Top Ten Hidden Date Spots Around London Part III

Perhaps your date isn’t from London and you want to show them a good time. Skip the typical run-of-the-mill tourist traps in the third part of this date spot series, and show them a different side of the UK's capital. 

10. Get Deliciously Scientific

A trip to the science centre may not be the first choice of venue for a date, but Chin Chin Labs in Camden is a great place to bring your out-of-town special someone. Impress your date with a delicious ice cream served with nitrogen to flash-freeze them upon order.

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9. Hook Up With Sir Francis Drake

The Bankside docks are home to the Golden Hinde galleon - a full-sized replica the 16th-century ship Sir Francis Drake used to explore the world.  As well the daily tours, put your sea legs on and join a Rum Masterclass where you get to taste a series of Rums in this remarkable ship. 

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8. Stop & Go

Going for a ride?  If you want to treat yourselves to a mini light show, this Traffic Light Tree sculpture sits near the Billingsgate Market roundabout.  Constantly changing its 75 traffic lights, it's said that the tree imitates the natural landscape of the adjacent London Plane Trees. The changing pattern of the lights reveals and reflects the never ending rhythm of the surrounding domestic, financial and commercial activities.

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7. Photograph London

Addicted to Instagram? Whether you’re a photo newbie or a photographer by trade, you’ll be sure to find a way to appreciate London better with this tour by Hairy Goat.  You won't know where you're heading until you get there, but this tour promises to take you to places in London you've never been before. 

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6. Sightsee London

Don’t have time to show your date around the whole city? No problem! You’ll have all the time in the world when you show them around New London Architecture’s 1:2000 scale interactive model of the city.  All 85 square kilometres are condensed into one room, where the weather will never be an issue. Now you’ll both be able to see all of London before tea.

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5. Something Completely Different

Pop into Room 8 at the National Gallery, and any Monty Python fan will relish the opportunity to see the foot from the show in the form of Bronzino’s Mannerist masterpiece 'An Allegory with Venus and Cupid'. Terry Gilliam wandered the museums of London for inspiration while animating the show, and a cultural icon was born.

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4. Take In A Lullaby

Wedged between two buildings at the Great Ormond Street Hospital is this secret music installation. A concoction of pipes and horns that covers one of the old brick buildings at the site. Created for the whimsy of the hospital’s young patients, take in the music created beneath these towering metal devices, which were salvaged from an old hospital boiler.

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3. Sniff Out Soho

Go on a hunt for the elusive and mysterious 'Seven Noses of Soho'. It's claimed that discovering all seven of the masterfully crafted and disguised appendages will make one fabulously wealthy. They're present on the faces of several high-profile building like the National Gallery and were intended as a commentary on 'big brother' by artist Rick Buckley.

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2. A Shitty Time

We promise this date spot won’t stink, but the Crossness Pumping Station is a Grade I listed building well worth visiting. The pumping station was built in the Romanesque style and has some of the finest ornamental Victorian cast ironwork. Heaven on earth for anyone into coprophilia (or architecture).

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1. Escape Fantasy

Arcade games are a great escape from reality, but this isn't what you’ll find at Novelty Automation.  Based on real-life scenarios, play games such as: winning a Nobel prize, flying a drone or operating a nuclear reactor. For less than £20, this mixture of humour and engineering will hopefully help you score a little non-digital action while you're there, level up 

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Charlotte is the writer behind the sex-positive blog, My Tickle Trunk. She is a sex blogger and passionate advocate for body-safe sex aids, sexual exploration, and body positivity! Twitter: @MyTickleTrunk