17 Cultured As Fuck Things To Do In London This Winter

Stay cosy.

1. Marshmallow hot chocolate at Chin Chin Labs.

Instagram: @alondonlessordinary

Listen friends, people have been getting the marshmallow hot chocolate ratio wrong for years. The only place getting it right is Chin Chin, because they know 50:50 melty marshmallow to hot chocolate is the only good and proper way. Go, order one, be enlightened and never look back.

When: all day, every day, baby

Price: £3.90

Location: Camden

2. A Santa Religieuse at Dominique Ansel.

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Every season I'm just waiting for Dominique Ansel's pastries because they always deliver. And this winter is no different. LOOK at this. Look at the mini santa religieuse with his little red santa hat. He's almost too cute to eat, but then they'll tell you he's filled with milk and cookies ganache and suddenly cuteness be damned the santa religieuse is going in your mouth.

When: Available until 31st December

Price: £6.20 take-away / £7.50 eat-in

Location: Belgravia

3. Christmas at Kew Gardens.

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If there is even a little bah humbug in your soul, go to Kew and they will stamp it out with the most glowing parade of lights and Christmas cheer you have ever seen. If you have a grinch for a friend or relative, this is where you take them – it's a proven fact that everyone's heart grows three sizes when they walk though the light tunnel. There's also a vintage fairground, hot chocolate and mulled wine stalls and an incredible light show at The Palm House.

When: until 1st January

Price: £18.50

Location: Kew Gardens

Book here

4. Finnish Rooftop Sauna at the Southbank Centre.

Southbank Centre

If you like spa experiences but don't like London spa prices, this is a sweet little deal, as well as something different to do this winter. Essentially, Southbank Centre has set up a Nordic sauna on the Queen Elizabeth roof terrace (because why not?) and it's a mere £15 for a 70 minute session, which also includes a sauna expert demonstrating hot stones and walking you through the "authentic sauna experience".

There's also Nordic canapes available afterwards in the rooftop bar, including venison carpaccio with lingonberry compote and golden beetroot with goat curd.

When: until Feb 11th

Price: £15 to £25 for a 70 minute session

Location: Southbank

Book here

5. Moroccan Medina at Queen of Hoxton.

Queen of Hoxton

Every winter Queen of Hoxton turns their rooftop space into a winter pop up – they also do this in summer, but lemme tell you guys, the winter one is where it's at. This year's theme is moroccan medina, and there's a big cosy tent, plus an outdoor space with open fires and shisha. Plus brilliant, reasonably priced cocktails: moroccan mint tea spiked with gin and rose, hot buttered rum, warm bramble wine and white nut alnog (think egg nog with almond milk, madagascan vanilla and rum).

When: until the end of winter

Price: cocktails start from £6 and main meals from £5

Location: Shoreditch

Book here

6. Winterville in Clapham Common.

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If you like crowds and being charged through the nose, then yes, Winter Wonderland is great (sorry not sorry). But I am very short and resent paying five quid for a bog standard hot chocolate, and a few years ago I went and someone knocked said hot chocolate all over my festive jumper, so I picked up a handful of snow (ok...cold mushy mud) then and there and swore Scarlett O'Hara-style I would never return.

So, I go to Winterville instead. It's much cooler, has delicious Street Feast food which feels much more worth the *captive audience* prices charged, and is generally less crowded. Call me a hipster all you want, but no one has spilt a hot chocolate on me there ONCE you hear me? Not once.

