For settling in all day

Honesty, Fulham

A neighbourhood café that deserves a lot more attention. Honesty is independent and female-owned, and the Fulham branch is a really nice space. Upstairs for when you want light, downstairs for something cosier, which is where I'd go on a rainy day. Plugs everywhere, comfortable seats, and the whole place is set up for staying a long time, whether that's work or a client meeting.

The coffee is very good and the food is made from honest ingredients, which is the idea behind the name, so nothing complicated or artificial. I had a long conversation with the founder’s son while I was there, who also works for Honesty and is clearly passionate about it. They’re happy to see regulars come in and stay all day. Their words, not mine.

They’ve recently opened a branch in Kensington which I’m going to check out soon.

• Wifi: yes

• Sockets: yes (plenty)

• Toilets: yes

Opening times:

• Monday - Friday: 7.30am - 4.30pm

• Saturday: 8am - 4pm

• Sunday: 9am - 4pm

📍 911 Fulham Road, London SW6 5HU

Watch the review

For a central location

DL/Service, Baker Street

Marylebone is a lovely area but a difficult one if you want to sit somewhere to work for more than two hours. DL/Service is the exception. This place has its regulars, but there’s still plenty of space and it’s genuinely under the radar. I worked from one of the big round tables, but there are also window seats and ones with red leather couches.

They have other locations, including one in Fitzrovia which I’ve been to. Smaller, but also fairly empty. The coffee and food aren’t extraordinary, but for a proper work session it’s a great central option.

The only downside is the sockets. At Baker Street there are only a few, mostly around the red leather couches and window seats, and some are hidden in the floor. Those seats go first, so arrive early if you need to plug in. At the Fitzrovia one I could only find a single socket on a wall.

• Wifi: yes

• Sockets: yes (limited)

• Toilets: yes

Opening times:

• Monday - Friday: 7.30am - 5pm

• Saturday and Sunday: closed

📍 23 Baker St, London W1U 6RL

Watch the review

For a long session and calls

Noxy Brothers, Old Street

I’ve mentioned Noxy Brothers in a recent article, and I’m adding it here anyway, at the risk of repeating myself, because I think it’s overlooked. Especially in an area full of very busy coworking spaces.

Another quiet one. A massive space with lots of different kinds of seating, inside an office building. Good coffee and peanut butter banana bread. Genuinely comfortable for long work sessions, client meetings and calls.

One note on the wifi: it works better on the tables close to the windows. If it’s playing up, ask the team, because they told me there’s a second wifi.

• Wifi: yes

• Sockets: yes

• Toilets: yes

Opening times:

• Monday: 8am - 3.30pm

• Tuesday - Thursday: 8am - 4pm

• Friday: 8am - 12pm

• Saturday and Sunday: closed

📍 The Bower, 207 Old Street, London EC1V 9NR

Watch the review

A floating bookshop

Word on the Water

Books on a boat. Yes, you heard me right. Word on the Water is really unique, and I visited for the first time on my birthday this year. Located on a 1920s Dutch barge on the Regent’s Canal at Granary Square in King’s Cross, they sell a mix of both new and second-hand books. They also sometimes do live music on the boat roof. More popular than you would think, so it can get slightly busy on weekends.

They only got a permanent mooring in 2015, after years of being made to move every fortnight and a petition signed by 6,000 people. Proof that people still care about bookshops.

📍Regent’s Canal Towpath, London N1C 4LW

A cosy bookshop

John Sandoe

The one I keep returning to, and not only because it's pretty, but because its selection is impeccable and the staff very helpful. John Sandoe primarily sells new books, and the curation is incredible. Do not miss the upstairs floor when you go, you will find window seats and bookshelves that slide to reveal more books.

It's three eighteenth-century shops joined into one, and before the books arrived they were a tobacconist, a poodle parlour called Chloe of Chelsea, a secretarial agency, a dress shop, and a vet who looked after Churchill's dogs.

Grab one of their tote bags along with your book of choice, they're great. An all time favourite of mine.

📍 10-12 Blacklands Terrace, Chelsea, London SW3 2SR

A book fever dream

Hurlingham Books

This is truly one of a kind. The owner Ray Cole opened it in 1968 and still opens up every morning, and they claim to be the oldest independent bookshop in south west London.

The outside of Hurlingham Books is already impressive, with piles and rows of books going around the two façades. But it doesn’t stop there, and once you step inside it’s like being swallowed by books, almost a fever dream of stepping back in time. It’s tiny, but full of personality. You can browse for cheap books, and they have rare vintage books at the back. Because it’s in a quieter part of town, it’s usually not busy.

They also supply books to film and television, so if you’ve watched The Crown or Fantastic Beasts, you’ve seen books from this shop.

📍 91 Fulham High Street, London SW6 3JS

Which bookshop, anywhere in the world, has stayed with you?

What to do

Some small rituals, some days in, some days out.

Have an autumn reset day. Start early and give it the whole day. Clean out your wardrobe, sort the flat, sell or pass on anything you won't wear again. Light a candle while you do it. Anthropologie usually have a good autumn selection, and I've got my eye on their Pumpkin Clove one.

Go on an autumn book crawl. I came across a post from Cosy London Bookclub this morning and immediately wanted to add it to this list. You can either join theirs on 12 September in Richmond, or make your own version anywhere. Pick two or three bookshops, take your time walking between them, find your next autumn read, and finish with a hot chocolate or coffee somewhere warm.

Make your autumn playlist. Put together the sounds you want the next three months to have. Or save mine to your Spotify.

Go apple picking, then bake with what you bring back. Peak season is September and October. Go on a Saturday and make an apple pie on the Sunday. Castle Farm in Kent is the one on my list. Always check timings and PYO availability before you travel, since it can change quite quickly.

Book a cinema night. I wrote about 3 cosy London cinemas recently, so pick one from that list and something from the films below.

Half book, half film marathon. Best saved for a properly stormy day. Stay in your pyjamas, read in the morning with a novel from the list below and a soft blanket, and leave your phone in another room. I use Brick to lock mine, because I need the extra help. Then put on your favourite comfort show in the afternoon. Get the snacks in beforehand, or bake them, and don't leave the house. Order pad thai from Rosa's Thai in the evening, trust me.

