Get inspired for date night: The most romantic shooting locations in London for Valentine’s Day

A quick summary from Omio:

• Discover five romantic London locations featured in the following films: Four Weddings and a Funeral, About Time, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’ Diary, and About a Boy
• Shooting locations for 15 different romantic films can be found on the Omio site using an interactive map so people can find the closest romantic film shooting spot to them

Omio, one of Europe’s leading travel platforms, has combined the two leisure themes of travel and movies on an interactive location map. Using data from Internet Movie Database (iMDb), over 1,000 popular films and series locations have been identified and graphically displayed on an interactive world map.

For Valentine’s Day, they have taken inspiration from some of the most romantic films over the last few decades to help inspire people looking to find somewhere appropriate to spend on the big day. 

After all, if it’s good enough for Hugh Grant, it’s probably good enough for anyone. 

Four Weddings and a Funeral – Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great

Photo credit: Greatstbarts Instagram

West Smithfield, London, UK

Perhaps picking the one location in this film where a wedding doesn’t actually happen might not seem very romantic, but the charm of this tucked-away little church is well worth seeking out.  

Not only is this location a staple for Four Weddings and a Funeral fans, but it’s also London’s oldest church, having been around since 1123, surviving both the Great Fire of London and The Blitz. 

About Time – Dans Le Noir

Photo credit: Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Working Title Films, Translux
30-31 Clerkenwell Green, London, UK.

Dates in the dark, what’s more romantic than that? This restaurant from the film actually exists and is worth a visit purely for the experience alone. Just don’t trip walking down the stairs in pitch black before the date has even started.

However, the scene directly afterwards where Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) finally gets to see Mary (Rachel McAdams) under the light of some seriously romantic streetlamps isn’t shot outside of the restaurant, you’ll have to visit Newburgh Street in Soho to reenact that. 

Notting Hill – The Travel Book Shop

Photo credit: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Working Title Films, Bookshop Productions, Notting Hill Pictures

142 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London, England, UK

While “The Travel Book Co” might be a work of fiction, that didn’t stop the enterprising people at 142 Portobello Road from trying to make a quick pound. It’s less of a bookshop and more of a novelty gift shop, but at least it features the same colour scheme and font on the signage.  

If you’re looking for the real deal, or at least the place it was actually based on, you’ll want to find the Notting Hill Bookshop based just around the corner at 13 Blenheim Crescent. It’s not Portobello Road, but you’ll find books rather than cheap nicknacks. 

Bridget Jones’ Diary – The Globe Tavern

Photo credit: Globe Tavern Instagram

8 Bedale Street, Borough, London, England, UK

The pub below Bridget Jones’ fictitious flat. If you keep your nostrils open, you’ll probably be able to faintly smell the aroma of blue soup. In real life, the pub occupies both floors and was built in 1872 by architect Henry Jarvis.

The entire street will seem familiar to you, as Bedale Street is used often in the film. The area around Borough Market features in all the films of the Briget Jones trilogy, so it’s worth walking around to see what you can spot.

If you keep your eyes open, you’ll notice the spot where Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) fight it out in the street over Bridget. The greek restaurant it happens outside is fake, but the spot itself is now a wine shop: Bedales.

About a Boy – Hakkasan Restaurant

Photo credit: Hakkasan Instagram

Hanway Place, Fitzrovia, London, England, UK

Founded in 2001, just a year before the film was released, this Michelin-star restaurant serves contemporary Chinese food but operates a strict dress code. 

In About a Boy, this setting is where Will Freeman’s (Hugh Grant) web of lies about pretending to be a dad comes unstuck while on a date with Rachel (Rachel Weisz). Perhaps not the most romantic setting in the film, but at least the location looks top-notch.

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