When: on until January 1st

Price: Free entry, except after 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays when it’s £3. Food stalls are standard street food prices

Location: Clapham Comon

7. The Winter Cabin at York & Albany.

Instagram: @petite.blondine

One of the most gorgeously Christmassy things to do this year is the winter cabin at York & Albany. It's basically a private cabin for up to six people – you arrive and are led through the restaurant and out into a courtyard, and it's like a fairylight-lit Christmas dream. Inside it's got everything; plush seating, blankets, a fully stocked bar trolley, and even silk dressing gowns to slip into. The food features hot sausage rolls,

Brilliantly, they also don't charge a surplus to be in the cabin. You just have to book it out, and choose one of the packages, which includes afternoon tea, cocktails and canapés, and dinner. Honestly, in London, £45 a head for your own private cabin plus dinner with three cocktails is fantastic, but if you're feeling less flush you can't go wrong with the £24-a-head elevenses (perfect for hobbits).

When: until Feb 16th

Price: Elevenses is £24 per person, lunch is £38 per person (inc. two cocktails), afternoon tea is £24 per person (including a mulled wine cocktail) and dinner is £45 per person (including three cocktails)

Location: Regent's Park

Book here

8. Winnie-the-Pooh exhibition at the V&A.

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“If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever." Everyone loves Winnie-the-Pooh, and this new V&A exhibition is a wonderful treat for Pooh fans. There's old sketches, letters, photographs and more, and it's just a complete must for anyone who wants a cosy afternoon of equal parts culture and nostalgia.

When: until 8th April

Price: £8

Location: South Kensington

Book here

9. Fondue at La Fromagerie.

Instagram: @lafromagerieuk

Winter is the time to eat your body weight in cheese and I won't hear otherwise. La Fromagerie is the holy grail of cheese locations – it's a cheese shop that also has a restaurant that serves fondue, cheese plates and more. But you know it's the fondue you want.

When: all the time

Price: £18.50 for a full fondue set

Location: Bloomsbury and Highbury

Book here

10. Hot Gin Roof at Ham Yard Hotel.

Instagram: @sipsmith

There's a glorious hidden rooftop space at Ham Yard Hotel that you can only get onto if you attend a ticketed event. And the ticketed event to buy is the Sipsmith Hot Gin Roof. Rooftops in winter may sound bonkers, but hear me out: there's roaring fire heaters, big cosy blankets, comfy sofas and glowing lanterns all over the place. They also hand out hot water bottles, and all the cocktails are hot. Hence the "hot gin".

Think hot gin espresso martinis, hot gin and tonics, and as of 2018, when the event returns, cocktails heated by a traditional hot poker. Again, sounds bonkers, but that's how they used to do it in the days of 'yore, and gives all the drinks a beautiful caramelised flavour. I'm giving you a heads up now to join the waiting list, because the tickets sell out FAST.

When: Jan 17th to Feb 17th

Price: £18 per person, which includes a welcome hot gin and tonic, and a hot cocktail of choice

Location: Piccadilly

Join the waiting list here

11. Ice skating at Skylight.

Skylight

There's ice skating on all over the city, and a lot of them are gorgeous – if you want iconic, then the Natural History Museum or Somerset House's rinks are beautiful and less than £20 for a session. But I have a soft spot in my heart for Skylight, because it's a bit less well known, and ice skating on a rooftop with London's skyline as a backdrop is just a little bit heart-stoppingly wonderful. Plus there's fondue and mulled wine (£6) and mulled cider (£5) on offer, and we all know melted cheese makes everything better.

When: until 13th January

Price: entry is free, then skating is £10, and you pay when you're at the venue (you can't book online, sorry, as a fellow over-organiser this pains me too)

Location: South Kensington

12. Igloos at Coppa Club.

Coppa Club

The best rooftop igloos in town are still at Coppa Club, and yes, they are still a 'mare to get into. They're worth it though, as sitting in a cosy igloo, wrapped up in blankets and looking over the Thames is a pretty brilliant winter experience. So, to get in, here's what you need to know. You can book online, but they're fully booked until February now. But hey, no shame in a 'lil February treat. It's easy to be cheerful in December, February is probably a month to start actively planning pick me up treats. OR, there is a select number of spots in the igloos held back for walk ins. If you want to rock up and try your luck, you never know.