Go on an autumn walk. When the leaves start turning in mid-October, meet a friend and walk. Regent's Park is my favourite, especially the Broad Walk. Holland Park is beautiful at this time of year too. Pick up a coffee and a pastry at Kuro near Notting Hill Gate, then walk to the park.

Plan a proper cosy Sunday roast. One of my favourite pubs is The Spaniards Inn in Hampstead. Put on your best jumper and scarf, walk around the Heath first, then eat. They're dog friendly, which is worth knowing. This one is best on a cold, sunny day.

Plan a solo autumn escape. Cambridge is top of my list for a short getaway, especially from mid-October when the leaves start to turn. I've got a trip planned this year, so a guide is coming.

What to watch

What's out this autumn and on my list, plus the ones I go back to every year.

Practical Magic 2. The sequel to the 1998 cult film. The Owens sisters are back, thirty years on. You can rewatch the first one on Netflix in the meantime. Out on 11 September. Watch the trailer.

The Love Hypothesis. The adaptation of the Ali Hazelwood book, a fake-dating arrangement between a PhD student and a professor. With Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman. On Prime Video from 23 September. Watch the trailer.

Sense and Sensibility. A new Austen adaptation with Daisy Edgar-Jones, Caitríona Balfe and Fiona Shaw, directed by Georgia Oakley. Out on 25 September. Watch the trailer.

Verity. The Colleen Hoover adaptation, with Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. The dark one on this list. Out on 2 October. Watch the trailer.

Wildwood. A dark fantasy stop-motion animation that looks very whimsical. Out on 23 October. Watch the trailer.

Klara and the Sun. Jenna Ortega as Klara, a solar-powered robot chosen and bought as a companion for a teenage girl with a mysterious illness. Dystopian but somehow still cosy. Out on 23 October. Watch the trailer.

And the rewatches. No need to introduce these anymore, but here’s a short list in case you need some inspiration: Gilmore Girls, Downton Abbey, Virgin River, Stranger Things, Riverdale, You’ve Got Mail, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice.

What to read

Some cosy, easy reads. Pick one of these autumn romances, light a candle, and curl up on the sofa.

The Thoroughbreds. The sequel to The Academy, by Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter Shelby Cunningham. Senior year at a New England boarding school, college applications, secrets. Out on 15 September. Read the Goodreads page.

The Witches of Cambridge. A secret sisterhood of witches at a women’s college in the 1950s. The author Alice Hoffman also wrote the Practical Magic novels. Out on 8 September. Read the Goodreads page.

Grim Tidings. If you want an enemies to lovers romance, this one is for you. Out on 15 September. Read the Goodreads page.

If It Makes You Happy. A friend recommended this one and my copy should arrive any day. Published last year, and apparently the perfect Gilmore Girls autumn read. Read the Goodreads page.

The Midnight Library. By Matt Haig. A woman enters a library and gets to see every version of her life she might have lived. Read the Goodreads page.

And the classics. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Persuasion by Jane Austen. The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

The autumn calendar

A reminder of the key dates between now and the end of November.

• Autumn equinox, Wednesday 23 September, just after midnight.

• Clocks go back, Sunday 25 October at 2am. Sunset in London moves from 17:52 on the Saturday to 16:50 on the Sunday, so this is the day it properly turns.

• Halloween, Saturday 31 October. On a Saturday this year, so bigger than usual.

• Bonfire Night, Thursday 5 November. Most of the big displays will be the weekend either side.

• Diwali, Sunday 8 November, with the five days running 6 to 10 November.

• Remembrance Sunday, Sunday 8 November. The same day as Diwali this year.

• Armistice Day, Wednesday 11 November.

• Black Friday, Friday 27 November.

Tell me what you've got planned this autumn in the comments, and whether anything here made your list.

Curzon

My favourite of the three. Comfortable seats, a proper bar, and a mix of new releases, independent features, and older films you don’t often get to see on a big screen. There are Curzons all over London, so there’s usually one near enough.

Aldgate is the one I know best. I lived five minutes away for years and it was my happy place, so much so that I had a membership. I went on my own as often as with my partner or my friends. The bar does coffee and snacks, so you can make a day of it: work there through a rainy afternoon, then watch a film in the evening with a pizza in front of it.

📍2 Canter Way, London E1 8PS

Electric Cinema

I went to Electric Cinema on Portobello Road earlier this year for a Clueless screening and it was one of the best cinema evenings I’ve had.

The room is properly beautiful. Edwardian Baroque, a high arched ceiling, chandeliers, and a red velvet curtain over the screen. The seats are deep red two-seaters with little lamps on the tables between them, and the front row ones are big enough to lie down on. Food and drinks come to your seat.

It’s one screen and the programme is short, so you have to keep an eye on the website and book ahead. Worth planning around.

📍 191 Portobello Road, London W11 2ED

Everyman

The most popular one on this list, and reasonably so. They have over forty venues across the UK and plenty of choice, with new releases as well as some throwbacks.

Here are the three Everyman locations worth keeping on your radar:

The Whiteley in Bayswater opened in 2025 in the old Whiteleys department store, and it’s the most glamorous of the lot. An excellent date night one.

📍8 Porchester Gardens, London W2 4DB

Hampstead is where the whole thing started, on Boxing Day 1933, in a converted Victorian drill hall.

📍5 Holly Bush Vale, London NW3 6TX

Screen on the Green in Islington opened in 1913 and is one of the oldest continuously running cinemas in the UK.

📍83 Upper Street, London N1 0NU

Where to stay

Two hotels and a campsite. The region is expensive, so I’ve put the range in.

Rothay Manor Hotel

A Grade II listed country house and the luxury option here, and one of the best hotel experiences I've ever had. We were invited as guests in 2022. Huge beds, warm decor, the kind of room you're pleased to come back to. Get breakfast in your room one morning.

📍Rothay Manor Hotel, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 0EH

Rothay Garth
The bed and breakfast where I stayed in April with my cousin and our partners. We had a big dog-friendly room on the ground floor with its own door onto the front garden, which was very practical for taking the dog out without going through reception. The breakfast was generous and properly good. It was £98 a night when we went, which for this area is a fair price.

