Lets Discover · Victoria
Best Restaurants, Bars and Things to Do in Victoria, London
Victoria is a mixed commercial and residential neighbourhood in central London, centred on Victoria Station and the streets surrounding it, bordered by Belgravia to the north and west, Westminster and Pimlico to the east, and bounded by the Thames embankment to the south. The neighbourhood has historically been associated with transport and transit rather than dining, but the streets around the station and particularly the blocks running toward Belgravia and Westminster contain a growing number of genuinely good restaurants, cafes and bars that have established themselves beyond the captive audience of station commuters. Creators on Lets Discover have recommended venues across Victoria covering restaurants, bars, coffee shops and cultural landmarks.
What's on in Victoria
Upcoming events at venues in the area
Sat 9 May
Wicked
Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, London, UK
Wicked is the long-running West End musical at the Apollo Victoria Theatre telling the story of the witches of Oz before Dorothy's arrival. The show features the songs Defying Gravity and For Good.
Tickets available
Sun 10 May
Tickets to Wicked the Musical Theater Show in London
Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, London, UK
Wicked is a West End musical at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London that tells the untold story of Oz's witches, following Elphaba's journey to become the Wicked Witch of the West. The production features award-winning sets and costumes and show-stopping songs in a family-friendly theatrical experience.
Tickets available
Thu 21 May to Sun 27 Sept
James McNeill Whistler
Tate Britain
The most comprehensive UK Whistler show in a generation brings together his tonal nocturnes and Thames compositions in a single exhibition. Quiet paintings made of atmosphere and argument — and now, finally, properly seen.
Tickets available
Sat 23 May
Candlelight: Hans Zimmer's Best Works
Central Hall Westminster, Storey's Gate, London, UK
Candlelight: Hans Zimmer's Best Works is a live orchestral concert at Central Hall Westminster featuring iconic Hans Zimmer film scores performed by candlelight. The programme includes music from The Dark Knight, Interstellar, Gladiator, and The Lion King in an atmospheric candlelit setting.
Tickets available
Sat 30 May
Houses of Parliament: Entry Ticket and Audio Guide
Houses of Parliament
Houses of Parliament Entry Ticket and Audio Guide is a self-guided audio tour of the Houses of Parliament in London that explains its history and political workings. The experience includes an audio commentary and the chance to admire the Parliament building and its exterior details near the Thames.
Tickets available
Wed 1 Jul to Sun 27 Sept
Luminiscence
Westminster Cathedral
A 360-degree light show floods Westminster Cathedral's Byzantine interior four nights a week, digitally completing the mosaic domes original builders left unfinished. Bach and Beethoven soundtrack a building finishing what it started a century late, and on this evidence, always worth the wait.
Tickets available
Tue 14 Jul to Fri 2 Oct
Lying-in-State: Artists' Responses
Palace of Westminster
Six artists were given access to Westminster Hall to record the coffin and the queue during Queen Elizabeth II's lying-in-state, and their paintings, embroidery and film now hang in the very hall they watched from. It's a quieter route into a moment that once made global headlines, one careful stitch at a time.
Wed 22 Jul
The Countess
St Margaret's Church
Discover Emily Cowper, the political fixer who guided one Prime Minister as his mistress and another as his wife, ending up the second Lady Palmerston. Her letters reveal a woman who ran the drawing room like a second House of Commons, dressed always in her finest silk gown, one of the most quietly powerful women in town.
Creator picks in Victoria
Verified recommendations from Lets Discover creators
- 1Yaatra
Recommended by Vegans of LDN · 🌱 Indian fine dining and a 5 course tasting menu inside a retired fire station was an amazing way to spend an evening �…
- 2The Rubens at the Palace
Recommended by Vegans of LDN · 🌱 It's afternoon tea at @rubenshotel 😍 near Buckingham Palace - they have a amazing vegan afternoon tea fit for any ki…
- 3A. Wong
Recommended by TOPJAW · A very dog conscious, London legend, @dj_fattony_ with his Best of #London Part 1 Ep.211
- 4Fat Freeze & Face Lift London
Recommended by TOPJAW · Calling Chefs & Restaurants, comment ‘YES’ and we’ll introduce you to @streetsmartuk - let’s help them raise over £1,000…
- 5Regency Cafe
Recommended by TOPJAW · Sunday Times Best-Selling Cookbook author G @justin_the_dustbin with Part 2 of his Best of #London (love his answers so …
- 6FlatCap Coffee co
Recommended by Jay Verified · THIS HIDDEN WESTMINSTER SANCTUARY PROVES YOU CAN STILL FIND A QUIET INDEPENDENT GARDEN OASIS IN THE HEART OF POLITICIANS…
- 7Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences, London
Recommended by Ana Sheppard · 'The course of true love never did run smooth' AD The Midsummer Night's Dream Afternoon Tea @taj51bg is very cute. Lo…
- 8Tate Britain
Recommended by Ana Sheppard · From skyline views to farms, play cafés, galleries, and museums - here’s your ultimate autumn inspo to keep young London…
- 9St James the Less Church, Pimlico
Recommended by the_victorian_society · No building’s survival is guaranteed: visit the Victorian Society website to learn how you can make a difference and pro…
- 10Westminster Cathedral
Recommended by the_victorian_society · The foundation stone of John Francis Bentley’s Byzantine-inspired Westminster Cathedral was lain #onthisday in 1895. Bui…
About Victoria
Victoria's food scene is better than its reputation. The area around the station itself is not the point of interest, but the streets that fan out from it toward Belgravia, Pimlico and Westminster contain a range of restaurants and cafes that have nothing to do with commuter trade and everything to do with serving a residential and office population that eats out regularly.
The neighbourhood has benefited from the general improvement in London's food culture and from the specific development of Pimlico and the streets around Eccleston Place, which have become a genuine destination for people who know the area. The proximity to Westminster also means there are long-established restaurants and clubs that serve a specific kind of regular clientele and do so to a consistently high standard.
Lets Discover creators who cover Victoria tend to know the area's less obvious corners and their picks reflect a neighbourhood that rewards exploration away from the main station drag.
The streets immediately around Victoria Station are less interesting from a food perspective than the blocks running outward from it. Eccleston Place and the streets connecting Victoria to Belgravia have developed a cluster of well-regarded independent restaurants and wine bars that operate entirely separately from the station economy. Pimlico Road, which runs south through the residential blocks toward the river, has its own concentration of neighbourhood restaurants and delicatessens that serve a local population. Elizabeth Street in Belgravia, just a short walk from the station, is one of the better streets in this part of London for independent food shops, bakeries and cafes. The areas around Horseferry Road and the streets closer to Westminster have a more office-focused character during the week but contain some worthwhile venues.
History and culture in Victoria
Victoria takes its name from Victoria Station, which opened in 1860 as the London terminus of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and became one of the busiest railway stations in the country. The surrounding neighbourhood developed rapidly in the second half of the 19th century as the station brought workers, travellers and commerce to an area that had previously been largely marshland and market gardens. The Westminster Cathedral, the mother church of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, was built in the Byzantine Revival style between 1895 and 1903 and remains one of Victoria's most significant landmarks. The Tate Britain gallery, opened in 1897 on the former site of Millbank Prison on the Thames embankment, houses the national collection of British art and is one of the area's major cultural institutions. Victoria's character as a transit neighbourhood has always shaped its identity, but the residential streets of Pimlico to the south and Belgravia to the north have given the wider area a more settled and domestic quality.
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