When: until end of February

Price: bar snacks from £3.50, cocktails from £6.95, small plates from £4.95

Location: Tower Bridge

Book here

13. Christmas screenings at The Prince Charles.

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Tbh, unless you're going to the Peckham Plex (£5 cinema tickets in London, YOU'RE WELCOME), all the cinema in London is expensive. So lemme save you a lot of cinema heart-ache – Prince Charles is where it's at. Tickets are actually slightly less than a lot of the big name cinemas in the area, the cinema itself is really cool, with its vintage interiors and red velvet seats, and they're always showing classics. Case in point, this Christmas there'll be Elf quote-alongs, A Muppet Christmas Carol, Home Alone and Love Actually. And Die Hard, for people who really want to get into the Christmas spirit.

When: continuously but book early as things do sell out

Price: £13.50

Location: Leicester Square

Book here

14. Santa's scotch eggs at Mac & Wild

Instagram: @petite.blondine

The Scots do cold weather very well, mainly because it's cold up in Scotland all year round. No really, Bear Grylls literally hosts a series on how to survive the Scottish highlands in winter, and frankly I'm surprised there's not been any Scottish people rocking up in shot wrapped up in a big fleece going "what are you doing Bear Grylls, get out that mud, put your clothes back on – I've got hot whisky and an open fire back at mine."

ANYWAY. To conclude, Mac & Wild is a Scottish restaurant in London that has got a brilliant winter menu on, included santa scotch eggs, a venison, black pudding and haggis variation on the classic. Plus their restaurants are all very, very cosy.

When: until the end of the winter season

Price: £6.50

Location: Fitzrovia

Book here

15. Winter lodge fun (and rooftop igloos!) at Social Fun and Games Club.

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This club has turned their whole club into a magical winter lodge wonderland, complete with a ski lodge bar (hot toddys! Mulled wine! Boozy hot chocolate!), curling (the medieval game you never knew you needed) and rooftop igloos. Yes, the igloos are also fully booked through December, but they have some availability in January if you move quick. And if you don't care about the rooftop igloo, then curling and drinking in the *80s style apres-ski lodge* is still great.

When: you can go into the winter lodge anytime but if you want an igloo the earliest availability is January

Price: Free entry to bar, £5 for mulled cider/wine, and £40 minimum spend for an igloo – they fit 8, so if you have a full group that's £5 a head, plus everyone gets free mulled wine on arrival. You can also get food menus starting from £9 per person for croque monsieurs, truffle fries and hot dogs

Location: Stratford

Book igloos here

16. Other Side Fried at Peckham Levels.

Other Side Fried

Peckham Levels has just opened in Peckham across the seven floors of a giant car park. It's essentially a grassroots project that will have a public space for performances, a hair salon, street food and bars, live music and a yoga studio. There's even some creative office spaces. But the main draw for me is the presence of Other Side Fried, who do some of the most knockout delicious fried chicken burgers in London, and I do not say that lightly, believe me. If you feel like getting some culture and supporting a cool new Peckham enterprise, then go. And if you want a stellar burger, then also go. Both are great reasons.

When: now in permanent residence

Price: burgers from £8.50

Location: Peckham

17. Giselle at The Royal Opera House.

Royal Opera House

I have bad news and I have good news. The bad news is that the quintessential Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker, is pretty much sold out except for a few £125 tickets. And guys, I love the ballet, but it's not a £125 a seat kinda love (I wish it could be, but my bank balance keeps us apart). BUT, the good news is Giselle is on in January, which is also a brilliant ballet, and still feels lovely and winter-y. It's not a Christmas ballet extravaganza, but it will still be a wonderful way to perk up a day in January or February.

Plus, there's seats currently going for £6 a pop, and as a regular £6 seat go-er, I can tell you they're very good – go for the front row stalls seats, either the ones closest to the stage, or furthest away.

When: Jan 19th to March 9th

Price: tickets from £6

Location: Covent Garden

Book here