📍Rothay Rd, Ambleside LA22 0EE

Rydal Hall campsite
If you'd rather camp, Rydal Hall does it on the estate I've written about below, from £17.50 a night for adults. You'd be sleeping in the grounds with a waterfall in the garden, which for £17.50 is a fairly good deal. Dogs are welcome.

📍1 The Croft, Rydal Hall, Rydal, Ambleside LA22 9LX

Where to eat

A pastry, a pizza, a view, and one proper dinner.

The Apple Pie
A bakery people queue for. We picked up pastries here before heading out for the day.

📍Rydal Rd, Ambleside LA22 9AN

Tap Yard
Wood-fired pizza and good beer, very relaxed. The easy answer at the end of a long day out.

📍Rydal Rd, Ambleside LA22 9AN

Force Café and Terrace
I haven't been, so this is a note rather than a recommendation. It's on my list for next time, mostly for the view from the terrace. It's in the old Kelsick Grammar School and close to Stock Ghyll Force, a scenic 70-ft. waterfall, so you could stop either before the walk or after it.

📍Kelsick Grammar, Stockghyll Ln, Ambleside LA22 0QY

Rowan
Rowan is the restaurant at Rothay Manor, and the option for when the meal is the point. Very elegant. I still remember the pumpkin dessert I had there in 2022.

📍Rothay Manor Hotel, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 0EH

What to do

In no particular order. Pick whichever you're in the mood for.

Ambleside town centre
Start with Bridge House, a tiny two-room house built on top of the beck in the seventeenth century, apparently to avoid paying tax on the land it wasn't technically standing on.

Then Fred's Bookshop, going since 1956, which has a section of books written by Lake District authors or set here. I bought The Hotel at the Heart of the Lakes by Ellie Wood, undemanding in the best way, exactly right for a relaxing trip. Then walk up North Road and get lost in the small streets.

Rydal Hall
You cannot miss this one. An estate a couple of miles out of town with gardens, woodland and a waterfall, and a little café to stop at. The Grot below the falls is the picture everyone takes. It’s a one-room hut built in 1668 with a single window, positioned so that the window frames the waterfall.

📍 Rydal Hall, Ambleside LA22 9LX

Kirkstone Pass
A beautiful view down the valley, with free parking in front of the Kirkstone Pass Inn, right where the view is. The road up from Ambleside is called The Struggle, which tells you what you need to know.

If you’re up for it, there are paths going up on both sides of the road. Facing the view, Red Screes is on your right, a proper climb of two to three hours. I took the path on the left and stopped about fifteen minutes in, which was far enough for what I wanted. Both are very steep from the start. Buy something to eat in the village and have it at the top. There are sheep, so keep your dog on a lead.

📍 Kirkstone Pass, A592, north of Ambleside

Cathedral Cavern
A man-made slate quarry chamber, underground. Parking is the hard part. We found something around Little Langdale and it was about a thirty minute walk in from there, though there's a bigger car park at Tilberthwaite. The walk itself is lovely. We went in April and it was very muddy, so wear boots rather than trainers.

📍 3 Stang End, Little Langdale, Ambleside LA22 9NT

The proper hikes
Ambleside is one of the best hiking bases in the Lake District and I didn’t do any of them, so I’m not going to pretend to guide you. The one I kept seeing and wanting to do is the Rydal Water and Rydal Mount Circular. If you've done it, tell me whether it's worth it.

Anywhere else in Ambleside I've missed? Put it in the comments and I'll go next time I'm there.

For getting things done

Bloomyard

Bloomyard is inside an office building, so you would walk straight past it without knowing. Female-owned, with one big open room, plenty of seating and large windows. It feels corporate rather than cosy, which is why it works well for getting things done.

I turned up at 4pm on a Wednesday, which is the worst possible time to arrive anywhere, and still found a table. Go in the morning and you'll have plenty of choice.

Sockets are mostly under the long restaurant-style tables, the wifi is good, and enough people are working that you can take a call without feeling watched.

• Wifi: yes

• Sockets: yes

• Toilets: yes

Opening times:

• Monday: 7:30am - 6pm

• Tuesday to Thursday: 7:30am - 8pm

• Friday: 7:30am - 4pm

• Saturday and Sunday: closed

📍 Level 2, 100 Liverpool St, London EC2M 2AT

Watch the review

For a long, calm session

Noxy Brothers, Old Street

Also inside an office building, this time The Bower. Understated, which I mean as a compliment: lots of space, good wifi, and enough room that taking a call is not awkward. The team are lovely, so just ask if you need the wifi password. They also serve a delicious banana bread.

Go for one of the high tables in front of the windows. They open them in summer and it’s the best seat in the room. I found it genuinely comfortable for a long session, and calmer than anywhere else around Old Street.

• Wifi: yes (it works better on the tables close to the windows)

• Sockets: yes

• Toilets: yes

Opening times:

• Monday: 8am - 3.30pm

• Tuesday - Thursday: 8am - 4pm

• Friday: 8am - 12pm

• Saturday and Sunday: closed

📍 The Bower, 207 Old St, London EC1V 9NR

Watch the review

For a client meeting

The Hoxton, Shoreditch

The obvious one, and popular for good reason. I wouldn’t pick it for a full day of head-down work, but it’s very good for a couple of hours, and better still for a client meeting you want to hold somewhere that looks the part. It’s a hotel lobby, so you can walk in at any hour, which helps if you’re working early or late. It does get busy.

• Wifi: yes

• Sockets: yes (sparse, mostly along the walls or on the restaurant tables right in front of you as you come in)

• Toilets: yes

Opening times:

• The lobby is open 24 hours. The bar usually runs 7am to midnight.

📍 81 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HU

Watch the review

But first, 3 bits of history

Just so you can brag while showing your friends around.

• It used to be called Tyburn, after the stream that ran through it. Tyburn was also where London held its public executions, from 1196 until 1783, up near what's now Marble Arch. Not a great association for a village. By the 1400s it was going by the name of its church instead, St Mary at the Bourne, which wore down into Marylebone. Whether that was to escape the gallows is the part nobody can prove, though it's the version everyone tells.

• It isn’t French. People will tell you it comes from Marie la Bonne. It doesn't, and as a French person who would quite like it to, I've had to let that go.

