If there's one part of London I always suggest when a friend asks where to meet, it's Marylebone. Central but not as crowded as Soho, a walkable neighbourhood of red brick and Georgian terraces, and a lot of very good coffee shops. It's also probably where I'd buy if I ever became a Substack bestseller.
This guide is evergreen and I'll update it when something new is worth adding. Everything here has been tried and tested by me, which is why some sections are lighter than others. If something belongs and isn't here, put it in the comments and I'll check it next time I'm there.
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.
And there are wonderful charity shops along the high-street. Found some great items there at a fraction of what they would have cost new.
Saving this for my next trip to London (hopefully next spring)!