Things to do in London when it's raining

It’s true that being rained on can be a miserably experience, but they do say you’re not really a Londoner till you love how the city looks in the drizzle. Here’s our guide to staying dry and having fun while it’s wet outside.

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Brush up on culture at a gallery or museum. It’s an obvious choice, so why not go somewhere out of the ordinary like the Fan Museum, the London Sewing Machine Museum or the Fashion and Textile Museum. But it’s not all about clobber - check out our What’s On page to see current exhibitions.

Shop till you drop under one roof and we don’t mean on the internet. Indoor shopping malls are your friend when the heavens open, but you’re not restricted to places like Westfield. You can instead head to the Burlington Arcade on Piccadilly, which was also London’s very first shopping arcade and has luxurious shops with self-explanatory names like House of Cashmere and French macaroon shop Laduree. Liberty, Harrods and Selfridges are always a good bet for clothes.

Sit by a roaring fire in a pub like the Golden Heart, and Sir Richard Steele. One of the greatest pleasures of the British winter is being able to nestle in cosy environments, preferably ones with a fireplace and comforting food to eat. Despite being something so etched into people’s imaginations of Victorian London, places with open fires are surprisingly few and far between, even less so if they’re real fires. The above mentioned have gas fires, but the Rookery and Ye Old Cheshire Cheese have the real thing.

Other places that make coming in from the cold extra pleasurable are the atmospheric, cavernous Gordon’s Wine Bar, the Connaught Bar with its large choice of whiskey, and fondue emporium L’Art du Fromage.
\n\nSink into a comfy sofa and watch a movie at Aubin & Wills. Owned by the Soho House group, there are plush velvet sofas that you won’t want to get up from in a hurry. Another cinema that makes movie-going a complete experience is the Lounge at Odeon Whiteleys, where food devised by top chef Rowley Leigh is served to your seat while you watch the film. The IMAX is also well worth a visit for its panoramic screens, which also happen to be the biggest in Britain.

Pretend it’s summer by swimming in a heated pool and ignoring the rain. Oasis Sports Centre on Tottenham Court Road and Brockwell Lido have outdoor pools that stay open all year round, paying little heed to the climactic conditions. The latter also boasts an art deco gym with a relaxing hydrotherapy pool.

Eat as much food as you can manage at a buffet. From the cheap and cheerful Chinese all-you-can-eat restaurants in Chinatown to the luxurious brunch at Cookbook Café, comfort eating and rain go together like snoozing and sunshine.

Visit a games arcade like Heart of Gaming, where you can choose from old school Mario Bros, dance machines and Street Fighter. You can even stay overnight, as there’s a shower and a 24 hour Asda down the road should you need provisions.
\n\nPamper yourself at a spa and have a soak in a jacuzzi. If there are two of you check out
Ushvani, which has a room for couples with a sunken stone bath and hydrotherapy jets. Other high end options include Elemis, where you can have steam therapy as well as de-stress treatments, and Cowshed, which offers reflexology and deep tissue massages.

Tour the city on a bus or three. Try to nab a seat at the front of a double decker for the best view. For the most scenic routes, check out our guide to sightseeing by bus.

Drink in a heated garden, albeit one with a cover obviously. Restaurants and bars that are lucky enough to have sheltered terraces transform them into winter wonderlands when the temperatures dip - Chelsea’s Bluebird comes complete with an ice skating rink. Plus splendid views are not just for summer, as the rooftop bars at Coq d’Argent and Queen of Hoxton get kitted out for the cold snap with winter-appropriate food and beverages.

Play indoor sports like ping pong at Bounce in Holborn and Ping in Earl’s Court.

Enjoy the rain, or at least take advantage of the fact that queues will be shorter and roads will be less busy. Places that are normally crowded like Oxford Street and Hyde Park become easier to navigate, and all the recently opened no-bookings restaurants see their waiting lines diminished. Bear in mind that the same doesn’t go for the underground or the buses, which fill up very quickly once the heavens open.

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