• Two families still own most of it. The Howard de Walden estate holds the leases along the high street and the Portman estate owns much of the land to the west, so between them they choose who's on it. From the 1990s Howard de Walden went after independent shops rather than the highest rent. That's why you can walk five minutes from Oxford Street and find a bookshop and a cheesemonger instead of four branches of the same thing.

Where to have coffee

This is the longest section and I’m not going to pretend that’s an accident.

White Mulberries
My favourite in Marylebone and where I’d send you first. Very good coffee, small pastries worth having, and a delicious salmon bagel that makes it my default for a long catch-up with a friend. There’s a lovely outdoor space at the back you can’t see from the street, so walk through even if it looks full.

📍54 Paddington St, London W1U 4HU

Cup of Joy
The newest arrival on this list, a Turkish specialty coffee shop and bakery that started in Istanbul. All warm wood, and a good room to sit in for a while. The coffee is excellent.

📍28 Blandford St, London W1U 4BZ

Boxcar
A bakery and café on Wyndham Place, in a quiet residential pocket of Marylebone. Well known enough that you should expect it busy at weekends. The pain au chocolat swirl is what most people come for, and the mushrooms, scrambled eggs and parmesan on sourdough is what I order.

📍7A Wyndham Pl, London W1H 1PN

WatchHouse
No introduction needed if you live here. Space upstairs and downstairs, a 90-minute laptop policy if you're working, and it's big enough that you can usually get a seat even when it's busy. Their banana bread is very good, get it warmed up. The one I go to when I don't want to think about it.

📍32-34 New Cavendish St, London W1G 8UE

Abuelo
An independent Australian and Argentinian café, owned by an architect and unmistakably so. The room is genuinely beautiful, which is why it's all over social media. Good for a casual brunch with friends.

📍7-11 Cavendish Pl, London W1G 0QD

Where to eat

You can eat very well at any of the cafés above. These three are for when the meal is the point.

BAO
The Taiwanese Bib Gourmand known for its fluffy steamed buns, and a London staple at this point. Get the fried chicken bao. I took my mum and she loved it, which I offer as a reasonable test of a restaurant. Works as a quick lunch or a fun dinner with a group.

📍56 James St, London W1U 1HF

St John
Traditional, rustic British cooking and something close to an institution. Nose to tail, very good wine, a room that's lively without being too loud, and decor you could fairly call austere. I think it's a strangely good place for a date.

📍98 Marylebone Ln, London W1U 2QA

Maset
The more upscale option, Mediterranean, and the warmest room on this list. I went on a dark, rainy winter afternoon and it felt like walking into the south of France, where I'm from. Unhurried, and comfortable enough to sit for hours.

📍40 Chiltern St, London W1U 7LQ

What to do

There's no shortage of things to do around here. These are the ones I keep going back to.

Daunt Books
Reason enough on its own to come to Marylebone. An Edwardian bookshop with long oak galleries and a skylight at the back, and one of the most beautiful shops in London by a distance. Worth going even if you don’t buy anything, though you probably will. Be prepared for it to be packed.

📍84 Marylebone High St, London W1U 4QW

The Sherlock Holmes Museum
I went recently. Touristy and a bit overpriced for how long you’ll be inside, but worth doing once to stand in a room that came out of Arthur Conan Doyle’s head. Then go home and watch the Benedict Cumberbatch series. That’s the correct order.

📍221b Baker St, London NW1 6XE

The Wallace Collection
A free museum full of art, with world-famous paintings from the 14th to the late 19th century. My favourite is Fragonard’s The Swing, in the pink room. A young woman mid-air in an enormous silk dress, one slipper flying off, her elderly husband pushing the swing from behind and her lover lying in the bushes below, getting exactly the view he came for. A very silly painting and I love it.

📍Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1U 3BN

Regent’s Park
Rain or shine, my dog's favourite park and mine. In autumn and winter, walk the Broad Walk and get a coffee at the little espresso bar at the end of it. In spring and summer, Queen Mary's rose garden and the Japanese garden. Worth knowing that the gardens aren't dog friendly, so check before you go if you're bringing yours.

📍Regent’s Park, NW1

Marylebone Lane
While walking through Marylebone Village, don't miss Marylebone Lane. Everything in Marylebone is a neat Georgian grid, and then there's this lane wandering diagonally through the middle of it like it doesn't belong. It was there first. The lane follows the course of the Tyburn, the stream Marylebone is named after, which is still there, just underground. Everything around it was planned. The lane is the shape of the water.

📍Marylebone Lane, W1U

Where to shop

Marylebone High Street is essentially one long shop. These are my favourites.

Sézane
The French brand has a store here. I’ve been wearing them for years and I have never once walked past without going in.

📍29 Marylebone High St, London W1U 4PL

Anna + Nina
Full of very good mugs, among other things. Ideal for making the friend you’re with buy you one.

📍54 Chiltern St, London W1U 7QX

Somewhere in Marylebone I’ve missed? Put it in the comments and I’ll go.

No shade to Jenki and Blank Street, both of which I still drink. This is for when you want something different. All three are independent, and all three are opening new sites across London, which tells you something.

For a fun but elevated matcha

Matchado

My easy go-to. Founded by Hiromi Matsunobu, using high-quality Japanese matcha, and the ratio of matcha to milk is the thing they get right.

Alongside the unsweetened one, which comes hot or iced, my favourite is the iced blueberry. There's also peach, strawberry, banana and mango. If Jenki and Blank Street are your reference points this will land, but it’s less watery and there’s more to it.

Mostly takeaway, with a few window seats at some locations.

📍 Bloomsbury, Chiswick, Acton, Herne Hill and Coal Drops Yard

For a Korean matcha house

Tokkia

The name means “hey bunny” in Korean, after the owner Sooji’s rabbit Hazelnut, who turns up on their socials if you scroll far enough. They make the matcha in front of you, and it's a bit of a show. Both locations are gorgeous inside, with the counter at the centre of everything.

The Injeolmi Vanilla Matcha Latte is the one. They top the matcha with an injeolmi cream, which is roasted soybean powder blended into a heavy cream, nutty and toasted and gently sweet, after the traditional Korean rice cake. Thick in the best way. The cream comes dairy or non-dairy.

