Nobody Does Cozy Like London Does Cozy

On a quick getaway across the pond, Sally Kohn finds the tartan, tahini, ribbons, garden, and hotel bar that make four days in London cozier than cozy. She traveled in the autumn but found delights that would please at any time.

There’s a song about Paris in springtime which, of course, I wholeheartedly endorse, but I’d like to suggest that we need a song about London in the fall.

I have two arguments for this. First, fall always feels busy. For me anyway: The kid goes back to school, I go back to work, every meeting that was put off during the summer is scheduled in September and October, and the holidays loom with the promise of even more ... overwhelm. So if you have wanderlust and maybe air miles to burn or (ahem) a trip you need to maintain your airline status for next year, a short trip to London hits the spot. And second, London is the perfect place to ease into winter because London excels at cozy. Cozy hotels, cozy restaurants, cozy tartan-clad shops and gifts. Sing it with me: “London in the autumn…”

When a work excuse took me to London last fall, my wife and I turned it into a quick five-night getaway. (Okay, it turned into a four-night trip because our United flight from Newark — originally scheduled to leave in the morning — was delayed by more than 12 hours for some unexplained mechanical issue.) We rebooked an evening flight, blew more points to get lie-flat seats, and changed our hotel plans to four nights. How do you say c’est la vie in British?

Cozy stop number one was The Soho Hotel, which handled our travel woes with more grace and warmth than we did. One of the Firmdale Hotels, it was designed by its deliciously maximalist and yet still homey owner, Kit Kemp. Our room had gently padded walls (the cool kind, not the crazy kind) covered in an embroidered fabric that was instantly inviting and enveloping. And while the hotel has beautiful public spaces, including a fantastic restaurant where we enjoyed divine breakfasts each morning, the luxe living room reserved for guests adds to the feeling of the hotel being your own chic home.

Cozy stop number two for us is always an Ottolenghi cafe. Yotam Ottolenghi is one of our favorite chefs; many recipes from his cookbooks are on regular rotation in our kitchen. And while he has very good fine dining restaurants in London (our favorite is Nopi), his more casual neighborhood daytime cafes really do it for us. Imagine walking into a bright room with a counter splayed with giant platters of delicious ready-to-eat dishes like roasted sweet potatoes smothered in creamy tahina sauce and cabbage slaw rich with umami and citrus. You point at what you want and get a plate of two or three things, and it is very wonderful. As if that weren’t enough, there’s an equally impressive array of desserts. We ate a sort of raspberry cake topped with meringue — one of the best desserts I had all year. (And, er, I stress ate a lot of desserts in 2025.) Lunch at Ottolenghi should be on every London itinerary.

Cozy stop number three was finally making it to Darjeeling Express, chef Asma Khan’s newest restaurant. That we went with our friends Dana and Paul not only meant great company but also more dishes to try. The atmosphere was warm and familial, and the food was next level. (Khan’s paneer korma might be my favorite dish of all time.) The menu says the food is “cooked with patience and love,” and I promise you’ll feel that.

The Ottolenghi cafes and Darjeeling Express show off how immigrants have made London better — in fact, how in general the best of what London has to offer is inexorably shaped by its immigrant communities. I’d like to add that this is true everywhere in the world, including in the United States. So there.

Cozy stop number four around the corner from Ottolenghi Chelsea was Chelsea Physic Garden. My wife and I are big gardeners who enjoy visiting gardens when we travel, which I guess puts us squarely in the demographic of 60-year-old white women tourists (neither of us is 60 yet). But you don’t have to be a garden nerd to realize the Chelsea Physic Garden is exceptional. One of the oldest botanical gardens in England, it was first planted in 1673 as an apothecary garden for medicinal plants. Among other delights, a walk through the garden is an eye-opening education about how various plants have shaped medicine and health care throughout time — and not just in the witchy sense. Cozy-wise, it’s a walled garden with its own microclimate with warmer air. This is why the garden houses the largest fruiting outdoor olive tree in the UK. The garden shop is a great place for unique souvenirs and gifts, especially for plant lovers.

Speaking of cozy shopping, catty-corner from Ottolenghi Marylebone (I told you they’re everywhere) is VV Rouleaux, a ribbon store of endless delights. Endless, that is, if you like ribbon. We squeezed between the quaint aisles and loaded up on a deep purple velvet ribbon and an antique-looking linen ribbon with faint blue and red stripes. Of course this place is a crafter's delight, and also a fantastic place to get toppings for those extra special holiday and gift packages.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention our favorite store in London, the OG of chic coziness inside and out, Liberty of London. Housed behind a Tudor-era facade that looks like it stepped out of a Shakespeare play, Liberty is the boutique high-end department store best known for the unique floral prints it stamps on everything from pajamas and silk shirts to sewing boxes and wrapping paper. We got shirts and very cool sneakers from their new Adidas collab, plus fun stocking stuffers like floral print silk handkerchiefs. It’s our happy place for sure.

And it might go without say, but let me say it: While we may have found fall — or “autumn,” as they prefer around here — to be a particularly lovely time to visit, London is good for a dose of cozy whenever and whyever you need it.