Regal and romantic: How to make a London the perfect anniversary weekend

With all eyes on London today for the wedding of the year, Vicki Notaro reveals her romantic guide to the city, fresh from a visit to mark her first wedding anniversary.

Today we’ll all be watching Meghan wed Harry – and London will be showcased to the world. It’s a city not exactly known for romance — it’s no Paris or Rome, anyway — but I suggested it to my husband for our first wedding anniversary weekend away anyway, for selfish reasons; I wanted to go and see the musical Hamilton in the West End, and fancied my chances of getting tickets more easily than for the show in New York.

So we found ourselves heading over on one of the many Aer Lingus daily flights from Dublin on a mission to seek out the romance in the city. It is, after all, an enormous place with plenty of regal poshness.

It’s also bloody expensive.

I ended up booking a hotel that was a little out of the way in the financial district to save money.

The Montcalm at the Brewery was a fine place to stay, polite staff and in between two tube stations for easy access. If money was no object, I’d have opted to stay at The Ned, one of London’s hottest (and priciest) new hotels.

We arrived hungry on a Friday afternoon and headed straight out for dinner.

I’d heard great things about Dishoom, a modern take on Indian food in Shoreditch. They don’t take reservations so there was a bit of a wait for our table, but we grabbed a seat in the bar and quaffed champers until it was ready.

The food was incredible; we devoured small-ish sharing plates of curry, daal, naan, kebab and even a Bombay chip butty. For dessert, I had the most strangely delicious thing I’ve ever eaten — a salty, spicy, fruity Kala Khatta Gola Ice. The menu says “the first spoonful tastes bizarre, the second is captivating” and that’s a pretty accurate description. It must be tasted to be believed!

Next was a romantic trip on the London Eye, complete with champagne. You board the huge wheel on the embankment of the River Thames for one spin and a glass of bubbles.

You’re fully enclosed in a bubble, and the views are gorgeous. We wanted to see the sun set from up there, but the weather was against us.

After hopping off the wheel (a spin takes about 30 minutes), we crossed the river to Gordon’s Wine Bar, a cave-like bar I’d been recommended as a good date spot. And it is; lots and lots of wine to choose from, not too expensive, cosy and intimate. Not a tourist trap either.

Saturday morning, we queued for a leisurely brunch at The Breakfast Club where I had the best brekkie of my life — fried chicken and waffles with poached egg, avocado and chilli. Divine is not the word! We then went for a stroll around the hip East London boroughs of Shoreditch and Hoxton, swung in to the incredibly trendy Hoxton Hotel for a quick drink and the also achingly hipster Ace Hotel for a coffee.

The bar at Ace Hotel

Then it was theatre time. I’ve been dying to see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s multi-award-winning musical for years, but tickets for the performances in New York are like gold dust. When I heard it was opening closer to home, I just had to see it and luckily my husband is very obliging. We got dressed up, went for some pre-theatre dim sum at Royal China on Baker Street, and then descended on the Victoria Palace theatre for the performance. As predicted, the show was mind-blowing. A “hip-hopera” about the American founding father Alexander Hamilton might not sound like the hottest ticket in town, but it is. I loved every minute.

The next day was one for eating and wandering, so I booked a table in the very chic Bob Bob Ricard, famous on Instagram for the “Press for champagne” button on every table. The cuisine is Russian/English fusion and vodka is the star of the drinks menu, but they do a very good Sunday roast beef, of which we availed. It’s a gorgeous restaurant, and a great date spot.

We decided to do a tour bus to really learn about the city, and took in plenty of royal spots including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. I’m a bit of a royalist in that I enjoy learning about the Windsors, loved The Crown and have a girl crush on Meghan Markle, so I enjoyed it.

We capped off the evening with a trip to the All Star Lanes bowling alley on Brick Lane, another super hip street with fabulous street art and a great food market. I think my husband let me beat him.

On the stroll home, I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps I was wrong about London, and maybe it is romantic. I like the fact that it has so many different areas, from posh Chelsea and Kensington to gritty Shoreditch and regal Royal Parks. There’s also so much to do, from dining like kings and queens to drinking cocktails to sightseeing, shopping and activities.

We had a jam-packed weekend, and just as much romance as we experienced in Paris a couple of months previously.

Getting there

Aer Lingus fly several times daily to London Heathrow terminal two from Cork and Dublin. Don’t bother with the Heathrow Express unless you’re in a real hurry, it’s prohibitively expensive. There’s a regular Heathrow Connect train from the airport with a few stops, and it only takes about 15 minutes longer than the Express.

Getting around

Purchase an Oyster card, similar to Leap cards in Dublin, and use it for the Tube and bus. MyTaxi and Uber both work in London, but be wary of surge pricing at busy times.

Where to stay

It depends on what you’re looking for — regal, try somewhere around Hyde Park; hip go for the Hoxton; glamour, choose the Ned or Chiltern Firehouse. All are pretty pricey, the Hoxton being the most reasonable.