Mostly takeaway, with a few window seats.

📍 Covent Garden and Soho

For when you want matcha and they want coffee

Nagare

Not everyone likes matcha, and I do understand. It's a specific taste, and let's be honest, most of us were marketed into this. So this is the one for when you’re with someone who just wants a good coffee.

The matcha is good, with a more bitter profile than the other two. It comes from Sayuri Teas, a high-quality London supplier working with multi-generational family farms in Kagoshima and Uji. Get the matcha brownie.

Carnaby and Spitalfields have a handful of seats. Bankside is the bigger one and has a bakery, so it’s the one to pick if you’re staying.

📍 Carnaby, Spitalfields and Bankside

I share a healthy obsession with Downton Abbey with my mum. She still lives in the south of France, and having a series we both love is one of those small things that keeps us close across a distance. For her seventieth birthday, I planned a getaway at Highclere, and it remains one of our favourite trips.

If you’ve never watched it and you like a period drama, start now, because it will make this whole thing better. It follows the Crawley family from 1912 onwards, through the war and everything that came after it.

The castle is real, and someone still lives in it

Highclere Castle

The castle you see on screen is a real house in Hampshire, and the family it belongs to still live there. George Herbert, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon, and Fiona, the Countess of Carnarvon, split their time between the main house and a smaller cottage on the estate, and tend to move out of the house during the busier visiting seasons.

Knowing that changes the visit a bit. It isn't a museum built to look lived in. It's someone's actual home.

📍 Highclere Park, Newbury, Hampshire RG20 9RN

What the tour is actually like

Real Lives and Film Sets Guided Tour

This is the one I did and the one I’d recommend. It runs on set dates between September and November, and at the time of writing there are still some in October and November.

They split you into small groups, which makes it feel less like being herded. Ours was every age and nationality, united by a fictional family. You go through the house including the library, which was my favourite room by a long way, and the bedrooms upstairs. The guides tie everything back to the series and give you the filming details you actually want.

The one that stayed with me: the furniture is old and fragile enough that the cast had to sit on the library sofas very carefully, and not for too long, to avoid damaging them.

Oh, and Mrs Patmore's kitchen doesn't exist. The whole downstairs was built on a set somewhere else.

Photography isn’t allowed inside, which I only realised looking back at my camera roll and finding nothing. Outside you’ll get plenty of the castle.

Also included: the Egyptian Exhibition in the cellars, which has nothing to do with Downton and is still worth your time. The 5th Earl was obsessed with Egypt and spent years funding excavation work out there, which ended with the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922.

On lunch: a small meal is included at the end of the tour. It won’t be the best meal of your life, but it will do the job before you head outside.

Afterwards there’s a shop and the grounds, which are genuinely beautiful.

Where to stay

The Carnarvon Arms

A former coaching inn that has been putting up Highclere visitors for a very long time. Our room was small but comfortable, clean and well decorated. They lean into the Downton thing, which I found made the weekend more fun rather than less.

It’s a proper pub underneath all that, with breakfast and dinner both served. Around £100 a night when we stayed. Dogs are welcome in some rooms.

📍 Whitway, Winchester Road, Newbury, Hampshire RG20 9LE

Getting there, and a warning

You don't need a car for this. We took a train from Paddington and were in Newbury in 40 minutes, then got a local cab to the hotel.

On the day of the visit we decided the cab felt ridiculous for such a short distance, so we walked. Big mistake. We spent a stretch of it on the verge of a road with no pavement, my mum entirely unbothered, having spent the seventies hitchhiking around France, and me, a millennial, quietly convinced this was how it ended. We took a cab back.

Once that bit was behind us, though, the walk was lovely. Fields, sheep, the estate opening up in front of you. If you want to do it, ask the cab to drop you a little short of the castle and walk the last stretch. Thinking about it now, that walk was my favourite part of the whole weekend.

Interiors as good as the pastries

Don’t Tell Dad

A local favourite that’s quickly pulling in the rest of London. You walk in to rows of pastries in flavours you don’t see everywhere: fig leaf and blackcurrant buns, a nectarine and toasted sesame danish, a roasted corn with chilli and lime one. I had the biggest, most generous pain au chocolat of my life here.

Despite the queue, the room is big enough that you’ll usually find a seat, and it’s a room worth sitting in. Corduroy banquettes, terracotta walls, warm lamps.

📍 10-14 Lonsdale Rd, London NW6 6RD

Afterwards: Queen's Park is a few minutes away, and a good walk after.

Worth crossing town for

Frankie’s Bakery

Small and unassuming from the outside, and I’d still do an hour on the tube for it. Judging by the queue every weekend, I’m not the only one. I still think about the pistachio and raspberry twice-baked pastry on a fairly regular basis. The almond croissant and the cinnamon bun are close behind.

There’s almost nowhere to sit, so go expecting takeaway. Small park right opposite, which is what I do. Get a matcha from Matchado while you're there, it's right next door.

📍 3 Chiswick Common Rd, Chiswick, London W4 1RR

Afterwards: walk on Chiswick High Road and the market, which is flowers, antiques, cheese or food depending on the Sunday you turn up.

A Notting Hill staple

Layla Bakery

The one everyone in the area already knows about, and with good reason. Female-founded, and the sort of place that has regulars rather than customers. The pastries change but there's usually something like a pistachio and dark chocolate pain suisse, a blueberry and fig leaf flan, a peach and verbena danish. Tables outside, none in, which on a sunny morning is exactly what you want.

📍332 Portobello Rd, London W10 5SA

Afterwards: walk down Portobello Road and the streets running off it. Looking at the houses, saying "I wish I lived here", then checking prices on Zoopla is a universal experience.

Start with coffee and cake

The Paper Boat Café

A charming café on the water at Folly Bridge, with outdoor tables looking onto the canal and a delicious cake selection. It’s about twenty minutes on foot from the station, or a short bus ride, but it’s worth the walk, especially on a sunny day.

📍The Old Toll House, Folly Bridge, Oxford OX1 4LB

Walk around the Oxford you’ve seen in films

Radcliffe Square

Walk up to Radcliffe Square for the Radcliffe Camera, the round eighteenth-century building attached to the Bodleian that you’ve probably seen in a film or on social media. Carry on down Catte Street and you’ll find the Tower of the Five Orders on your left and the Bridge of Sighs on your right.

