Friday Favourites

Here are a few of my favourite shops and places to visit in London. May you never set foot inside the maelstrom of Oxford Street Topshop again.

Waterstones Piccadilly

Since My Back Pages in Balham closed, I've felt a little bereft of good bookshops. Waterstones doesn't have the musty charms and stacks of old treasures that a good second-hand bookshop does, but what it does have is five beautiful floors of lovely shiny new books. The Piccadilly branch is the largest in London and includes the Russian Bookshop, a restaurant and a cafe. The art and fashion section is definitely worth a look - it includes a lot of books that I haven't seen outside of art gallery shops.

Open Monday - Saturday 9am - 10pm; Sunday 11:30am - 6pm

203 - 206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD

Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium

A cat-lover's paradise. I think there must be about 12 cats living there now. It's a cross between an old lady's living room and an Ikea showroom, filled from floor to ceiling with cat apparatus, hammocks and climbing things so that the cats can play and sleep (they sleep a lot, as cats do!) The staff are friendly and clearly adore the cats, and the tea and cake is fantastic (try the salted caramel brownie!)

You need to book online in advance, and there's a £6 cover charge per person which goes towards the cats' upkeep.

Open 9am - 9pm Thursday - Tuesday. Closed Wednesdays.

152-154 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch, London E2 6DG

Muji

If you do need to go to Oxford Street, the Muji store is an oasis of chill. Just looking at all the storage solutions lowers my heart rate. I love the aromatherapy at the front of the store and sometimes go in just to smell the essential oils. 

Open Monday - Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10am - 8pm; Thursday 10am - 9pm; Sunday 12pm - 6pm

187 Oxford Street, London W1R 1AJ

Liberty

A beautiful building full of beautiful things. Liberty has a great range of makeup (including Nars, Bobbi Brown and Hourglass) and feels much more relaxed than big branches of Boots or department store beauty counters. The stationery room is wonderful, as is the perfume room - there's not a celebrity fragrance in sight (or smell).

Open Monday - Saturday 10am - 8pm, Sunday 12pm - 6pm

Regent Street, London W1B 5AH

The Natural History Museum

How could I not include this? It's my second-favourite place. (My bed is obviously my favourite.) The dinosaurs are a must-see and the rock room is amazing. It's much calmer on weekdays, as it fills up with small children at the weekend and there can be a queue to get in. Once a month it's open late, so it's entirely possible to get drunk with a diplodocus.

Open every day 10am - 17:50pm 

Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD



Thanks for reading!

Happy Friday! x