Where to have tea in London

Fortnum and Mason is very nice for tea and they have a few different restaurants in the store. Avoid the Berkeley Hotel - I have no good memories of that place!

I second Fortnum & Mason! Yummy memories from when I lived in London...

~

We enjoyed the Orangery at Kinsington Palace. Probably a little too touristy for a lot of people. It was a real splurge for us, but a very special treat. Last year a slice of their Orangery cake was $9.00 (ala carte) when the exchange rate was 2 dollars to the GBP.

I think you want to have an Afternoon Tea, along with tea, there would be small pastries with clotted cream or preserves, delicate sandwiches, and scones.

High Tea ~~is a much different thing. It was served later (around six in the evening) and consisted of a full, dinner meal for the common people. Tea was still served, but there would also be meats, fish or eggs, cheese, bread and butter, and cake.

I agree with Mr. Tom, the Orangery is a great place to have afternoon tea. We have tea there every time we are in London.

When you are looking at places that serve afternoon tea check whether they do free refills of tea, sandwiches etc. Some do while others charge extra for refills, you should take this into account when comparing prices.

BTW I remember having High Tea on Sundays (cold meat and salad, fruit cocktail with cream/custard or sherry trifle, bread and butter with tea to drink). This was because we ate a traditional Sunday Lunch and eating two big meals a day was not considered good for us! Needless to say we eat much less these days.

When I am in England, I enjoy having tea every day. While doing a "special" more expensive tea will be fun, you may also want to look into these less expensive options for other days. We enjoy tea at Cafe in the Crypt- across the street from Trafalger Square and in the basement of St. Martin's In The Field church. It is reasonably priced, you get tea, scones, and a chocolate cake for desert. If it is a nice day, we love going to Hyde Park and having tea on the lake in the middle of the park. (we go to the south side) It is cafeteria style and they have more than tea. We usually get tea and scones and sit outside and enjoy the day (they do have inside seating as well)

I second Fortnum and Mason and Harrod's. Both places are a must to vist/shop so you might as well enjoy their afternoon teas which are excellent!

We did tea at Harrods and at Harvey Nicoles. Both were fun and wife really enjoyed it. We also did tea in Glasgow at The Willow Tea Room which was really nice. As you can see, my wife really like doing fancy teas.

You may want to check prices for Fortnum & Mason, Harrods etc before you decide. Traditiobal tea service can be quite costly. Think $25USD pp or more.

The idea of having tea in Hyde Park sounds lovely. I am going to the Orangery for tea, but want to enjoy a "cuppa" everyday while we there, and that was an excellent idea about the lake!
Suz

Here are a range of places to have afternoon tea, from the listings magazine "Time Out"

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/features/5603/London-s_best_afternoon_tea.html