Valentine’s Day 2023: 5 romantic date locations in London inspired by Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’ Diary

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, couples across London will be putting plans together to celebrate the day of love. Whether you’re looking for a romantic meal or a day trip, there’s something for everyone in the capital.

To help romantics who may be falling short of date ideas this Valentine’s Day, Omio - one of Europe’s leading travel platforms - has combined the two leisure themes of travel and movies on an interactive location map to confirm the top locations in London. 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.

Whether your partner is a fan of Notting Hill or Bridget Jones, there are many places in the city to take your loved one this Valentine’s Day. You could even visit all of these hotspots in one day to take date night to a whole new level.

But where are the top dating spots in London based on the movies that were shot there? Here’s everything you need to know.

Top 5 romantic date locations in London

1. Four Weddings and a Funeral - Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great

Location: West Smithfield, London

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.

2. About Time - Dans Le Noir

Location: 30-31 Clerkenwell Green, London

Dates in the dark, what’s more romantic than that? Dans Le Noir from About Time actually exists and is worth a visit purely for the experience alone.

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.

3. Notting Hill - The Travel Book Shop

Location: 142 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London

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 nicknacks.

4. Bridget Jones’ Diary - The Globe Tavern

Location: 8 Bedale Street, Borough, London

The pub below Bridget Jones’ fictitious flat and 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.

However, the pub may not be the only familiar spot 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 the brawl happens outside of is fake, but the spot itself is now a wine shop: Bedales.

5. About a Boy - Hakkasan Restaurant

Location: Hanway Place, Fitzrovia, London

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, the Hakkasan restaurant 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.To see the full list of the world’s most popular filming locations, visit Omio’s interactive map.