Visit a college

New College

You can't come to Oxford and not go into a college, and New College is two minutes from the Bridge of Sighs. Walk through the chapel and the medieval cloisters, which you'll recognise from Harry Potter (the old holm oak in there is the one from Goblet of Fire), then sit in the gardens for a while.

📍 New College Lane, Oxford OX1 3BL (visitors’ entrance)

Lunch in a pub with a good guest list

The Turf Tavern

A very old pub down a narrow alley, easy to walk past and hard to leave. Elizabeth Taylor, Ernest Hemingway, David Bowie and Emma Watson have all drunk here at some point. Not at the same time. It gets busy at weekends.

📍 4 Bath Place, Oxford OX1 3SU

The biggest bookselling room in the world

Blackwell’s

Go to Blackwell’s on Broad Street, and specifically down to the Norrington Room. It took me ten minutes to find it the first time, so: walk straight through the shop, it’s on your left, then down the stairs. Three miles of shelving in one basement room. It’s the best thing on this list.

📍 48-51 Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BQ

Wander around the local market

The Covered Market

A covered Victorian market in the middle of town, full of small independent shops and food stalls. Worth going in even if you're not buying anything. Grab a coffee at Knead while you're there.

📍 Market St, Oxford OX1 3DZ

For deep, quiet work

The Wellcome Collection Library

The Wellcome Collection is a free museum with two spaces you can work from. The reading room on the second floor is easy access, you can keep your bag, and quiet conversation is fine. It has a calm, slightly studious feeling.

For proper focus, head to the Library, also on the second floor. You get a free day pass, leave your bag and coat in a locker (no food allowed inside because of the rare books), and you’re given a small basket for your essentials. The lack of distractions makes it genuinely productive. Just don't come here if you need to take calls: they're not allowed in the Library at all, and only quietly in the reading room.

• Wifi: yes

• Sockets: yes

• Toilets: yes

Opening times:

• Monday to Friday: 10am - 6pm

• Saturday 10am - 4pm

• Sunday: Closed

📍183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE

Watch the review

For a bright space

The Samsung KX coworking space

I almost kept this one to myself because it's so convenient. It's hidden at the back of the Samsung KX store, free to walk into, and most people don't realise it's there. There's a café, and then the workspace itself: stable wifi, long tables with sockets, and a view over Coal Drops Yard. You can take calls without feeling like you're disturbing anyone.

• Wifi: yes

• Sockets: yes

• Toilets: yes

Opening times:

• Monday to Saturday : 11am - 7pm

• Sunday: 11am - 5pm

📍1 Stable St, London N1C 4DQ

Watch the review

For a cosy work session

The Library Lounge at The Standard

This is the one for romanticising your work session in London. The Library Lounge is located on the ground floor of The Standard hotel, and you’ll find a fireplace, walls of books, deep sofas, and the kind of light that makes the day disappear. Keep in mind that proper tables with sockets are limited, so you may well end up working from a sofa.

• Wifi: yes

• Sockets: yes (sparse)

• Toilets: yes

Opening times:

• Sunday to Wednesday: 7am - 12am (no laptops after 6pm)

• Thursday to Saturday: 7am - 2am (no laptops after 6pm)

📍The Library Lounge, The Standard, 10 Argyle St, London WC1H 8EG

Watch the review

I grew up as an only child, constantly writing in my diary and recording myself on audiotapes, pretending I had my own little radio show. I loved sharing whenever I got the chance. I jumped into the blogging world as soon as I could, initially posting my drawings on Tumblr. When I discovered YouTube through prominent US YouTubers like Aspyn Ovard, I became fascinated by the influencer world. At the time, it was a mysterious industry but looked incredibly appealing. I wanted that soft life too: making money filming little videos. A creative’s dream.

I quickly realised that speaking in front of a camera didn't come naturally to me. But photography and editing? Oh boy, that was addictive. And I wasn't terrible at it.

I started posting outfits on my personal Instagram in June 2017 with the goal of growing a following. A few of my high school and uni "friends" quickly unfollowed (any first attempt at creating content comes with a bit of ridicule you have to get over) but most stayed and were genuinely encouraging. I'd just moved to London ten months earlier and was excited about connecting with like-minded people. Little did I know it would kickstart my entire career path.

I had a clear strategy from the start: buy clothes from brands I loved, tag them, and get reposted (yep, that's all it took back then... wouldn't work nowadays). Only two months after starting, I got a repost from Urban Outfitters. I still have the screenshot of that notification. I was ecstatic. I reached my first 1K followers by November, building my community and eventually gaining my first 10K followers in spring 2018, still through reposts. I bought all the clothes myself: we've discussed my shopping addiction before, and it was closely connected. I'd shoot outfits on weekends, wake up at 6am, get dressed up, scour the city for pretty locations, change in McDonald's toilets, then go back to work on Monday. I was building something creative and spending everything I had. Although I wouldn't recommend this approach to anyone, it did pay off at the time.

My engagement rate was solid and I quickly got addicted to watching the likes climb. I would literally time how long it took to hit those first 1000 likes on every post.

Social media was different then—less competition, better audience alignment, and I even met people from the blogging community in real life. I started making a little money here and there, £200 for a campaign each month. Nothing life-changing, but it felt like progress.

Then the social media landscape shifted and my growth stagnated for two years. I spent that time experimenting with new styles and pushing through the frustration. The reality is less glamorous than you'd think: I spent most of my late twenties weekends doing endless photoshoots instead of actually living. Looking back, that's quite depressing, but I was addicted to both the craft and the validation.

The breakthrough (and the trap)

In August 2019, I stepped back for a month, developed a fresh strategy and, by luck, discovered a style I loved. Dark academia: a blend of vintage and academic aesthetic vibes with rich, moody colours. Deep browns, burnt oranges, and forest greens. Think tweed blazers and chunky knits that make you look like you've stepped out of an Oxford library. I'd also made significant progress in my editing skills, and at the time (pre-Reels), strong photography editing was everything.

