The Times mentioned the nice views of the Thames when you have afternoon tea at the Marriott County Hall: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/business/article5575355.ece

We were advised by a Londoner to have afternoon tea at the Brown's Hotel in Mayfair. It was a classy old hotel, very enjoyable. The website is www.brownshotel.com. The cost is 35 pounds/person -- not cheap. You might inquire about dress, but when we went ordinary casual dress was fine, which was nice since we didn't have to go change clothes.

I also went to the Orangerie at Kensington Palace. It was very nice, reasonably priced and probably not as "stuffy" as some other places might be. We went on a tour of the palace and then had tea when we were done.

Hi Pamel, there is a difference between afternoon tea and high tea~~~Afternoon tea
Afternoon Tea is the service that comes to mind when we think of a sophisticated British tea. It’s the elegant repast served at 4 or 5 pm, consisting of tea with scones, small sandwiches, cakes and other pastries. ~High tea~on the other hand, refers to the meal taken in the evening and served at the main dining table. Substantial and hearty, this was also referred to as "meat tea" due to the inclusion of meats, stews, and other dishes. High Tea was served between the hours of 5 and 6 p.m., as opposed to Afternoon Tea, traditionally served between 4 and 5 p.m.

You can get a great view of the Thames and St. Paul's from the restaurant at the Globe Theatre. Up one flight was a casual restaurant, up another flight a fancier one. I don't think they have fancy teas, but the view is lovely.

Robin, you are quite right, of course. However, most North Americans think it is High Tea because of fancy china, fancy sandwiches & cakes and very fancy prices.

Abolutely it is NOT high tea...don't know how Americans got that idea in their heads!! High Tea is an evening meal.

If you really want to have the afternoon tea experience, I do suggest making reservations for Brown's or the Ritz. Yes they are expensive but you won't need to eat again for a longgggggggg time!
Also plan on taking a long walk afterwards after
your sugar intake!!!

I have done both places several times and suggest that you dress nicely...not dressed up but what you wear to a nice hotel wherever you live. Since my London travel wardrobe always is centered on black pants, I don't find this difficult (and I would NEVER
wear shorts in London!!!).

Brown's is slightly less formal then the Ritz but both are nice and really are an experience. It will be something to talk about for a long time.

We have had afternoon tea at the Lanesborough, Fortnum & Mason, Harrod's, and the Orangerie. The Orangerie was very disappointing--noisy, items not presented on the tiered tray, china looked like stoneware, and food not good either. Atmosphere counts for afternoon tea IMO--no music at KPO--it is run like a restaurant.

Here's the link to wikipedia:
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_(meal)"]Tea[/URL]

Looks like the Americans have a slightly different meaning for the term than the English.

I loved the Orangerie for an afternoon tea. If you want a great high tea (I think it is served from 2-6pm) the Dukes is my favorite. It was pricy for me (I'm a student) but the tea room is small and cozy, and I left satisfied! http://www.dukeshotel.com/

Samantha~~high tea is the evening meal which is severed 6 or after.

Here's a link to an article from 2008 with some good local alternatives to an overpriced afternoon hotel tea. The Bramah Tea & Coffee Museum (recommended by Rick) is re-opening this year.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/tea-london-england-1967408-coffee-museum

The Ivy on 1 West st, Holborn. Near the 7 Dials. Make reservations. Also a celebrity hotspot!

Thank you Robin, Thank you Maryann. High tea encludes something cooked. You can have pizza for tea! Afternoon tea is quite different. The Orangerie is lovely and their scones are amongst the best. It's not a cozy place but nice after a walk in the park or a tour of KP. Try the Savoy for a view of the Thames. I don't think we had a view when we had tea there but it's worth checking into. The staff were very nice and even gave us an umbella because it had started to rain as we were leaving. Some of the hotels where I've had afternoon tea are Browns, The Cadagun (which I cannot remember the spelling of), The Ritz and The Savoy. I liked Browns best.

I have friends who went to Browns about 2 weeks ago, and LOVED it!

Harrods is hard to beat and perhaps kill 2 birds with one stone

Question ?? many places mentioned are well over $50 dollars a head is that what you ment for great place for tea

John, Sadly, yes.