Date ideas for art lovers
Here are our top art-based date ideas for Londoners this Valentine's Day, from coffee with a view at the Design Museum to dinner surrounded by paintings at Sketch
Shall we go for coffee?
With views over Holland Park the Design Museum Kitchen is the perfect meeting place for those with an appreciation for architecture and design. If things are going well and coffee isn't enough, there is a sustainable menu catered by Seacys.
Drink, Shop, Do near Kings Cross is a cafe/bar that offers more than just refreshments and bottomless brunches. There's a huge range of workshops and classes to get in involved in from LGBTQ life drawing to calligraphy (and almost anything you can imagine in-between).
If you like to sip your latte surrounded by art, head inside October Gallery in Bloomsbury, where there is a cosy cafe open lunchtimes Tuesday – Friday. It serves coffee, tea and wine, with a menu based around organically grown produce.
Romantic museums
As the sun sets, and the daylight wanes we recommend taking a twilight tour of Strawberry Hill House where you will be shown the artistic wonders hidden inside Horace Warpole's neo gothic masterpiece, kicking off with a glass of bubbly. Arrive at 7pm for drinks. You will need to buy tickets and the next tour is 18 September, so some forward planning is needed.
London's most romantic museum must surely be the V&A, with is florid columns and sweeping staircases. Just sitting in the central courtyard on a sunny day feels like an afternoon spent in Florence. On the last Friday of every month the museum holds late night openings, which are free with no booking required. These include film screenings, talks, DJS and extended opening hours for exhibitions.
Or why not spend an evening in the cosy and charming John Soane's Museum located in Holborn. The museum runs theatrically-lit late openings, where you can hear the stories behind Soane's eclectic collection of statues, paintings and antiquities in the house he filled with art.
For more after dark museum fun, take a look at our museum lates run down.
Get creative
We're not saying you have to reenact that famous scene from Ghost in which Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore get hot and heavy at a potter's wheel, but if you do want a date with a difference why not try a private pottery class for two. The sessions are held at the Chocolate Factory in Stoke Newington, last two hours and are perfect for beginners. You can book here.
If working with clay sounds too messy, then why not head to Covent Garden for the chance to paint your own ceramics. It's an excellent way to show off your artistic side. Sessions last an hour and can be booked here.
From paper cutting and screen printing to bookbinding and macrame, Tea and Crafting offer a range of date night activities for creative couples. Sessions last between 2–3 hours and tea, coffee and cake are provided.
Dining with flair
For a truly romantic evening dine under the stars in the Wallace Collection's Restaurant, where you can sip a glass of wine and enjoy the best of French cuisine in the glass-ceilinged neo-classical courtyard. Dining is available on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Since opening its doors in 2002, Sketch has become one of London's most Instagramed locations. The Mayfair restaurant has five rooms for drinking and dining, each with a different theme. The millennial pink Gallery, which can be booked for dinner and afternoon tea, is bedecked with 239 drawings by David Shrigley and all of the menus are overseen by Michelin star chef Pierre Gagnaire.
Carousel is a restaurant with a difference. Not only does it offer top quality lunch and dinner menus in a stylish Marylebone venue, but it also plays host to a programme of exciting art events. You can take part in workshops such as 'wild drawing' and terrarium design or take in an exhibition, for an experience that is bound to impress your date.