It started working. Really working. The numbers grew without stopping. I was getting reposted by people, brands, and major pages. Everyone was reaching out, praising me, wanting advice or reposts. It was flattering. I became really good at this specific style and became known for it.

It was my first taste of big numbers: views, likes, followers. And it was thrilling. I felt validated. Loved, and also hated, because any online visibility brings downsides. But there was a bloody dopamine hit every time you posted a picture or video.

I'd started with softer versions of this style, still showing my face. But then I realised that hiding my face and wearing only brown or checked pieces would boost my engagement, so I started doing exactly that. Eventually, my feed became an endless scroll of faceless images of me wearing brown. I'd completely lost myself in chasing the algorithm.

But it was working like hell. I passed 100K. Then one day in September 2021, I posted a photo that went viral. And then another. Thanks to the momentum, I gained around 50K followers in two weeks. All these new eyes on me felt thrilling but also nerve-wracking. It would sometimes keep me awake at night. Ironically, I was going through the worst moment of my life health-wise (completely unrelated). I remember reaching 120K whilst waiting at A&E in tears. But the dopamine hit was addictive.

I eventually quit my job because I was making way more money from social media brand deals. Looking back, I regret it because I actually loved my job. But juggling the sheer volume of content creation and brand deals on top of full-time work became impossible.

Surprisingly, whilst I'd built huge engagement, I hadn't built meaningful relationships with my audience. I stayed away from my DMs, overwhelmed by the numbers. I felt completely disconnected from the very people I'd set out to reach.

Here's what I quickly realised: I'd dug myself into a niche. And whilst being in a very specific niche tremendously helps with growth, you have to choose well, because then you're trapped in it. I realised my dark academia phase was ironically linked to a period where I wasn't feeling well, struggling to socialise. I was hiding myself (literally hiding my face in photos), keeping myself busy at weekends to avoid people.

The shift

I reached 197K. But then, the explosive growth stopped. I was still gaining followers but at a snail's pace, and frustration crept in. Brand deals became harder to land. The culprit? The platform had evolved, the algorithm had shifted, and dark academia simply wasn't trending anymore. I knew the key to survival was embracing change, but I'd painted myself into a corner.

Then came my own evolution. I was exhausted. I'd completely lost myself in the pursuit of likes and follows. What was the point? Initially I'd wanted to build connection, but where was it? I wasn't recognising myself in this aesthetic anymore, and honestly I'm not sure I ever did. I was literally bringing a change of clothes to photoshoots and changing into something more comfortable afterwards.

In December 2022, after losing yet another major brand deal with Mubi (spilling the tea), I decided I'd had enough. I was tired of playing a character that wasn't really me. I knew it would take time, but I wanted to break out of this niche and start showing up as myself.

I knew what was coming. I knew a strategy shift often costs you followers. But I expected maybe 5K, then a gradual climb back. I wasn't prepared for what actually happened.

The downfall

Soon enough, people who'd followed me for a specific style started unfollowing. I understood and accepted that. But then the numbers kept dropping. And dropping. And dropping.

The dopamine crash hit hard, and depression came with it. Like most people, I loved making others happy, and this felt like rejection. Like I was letting everyone down. But despite the sting, my desire to show up authentically never wavered. I wanted to reconnect with why I'd started social media in the first place: to find my people.

As my personal life improved and I started a new full-time job, I cared less about poor engagement and lost followers. I focused on my message, on genuinely serving the people still following me. Here's what many creators forget: chasing growth makes you ignore the people who've been cheering you on all along. Content creation should really be about those 1000 people who've stuck around since the beginning, who've laughed through your weird phases and still love following your journey. I felt proud because even though fewer people were watching, I was finally being myself.

Oddly enough, despite losing followers, I started having deeper conversations in DMs. To this day, I've made real friends through my little corner of the internet—friendships I treasure deeply. While my feed and follower count dropped, my Stories engagement actually increased. Probably because I started showing more normal, day-to-day moments, which I think people crave.

I still lose followers to this day. I'd be lying if I said it doesn't affect me when I see the number drop. But I've proven to myself that I genuinely love creating content, not just chasing vanity metrics. It's not a race to the most followers. Of course hitting bigger numbers would be incredible (it's still a dream), but I'm already content and grateful for what I have. I can confidently say that even if I lost 100K followers tomorrow, I'd still show up the same way and create the same content.

At the end of the day, I'm grateful to have this platform where I can share my voice.

So why do social metrics matter so much?

Let's be honest, it's not just vanity metrics, though that's definitely part of it. First, let's understand why something as "superficial" as follower count matters so much to us. It reflects our social standing and shows whether we're liked and validated. When you decide to make it your job, the stakes get even higher because your numbers directly affect how clients see you and what you earn. When those numbers drop, brands usually make their disappointment crystal clear, sometimes leading to unpaid invoices.

It's a direct metric of relevance. And in our digital world, relevance often feels like survival.

But here's what losing 50K followers taught me: authenticity might cost you numbers, but it gives you something far more valuable—people who genuinely want to be there. The followers I have now? They're here for me, not for some character I was performing.

Putting yourself out there online is incredibly vulnerable, but it can also bring you so much joy and connection. To this day, I have people who've followed me through every phase of my journey. I know their names, and that gives me a feeling that's very, very good. Better than any number of follows or likes. And it's exactly why I started this whole thing in the first place.

At Christmas reunions or whenever she meets a new friend of mine, my mum loves to tell the story of when 13-year-old Sarah desperately wanted that leather jacket she had spotted. I wrote her a letter with arguments about why I needed that jacket, pleading my case with the determination of a seasoned lawyer. Impressed by my persistence (or maybe just wanting peace and quiet), we ended up driving 2 hours to get that jacket. Not my proudest moment.

My high school years followed the same pattern. Every party became an excuse to buy a new dress. For every birthday and Christmas, I would beg my parents for clothes. Lots of them. On one wall of my bedroom, I had a big IKEA shelf filled with shoes like it was a freaking museum.

A few years later, living on my own, I transformed my bedroom into a showroom. Picture this: my bed pushed to the back of the room against one wall, and on the three other walls I had installed boutique-style clothing racks fixed to the ceiling. Underneath sat piles of clothes I barely wore. Unfortunately this was before my iCloud era and I have no photos of it, but it was pretty terrifying.

