The Hot Mom’s Guide to London

London was a whirlwind and a feast for the senses. It’s a city that feels supersized for kids. The buildings are bigger, the toy departments are unhinged, the shopping is on steroids, and somehow everyone is extremely put together by 9am. I came home with a full camera roll, a dress my daughter picked out, and a son who now rates every car he enters against an Uber Black. Which, speaking of, the Uber Black sedans in London are the most over-the-top I have ever sat in. My kids treated every ride like a limo on prom night. I am not saying plan your trip around them, but I am saying my children absolutely would.

So here is my little lookbook of London musts. Not a minute-by-minute itinerary, because nobody follows those and everybody exaggerates. Think of it as the parts worth stealing, organized the way I would actually build your day.

Liberty London. Out of the entire store, Scarlett picked out a dress for me because it was her favorite color and she thought it was cool. We were not sure it would fit. I was not sure at all. She told me I had to try it, so I did, because I do everything she tells me to do (she’s way cooler than me). The dress was the best thing I brought home, and the picture she took to prove it is the best thing I brought home after that.

Aimé Leon Dore. New York street style with a high fashion vibe, dropped into the middle of London. Get the viral iced cappuccino. Yes, it lives up to it. No, I will not be elaborating with adjectives—trust me, just go.

Apparatus, Mayfair. A favorite home brand of mine and an incredible space. My favorite pieces, lit the way they deserve to be lit. I walked in for a look and stayed long enough to mentally redecorate two rooms.

Harrods. All I have to say is… the shoe floor. Turns out that heaven does have a postcode and it is SW1X. Bring your card and your composure—you will only keep one.

And a scene report: we caught the RH opening in Mayfair, which was less store opening and more the house party to end all house parties. London does a launch like it invented the concept.

Scott’s. The fish and chips were insane. A Mayfair institution where people-watching is a second course, but the fish and chips always steal the show.

Sketch. Everything you have seen on your feed and genuinely great with kids, which nobody tells you. The pink room delights them exactly as much as it delights you, and no one has to pretend otherwise.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon tea at One Aldwych. High tea with a golden ticket attached. The kids were obsessed with the magic of it all, drinks smoking and changing colors right in front of them, and their faces were worth the price of admission. Booking this for day one, jet lag and all, was the right call. Sugar is a time zone strategy.

Lunch at At Sloane, where the decor absolutely blew me away, and I spent the first ten minutes trying to place the scent. Turns out it is a sister of Hotel Costes, which explains everything, and I stocked up on their iconic candles on the way out.

Twist Museum. Billed for children, secretly for me. Mind-bending in the best way. Optical illusions that made all of us gasp, and I would have gone without them.

Fanatics store. If you have a son like mine who is obsessed with trading cards, clear the afternoon. If you do not, you will still leave understanding the obsession.

Stay at the Connaught if you want London at its most grown-up. Martinis made tableside, hushed hallways, the kind of service that remembers your name before you have earned it. This is the trip where the kids stayed home.

Stay at Ham Yard if you are bringing the whole circus. Color everywhere, a bowling alley downstairs, Soho outside the door and rooms that feel like a stylish friend decorated them just for you. The kids think it is fun. You know it is chic. Everyone wins.

Stay at Claridge’s if you want the movie version of London. Art deco bones, a lobby worth dressing for and the not-small chance of a sighting at breakfast. When people picture a London hotel, they are picturing this one whether they know it or not.

Because no two people do this city the same way. Here are some more hidden gems you need to bookmark.

Some of these are mine and some I collected watching Topjaw like it’s homework. Love them!!

The Burger Omakase at Mercato Metropolitano, because a burger tasting menu is a ridiculous idea executed with total sincerity and I respect that. Legado, Nieves Barragán’s Spanish stunner in Shoreditch that just picked up a Michelin star and deserves it. Sino, modern Ukrainian in Notting Hill and one of the most talked-about openings in London. som saa for Thai that will reset your standards. KUDU, South African-inflected and worth the trip to Peckham. Campania & Jones for pasta in east London. Quo Vadis, the Soho institution, because you need one classic on every list.

And the ones you can rely on when you do not feel like gambling: The Abingdon in Kensington and Frederick’s in Islington.

Wear your trainers for this one… Start with a wander down Westbourne Grove and end at Selfridges, which is a pure assault on the senses.

Savile Row is not just for the boys anymore. My girl Daisy Knatchbull is proving the Row has plenty of room for women at her Knatchbull atelier, which is where my fitting was, and Emma Willis is cutting shirts a few doors down. And let’s get the guys in on the action by popping into Luca Faloni, Thom Browne and Thom Sweeney, which cover the spread from cashmere to conceptual.

Then Anya Hindmarch for the pieces with a sense of humor, Marfa Stance for the outerwear you will build a personality around, and Liberty, where Scarlett now runs the buying department.

A walk down Pimlico Road is a must. Jamb, Howe, & Objects, which is Martin Brudnizki’s shop, and Matilda Goad‘s super chic atelier are my favorites. Grab lunch at La Poule au Pot or Daylesford, or book a table at Wildflowers in Newson’s Yard and eat where the design people eat.

Beyond the postcode: Nicola Harding in Queen’s Park and Petersham Nurseries in Richmond, which is a garden center the way Harrods is a corner shop. And Apparatus in Mayfair, covered above, still the room I think about most.

Everything we did with the kids holds up for grown-ups: the Tower of London, the Churchill War Rooms, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, plus the V&A when you want your history with better lighting. Spring for the private guide. It is the difference between looking at things and understanding them.

Add the Natural History Museum, which is worth it for the building alone before you meet a single dinosaur, and the Design Museum at the foot of Holland Park, where the history is more recent but no less obsessive.

Then end at Dukes Bar, where the martini trolley is its own history lesson.

The tables people are fighting over right now: The Dover and Lilibets in Mayfair, Wine Bar Mayfair for the pre-dinner scene and Canal in Westbourne Park, where West London goes to sit by the water and be seen doing it. From our trip, Sexy Fish, Isabel and Gaia all belong on this list too.

Ronnie Scott’s, fresh off a major makeover and genuinely romantic. Book it for a date and take the credit. The Jazz Cafe in Camden for the sweatier, closer-to-the-stage version of the same instinct. The Royal Albert Hall because some clichés are clichés for a reason, and Union Chapel, a working chapel that doubles as one of the most spine-tingling rooms to hear live music anywhere. It is an experience, full stop.

Two wildcards. One Club Row in Shoreditch, a New York-style bistro with a house pianist on weekends and late-night jazz sessions once a month. Dinner and a show without ever calling itself dinner and a show. And The Tamil Prince, which I know is a restaurant, but they play the best 90s hip hop in London. Go for the curry, stay for the tunes.

Saved for next trip: French Society, Dove and Nipotina. If you beat me to them, report back.

Until the next city…

xx, Candace