For one of my early 20s birthdays (can't remember which one specifically), I created an enormous pile of clothes that overwhelmed me. After spending the evening out with my girlfriends, I told them to choose whatever they wanted from that pile. Looking back, I think this was the first crack of awareness about how unhappy this accumulation of clothes was making me feel and how desperately I wanted others to relieve me from this burden. A burden. That's exactly how it felt. Yet I kept buying and spending every penny I owned.

But the worst came when I started posting outfit content on social media. What they don't tell you about building a social media career in the fashion industry is that it takes years (in most cases—some people do go viral). In the beginning, you pay for all the clothes you feature, and this constant purchasing fuels your growth because people expect you to dress differently in every picture. This remains true for so many creators who work in the industry, even those who already have a following. The thing is, people want to follow creators who are doing slightly better than them. Not too much better, or else it becomes an unreachable lifestyle, but just enough that they think "oh, I could have that too." So I got into the game. While living in a grubby flat share with 8 other people, I would grab the expensive clothes I'd bought, take pictures in fancy locations, and create the illusion of a lifestyle I couldn't afford. This could (and will) be the topic of a dedicated article, so I won't go into too much detail here, but you get the idea. Now I could justify my spending: "This isn't shopping, it's investing in my brand. It's a business expense."

For the sake of writing this article ("research"), I rewatched Confessions of a Shopaholic. While my situation wasn't as extreme as Becky's (I never bought anything wildly expensive and never used credit), let's just say a large chunk of my pay went towards clothes. I would spend every single penny I had on them. Savings? What's that? Shopping became my way of feeling better after a bad day—that dopamine hit of walking into a shop and buying something new. If I had to skip dinner to buy that cute top, so be it. But I think what Becky and I had in common was normalising our spending and convincing ourselves that we deserved each purchase.

It was an addiction. Just like food or alcohol for some, mine was shopping. First comes the adrenaline rush when you spot a piece you love. You convince yourself that you deserve it, that it's "just £180" and you have the money anyway—you just won't buy anything else this month. Then, a few hours later, comes the crash: that sinking feeling of shame when you come down from your high, open your banking app, and see what you've actually spent.

And then, one day, something happened. My frontal lobe finally fully developed at the ripe age of 27. The transformation wasn't immediate—it unfolded gradually. Over the next few years, I slowly became someone who could admire clothes without needing to own them. Having recently hit an impressive milestone of keeping my total shopping budget below £100 per month (a genuine miracle in my case), I thought I'd share what I did to escape this shopping frenzy.

The selling addiction that replaced the buying addiction

First, I discovered you could actually make money from selling your clothes. That's also how Confessions of a Shopaholic ends. I became addicted to decluttering, and still am. One random August Tuesday, I completely lost it. I began piling clothes on my bed like I was in a trance—mountains of fabric everywhere. I spent the entire day on the floor, sorting everything into piles (donate, sell, keep), then meticulously organising each pile by colour or type. These episodes happened 10-15 times over 5 years, with the pile shrinking each round. Starting at 9am on Saturday felt manageable, but when organising madness struck at 5pm on Sunday? That was a whole other story. To the great despair of my partner, who knows better than to say anything. It felt like a cleanse. It was addictive.

Listing items on Vinted became another victory. I built this little community of really cool buyers and felt genuine pride watching my clothes find new homes. See, I got sentimentally attached to clothes—not the garments themselves, but what they represented. But chatting with these amazing women on Vinted, I'd think "how cool that my jumper is going to another loving home." I also love preparing packages neatly, making sure buyers feel truly happy. Over time, I sold everything I'd accumulated over the years and funnelled the money into savings. I was finally making up for my mistakes.

Marie Kondo is my guru

During this transformation, Marie Kondo became my cult leader and guru (yes, I even considered becoming a certified Marie Kondo consultant and got serious about it). I discovered the indescribable joy of a capsule closet. Less Stuff by Lindsay Miles also helped tremendously on this journey.

Nothing beats opening your wardrobe and loving every single piece inside, knowing you actually wear them all and they fit perfectly. I now choose carefully which brands I work with in my job (you'll see me sharing lots of Sézane and Balzac because I genuinely love how they fit and wear them constantly).

I probably have fewer clothes than any other fashion blogger, and it's because I've found a system that works perfectly for me: once a month, I do a wardrobe audit. When I get new pieces (full transparency, often from brand gifting these days) and don't have enough hangers, I know it's time to sell some on Vinted. This process taught me to be ruthless about what I truly love, refine my personal style, and detach from the emotional value I used to place on certain clothes.

From retail therapy to financial therapy

I faced the financial reality of my shopping habit and learned to budget. This was a start, but what actually cured my shopping addiction was discovering how to invest. I got interested last year, then at the beginning of 2025, I took a Female Invest bootcamp. From there, it snowballed. I'd found my new addiction: caring for and growing my money. Now I get that same rush I used to feel buying a new dress when I purchase stocks or add money to my Cash ISA. This is the first thing I do when my salary hits my account—actually, it's the first thing I do whenever any money comes in.

My goals have completely shifted: I want to become a homeowner (in London, no less), so I'm saving towards that dream. It makes me feel powerful and in control of my life. I was recently in a male-dominated setup discussing investments and market trends. I'm no Warren Buffett and still have loads to learn, but I actually understood what we were talking about and actively participated in the conversation. Two years ago, I would have brushed it off with "oh, I don't know anything about finance."

So yes, I completely transformed my relationship with money.

And here's another strange thing: the more I chat with my girlfriends, the more I realise most women have never learned how to invest (even the ones who are serious high earners, you'd be surprised!). They're either scared of it or convinced it's not for them. While I still love sharing my outfits and fashion on my socials and here, I now make it a priority to also share my financial journey and hopefully inspire at least one woman to take the plunge.

So maybe I really am just like Becky. Just like Becky, who turns down her dream fashion magazine role to work for her boyfriend's finance publication, giving money advice to readers who probably need it more than style tips. Like her, I've discovered that fashion and finance aren't mutually exclusive—they actually complement each other perfectly.

And honestly? Watching my savings grow, working towards my goal of homeownership, and building my investment portfolio gives me a bigger thrill than any shopping haul ever did.